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Good things happen when Christians work in community with each other
Church in the Community - Media Release in the Herald: 2nd September 2024
Source: TCN / Ed Richardson
Date Added: 2024-09-02
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Church Unity,
Date Added: 2024-09-02
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Church Unity,
There was a flurry of activity on social media channels following a report that the Church of England had plans to drop the word “church”. (They don’t).
What set the cat among the pigeons was a recent report by the Centre for Church Planting Theology and Research at Cranmer Hall, Durham which found that the word “church” was not included in parish initiatives such as youth groups, sport outreaches, and new congregations.
Some congregations have even decided that that they do not need church buildings.
It can be argued that this is a good thing (my pastor is in that corner, as am I).
My take is that church buildings are public property paid for by present and past congregations.
They should, therefore, be used every day.
There are many church communities in Nelson Mandela Bay getting it right, utilising the buildings for adult basic education, pre-schools, aftercare, sewing businesses, and the grounds for growing vegetables.
It is what is known as asset based community development.
The pastor’s reasoning is based on theology and linguistics.
A quick Internet search will confirm that word translated "church" in the English Bible is ekklesia. This word is the Greek words kaleo (to call), with the prefix ek (out).
Thus, the word means "the called out ones."
The English language word "church" is from the Old English word cirice or Circe, derived from West Germanic *kirika, which in turn comes from the Greek κυριακή kuriakē, meaning "of the Lord".
The pastor’s column in the September 2022 Monticello News takes the argument a bit further, stating “In the Bible the word ‘church’ does not mean a building.
“There is nothing the slightest bit holy about a building. Christians are the church, the assembly.
“Jesus said wherever two or more are gathered in His name, or His authority, He will be there also, Matthew 18:20”.
Staying in the theological lane and original Greek, Ligonier Ministries founder R.C. Sproul wrote: “the invisible church, the true church, is composed of those who are called by God not only outwardly but inwardly by the Holy Spirit.
“When Jesus calls someone to discipleship, He is calling that person to Himself, to belong to Him, to follow Him, and to learn from Him and of Him”.
But that does not happen in isolation.
While my pastor is not a fan of the church being seen as a building, he is super keen on the community of “called out ones”.
St Basil (330-379), an early founder of the Christian Church (let’s stick with convention here) wrote “when we live our lives in isolation, what we have is unavailable and what we lack is unprocurable”,
Arthur W. Lindsley, vice president of theological initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Works, & Economics, expands on this theme: “when we live our lives independently, other people are poorer because they cannot benefit from our gifts: what we have is unavailable.
“Also, when we isolate ourselves, we are poorer because the benefits of others’ gifts are lost to us”.
There are good things in others that are “unprocurable” unless we interact with them.
So, if we take on the role of “lone ranger” believer, others are poorer, and we are poorer too.
St Bernard, who did a stint as a hermit, makes a strong case for living as part of a community.
He points out that we all have different gifts.
God gave us different abilities to give us a reason to associate with one another.
If I want to redo my kitchen, I will need people with the gifts of carpentry and tiling.
Too often we Christians fail to leverage the power of our community.
People of other faiths and cultural backgrounds succeed in business where we fail because they prioritise working with people like them.
Their cohesion gives them buying power and the advantage of multiple people with complementary skills working towards a common goal.
Perhaps this is because we have put the “church” ahead of community.
We should be unashamed of preferring to work with like-minded Christians.
This does not mean that we turn a blind eye to unethical and criminal behaviour by Christian businesspeople.
The Christian community should hold them accountable and point out where they are guilty of sin.
If we do it right, people will prefer to do business with Christians because they know that honesty and integrity are included in the deal.
It is also important for Christian communities to look outward.
Jesus said Christians should feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, and visit the sick and the prisoner (Matt. 25:31-46).
This takes a team effort to be effective.
Congregations across the metro are wasting resources by duplicating work due to working in “church” silos.
We should be talking to each other.
As for the word “church”. Shakespeare said it best: “That which we call a rose. By any other word would smell as sweet”.
It would be a blessing if social media were filled by people sharing information on how Christian communities can make more of an impact on the lives of their neighbours.
