Church: Communities of People Surfacing to do Gospel in the World
This past weekend I participated in a convocation sponsored by the Center for Parish Development. The theme of the weekend focused on "Led by the Spirit, Learning to be Church" and the presenter was Thomas R. Hawkins. The next few blogs will highlight some of the learnings I gained from this time together.
One of the sentences that took hold of my imagination was -- "pockets of people surfacing to do Gospel in the world." This grew out of the conversation we were having as a group on "Fellowship." Fellowship is more than hanging out together, chatting, drinking coffee and having a good time together -- though it involves those things, it is actually a partnership with one another as we partner together in Christ Jesus and through him we partner together with God in God's mission -- the enacting of the Gospel of the kingdom or reign of God.
As the community of Christ in the world we find that we are actually communities -- we exist in all kinds of geographic places, all kinds of ethnic contexts, urban, rural, rurban, suburban, etc, in all kinds of socioeconomic settings -- though we are one community (we are one in Christ), we live and have our being in every imaginable setting.
So what is our identity in these settings? How are we salt and light in these settings?
The image that is a helpful one for me is seeing ourselves as "pockets of people (or pockets of communities) surfacing to do Gospel in the world."
We are groupings of people, gathered communities, who live not for ourselves, but to actively reveal the present activity of God in the world -- as we consciously participate with God in fulfilling God's redemptive purpose in the world. And as we live in such a way, we pepper the neighborhoods, towns and cities we are in with visible and concrete actions of the Gospel -- we become communities of people who live out life in places where love, peace, and joy have been shoved into a corner. As "pockets of people" we surface in all kinds of ways -- through relational encounters -- in which we bring the realities of Gospel, the presence of Christ and the Spirit into every situation.
And as a result -- we bring light and life -- not as a program -- but just through our living -- so that others can enter into life as well.
One of the sentences that took hold of my imagination was -- "pockets of people surfacing to do Gospel in the world." This grew out of the conversation we were having as a group on "Fellowship." Fellowship is more than hanging out together, chatting, drinking coffee and having a good time together -- though it involves those things, it is actually a partnership with one another as we partner together in Christ Jesus and through him we partner together with God in God's mission -- the enacting of the Gospel of the kingdom or reign of God.
As the community of Christ in the world we find that we are actually communities -- we exist in all kinds of geographic places, all kinds of ethnic contexts, urban, rural, rurban, suburban, etc, in all kinds of socioeconomic settings -- though we are one community (we are one in Christ), we live and have our being in every imaginable setting.
So what is our identity in these settings? How are we salt and light in these settings?
The image that is a helpful one for me is seeing ourselves as "pockets of people (or pockets of communities) surfacing to do Gospel in the world."
We are groupings of people, gathered communities, who live not for ourselves, but to actively reveal the present activity of God in the world -- as we consciously participate with God in fulfilling God's redemptive purpose in the world. And as we live in such a way, we pepper the neighborhoods, towns and cities we are in with visible and concrete actions of the Gospel -- we become communities of people who live out life in places where love, peace, and joy have been shoved into a corner. As "pockets of people" we surface in all kinds of ways -- through relational encounters -- in which we bring the realities of Gospel, the presence of Christ and the Spirit into every situation.
And as a result -- we bring light and life -- not as a program -- but just through our living -- so that others can enter into life as well.
posted by Roland G. Kuhl at 9:33 AM
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