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.

By Traver  Dougherty
Published: June 16th, 2009
Source: cmaresources.com

When it comes to organic church life, one of the questions I constantly get is, “What are we supposed to do when we gather?” Although I think that’s a good question, one that 1 Corinthians 14 addresses nicely, I don’t think it’s nearly as good of a question as “How are we supposed to be when we come together?”

All too often, in this consumer culture of ours, we look to get something out of a gathering. To this end, we ask ourselves as we seek to maximize our seemingly-valuable time, “What’s the take away value?” Although this particular mode of thinking is very American, it’s not very Christian.

Here’s the better question: “What added value do I bring to the gathering?”

Well, whatever your answer to that question, we’d all be wise to keep one ‘value-added’ at the top of the list: love.

According to the New Testament, people in the church need to:

• Love one another (Jn 13:34)
• Be devoted to one another and give preference to one another (Rm 12:10)
• Be of the same mind with one another (Rm 15:17)
• Accept one another (Rm 15:17)
• Wait for one another before eating (1 Cor 11:33)
• Care for one another (1 Cor 12:25)
• Greet one another with a holy kiss (2 Cor 13:12)
• Bear one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2)
• Tolerate one another (Eph 4:2)
• Be kind to one another and forgive each other (Eph 4:32)
• Speak to one another is psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Eph 5:19)
• Submit to one another (Eph 5:21)
• Regard one another as more important than oneself (Phil 2:33)
• Share God’s message and admonish one another (Col 3:16)
• Comfort one another (1 Thess 4:18)
• Encourage and build up one another (1 Thess 5:11)
• Live in peace with one another (1 Thess 5:13)
• Confess sins to one another and pray for one another (Jms 5:16)
• Be hospitable to one another (1 Pet  4:9)
• Serve one another (1 Pet 4:10)
• Fellowship with one another (1 Jn 1:7)
• And yes, gather together (Heb 10:25), but not in the form of a worship service but rather in such a way that we can challenge one another to love and good deeds (v24).

In other words, to live out together all the other mandates given above (from Organic Leadership 2009:65, 66).

One of the things I’ve really admired about those in my community of faith is their absolute commitment to all the ‘one anothers’ listed above, including the tougher ones like “tolerate one another.”

In my past church experiences, when the going got tough, the so-called tough got going…to the church down the street. Those in my community, however, won’t have it. Call it maturity. Call it the Spirit. Call it stubborn love. I call it peculiar. Although they’ve all had plenty of reason, humanly speaking, to check out and move on, these people stick because of their undying commitment to the ‘one anothers’.

Why do they stay? And why do they keep in constant contact with one another (phone, facebook, and email)? I think I know the answer. We’re family. And leaving is not an option. Yes, we’ll leave to multiply churches because that’s what people on a mission do, but we won’t leave one another for selfish reasons because leaving isn’t loving. Come to think of it, the whole thing is quite Godlike. “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb 13:5).

When I was growing up my mom and dad often reminded me (still do) that we Christians are to be “a peculiar people” (1 Pet 2:9): as in don’t fit in, different than the world. And frankly, because Mom and Dad drilled the peculiar thing into my head, all my life I’ve been looking for a group of people to be peculiar with. Praise the Lord! It’s happened!

Our Lord has called us to be a peculiar people, has he not? And as a demonstration of this peculiar-ness, God has given us a laundry list of ‘one anothers’ that, if practiced, bring about a clear division (in a good way) between the body of Christ and the rest of the world. This, by the way, is our testimony. “By this,” said Jesus, “all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn 13:35).

It has been close to a year since my wife and I left the traditional church.  For us, it was passion for Jesus and authentic community that led us to consider what life could look like outside the four walls of a building.  In the few first fews  months of the journey, we read many books.  I consumed books on theory and principle, but found myself longing to talk with those who had experienced what we were searching after.  Where were the testimonies, the organic expressions of these concepts being walked out?

Christ in Y’all by Neil Carter, fills that needed divide between theory and practice.  Merging these two concepts, Carter explains in simple, conversational language what it means to encounter God in community outside an institutional/traditional setting.  His focus on community addresses an area of Christian subculture that is, indeed, lacking.

