The Great Confession and the Great Identification--Page 28

And so the question of the true identity of the church comes back to the identity of Jesus Christ. The meaning of being the body of Christ depends on who Jesus Christ is. If the church truly is the body of Christ, it has Jesus' DNA. Our ecclesiology (how we understand the church) depends totally on our Christology (how we understand the person and work of Jesus Christ).

In other words, the true church combines the great confession ("You are the Christ…") and the great identification ("As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you" (John 20:21)). The great confession is that Jesus Christ is Lord, Savior, and Liberator of the world. The great identification is that we are his body, share his spiritual DNA, and must follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21). We, the church, are his disciples, servants, and priests. Think of the many "as" passages ("Love each other as I have loved you" (John 15:12), for example). Or, in the words of the apostle John, "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did" (1 John 2:6).

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Conclusion
What, then, can we say about the church's DNA? Three things, in particular:

· By themselves, the four classic marks of the church are inadequate and one-sided. A fuller appeal to Scripture reveals the necessary key complements to the traditional marks.

· A fuller understanding of the marks of the church that stresses the necessary complements to one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, yields an understanding of the church that is both theologically richer and missiologically more powerful, affirming that the church is also diverse, charismatic, local, and prophetic.

· A biblical ecclesiology will emphasize that the church is the body of which Jesus alone is head. The faithful church will radically identify with the life, works, and words of Jesus Christ, because Jesus is its progenitor. A key sign of faithfulness is taking the gospel to the poor through the power of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus did.

Six Insights for the Church-Pg. 37ff.

Six insights about the nature of the church arise from complexity theory and can help us understand the church's DNA.

1. The church is a totality of complex factors, not a linear cause-and-effect system.

This view can help us appreciate the church in all its complex beauty - even the strange mix of faithfulness and unfaithfulness that so often marks it. This view seems, in fact, to be the biblical perspective. We get into trouble when we try to program the church, just as we do when we try to program a teenager, or the love between two people, or the life of a family. Human relationships are too dynamic for that.

2. Complexity theory illuminates the long-range significance of small actions.

3. The complexity perspective underscores the vital role of interrelationships and structure in the church.

This suggests that certain structures are natural and organic to complex systems - and that such structures arise out of a web of inter-relationships.

Take, for instance, small groups in the church. It is clear that any vital church will have some kind of cellular or small-groups life. No church can really be lively without it.

Structure is important in the church, as in all life. Every creature has some kind of framework. Even a tiny cell has highly complex structure. But structure must be compatible with the system in which it is found. There has to be harmony between the system in which it is found. There has to be harmony between the system and its structure. Structure is both a functional question - What structures help the church really be the church? - and an emergence question-What structures seem to emerge naturally from the nature or character of the church?

4. Viewing the church as a complex system teaches us that size is always a function of other factors.

Size is purely and completely a question of deeper issues such as purpose, vitality, mission, and what we might call a healthy homeostasis (dynamic internal balance).

For the church, the only valid answer to the question of size is that the church should be whatever size best enables it to fulfill its mission and "grow up into Christ."

The practical lesson here: We should not be preoccupied with size! We should not use size as a sign of success, but neither should we let small size be an excuse for not being involved in effective mission. We are called to faithful discipleship, not numerical growth. But faithful discipleship will, in most cases, inevitably lead to growth in numbers as well.

5. Complexity theory underscore the uniqueness of each church's particular DNA.

6. Finally, complexity theory suggests that "emergent structures" arise from the church's complex vitality as they are needed. That is, the church's growth itself - in vitality, ministry, and numbers- will often give rise to the necessary structures. Thus the key issues may be one more of discernment than of structural cleverness or planning.

Complexity theory stresses, however, that it is simply impossible to predict very far into the future.

How many churches have brilliant long-range plans gathering dust on shelves because of unforeseen circumstances? From a complexity and organic perspective, such an outcome is no surprise.

The complexity perspective yields four lessons that help the church live out its DNA.

1. The church should focus on the genuine worship of God.
2. The church should focus on building vital, accountable community.
3. The church must visibly show the compassion of Christ in the world.
4. The church must provide people with a functional, livable worldview.

The Missional Church-Pg. 50ff.

1. The church has a mission to God as well as from God.

We believe the terms worship, community, and witness (leitourgia, koinonia, and martyria, which includes diakonia) are both more holistic and more biblical. The church's mission is grounded in all three: genuine, God-focused worship; close, accountable community; and whole-bodied witness in all the church does.

2. Evangelism has a special place in the church's mission. Evangelism, in its broadest and basic sense, means announcing and embodying the reign of God.

3. Preaching the gospel to the poor is a special priority of the church.

An Alternative Community

A missional church is an alternative community called to build its own culture, economy, and lifestyle in the world and among all peoples.

