More than personally transforming…

We live in an exciting era in the American Church. An era that will very likely see a tremendous amount of change as leaders discover what Richard Stearns writes in his introduction of The Hole In Our Gospel, that “…being a Christian, or follower of Jesus Christ, requires much more than having a personal and transforming relationship with God. It also entails a public and transforming relationship with the world.” (p.2)

This is an age where we begin to see a new fleshing out of what it means to be an ambassador of Jesus Christ. With the invention of beta testing and continuous app updates we have been given an opportunity to investigate and experiment with what it means to be the Church while maintaining much of the doctrine to which we already ascribe. We are being given permission to refuse to arrive, and to always alter and adapt how we participate in our faith. Many are already beginning that experimentation, like Shaun King in Atlanta, and while that may look like a failed experiment I believe his audacious experiment to have done much to move a community toward Redemption. I don’t necessarily think everyone should go try what Shaun tried because I think a different leader does something different, but the fact that the Church must involve people penetrating the community is being understood once again on a scale unseen in my lifetime.

This public penetration is necessary to see all people of all nations come to an understanding of who Jesus is, and it will be necessary in order to maintain the authenticity and authority of the Church with those who follow us. The knowledge of, and belief in Jesus is not just for us, but our neighbor should also benefit, and benefit from us not the preacher or the worship service or the Bible class, but us, personally.