The Nature of Community

Jesus’ words in John 13 are an indibtment against the American concept of Christianity:

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35, NASB).

To our shame, the Church in the West is known by less-appealing characteristics.  We are viewed as hypocritcal, jaded to the suffering of our neighbors, and “out of touch” with the people we work and live among.  In countrast, Jesus desires that the primary means through which our witness goes out to the world is to be love expressed through authentic community.  Carter addresses this need for community head-on in his book.

The focus on community comes from Carter’s understanding of the Trinity.  In one section of his book, he explains how God is better described by the word “community” than “trinity,” which is, itself, a word foreign to our vocabulary.  The oneness of the Godhead is based on mutual submission, preferring one another.  It follows course, then, that the expression of Christ on earth through His body would model the same form of community that exists in the Godhead.

Every Believer A Functioning Member

Perhaps one of the best topics that Carter covers in his book is the idea of mutual participation in church gatherings.  Flowing from the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Cortinthians, Carter builds a case that expression of Jesus in our gatherings is dependant upon each believer actively functioning.  Just as my ear is not a complete expression of myself, neither is one member of Christ’s body the full expression of Christ.

In order for Christ to be expressed through our gatherings, each member must be unchained and released to actively participate.  The implications of this concept on the format of today’s typical church gathering are far-reaching.  In short, it involves a moving away from a clergy/laity hierarchy and replacing 45-minute monologues with round-robin, popcorn-style participation by each member of the Body.

Scorecard: A

Neil Carter presents a compelling case for a simple-church, faith-based community.  His viewpoints are balanced and backed up by scripture and personal experience.  I felt that he was not arguing for the restoration of the New Testament Church, but an examination of basic principles that should be at work in any gathering that bears the DNA of Christ Himself.

The book came with a CD by DeDe, a young woman who participates in the same gatherings as Carter.  In this first EP, DeDe expresses heartfelt songs of worship that birthed out these organic, simple gatherings of the saints.  Her lyrics are strong and thought-provoking.  Be sure to keep an eye out for this female artist in the future.

Editor’s Note: When approaching the concept of simple/organic church, many people ask, “What do your meetings look like?”  If you look outside, you’ll notice that not every plant responds to wind the same way.  Not all flowers look alike.  Similarly, when you approach something that is organic, the expression will not always look the same.

The following article is written by a blogging friend of mine, David D. Flowers.  It is a description of one way that a simple/organic gathering can look like.

Source: The Centrality and Supremacy of Christ by David D. Flowers

This morning we met in our home to worship Christ and fellowship with the saints.

Just so that you have an idea of all that is going on with us through the week, it is good to tell you that we stay connected between our meetings by phone and e-mail. So, its not as if each is removed from our hearts and minds until we see each other face-to-face. Lately, we have been planning the upcoming conference at a nearby college. We are very excited to see how the Lord is bringing this event together. It will help folks in our area learn to know Christ in spirit and experience his life in the church in an organic New Testament fashion.

THE FOOD: Before everyone arrived, my wife prepared Taco salad for lunch after our time of worship. (We have eaten before the meeting, but we get tired.) I e-mailed the saints yesterday to let them know what we were having. Everyone knows that the host home will take care of the main course while others are “free” to bring whatever they would like with it. This works for now. In time, as numbers grow, we may move to everyone bringing a dish. This removes the burden from one person… unless that person enjoys it. Whatever works. We have seen it done other ways.

I say don’t think about it too hard… it’s food… we are going to eat. The main thing is that we share it together and not place a burden on anyone. The meal is very important in the gathering. It is a fundamental element of intimacy and it adds to the natural community we’ve been called to share in Jesus. Without going into a theological treatise on the meal itself… I’ll just leave it at that. It’s what families do!

ARRIVING: The first to arrive were our visitors, James and Linda. I connected with James here at Facebook earlier in the week. They have been on quite a journey themselves. They live right here in our city. As visitors, I told them they didn’t need to bring anything. Nevertheless, Linda brought some delicious beans and jalapeno cornbread! We spoke for about 5 minutes and then the others began arriving.

