Thursday, October 11, 2007

Wrestling with the Church--part 5

It's been stimulating and fun hanging out with Seminary Students these last two days talking about the Church. It's amazing how people who follow Jesus and who are passionate about the Church see the Church so differently. One person really loves traditional, Liturgical worship. One person thinks the church needs to go with contemporary forms of worship. Another person says it's not about worship but about community and mission.

I met a young (younger than I am anyway) woman who is starting a unique kind of church in urban Denver. She's leading a mission to urban young adults, in what some refer to as an "emerging church." Without going into exactly what an emerging church is, suffice it to say that it will look very different than Grace does. Nadia is a very gifted, passionate pastor who will lead this new adventure of faith. It's hard for me to even put into words what she's up to, but the new community will utilize some forms of worship from the ancient church but keep it rooted in every day life.

The point is that God works through many different kinds of churches because one church cannot contain all that God is. Nor can one church possibly reach all kinds of people. So part of following Jesus on the bold, daring, reckless adventure of grace is to hear clearly from Jesus what kind of mission he wants us to build and then to stay passionately focused on that mission. One form of church/mission is not better than another. But one is best for us at this time in our history.

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