Ed Richardson
works with Transformation Christian Network
What set the cat among the pigeons was a recent report by the Centre for Church Planting Theology and Research at Cranmer Hall, Durham which found that the word “church” was not included in parish initiatives such as youth groups, sport outreaches, and new congregations.
Some congregations have even decided that that they do not need church buildings.
It can be argued that this is a good thing (my pastor is in that corner, as am I).
My take is that church buildings are public property paid for by present and past congregations.
They should, therefore, be used every day.
There are many church communities in Nelson Mandela Bay getting it right, utilising the buildings for adult basic education, pre-schools, aftercare, sewing businesses, and the grounds for growing vegetables.
It is what is known as asset based community development.
The pastor’s reasoning is based on theology and linguistics.
A quick Internet search will confirm that word translated "church" in the English Bible is ekklesia. This word is the Greek words kaleo (to call), with the prefix ek (out).
Thus, the word means "the called out ones."
The English language word "church" is from the Old English word cirice or Circe, derived from West Germanic *kirika, which in turn comes from the Greek κυριακή kuriakē, meaning "of the Lord".
The pastor’s column in the September 2022 Monticello News takes the argument a bit further, stating “In the Bible the word ‘church’ does not mean a building.
“There is nothing the slightest bit holy about a building. Christians are the church, the assembly.
“Jesus said wherever two or more are gathered in His name, or His authority, He will be there also, Matthew 18:20”.
Staying in the theological lane and original Greek, Ligonier Ministries founder R.C. Sproul wrote: “the invisible church, the true church, is composed of those who are called by God not only outwardly but inwardly by the Holy Spirit.
“When Jesus calls someone to discipleship, He is calling that person to Himself, to belong to Him, to follow Him, and to learn from Him and of Him”.
But that does not happen in isolation.
While my pastor is not a fan of the church being seen as a building, he is super keen on the community of “called out ones”.
St Basil (330-379), an early founder of the Christian Church (let’s stick with convention here) wrote “when we live our lives in isolation, what we have is unavailable and what we lack is unprocurable”,
Arthur W. Lindsley, vice president of theological initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Works, & Economics, expands on this theme: “when we live our lives independently, other people are poorer because they cannot benefit from our gifts: what we have is unavailable.
“Also, when we isolate ourselves, we are poorer because the benefits of others’ gifts are lost to us”.
There are good things in others that are “unprocurable” unless we interact with them.
So, if we take on the role of “lone ranger” believer, others are poorer, and we are poorer too.
St Bernard, who did a stint as a hermit, makes a strong case for living as part of a community.
He points out that we all have different gifts.
God gave us different abilities to give us a reason to associate with one another.
If I want to redo my kitchen, I will need people with the gifts of carpentry and tiling.
Too often we Christians fail to leverage the power of our community.
People of other faiths and cultural backgrounds succeed in business where we fail because they prioritise working with people like them.
Their cohesion gives them buying power and the advantage of multiple people with complementary skills working towards a common goal.
Perhaps this is because we have put the “church” ahead of community.
We should be unashamed of preferring to work with like-minded Christians.
This does not mean that we turn a blind eye to unethical and criminal behaviour by Christian businesspeople.
The Christian community should hold them accountable and point out where they are guilty of sin.
If we do it right, people will prefer to do business with Christians because they know that honesty and integrity are included in the deal.
It is also important for Christian communities to look outward.
Jesus said Christians should feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, and visit the sick and the prisoner (Matt. 25:31-46).
This takes a team effort to be effective.
Congregations across the metro are wasting resources by duplicating work due to working in “church” silos.
We should be talking to each other.
As for the word “church”. Shakespeare said it best: “That which we call a rose. By any other word would smell as sweet”.
It would be a blessing if social media were filled by people sharing information on how Christian communities can make more of an impact on the lives of their neighbours.
Ed Richardson
works with Transformation Christian Network
Source: TCN / Ed Richardson
Date Added: 2024-09-02
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Church Unity,
Back to News IndexDate Added: 2024-09-02
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Church Unity,
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