We all greeted each other with a kiss. Just kidding! (Not that there is anything wrong with it.) We naturally began catching up from the week and swapping stories with James and Linda. I was floored when I noticed that Joel and family knew James and Linda from an early chapter in their journey with the Lord. I’m sure this helped James and Linda to feel a bit more comfortable… even if they were acquainted with meeting an entire group of people for the first time.

THE WORSHIP: We all eventually made our way into the living room (adults and children) and continued our conversations. I passed out our song books (which are a work in progress) while everyone continued talking. What is interesting about organic church life… there is not really a clear time of beginning an end with all that we are doing. What I mean is… nobody says, “OK, sit down, stand up, great your neighbor, OK… let’s sing.” This is foreign to us. That would be unnatural. It’s not what families do.

I will tell you that there is a unified sense that it is time to shift our focus. And everyone goes with it and doesn’t think about the “doing,” just about coming into the presence of Christ with all the saints. The Lord will determine the order and lay on our hearts what he wants to speak to us. The best thing a person can do is to reject the unnatural thought “What now?” and “What should I say?” or “Ooh… awkward silence.” This is concerning yourself with the “doing” and the flow of the meeting. It is not looking to Jesus and allowing him to stand in the middle of your gathering.

This picture has helped me to do away with those old thoughts of organized religion. Jesus is there with you… standing there in the center or reclining on the couch. I don’t care if folks call this “mystical,” it is reality. The more you come to truly know this… the faster you will lose that unnatural nature of religion that hinders the Body from functioning freely and responding to Christ in the meeting.

So we began singing. A person (anyone) will either call out a song and begin singing a few seconds afterward or wait for others to begin together. We are real careful not to rely upon the guitar or any instrument. I am especially sensitive to this because I led worship for many years. When I begin songs now… I don’t see myself any different than anyone else who calls out a song. I am learning to follow their singing instead of them following the guitar. This way a brother or sister can begin singing and I come on in with my instrument.

This morning we sang our last song with just our voices. It is very moving to hear the voices around you. These are people you love, you know, and are sharing Jesus with. It doesn’t get any better than that!

In between the singing, Grant read Scripture that communicated the truth of the song we just sang together. The cool thing was… I know I had that same thing on my heart… others may have as well. The reading of Scripture was of course not planned. It came naturally. We continued singing and there was also prayer. Michael arrived late in the middle of a song. No worries… still in a spirit of worship we welcomed him and he shared a few words. He immediately went to grab some coffee and praised the Lord for it.

At some point the singing began to let up and everyone then shared what was on their heart. One shared something from their week… another a lesson Christ is teaching them. There always seems to be a theme. As a young group, we are still getting to know one another and apprehending Jesus in new ways. This morning, we revisited this truth that Christ is experienced and known through relationships. When doctrine and “being right” is at the center of your faith… you have little to no room for loving folks to Christ. We tend to think that loving folks is slapping them upside the head with doctrine. We seldom trust the Teacher to conform others to himself.

We are still learning that Christ’s love is no strategy to defeat evil and reveal the truth… it is an overflow of his Person. And that love ought to be the overflow of our lives as well. Michael shared, “this is how the world will know we are his disciples” (Jn. 13:35).

Around this time, I shared an excerpt from the first-second century Roman politician and historian, Pliny. He was given the assignment to hunt down Christians and investigate the superstitions that surrounded them. The rumor was that believers had a “love feast” and ate flesh and drank blood (Lord’s Supper). Here is what he had to say about them:

“they met regularly before dawn on a fixed day to chant verses alternately among themselves in honor of Christ as if to a god, and also to bind themselves by oath, not for any criminal purpose, but to abstain from theft, robbery, and adultery… after this it had been their custom to disperse and reassemble later to take food of an ordinary harmless kind.”

James spoke of the tension that ought to exist in a person’s life. The tension that says we are free in Christ, but we have also been given instructions. Too often folks live in one ditch or the other… not finding the balance that is IN CHRIST… the only one who can keep our feet to the road. It is no wonder the Lord has given us these dialectical pairs and this tension in the journey… it continues bringing us back to Christ. Remain in him and he will remain in you. Apart from Christ… we can do nothing. At best, we follow the extreme of cultural crusader or that of the “carnal” and undisciplined child.

