what is a church?

The following is adapted from an article written by  Mark D. Roberts © 2011 website link

where people get their ideas of church

past experience of church … Although many have no church background, some do even if limited to weddings and funerals.  Some come with negative memories they want to avoid again.  Others are nostalgic about the past, even if it didn’t help them know God better.

pop culture … Even people who have never entered a church building may see church depicted on TV shows, movies, or books.  These shape the expectations of Christians and non-Christians alike.  While there are good images, the negative ones show pastors and church members as judgmental hypocrites or unthinking extremists.

the news … Though exceptions exist, the news in general is not positive.  Reporting on good things doesn't attract viewers or sell advertising.  Scandals do, and tend to make the headlines.

projection of personal needs and preferences … Sometimes when people have needs they expect the church to meet them, and therefore view the church through these eyes.

from analogous institutions

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Before you conclude that the bible only speaks of church as specific gatherings, please read Colossians 1 and Ephesians 3-5.  These letters indicate the church is anyone who follows Jesus. It is something that can be spoken of as a body, with Christ as the head, and appears to be some reality transcending ordinary space and time that encompasses more than a single gathering of believers.

And in this sense, we need to ask questions like:

• Can everything God needs the church to do be achieved through occasional gatherings?
• Do we exclude anything if we limit who we interact with?
• How can what God gifts you with strengthen what God asks of others to do from other areas of your community?
• What is God doing that he does not do on a Sunday between 10am-12noon?  Where is he doing this?

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postmodern church

"I'm alright - I don't believe in the law of gravity"

Everyone has a way of thinking, a way of viewing how the world works.  Postmodernism describes one of these. Consequently, people who accept a postmodern mindset tend to behave in certain ways, as others do according to their mindset. And as such, given people inhabit the church, how do the mindsets we bring affect the church? How do they impact you, your family, your friends?

Exploring this begins by understanding where people, generally, tend to gain their views about truth and reality. Assuming they are generational ignores the exceptions within a population and that people can and do change, for various reasons, how they see their world over time.

What are the main differences how each of the three "moderns" relate to truth and reality?

foundations of postmodernism

If the individual, you, is the source of truth and reality, no one else may determine what you believe or do. This includes God. And assuming you do accept his existence, this mindset will help you ignore or downplay his voice.

Please be aware this is necessary because when you decide what is true and real, absolute truths, like the ones God speaks of, become impossible. Why? Because when everyone has the right to their own opinions, every opinion must be considered equally valid, including what is in the bible. Truth is made relative and now it depends on personal preferences and interpretations.

Consequently, no one single faith/religion can claim itself as the only truth. To do so is viewed as arrogant. You may include and exclude whatever suits you, and then mix them together, from a variety of faiths and other areas. This affects both evangelism (new believers) and discipleship (new and existing believers) because accepting God and understanding his ways doesn't necessitate giving anything up or changing anything if it doesn't suit you. For example, reading the bible, praying, hearing sermon messages, and prophecy, are approached in terms of "what does this mean to you?" instead of "what does God mean by this?" In short, considering matters of faith as opinions makes it difficult to see God's truths since each view is given equal importance.

Are you doing this? What are the implications of fully listening to God?

What could happen if a priest/pastor or other church leaders lived this way? How could this affect what is taught? What if you need to ask a question, or reveal that God actually disagrees with their claims?

"That might be true for you, but not for me.” "You are welcome to your opinion, but mine is..."

When confronted, people with a post-modern mindset tend to avoid arguments. Turning issues into opinions is easier than listening, considering the merits of what is being proposed, and then choosing to reject or embrace it. Therefore, if absolute truths about faith/religion cause this type of response, so will morality, ethics, and justice.

Why? Because morality is based upon the absolutes of right and wrong. But, if each person is the source of what is true, then 'what is right' and 'what is wrong' becomes subjective. "What you see as wrong, might not be for me” or "The way I choose to live is my business, who are you to interfere?" Thinking like this only considers how things and situations affect you and ignores any personal responsibility you might have to others.

For example, a man is lying in the gutter, an open bottle of alcohol in his hand. He is very drunk. You walk past him thinking, "He made his choices. This is his journey. Who am I to interfere?" But stop for a moment. What if that was your own son? Could you walk past him? How would you respond to see others walking past him? Stop again. What if that was you drunk in the gutter? Why are you there? Is it right to be left alone in your hopelessness?

