BLOG 12/6/16. WHERE DOES THE CHURCH EFFECTIVELY ENCOUNTER THE DARKNESS?

LOG 12/6/16. WHERE DOES THE CHURCH EFFECTIVELY ENCOUNTER THE DARKNESS?

Ah, yes! The New Testament writers remind us in many ways that God calls us to be the children of light, … that we followers of Jesus are, in fact, called to be the light of the world, … that we are to shine in the dark places of the earth. So, where does that happen? Let me answer that with two principles for your consideration:

  • The church is probably most truly the light of the world when it is scattered into the life, neighborhoods, workplaces, homes, and social-cultural-political-ethical challenges which we all face inevitably in our 24/7 lives, … but only if …
  • … only if our time spent as the church gathered equips us for that calling to be lights shining in the darkness. The purpose of the church being gathered is to equip God’s people for their works of ministry as those called by Jesus, and as those sent by Jesus back into that very world which he came to seek and to save. We gather for worship and for preaching to equip us for our conduct as his people as those sent. “As the Father as sent me into the world, even so do I send you.” As one of my favorite mentor-writers (Jacques Ellul) has said: “… there cannot be any separation between preaching and conduct, … to participate truly in this preservation of the world, the Christian ought to place himself/herself at the point of contact between the two currents: the will of the Lord, and the will of the world.”

But to be faithful and effective in that point of contact means that our time spent gathered must not be reduced to spiritual entertainment, and our preaching much not be reduced to very listenable oratory—quite the contrary, our time should be, to be sure, encouraging, but it must be what the scriptures refer to as edifying, i.e. building up, and equipping. This means serious engagement with the Word of Christ, and this is the purpose of our ministering to one another with songs and psalms and spiritual songs. We desperately need the encouragement of one another, and the times to refocus on the glory of God in worship, … but we should never be allowed to leave those gathered times with a shrug and a response of: “So what?”

The ‘world’ has a way of consuming us, and taking from us our empowerment. Our times together must, therefore, be empowering and equipping us for our primary role as God’s people scattered as the light of the world in the midst of the cultural darkness, as salt and light in the realities of the week.

Week by week I sit with our gathered community and see around me the parents of handicapped children, medical professionals, educators, librarians, lawyers, truck-drivers, workers with refugees, day laborers, entrepreneurs, information technology wizards, homemakers, physical therapists … and on and on. People from every walk of life. But we are together for only a couple of hours, and then we are scattered for the next 160+ hours in our calling to be those engaged in the preservation of the real world in which we live, … which could be very discouraging if we were not being equipped and empowered by our times together.

But that is our calling: “As the Father has sent me, even so am I sending you” …to be scattered among those whom Jesus came to seek and to save, to bring hope and meaning and to be the radiant display of the divine nature among our neighbors by the empowering of God’s Spirit. Our times together should keep that calling as our compelling and motivating vision: children of the Light. But one more note: This puts an enormous responsibility on the shoulders of the church leaders and the preachers-teaching pastors. Pray for them! Thanks. … and shine!

About rthenderson

Sixty years a pastor-teacher within the Presbyterian Church. Author of several books, the latest of which are a trilogy on missional ecclesiology: ENCHANTED COMMUNITY: JOURNEY INTO THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH, then, REFOUNDING THE CHURCH FROM THE UNDERSIDE, then THE CHURCH AND THE RELENTLESS DARKNESS. Previous to this trilogy was A DOOR OF HOPE: SPIRITUAL CONFLICT IN PASTORAL MINISTRY, and SUBVERSIVE JESUS, RADICAL FAITH. I am a native of West Palm Beach, Florida, a graduate of Davidson College, then of Columbia and Westminster Theological Seminaries.
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