We sensed the meeting coming to a close when several of the saints voiced intimate prayers of protection, wisdom, and blessing on the work that Christ is doing among us and in our city. Shortly after, we made our way into the kitchen to eat a very satisfying meal. We enjoyed fellowship with one another, laughed, and cherished our time together.

We will be meeting at Joel’s house on Wednesday night.

Your Brother,
David D. Flowers
http://ddflowers.wordpress.com

Editor’s Note:  Wow!  That’s all I can say to this post.  Neil Cole presents a compelling argument for supporting prayer warriors.  What I appreciate about this post is the emphasis on the elderly and their rightful/important/needed place within the Body of Christ.  Somehow, this seems to resonate within my spirit.  Though I am a supporter of the 24/7 house of prayer model, defining the elderly for this position seems more appropriate and fitting in my understanding of Scripture.

Source: Cole-Slaw by Neil Cole

The second role defined in the New Testament as needing full time support is what Paul calls the “widow indeed” in 1 Timothy 5:3-16 (NASB). Paul delineates clearly what the qualifications are for this role and what the job description is. She is to be at least 60 years old, have no family to support her and to have been faithful in serving the Lord and His people. It appears as though she is to actually make a pledge to serve the Lord and not to be remarried, and for this reason younger women are exempt from this role. Her sole job description is to continually pray, night and day.

This is not just a case of charity. With God’s plan, not only is a woman without means granted stable provision, but perhaps even better, the church is blessed with constant prayer bombarding the throne of God! This has got to be a powerful partnership. Not only is this woman given financial support, but she is also granted a meaningful purpose for her remaining days. She is given a privilege of great significance rather than brushed aside.

Wow. I wonder what our churches would be like if we had apostles starting churches all the time in new areas and among new peoples, and the churches were supported by full-time prayer warriors—night and day! I can’t think of a better investment in kingdom resources. Church would actually be investing in spiritual endeavors of kingdom expansion and we would be investing in spiritual battle with full-time prayers and intercession.

In this cast-aside society where people are routinely brushed off as not valuable because of a lack of vocation or a handicap of sorts, this principle could make a huge difference. In God’s economy there are no useless Christians who are welfare cases. An elderly, arthritic woman who can barely rise to answer the door, is an extremely valued servant who is needed to breakdown walls of separation, destroy spiritual strongholds and set captives free! She has a calling on her life and is supported full time to serve in this way. I can see why Satan would want for us to get away from such a function. He’d much rather we pay a full-time staff person to keep our youth entertained and focused while the adults have fellowship and teaching. Could it be that the enemy is more threatened by this old woman than the highly educated professional pastor! Ouch.

Paul makes one thing clear in this passage that he also made a point of in 1 Cor. 9—the role is not to be a burden to the church if it can be helped (v. 16). We’ve grown accustomed to seeing the church as a burden to the pastor, but Paul saw things the other way around. I think our concerns are often misplaced because our values are far removed from the New Testament. I wonder how our churches would be if we were more concerned for the stress placed on the church than on getting as much from her as we can?

Editor’s Notes: I think this issue is especially pertinent to Western Christianity.  According to recent statistics from the Barna group, annual giving to faith-based organizations is expected to drop significantly in the next few years.  While some may attribute this solely to the economy, I think there’s a larger issue underneath — perhaps I will develop this in a later post.  Take some time to read through Neil’s thoughts and post your comments.  Who has the right to receive financial support from the Body?

Source: Cole-Slaw by Neil Cole

In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul makes a case for his right to make his living from the gospel just as the other apostles do. He even cites the Lord as the source of the directive (v. 14) perhaps a reference to his commissioning of the twelve and the seventy to take no purse with them for a laborer is worthy of his wages (Matt. 10:9-10; Luke 10:4).

Paul and Barnabas, however, forgo their right for such payment and choose rather to work to support themselves. Paul worked as a tentmaker while starting the church in Corinth at least until others arrived to help in the support so as not to be a burden to the emerging church.

