The thoughts in this summary are a combination of personal reflections and notes from the Acts 29 Boot Camp session on developing elders, deacons, and members.
First of all, if we hope to be a healthy, growing church we must develop a biblically based leadership structure in the foundational years of the church. We are currently in the foundational years of our church. "Growing church" and "structure" are a couple more of those words that I have not focused on for the same reasons noted in my previous post. Typically, Bible Belt people hear the word "growing" and they immediately think of "attendance", and when we hear the word "structure" or "organization" we often think of a rigid institution that has forgotten how to function like a family.
But the fact is a good family should grow -- in strength, in wisdom, in maturity, in number, in intimacy with one another. If a family is healthy it will be a strong, influential family and people will recognize the family name.
A good family also has structure and organization. It is not rigid because it is a family, and therefore its structure is based on relationship and love and trust. Everyone knows who the leaders of the family are, and everyone knows what their role in the family is. When these work together you have a beautiful, diverse, healthy family.
So what does a healthy, strong, mature, and growing church structure look like? Before I jump into this I want to define a few words that I will be using in the upcoming paragraphs:
- Christology - This term refers to the study and understanding of Jesus. A Biblical understanding of Jesus Christ is crucial to our salvation. Many cults and world religions claim to believe in Jesus Christ. The problem is that they do not believe in the Jesus Christ presented in the Bible. That is why Christology is so important. Who is Jesus? And what has Jesus accomplished? Those are the primary questions we must begin with in developing a healthy and growing church.
- Ecclesiology - This term comes from the Greek word "ekklesia", which simply means a gathering or meeting. The word structure comes from a combination of Greek words that can mean "called out from" and was used to describe a group of Christians being called out from their homes to gather together in a given location. Ecclesiology helps us to understand the role of the church, and more specifically our role in the church. It teaches us about how church leadership is to be chosen and structured, and what the church is to be doing in regards to believers (worship and discipleship) and unbelievers (ministry and evangelism). So, to understand ecclesiology we will be asking the question, How does the Bible structure our church leaders and members to most effectively be God's missionaries in our culture?
- Missiology - This term has been defined in many ways. But the most accurate definition in relationship to the other two terms above has to do with the mission of God and the mission of the church. "Mission" is directed towards the world, therefore missiology is concerned with culture and with people of who are outside of the church, ultimately outside of Christ. This is a very important thing to grasp, because many people think that the worship of God is the primary mission of the church. It is not. Yes, the worship of God is the center of theology, but theology is discovered and tested in our engagement in mission. Worship inspires mission, and engagement in mission leads us to worship. So the question we will ask in refernce to this term is, How can we most effectively expand the kingdom of God in our culture and more specifically in our neighborhoods, city, and county?
- Ministry - Every member of Christ's church ought to be asking this question, and living the answer to this question. If this is not happening, then the church is not healthy, it will not grow, and it will eventually stagnate, wither and die. The question is: How does Jesus want me to help serve his mission?
Now that we have a better understanding of those terms, lets take a brief look at the structure of a helathy, growing church.
I. Jesus is the Sr. Pastor of the church. This is of utmost importance. The key to having a good ecclesiology (understanding of church and how it's organized) is to have a proper theology of Jesus Christ (Christology). If the person and ongoing work of Jesus is not exceptionally clear and practically integrated into the church then eventually the church will become very sick.
II. The Dude. No matter where you are reading in the Bible, every story and book reveals the same general principle. That is, when God wants to get something done He starts by selecting a "dude" (an individual called by God) to lead that change and He then works through that dude. Examples include: sparing humanity (Noah), founding a nation (Abraham), liberating a nation (Moses), establishing a throne (David), building a Temple (Solomon), preparing hearts (John the Baptizer), reaching Gentiles with the Gospel (Paul), and redeeming creation (Jesus).
Likewise, a church cannot be successfully planted and expect to survive if it is not initially led by a dude who obediently follows God as He speaks through Scripture and leads through the Spirit. This particular point speaks volumes to me, because I can remember like it was yesterday the burning I felt in my spirit to be involved in church planting, and to eventually plant a church in southeastern Ohio. What an incredibly sobering task! But the key is to remember who is ultimatley at the helm of the ship. JESUS is the Sr. Pastor, and He always will be. I labor with Him. We labor with Him.
Later this evening or tomorrow morning I will make the third and final post on the qualifications for the church planter. I am separating these to give you some time to digest each one. I will also be covering some of this material at this Sunday's Oasis gathering as I trace the steps of how Oasis Christian Fellowship of Meigs began.
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