I’ve been meditating on Colossians 1:13 for the last few days.  “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.” There is a radical shift that takes place when we align our allegiance with Yahweh and enter His kingdom.  We are baptized into a new way of life.  We begin to see reality through a different worldview.

Even our spiritual genetics change.  We are a new creation and, thus, find that our desires are drawn in different directions than what we were familiar with.  This spiritual DNA is in the makeup of every believer, from the stay-at-home mom to town’s local pastor/priest.  It is the one common denominator that we share as sons of the Living God.

Within these strands of DNA are certain hardcoded characteristics: What we desire, love for fellowship, and (I believe) how we relate to others within the Body.  While the application of these foundational constants may vary based on geography, culture, political climate, etc, there should always be an underlying similarity shared between authentic expressions of Christian ecclesiology.

I trust it’s safe to say that you and I are both homo sapiens.  We share common DNA.  As such, you and I both have an organ on our face called a nose.  We both have a set of ears.  We eat have an opening at the front of our face into which we place various forms of food.  If we eat something with beans we both get gas (maybe?).  Though we are two distinct individuals, there is are expressions of our humanity that are common.  Indeed, these expressions are a witness to the world that we are human beings.

I believe that ecclesiology works the same way.  There can be many authentic expressions of “church” so long as each type holds fast to the foundational building blocks of who we are as a people of God.  These building blocks are determined by the characteristics of our Father, Yahweh.

When I received this revelation, I began to be much less concerned about the outward structure or label applied to a Christian meeting and more concerned with whether the gathering I was a part of modeled the genetic characteristics of my Father.

“On earth as it is in the heavens…”  I think the Father is looking for His people to model community in such a way that reflects the community that exists in the Godhead.  Whether we classify ourselves as “traditionalists,” “house churchists,” or “simple churchists,” the important issue we need to address is this: Does the way I relate to other believers in this fellowship reflect the type of relational community modeled in the Godhead? If not, (a) why do we persist in that practice and (b) how can we change to more closely mimic relational interactions in the Trinity?

I plan to explore this idea in a series of blog postings over the next few weeks.  However, I’d be interested to see others weigh in on what they believe the “common DNA” is that we share as fellow believers and whether it is supported by their present ecclesiology.