Apostolos, the Greek word translated “apostle” means one sent on a mission as a representative or a special envoy. They are the ones to lay a foundation for the expanding church in every region and among every tribe and nation.

Such a role is not limited to a single church in a given region, but is commissioned to church an entire region. They are not likely to manage an existing church, but lay the foundation for others to build upon…and then are likely to go do it again somewhere else.

This role is actually defined as having a “right” to make a living from the preaching of the good news (vv. 3-9). It is important to note, however, that this right can be laid aside and surrendered for the sake of the church as Paul and Barnabas chose to do. This right should never be demanded at the detriment of the church. Have we hurt the church by making her responsible to employ her leaders like a business? I believe the answer to this question is yes, in many ways. Besides draining her of resources, perhaps the worst detriment is how we have segregated the body into a professional class that does the ministry and a nonprofessional class that works hard to pay them.

Source: Cole-Slaw by Neil Cole

This is a very critical question for the church to ask today. In order to approach this subject with cooler heads and calmer hearts, may I suggest we commit ourselves to addressing this from the New Testament rather than from our traditions, practical challenges and emotional bias. Can we read the New Testament as if we never read it before? Can we consider this question as if we did not have 2000 years of history weighing in on our perspective? Can we ask this question divorced from the concern of where our next paycheck will come from or worrying about career choices and educational investments? Probably not, but we should at least try.

It is my personal belief that much of our theology of church financing is dictated by two things. We are heavily influenced by the Old Testament principles of supporting a centralized religious government, and by our own need to support a new centralized religious institution. Frankly, I believe we draw much from the Old Testament for the very reason that we need to support a centralized religious institution and the New Testament is found lacking in that regard. Not that the New Testament is lacking in content about finances, in fact principles of financial stewardship is voluminous in the New Testament. Jesus spoke more about money than about heaven and hell, but the New Testament does away with the centralized religious institution. All of us are priests. All are servants empowered by the anointing of the Holy Spirit for the work of the ministry.

As I have studied the New Testament with this question in mind I have discovered that there are only two roles that are expected to make their living being supported by the church. If we could only pay two roles in the church today, which would we choose? Senior pastors and missionaries? Pastors and worship leaders? Denominational executives and pastors? Push comes to shove, I’d probably want to include a gifted secretary in the mix, but that’s more reflective of my own weakness than of any understanding of the Bible. I am confident that whatever two roles we would choose, they would not be the two mentioned in the New Testament.

In the next few blog posts I will examine this issue and share who is supported “full time” in the NT.

RawReligion.com Editor Comment: What is your take on this subject? What roles do you think should be supported by the Body of Christ?

Source: Cole-Slaw by Neil Cole

Christians who are not clergy are often times instructed by the church to disobey Jesus when they are not allowed to baptize their disciples. The practice of baptism is not something Christ gave to the “clergy,” church organization or institutions, but to all disciples. One of the sayings in our own church-planting movement is: “The Bible doesn’t command us to be baptized but to be baptizers” (Matt. 28:19–20).

There is absolutely no biblical support for the idea that only the clergy in the local church can baptize. Though our traditions and experience may reinforce such standards, the Bible does not. In fact, it is my opinion that the Bible is slanted in the other direction. Those who are seen to be the leaders in the New Testament are often not the ones who are doing the baptizing but instead their disciples are. It specifically states that during Jesus’ baptizing he wasn’t actually the one doing the baptizing but his disciples were. Paul states that he is glad he only baptized a few in Corinth.

It is amazing how much damage the simple idea of baptizing another has caused through church history. People have been killed, cults have been initiated, denominations started and split, heretics burned at the stake, and parachurch organizations have been formed—all because we view baptism in a strange, unbiblical fashion. If we would only read the Bible and take it for what it says literally, rather than defend our “sacred” traditions, the church would be healthier.

We have created spiritual boundaries to manage spiritual practices, but these boundaries are not in the Bible. When false boundaries begin to take on a biblical sense of authority, they are quite insidious. We accept them as truth and even rise to defend them as though they come from the Bible, when they do not. Unfortunately, we are often willing to submit to these false divisions more than to Scripture itself. This is how the subversive strategy of the Enemy causes much damage. Because we have allowed artificial boundaries to separate Christian groups weird things happen.

