Non-Negotiable?
Following up last Friday night's Preparation Team meeting, I'd like to start a little debate. Rules: you have to back up your thoughts with Scripture, and you have to be willing to mix it up a little. No getting your feelings hurt if someone challenges your ideas.
So here's the question: when it comes to structuring a church, what things are non-negotiable? What do we HAVE to have in order to be a church? And by contrast, which things are NOT actually essential to the life of God's people, and are instead assimilated from the culture we've grown up in?
Click "Comment" below to add your thoughts.
So here's the question: when it comes to structuring a church, what things are non-negotiable? What do we HAVE to have in order to be a church? And by contrast, which things are NOT actually essential to the life of God's people, and are instead assimilated from the culture we've grown up in?
Click "Comment" below to add your thoughts.
posted by Bob | 7:48 AM
4 Comments:
WHAT A CHURCH MUST HAVE...
A church must exalt Jesus as Lord and believe that He, being God himself is the ONLY way to God. He is the Mediator between God and man.
A church must only rely on the authentic Word of God as it's foundation of truth.
A church must call sin "sin" and must confront habitual sin in the life of a saint.
A church must have spiritual leaders that point them to Jesus as the only way to God and point them to the Scriptures for answers for every aspect of life.
WHAT A CHURCH MUST NOT DO
A church should never follow man's ideas which is happening so much in today's church studying the likes of Brennan Manning, McManus, Rick Warren, Sun Young Moon or whomever. These people are fallable and everyone has written best-selling books that do not line up with the Word of God.
A church should never instruct God on what He should do for them but seek the face of God and do His will no matter what.
I think a church MUST have:
1) The Lord's Supper (Communion)
2) Sound Teaching from The Bible (that revolves around the redemtive story of Christ)
3) Pastor and Elders
4) Baptism
5) A blog (I think they did this on scrolls back in the day)
6) Techno music/worship
7) Polo shirts with a fish symbol on them
Ok, well maybe we don't need #5-7 - but surely the other ones.
Tyler, you forgot #8: At least 1 member of church leadership needs to wear the "christian goatee"- that little patch of hair on the chin. Preferably a male member of the leadership, but we can be flexible! I believe the scriptural support is in Habbakuk somewhere...
Actually, Lane, the ratio of christian goatees goes up exponentially according to 1) the number of single men and/or artists in the church 2) the number of people who use terms like 'postmodern' or 'emerging' and 3) the amount of coffee consumed weekly by church members.
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