A Covenant Community

1. To be a covenant community, the church must have some form (probably a variety of forms) of small covenant groups.

2. The biblical meaning of member needs to be rethought.

3. The split between clergy and laity must be overcome in concept and practice.

4. Healthy covenant communities teach and practice plural leadership.

5. The theology and practice of ordination needs to be rethought.

6. Church structure (wineskins) must be consistent with the organic nature of the church.

This reciprocal, back-and-forth action is grounded in the classic doctrine of perichoresis (literally, "dancing together" - mutual sharing of characteristics). We give ourselves to God (our mission to God), and he gives himself back to us with an overflow of love and impels us out of ourselves and into mission.

The church's whole ministry is grounded in the Trinity. All ministry - ordained or unordained, paid or unpaid - is rooted in the Trinitarian mystery. Its roots are in Spirit-empowered community, not in organizational hierarchy.

THE DNA OF CHURCH STRUCTURE--Pg. 77ff.

To really be Christ's body in the world, the church needs structures that match its DNA and that work in the world. Wineskins must be both compatible with the wine of the gospel and appropriate within particular cultural contexts. Three sources are especially promising for helping churches recover the dynamism of the New Testament church.

1. The Bible

Here are four basic reasons why Scripture must be our primary source for church structure.

1. The Bible is God's unique revelation both of Jesus Christ and of his body, the church.
2. Ecclesiology is a primary focus of Scripture.

Culturally, the Protestant tradition has been so marked by individualism that it has largely neglected the corporate nature of Christian experience.

3. A third reason we should turn to Scripture for new wineskins is the example of the early church that we find there.
4. Finally, we should go first to Scripture for guidance on church structure because Scripture uniquely combines church and mission.

What can we learn to help us develop the kind of Christian communities in which it becomes unnecessary to put the word missional before the word church?

2. Learning from Renewal Movements pg. 80ff.

1. Renewal movements set the issue of church structure within the broad sweep of history.
2. The history of renewal teaches us about the renewing work of the Holy Spirit.
3. Renewal movements show us that deep renewal often begins at the periphery, or the margins, of the church.
4. Finally, renewal movements help restore a Trinitarian balance in the church.

3. Ecology-pg. 83ff.

Here are some reasons why viewing the structure of the church ecologically can help us in the quest for better wineskins.

1. Ecology is more in tune with the way God created the world than are commonly accepted organizational and institutional models.
2. The ecological model is more consistent with systems theory than are other models.
3. The ecological model is more in tune with where today's culture is headed than are other models.

Five Theological Principles
Here are five keys to help churches live consistently with their God-given DNA.

1. The central focus of the church is worshiping God and serving his mission. The primary passion of a vital church is God - worshiping him and serving him.
2. The church's life, both in concept and in action, should be based on organic and missional metaphors.
3. Vital churches maintain a healthy balance of worship, community, and witness.

This threefold ecology corresponds nicely with Christian Schwarz's "eight quality characteristics," as outlined in his book, Natural Church Development. His model of the church is organic (or "biotic," as he puts it), and focuses more on church health than on church growth. In all these ways his model is similar to ours, though he puts less emphasis on justice and a theology of the kingdom.

4. The central task of leadership is to build an apostolic, ministering community.
5. Vital churches exist as a countercultural missional community.

As a "missionary minority," they constitute the counterculture of the kingdom. This principle interacts with and supports the other theological principles already mentioned.

Four Operational Principles-pg. 93ff.

The five theological principles lead naturally to action. Consistent with the theological principles, the following four operational principles provide the genetic building blocks for churches that fulfill their kingdom mission. These keys can help leaders build vital churches. Effective, faithful leaders will:

1. Evaluate all structures and programs by organic and missional principles.
2. Build an effective infrastructure of accountable small groups.
3. Build a leadership team that collectively models the character of Jesus Christ.
4. Minister the gospel to and with the poor.

Wesley started out rigidly "high church" in his theology, but God did not let him stay there. In some ways, he was still a high churchman at his death. He conserved the best of the Anglican and Catholic traditions. But he also learned to be remarkably flexible and unconventional. Looking back now, we can see that he applied three key tests with regard to the church and its structures.

1. Does It Work?

The first key to Wesley's success was the test of functionality. All we do in the church must contribute to mission - getting the job done. Structures and practices are valid only if they help the church fulfill the mission of Christ.

2. Is It Alive?

The second key to Wesley's effectiveness was the test of vitality. The church of Jesus Christ must be vital, alive. Renewed by the Spirit, the church visibly shows forth the life of Jesus. If it doesn't, something is wrong and must be changed.

3. Does It Unite Us in Love?

The third key Wesley used was the test of community. Wesley had a keen sense of what it meant to be the body of Christ, the community of the Spirit in actual social reality, not just in theory. He said the church was called to "social holiness," meaning a community that lives out the holy love of God. Practically, social holiness called for structures and practices where close face-to-face community would grow and deepen.

