Excerpt from John Piper, Why a Church Covenant?
... Those reflections are now bearing fruit in several ways.
1. Small Groups
Our study is bearing fruit in a heightened sense of priority for ministering to each other in small groups—not just studying, but transmitting God's grace to each other in love, and meeting each other's needs and strengthening each other's faith, and sustaining each other's hope, and keeping each other focused on God, running the race with perseverance.
2. Shepherding Efforts
Our study is bearing fruit in a wider shepherding effort coordinated with this small group network, and overseen by the elders. The aim is to do the best we can not to lose track of people who are not in one of our small groups but who are part of the body and would benefit from regular contact with the leadership of the church. The goal of the elders is to have this structure in place some time in March.
3. A Ministry Mindset in All Members
Our study is bearing fruit in a renewed commitment to foster a ministry mindset in all the members and to create an atmosphere that releases your vision for how to meet needs in the body and spread the truth and beauty of Christ in the city. The elders and ministerial staff exist to equip the saints to dream and do the ministry. We do this through teaching and prayer and inspiration and coordination and oversight, but we do not see ourselves as the primary inventors and organizers of ministry. ...
4. Striving for Right Spirit
Our study is bearing fruit in a deepened sense that structure is not the essential problem when we are not what we ought to be—like not as outgoing to strangers, or not as sensitive to hurts in the body, or not as aggressive in evangelism. Structure is part of the problem, but again and again in our Plenary Sessions last fall people would say, what we are striving for is not the fruit of right structure but right spirit. ...
5. The Covenantal Meaning of the Local Church
Finally, our study is bearing fruit in sending us back to the covenantal meaning of the local church. ... The elders see this as one of the causes of our present weaknesses. We have not been clear and public and well-taught about what it means to be people gathered into a local church by covenant. ... This omission has worked with other forces to reduce the biblical significance of being part of a covenant community.
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2 comments:
We at the NA Church can't just have an unspoken definition of covenant. It really should be defined, spoken, spelled out, and understood. And it should contain the concept of commitment. Are we really commited to each other? John Piper and his folks have learned and recognized that "structure" ("infrastructure") really isn't the most important thing. As he said, "All the structure in the world won't create love and openness and vulnerability and authenticity and friendliness and self-denying acts of kindness". I fear that the construction of a model, or of a format (e.g., Our church has a minister and his name is xyz, and we have a bible study that starts at 9:00am and a worship service that starts at 10:00am, etc., and xyz classes and xyz programs...) provides a sense or feeling of belonging, while the commitment or relationships may not actually exist or be cultivated. We can pay rent and utilities on a building and pay a minister's salary so that we have all the trappings of church, or worship, or ministry - a face and a name in the community - without the depth of commitment and relationships that ought to be present. It is possible to have the things in place that everyone thinks of when they hear the word "church", without actually being the church. I don't want to just go through the motions of church. I don't want to have just a building and a minister so I have some place to go on Sunday mornings instead of staying home and cutting the grass. I want a living, breathing, fully alive body that has all its parts interacting and working together and relating, functioning, and worshipping the Creator! I fear that Structure is just too easy a target to blame or to focus on as the cause of all our woes. You at the NA Church - I love you. -Paul
Thanks Paul.
- Jim
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