A good place to start discussing Church of God issues is to reflect on the North American Convention in Anderson which ended last week. Having always lived on the geographic fringes of this movement, I don't make it to Anderson every year, and even this year I was unable to take in the entire convention due to some family obligations. Nevertheless, I dohave some observations to share.
This year's event exceeded my expectations. To be honest, most years I make the pilgrimage to Indiana with some reluctance. I believe we are far too Anderson-centric, and that the Church of God tends to be overly influenced by Midwestern Evangelical culture, and therefore has had a difficult time expressing itself in other contexts. Maybe I noticed it more because of being absent for a few years, but I detected some significant changes in 2005. Sure, not meeting in the "dome" shook things up (and I will get back to that topic in the next few days), but I sensed shifts in attitudes and perspectives that left me feeling hopeful for our future.
Apart from the meaningful interactions I had with friends and past acquaintances, I was especially challenged by Reggie McNeal's message on Monday evening which complemented the conferences he led for pastors earlier in the day. (Watch it online if you missed it at www.chog.org - NOTE: a higher quality video and audio version will be available next week). Entitled "Mission or Refuge: Your Choice", McNeal delivered a powerful call for the missional church, couched in language readily understood by those in attendance. I believe that he was serious when he said that as a reformation movement the Church of God can have a major impact on the larger North American church. But, we have a choice to make. Will we retreat into refuge, or will we recover our mission? McNeal went on to demonstrate that our mission is not centered in the church, but takes place when we recog nize where God is already at work in the world. As he reminded us during his conference, being missional is a matter of being turned to culture versus being stuck in maintenance mode.
Making the missional choice is not something that can be mandated from Anderson to the congregations. But, based on the conversations I am engaged in, I sense a growing awareness of and commitment toward being an incarnational church within this complex, post-Christian society in which we find ourselves. Many are making the missional choice, and our movement and world can be deeply impacted by it.
1 comment:
the missional choice should be central to our value system. the other issues of the church of God, Holiness, Unity, or any of the other 5 vision statements should also stem from the original purpose of the church commissioned by Christ and empowerd by the Spirit: Reach the Lost
as Jim Lyon pointed out in his message on Wednesday evening, Luke 19:10 gives the purpose of Christ's incarnation, He came "to seek and save the lost"
in the message i gave to our congregation on Sunday, June 26 (before we left for the NAC) had this outline:
The mission of Christ (Luke 19:10) was commissioned to the disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).
So how did the priority of the early church (Acts 5:42) become just part of our plan? (Proverbs 24:11-12)
i was thrilled with the content of the messages at the NAC because they all shared this value of returning to mission
let's share and encourage one another to this purpose. so how are you leading missional mindset, lifetstyle, and ministries within your own churches?
Post a Comment