For instance, one motto for a parachurch ministry has been: “To fulfill the Great Commission in this generation.” This seems honorable, except that they have rules in place that prevent them from ever fulfilling the Great Commission in any place. Right in the middle of the Great Commission is the command to baptize disciples, which they strictly forbid in order to maintain their parachurch status since (in their view) only churches can baptize.

I want to raise awareness of the weird, almost schizophrenic policies we have made in the church. Whether it is separating a spiritual family into voting “members” and silent “nonmembers” or telling Christians to fulfill the Great Commission by disobeying it, false and artificial divisions have caused some strange practices to be established.

Source: Written by Milt Rodriguez

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. And which is smaller than all the seeds; but when it has grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches.” Matt. 13: 31, 32

There have been many church growth movements, models, ministries, and mentors over the last fifty years or so. They all have their differences and yet most are remarkably similar.

In my opinion, most of these “systems” have been setup from within the institutional mindset and geared toward helping pastors fill their pews.

I guess you could say that I was technically an institutional pastor for two years. During that time, the pastors of the group I was in would get together monthly for a prayer breakfast. There were only two topics of discussion at that meeting. How many people do you have in your church; and how much money are you bringing in? There was one pastor who had been very “successful” and had a large church. Some of the other guys thought that if they preached his sermons (word for word!) they would have the same kind of success!

This is typical of the kind of thinking that permeates leadership in institutional churches. Church growth “specialists” have come up with all kinds of whacky ideas to help multiply congregations in the western world. Many of these are the manipulative, forced, and contained methods of Madison Avenue style marketing. They may get people in the pews, but what is going on here, spiritually?

What is the Goal?

The majority of evangelical Christians today believe the purpose and goal of the Church is to evangelize the world. This is why God saved us and this is the reason we are here. In other words, we are here to multiply, so we had better get to it.

Now I understand that when God created man He told him to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:28). But what did God say before that? First, he created man in His image and used plural pronouns (Gen. 1:26). He said, “let Us make man in Our image.” This shows us two things: He wanted an expression of Himself (image), and He wanted that expression to be corporate. This is why He spoke in the plural pronouns.

God is a community of three persons. Father, Son, and Spirit make up the one God. He wanted a community that would express or display His own corporate life.

Then He said He wanted this corporate image of Himself to have dominion or rule over the earth. So we see a God here who wants an expression of His communal nature that rules for Him on the earth. And He wants that community (or race) to be fruitful and multiply. As you can see, multiplication is only one third of the equation here and it is the last part. This is very significant as we will see.

This all happens in Genesis chapter one before the fall. This is God’s original intention and purpose before and beyond the fall. Of course, God knew the fall was going to happen and so He had an “emergency plan.” This is the plan of redemption in Christ. But that did not change His original intention. He still wanted something for Himself above and beyond human need. He still wanted that visible expression of His divine life and love. But here is the problem:

We have made human need the focus of everything and have forgotten that God wants something for Himself!

We got stuck in the “emergency plan” and have abandoned the original plan. God still wants His house, His body, His bride, His family, and His one new man that can express His divine attributes in a shared-life community. And this is His goal!

Don’t get me wrong. He loves us and cares about our needs. He sent His Son to redeem us, heal us, deliver us, etc. But that was all still a part of the “emergency plan.” The purpose of this “e-plan” was to get us back on track with His eternal purpose. Please see the following: Eph. 1:7-14; Eph. 3:3-12; Eph. 4:11-16; Col. 1:24-28; Col. 3:9-11.

His purpose has everything to do with His Son. Ephesians chapter one makes this very clear. He wants to sum up all things in His Son (Eph. 1:9, 10). He wants His body to express the fullness of His Son (Eph. 1:22, 23). And He wants His Son to fill all things (Eph. 4:10).

Premature Growth

I believe when we have an over emphasis on evangelism and mission we end up with very shallow results. We may have lots of numbers, but they may be all zeros! God is looking for quality much more so than quantity. The Father is looking for the measure of Christ (Eph. 4:13). This is true fruit.