IN CHRIST--The Coherence of Mission-pg. 127ff.

In this chapter we are seeking genetic compatibility between the church and its mission. The church and its mission must have the same DNA. They must be coherent with each other.

God's action in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit is the key to understanding Christian mission. The good news of Jesus Christ offers the essential resources humanity needs to deal creatively and effectively with human sin as well as with issues of ecology, the environment, social justice, and moral righteousness. Here the bold biblical claim that in Jesus Christ all things cohere (Col. 1:17) takes on deep meaning.

The Biblical Framework for Mission

This story of Jesus Christ does not occur in a historical vacuum. Jesus came "in the fullness of time" (Gal. 4:4, Eph. 1:10). The Jesus story is part of the larger history of God's action as revealed in Scripture. For our purposes, five elements of the larger biblical framework are decisive for understanding the church's mission. Reviewing them will uncover the broad biblical foundation of the church's role in the world:

1. God created the universe.
2. The created order is in some deep sense diseased because of sin.
3. God has acted in Jesus Christ to reconcile the creation to himself. God is bringing re-creation through the God-man. In the biblical picture, God's plan is not to redeem man and woman out of their environment, but with their environment. Salvation is ecological in this amazingly comprehensive sense.
4. God has given the church a mission in this world and in the world to come.
5. Our lives, churches, communities, and economies must be in harmony with the biblical principles of truth, justice, love, and organic inter-relationship.

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Ecology says, You can never do just one thing. Organic, ecological understandings of the church and its mission that center in Jesus Christ say, synergize the many things you do in the one direction of the kingdom of God, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31).

Gospel Globalization-pgs. 154ff.

The Challenges of Globalization

The globalizing process presents three major challenges that Christian mission must address.

1. The challenge of commodification. For the church, the danger here is falling prey to the world's marketing mentality and making the gospel itself a commodity.

As mentioned earlier, a key aspect of globalization is quantification. This mind-set can easily infect the church. The quantification mind-set tends to value

Numbers over discipleship
Church growth over growth in Christlikeness
Large churches over small churches
Big events over small, informal processes

2. The challenge of deteriorating community. Commodification and other aspects of globalization tend to erode face-to-face community as a social reality and a basic cultural value.
3. The challenge of the poor. Globalization has dramatically increased the prosperity and well-being of millions of people in some places, but it has widened the gap between the rich and the poor globally.

The Opportunities of Globalization

Globalization opens up many opportunities for incarnational mission. Three of these opportunities are especially crucial.

1. The opportunity to provide worldview answers. Globalization raises a host of worldview issues. This is a major opening for Christian mission! As globalization puts more and more people in touch with each other, it undermines the exclusive claims of every worldview. People begin to ask worldview questions in new ways. Why do some people I know see things totally differently? What is the real meaning of life? Where is the world really headed? What is the value of human life? Only the Christian faith can provide true and satisfying answers to these questions. This is an open door for Christian mission.
2. The opportunity to build life-affirming Christian community. Community building has always been the church's peculiar strength. Community is a fundamental value of the gospel, as the New Testament teachings on koinonia and being "members of one another" in the body of Christ make plain.
3. The opportunity to evangelize and plant kingdom communities among the world's poor.

Gospel globalization requires certain basic qualities. To fulfill this call, the church needs to exhibit the following six marks of mission.

1. Deep grounding in God's Word.

Perhaps we need a new "global hermeneutic" - a new way of looking at Scripture. We don't mean interpreting Scripture through the lens of economic globalization or of new ideologies. Rather, we mean immersing ourselves so deeply in Scripture that its life becomes our life, its worldview our worldview - until God's priorities and passions become our priorities and passions.

2. Global awareness. Gospel globalization also requires an expanding global consciousness.
3. A Christian view of culture, nations, and creation. Gospel globalization requires a Christian view of culture, nations and peoples, and the created order.
4. Reconciliation as the dominant note in mission. Gospel globalization requires a new emphasis on reconciliation as the central theme in Christian missions.
5. Kingdom evangelism. Gospel globalization calls the church to kingdom evangelism. It requires the kind of apostolic ministry, worldwide, that genuinely seeks first God's kingdom - and extends the good news of his righteousness and justice to all the peoples of earth.
6. Tempering zeal with meekness. Finally, gospel globalization means tempering zeal with meekness. Historically, the Christian mission has been carried out with admirable zeal. But zeal has sometimes hurt, raising barriers as non-Christians saw this zeal as arrogance or impatience. Zeal, often mixed with a failure to listen, sometimes overweighs wisdom.

Copyright ©2002 by Wade Hodges, All Rights Reserved