The Church Series: Summary & Recap (Part 25)

We started a series on the church back in July of 2022 and a year
and a half later we are wrapping It up.  Today we’re going
to recap where we’ve been. 


The big idea is that the church is not an institution … it’s an
organism (it’s organic)!


·      There was equality- No
clergy/laity divide


·      The giftings of the entire body
were active to display Jesus


·      They met face to face throughout
the week in relationships





7 Churches of Revelation (Nationalism and Dispensationalism)


The point of looking at these 7 churches is that it pointed out
Jesus’ ideals in his Body. Much of the issues here deals with the
World seeping into the church.


 Leadership and Oversight


the glaring question we need to ask is “Are these offices or
simply people using their god given gifts?”  Positional
thinking is hung up on nouns, while functional thinking
stresses verbs. 


The view of oversight in the NT church is about the whole body
operating in their giftings and being discipled by those who are
wise, mature, and have the character of Christ in them. This is
what leadership and oversight looks like rather than the CEO
structure that focuses on offices and hierarchy which hurts the
church. 


5-Fold Ministry


Ephesians 4 describes these as “ascension gifts” not “ascension
offices”.  This entire chapter focuses on unity in the body
of Christ, not positions which divide clergy from
laity.Reimagining GiftsSpiritual gifts are not about hierarchy
but about building up the body of Christ. The church is a body- a
mutual and co-equal body- that reflects Jesus. There is no
hierarchy in giftings. These giftings don’t lead to an office,
though some might lead or administrate in their gifting better
than others based on maturity and humility- we should all
mutually submit to each other. 


Reimagining Community


·      Spiritually- We need to be
together in spiritual friendship gathering around the Way of
Jesus, studying scripture, breaking bread, praying for each
other. DEVOTED- They devoted themselves to these things.


·      Physically- meeting the needs of
the community, being generous and being available. 


·      Emotionally- This is about
completeness and transformation- How is our mindset and focus? Is
it singularly on Jesus or is there entanglement with the world?


·      Missionally- Do we live in unity
or are there offenses and divisions among us that we have swept
under the rug? Division and disunity kills the mission to be
lights to the world. 


Reimagining Giving


The main ideals of giving in the New Covenant:


·      Give Cheerfully


·      Take care of fellow believers (and support
the work of the Lord)·      Care for the
least of these


·      Celebrate God (see communion and
the love feast in 1 Cor 11)





Whenever the church gathers together, its guiding and functioning
principal is simply to incarnate Christ (1 Cor 12:12)


The Edenic Ideal:


We always take everything back to God’s ideals. The Bible begins
and ends with Eden. New Creation has broken into the present
through the resurrection, so the church should be living
according to God’s ideals in our communities even if the world
looks completely opposite. God’s eternal purpose was to have
a people in relationship with him working in equality under God’s
kingship. This is God’s ideal for his church too. Each of us
bringing our gifts to the altar/table and using them to image him
to creation. 


·      The western view of leadership
connected to authority, hierarchy, control, and covering has
handcuffed the bride of Christ - making her ineffective for the
kingdom. 


·      We need to get back to the
servant mindset rather than the CEO leader mindset in the church


·      We need more feet washing and
less discussions about “who’s your covering” 


·      More mutual submission and less
“human headship”


·      More family, less institution


·      More verbs, less nouns