More Thoughts on Diversifying
I have trying to think of ways to express a direction that we must head at out Church if we are to be more than a church of our temporal culture. I am not putting this out there as some thoughts that it is a brilliant manifesto or anything like that, I realize that many people out there have done for more thinking on this topic long before I even thought about it, but I want to write up some of my thoughts just for practice in clarifying why I believe my church might be numerically growing while at the same time acting as a collector of the dead if we do not take on this issue.
P.F.
We must seek to intentionally encounter a broader diversity inside our local church body.
We must seek ways of inviting people of cultural, racial, ideological, and economic, gender and generational diversity into visibly meaningful participation and contribution of this church.
As this develops, several things will happen.
#1 We as a church will be blessed with a fuller picture of God’s love and redemption.
#2 We as a church will play a song of praise to the Lord that will include more of the instruments which He has created. These instruments were created by God as distinctly different instruments, and to go about either ignoring them or trying to change them into sounding like us is a rejection of God’s wisdom in creating beautifully different voices.
#3 A passion for God’s mission on earth will grow inside of us as we begin to hear other voices expressing ways they see God’s kingdom can be done on earth as it is in heaven.
#4 We become a church better prepared for the future and will not fall into irrelevancy as one current culture fades and another rises.
#5 We become a place where those who are coming to God with honest questions will be encouraged in their honesty. As people see that our church is made of people who do not all understand and express reality in the same ways, they will not feel pressure to put on spiritual masks in hopes of fitting in. Instead, they will see a choir composed of different sounding voices, and God will teach them his songs as they open up and sing without fear from their different sounding voice.
#6 We become a place where loving one’s neighbor may be actively practiced for our benefit and God’s glory.
#7 As we encounter and welcome people with different backgrounds and understandings of the world, we become a people increasingly humble before each other and God as we begin to realize the inadequacy of a single culture’s wisdom as well as the inadequacy of all humanity’s wisdom. Knowing the right things and saying them in the right ways will take a back seat to loving each other and loving God.
#8 We learn something about the Gospel and God’s Kingdom when we engage with voices different than our own.
P.F.
We must seek to intentionally encounter a broader diversity inside our local church body.
We must seek ways of inviting people of cultural, racial, ideological, and economic, gender and generational diversity into visibly meaningful participation and contribution of this church.
As this develops, several things will happen.
#1 We as a church will be blessed with a fuller picture of God’s love and redemption.
#2 We as a church will play a song of praise to the Lord that will include more of the instruments which He has created. These instruments were created by God as distinctly different instruments, and to go about either ignoring them or trying to change them into sounding like us is a rejection of God’s wisdom in creating beautifully different voices.
#3 A passion for God’s mission on earth will grow inside of us as we begin to hear other voices expressing ways they see God’s kingdom can be done on earth as it is in heaven.
#4 We become a church better prepared for the future and will not fall into irrelevancy as one current culture fades and another rises.
#5 We become a place where those who are coming to God with honest questions will be encouraged in their honesty. As people see that our church is made of people who do not all understand and express reality in the same ways, they will not feel pressure to put on spiritual masks in hopes of fitting in. Instead, they will see a choir composed of different sounding voices, and God will teach them his songs as they open up and sing without fear from their different sounding voice.
#6 We become a place where loving one’s neighbor may be actively practiced for our benefit and God’s glory.
#7 As we encounter and welcome people with different backgrounds and understandings of the world, we become a people increasingly humble before each other and God as we begin to realize the inadequacy of a single culture’s wisdom as well as the inadequacy of all humanity’s wisdom. Knowing the right things and saying them in the right ways will take a back seat to loving each other and loving God.
#8 We learn something about the Gospel and God’s Kingdom when we engage with voices different than our own.
posted by Post_Fidelitas at 5:11 PM
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