In Wholly Jesus, pastor Mark Foreman offers a surprising analogy. He believes that the church should view its gatherings on Sunday mornings (or Saturday nights) as the locker room huddle before the big game. Acknowledging the less-than-sacred connotations of the locker room picture, he defends his picture by contrasting it with the seemingly prevailing understanding of church gatherings as the big event itself.
Life in the world as salt and light is the big event for disciples of Jesus, he contends, and so the gathering of the saints should be more of a locker room huddle in which the players can be challenged, encouraged and inspired to play to their best and win the game. As I have pondered the two alternatives he presents - viewing our weekly gatherings as the performance or the preparation for the performance - I am compelled to agree with brother Foreman. I admit that much of my time is spent in preparation for the gatherings. After all, I am called to preach (which takes preparation throughout the week) and teach (more preparation) to the gathered family of believers here at New Hope. These things aren't just a part of my job description as an employee, they are intrinsic parts to the whole of my Lord's calling. Those who minister in music and those who teach classes - they must prepare for the gatherings as well, mustn't they? Of course. Still, we cannot escape the fact that it is easy to unwittingly communicate to the whole church family that Sunday attendance and involvement is the "big game". It's not!
I believe it was brother Ron Larsen who expressed all this with another sports metaphor: church gatherings are the pit stops in the race (of life). This clarity about the purpose and role of our church gatherings is hugely necessary and helpful for all of us who lead the people of God. If we are determined to train, equip and prepare disciples of Jesus, we must be determined to do this for the world. It is not enough to train more and more people to preach in church or teach in church. We can't be satisfied with just filling up vacant positions of service and leadership within our church structure. We'll do these things because they help us to be efficient and effective in the work of training, equipping and preparing, but these are not the end as much as means to an end.
What is the end, then? What is the bigger goal? Our ultimate aim is to effectively train, equip and prepare the followers of Jesus to live lives in the community and in the world that manifest the nearness and power of God's kingdom. When God's saints do this, it will be the result of the local church's collective commitment to teach, preach, encourage, rebuke, correct, support, provide, forgive, accept, visit, challenge, and - the arch over them all - love. I want to be coach-like in this way. I want to seize the opportunities afforded me in the gatherings of the saints for the purpose of training, equipping and preparing each and every member of the body to live life Sunday through Saturday as fully aware and fully engaged disciples of Jesus and citizens of God's eternal kingdom. More importantly, I want all who lead the church in our gatherings to view our gatherings this way. What are your thoughts on this distinction between the 'big game' and 'the locker room huddle' in considering our gatherings? Please comment to this post and to each other's comments.
Life in the world as salt and light is the big event for disciples of Jesus, he contends, and so the gathering of the saints should be more of a locker room huddle in which the players can be challenged, encouraged and inspired to play to their best and win the game. As I have pondered the two alternatives he presents - viewing our weekly gatherings as the performance or the preparation for the performance - I am compelled to agree with brother Foreman. I admit that much of my time is spent in preparation for the gatherings. After all, I am called to preach (which takes preparation throughout the week) and teach (more preparation) to the gathered family of believers here at New Hope. These things aren't just a part of my job description as an employee, they are intrinsic parts to the whole of my Lord's calling. Those who minister in music and those who teach classes - they must prepare for the gatherings as well, mustn't they? Of course. Still, we cannot escape the fact that it is easy to unwittingly communicate to the whole church family that Sunday attendance and involvement is the "big game". It's not!
I believe it was brother Ron Larsen who expressed all this with another sports metaphor: church gatherings are the pit stops in the race (of life). This clarity about the purpose and role of our church gatherings is hugely necessary and helpful for all of us who lead the people of God. If we are determined to train, equip and prepare disciples of Jesus, we must be determined to do this for the world. It is not enough to train more and more people to preach in church or teach in church. We can't be satisfied with just filling up vacant positions of service and leadership within our church structure. We'll do these things because they help us to be efficient and effective in the work of training, equipping and preparing, but these are not the end as much as means to an end.
What is the end, then? What is the bigger goal? Our ultimate aim is to effectively train, equip and prepare the followers of Jesus to live lives in the community and in the world that manifest the nearness and power of God's kingdom. When God's saints do this, it will be the result of the local church's collective commitment to teach, preach, encourage, rebuke, correct, support, provide, forgive, accept, visit, challenge, and - the arch over them all - love. I want to be coach-like in this way. I want to seize the opportunities afforded me in the gatherings of the saints for the purpose of training, equipping and preparing each and every member of the body to live life Sunday through Saturday as fully aware and fully engaged disciples of Jesus and citizens of God's eternal kingdom. More importantly, I want all who lead the church in our gatherings to view our gatherings this way. What are your thoughts on this distinction between the 'big game' and 'the locker room huddle' in considering our gatherings? Please comment to this post and to each other's comments.
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