In my view, we should not be focusing on the fruit (a.k.a. numerical growth). We should be focusing on the life. If there is the life of Christ flowing in a group, then the fruit will organically be produced at the right time. There are seasons in the life of the Church and one of those seasons is the harvest time. The key is for each believer to learn how to “tap into” the life supply within them so this divine life can flow into the Body (Col. 1:27). Then, just like a tree, everything will develop in due time.

Timing is a huge part of the equation. A tree does not produce fruit right out of the gate. A seedling is not mature enough to produce fruit. In the same way, a five year old girl cannot give birth. She is not yet mature enough. It is not yet her “season”.

We see this in the early church as well. The apostles spent three years living with Jesus before they performed any significant amount of ministry or evangelism. Except for the apostles, there is no record of anyone else preaching or evangelizing in Jerusalem for at least four or five years. Some scholars believe that it may have been up to eight years before the persecution of Saul of Tarsus and the resulting dispersion.

So let’s be really conservative and say that it was five years between the day of Pentecost and the persecution. What were the believers doing all this time? I believe that they were learning Christ. That is, they were learning how to live by the life of an indwelling Lord. This was their equipping. This was their foundation. So then, when the persecution hit, they went throughout Judea preaching the word and new churches were raised up (Acts 8:4). This was possible because they had spent those years before learning Christ!

To Everything there is a Season

My co-workers and I see this same truth in the field as we work with different groups in organic church planting. Most of the folks come out of institutional churches and a new group is not ready to multiply right away. Of course, it is always encouraged to reach out to others and new people coming to Christ are always a wonderful thing. But by and large, in the beginning, that group needs a solid foundation of Christ as their everything. They need ever deepening revelation of Christ and His Church. They need practical help with learning how to live by His life. And they need time to “detoxify” from the systems and mindsets of religion.

If the life is flowing, then the group will grow when it is ready. We have seen this happen many times. But this growth will be “in season” and will be deep and strong. And the fullness of Christ will be expressed through His Body. (Eph. 1:22-23)

Source: Written by Bob Hyatt

It’s more than likely that you’ve heard a message, read a book, or done some thinking about “busyness” in the last year or two. Slightly less likely, but still entirely possible, is that you’ve heard a message, read a book, or done some thinking on “gluttony” during the same time.

It’s highly unlikely that the two were connected. But maybe they should have been.

Why do we say yes to so much? Is it because we are guilt-ridden, co-dependent angst monkeys who lack the willpower to say no? No. We say no to a million things a day. Usually to things that are good for us, but still…when we want to, we know how to say no just fine, thank you.

Is it because we have a drive towards self justification that works itself out in our work and an ever-increasing load of commitments through which we seek to earn the favor of others and God? In part, yes…

But maybe it also has something to do with our appetites.

You know, our appetites for recognition and “importance.” To be liked, appreciated, admired. Even our appetite to “get things done.” And honestly, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But like all things in this broken world, left unchecked by the Spirit and un-submitted to God, our appetite to be liked and our desire to achieve will run out of control.

I’ve been thinking about busyness as though it is a problem to be managed—increase my productivity and I could, of course, accept and keep more commitments, more on my plate… more to feed my ego.

Maybe the problem with busyness isn’t it. Maybe it’s me. Me and my ego and pride.

Conceived of this way, busyness isn’t an issue of time management and productivity, it’s an issue of desire. When is enough, enough? When am I doing enough good things through which that God-given desire to feel productive and useful in this world can be fulfilled? When do I cross the line between finding satisfaction in the good day’s work I put in and trying to find my identity through an ever-increasing load of ego-enhancing commitments?

I spend a lot of time thinking about how people can be more productive in ministry. And don’t get me wrong, I want to continue to work on productivity/time management and all the rest. But until I work through the inner issues of why I try to do so much, all the productivity hacks in the word really just add up to enabling.

In other words, most days I don’t need any more help being productive or managing the stress of work. I think I need help in managing my appetite for applause and the stress of opportunity.

I fear my busyness is simply a sign of my gluttony.