2nd man united

The Ordinary Radicals

Looking forward to the release of this documentary in September.

The Ordinary Radicals - Trailer from Jamie Moffett on Vimeo.

Question of the Week - 8/25/08

There has begun a revolution in the Church of the Western world as many Christians are starting to find new (but ancient) expressions of Christianity, while those sticking to the old paradigm are challenging and resisting the new.  There seem to be two camps when it comes to the method which Christians should use to find and promote these new expressions of Church.

1.  Transitional - We should work within the Institutional Church to carefully bring people along, expose them to truth and slowly change their mindsets.  This comes with the understanding that it may take decades to accomplish and the realization that God is calling us to be patient with His people as He transitions them.  They claim that the revolutional method creates sects and division that is uncharacteristic of the Kingdom of God, a sort of "our church is better than your church" motto, and therefore not productive.  While believing that the Institutional Church structure is not right, they say that we should not "throw the baby out with the bathwater."

2.  Revolutional - We are simply called to do what's right, to live in the Kingdom of God and to manifest God's ways in our lives.  This comes with the understanding that most people are not going to come along at first, but the realization that God is calling us to be His people and fulfill His purpose with whoever may come along.  This camp believes that the transitional method very rarely works and that there's no reason to wait decades to see if it will when we can do it right now.  There's no reason to compromise God's ways and structure, but we should set an example for our brothers and sisters while loving them.  If we do what's right, the Lord will produce fruit that others will be naturally attracted to.

So, what would Jesus do?

Episode 2: The Family of the Church

Summary:

By looking at the structure God intended for the Church to have from the start, and defining the functions that should naturally flow from it, we should be able to examine our own Christian communities and draw conclusions as to how they compare.  There are many organic structures/metaphors used in the Bible to characterize the Church and the Kingdom of God.  These images include the body, a bride, a field, seeds, trees, vines, animals and more.  In this episode, we're going to take a short look at the New Testament writer's favorite one; the family.

Listen to The Family of the Church

Download The Family of the Church Show Notes

The Body of Christ Cliche

A cliche is "a phrase, expression, or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its intended force or novelty, especially when at some time it was considered distinctivley forceful or novel."  Is it me, or is the Body of Christ metaphor for the Church becoming cliche?  It seems to me like people are just throwing the term around everywhere I go.  The have a basic understanding of the concept, but the practical implications are lacking.  Sadly, I think we are missing so much to be had from it.

In I Corinthians 12:12, the Apostle Paul describes the Church in this way;  "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.  So it is with Christ."  So Christ is exactly like the human body when it comes to structure.  The human body is many body parts that are connected in such a way that they look and operate like one body.  So, Christ is many Christians that are connected in such a way that they look and operate like one Christian.  So, let's go get a bunch of ropes and crazy glue and attach ourselves together, cram into a big house and open one bank account for all of us.  Or, let's learn together what the body of Christ truly is and align ourselves with it!

Both the human body and Christ contain what is known as anatomy and physiology.  Although they may only look like words some kid may have spelled to win this year's national spelling bee, they are vital concepts to understanding this analogy.  And for those whose only memories of these terms recall drawings of naked and transparent bodies in Health class text books, let's make sure we understand what they are.  Anatomy is the structure of the parts of the body and how they fit together as one cohesive unit to carry out the body's physiology, or intended function.  In other words, structure determines function. 

Every time a question is asked as to why a human body part functions a certain way, the answer is always the same; because it's structured to.  Seriously, if it was only for looks would anyone have any feet?  Have you taken a good look at those things lately?  The brain is structured to transmit signals.  The heart is structured to pump.  The stomach is structured to digest food; and so on.  If you change the structure of those parts in any way, you change how it functions. "So it is with Christ."

Download "The Anatomy of the Church" podcast for further discussion at 2ndmanunited.com