Now reexamine this in the following situations. Do you call the police when your home is burgled? If there is no right or wrong, why? What if your sister was raped or your child molested? If there is no right or wrong please don't complain, let alone seek justice. And yes it could be argued, the source of this outrage was you. But then why interfere when it was someone else who was impacted?

exception to the rule

Ultimately, when the line between self, the world, and your beliefs is blurred, the way you seek the acceptance of others is to advocate tolerance of the views of others, in the hope the curtesy will be returned. Accepting, or at least claiming to accept other opinions is seen the same as valuing the people who hold them.

The one exception to this rule is anyone who seeks truths that universally apply to everyone, particularly anyone who dares to criticize the views of others, disagree with them, or suggest they are wrong.

In other words, all views about truth are possible, except if your view about truth disagrees with this stance. As a follower of Christ, you must expect this toward you from people who hold a postmodern mindset.  Why?

• God communicates about and with absolute truths (Jn 18:37)
• The foundations of Jesus' life and mission apply to everyone (e.g. forgiveness, sacrifice, sin, repentance, reconciliation)
• Teachings by Jesus and his disciples did not offer the option based upon a “this is true for me, but may not be true for you” philosophy.  They were simply offered.  People regularly rejected it (e.g. ).

conclusion

If you are postmodern, you must accept all faiths/religions as equally true.  Hence, you must accept God is real and Jesus was sent to earth to free you and restore you with God. To refuse is to reject your pluralistic philosophy.  Sure, you can reject Jesus, but do so honestly.

Similarly, if you are a postmodern christian, you must accept every interpretation someone tells you about God's ways and character as equally true.  Hence, you must, for example, accept the need to let go of everything you love more than him. You must be missional and not merely a Sunday attendee. You must sacrificially love all your enemies. You must stop being sectarian in how you treat the church, Christ's body. To refuse is to reject your pluralistic philosophy.  Sure, you can reject these proposals but do so by first seeking what God's reality is, not how you interpret it.

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either/or … both/and logic

In recent years, people connected with the church, have made active attempts to change how they think and speak.  Specifically, they advocate for the replacement of “either/or” logic (statements and questions) with “both/and” logic.

This need comes from key motivations

1. To prevent contradictory statements of faith
2. To pay attention to parts of God’s word ignored, overlooked, not focused on enough
3. I am passionate about this, therefore I must be right
4. I am angry about this, therefore I must be right

However, there is a problem with this desire:

• To claim only “both/and” statements exist is bad-logic because to do so we must accept that both “both/and” and “either/or” statements are possibly, while
• To claim only “either/or” statements exist is also bad-logic because to do so is to accept either a “both/and” or  “either/or” statement could be appropriate to a situation

The other problem with this desire is once it is put into practice.  For example:

• You are either male or female.  You cannot be both.
• All living creatures are either alive or dead.  They can never be both.
• God either exists or He doesn't.  We cannot claim God both exists and doesn't.
• Salvation is either by by faith or not.  We cannot claim salvation is both by faith and something else.
• And yet, Jesus is both man and God.
• Also, you can be both a parent and a child.

In other words, it is possible to have “both/and” logic and “either/or” logic depending on the situation.

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equipping the church

These are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
(Ephesians 4:12-13)

It was Saturday (daytime). I was standing out front of a facility that combined the Australian Institute of Sport (A) and Canberra University (B) (see figure below). Though Sunday church services were still held here, albeit with smaller attendances, already half the seats were full with couples, singles, groups, kids, and older people. Many others continued to arrive, and some by bus. The region people walked through was similar to walking from College Road through the Canberra University car parks onto the campus.

 

Now, while the pastor was preaching, it was unclear as to whether a guest speaker was present or not. In the crowd someone spoke of how many were from the Christian City Church Belconnen; led by Nick at a Pub.  A red haired lady inquired where I was from, to which I responded: “I started at CCC Dickson PM, then CCC Kaleen (night and day), and now this is my home.”

details

• This was indeed the history of my church attendances at the time, but I had never spent time at this location
• There is  a man named Nick who heads the CCC Belconnen group.  It's location is next to door a pub
• Plan is to go speak with this group (date 28 April 2012)

application

Be confident! Being part of the Church of Canberra is a destiny of greatness. God intends that we integrate into a complete body: equipping people in both mind, body and soul, to be mature disciples who can discern and apply the abilities they are given.

• Encourage people to pursue the work God calls them to do
• Release apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers so they would, together, equip people to achieve such work (this is why they exist)
• Persist until there is oneness in faith and knowledge in Jesus
• Persevere until God’s people has attained maturity as measured by Christ

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