BLOG 3/8/15. THIS OLD … CHURCH (SAY WHAT?)

BLOG 3/8/15. THIS OLD … CHURCH (SAY WHAT?)

I am a great fan of the television program: This Old House, which, despite my being somewhat questioning of the unholy amounts of money they must spend on some of those projects, am still fascinated with the sheer craftsmanship displayed as they restore once grand old houses. Each program begins with Tom Silva  going around the foundations of the old houses and being alarmed at all of the inadequate, or termite infested sills upon the house sits. Then he and his colleagues will walk through the house and discern where there is insufficient framing to maintain the weight of the upper parts of the house, etc. The solution is to brace the structure and then rip out all of the stuff that is a detriment to their ultimate goal.

What’s interesting is that the Apostle Paul used a similar metaphor when he likened the church to a building that must be built on the one true foundation, which is Christ. So what would it look like for a church to be built on that foundation? Primarily, Paul had in mind that the focal point should be Jesus Christ and all that he was, and taught, and did to accomplish his mission of making all things new. Paul also pointed out that to seek to create a church on anything other than this essential focus on Christ and the mission of Christ, was to build with shabby foundations of wood and hay and stubble rather than silver and gold and precious stones—and that it would all ultimately be tried with fire (I Corinthians 3:10 ff.).

But that basic discipline requires a clear understanding of how we do build that proper way. And the very basic, sine qua non, requirement is that a church be built on every member being the fruit of Christ’s commission to: “Go … make disciples of every people group, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Sound simple? Sound obvious? Well, obviously somewhere that got lost. In my career I have seen scores of what are called: Congregational Information Forms, and which spell out what a congregation is looking for in its pastoral leadership. Disciple-making hardly ever even makes the list. More astounding, few theological training schools include any significant training on making disciples.

So you come up with church institutions, which have no design to be forming men and women into the image of Christ, or of causing every member to be equipped to maturity in their day by day ministry in all of the diverse settings which such members occupy. After all, the purpose of Christ calling each of us is so that we may be recreated into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29 in loc.)—And that recreation consists of his likeness in knowledge, in behavior, and in intimate relationship with the Trinitarian community. And, my dear blog readers—that doesn’t just happen without intentionality on the part of the community leadership.

I am a veteran of decades of church leadership, or church renewal training conferences, and it took a while for me to realize that the same people turned up again and again. They were in moribund, or rudderless, or bland churches, … and thy knew that something needed to change, … but then they went home and reverted into the same patterns of institutional life, never realizing evidently, that healthy structures begin with healthy foundations of mature disciples, and this is a patient, one-on-one engagement of one mature Christian brother or sister teaching and coaching and modeling discipleship to another. This is contra what I call theoretical church renewal, or church leadership. One can know all the theories, and have read all of the books that currently portend to be helpful, …but this old church is refounded through intentional disciple-making. What you find in strong and healthy Christian communities is that someone ‘hunkered down’ for the long haul and made disciples, … or laid foundations of silver and gold and precious stones. It’s not glamorous, but that’s how it happens: intentionally, patiently, gently but creating Christ in another. Old church can be made new … but theory won’t do it!

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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