BLOG. 4/7/19. HOW DO YOU DISCERN A CHURCH’S AUTHENTICITY?
In our culture, in our government, and, yes, in our churches, we are living in, what is called, a cultural diastrophism—a diastrophism being one of those periods when the subterranean tectonic plates shift, and everything on the surface is disrupted. That stability we have counted on in the past can no longer be depended upon. Yesterday will never return, and tomorrow is all unknown. We are watching this diastrophism display itself in the inability of our government to deal with the colossal problems looming on the horizon, the inefficiency of the governing powers to cooperate for the common good.
Ah! but the church of yesterday and its denominations, its institutions, and so many of its traditions are also victims of the post-Christian culture/diastrophism, and yet there are those Christian communities that show viability, integrity, fruitfulness, and Biblical authenticity. How are we to discern that authenticity? The dominant image of the church of yesterday was that of religious institutions with handsome sanctuaries, dominant clergy, more passive laity, and weekly activities, worship services, and the rest. But church institutions, clergy, and the rest are not the essence of the church. Denominations are of fading importance. Thoughtful Christian laity are asking for signs of authenticity.
Let me propose two things to discern for yourself: 1) What is the form of the church in God’s new world / kingdom of God design? And, 2) What is its function? What is it to be about in faithfully fulfilling that design, that good news that is to permeate every nation? The answers to these questions are the substance of the New Testament.
In short, the form of the church is that the church is to be that community which is to be the very c0mmunal demonstration of God’s new humanity in Christ, it is to be the human community as God intends it to be, … which lives out our need for one another in love and good works. It is to be the dwelling-place of God by the Holy Spirit. As the contemporary culture seems to prefer smaller and more interactive groups, new church communities have emerged in just such mutually ministering form that meets in all kinds of informal venues. But there are much larger traditional church communities that have also acknowledged this preference and encouraged participation in smaller caring and mutually ministering groups.[1]
Yet, if these communities are indwelt by the Spirit of the Father and the Son, then the passion of God will be for the participants to have God’s passion to seek and to save the lost, to make disciples who bear time image of the Son, to move toward those still in the darkness, as bearers of God’s light. This means that one of the main functions of these communities is precisely that, i.e. seeing its participants conformed to the image of Christ in his radical new knowledge, behavior and lifestyle, and intimacy with the holy God.
Having said all that, the church is quite diverse in it forms. But still, any participant needs to know and ingest its form and function. These communities produce their own leadership and oversight as those more mature in knowledge and behavior emerge among them as models of God and disciple-makers. Authenticity is a community which is always selfconsciously monitoring itself to realize its calling—ultimately to be a beautiful bride for the Lamb of God, made in his likeness. Peace
[1] My own: Homebrew Churches: Reconceiving the Church for Tomorrow’s Children, explores this.
