Jesus Creed
Spiritual disciplines have been given plenty of attention in the last decade, but “church” spiritual disciplines need some serious discussion. In James Bryan Smith’s new book, The Good and Beautiful Community: Following the Spirit, Extending Grace, Demonstrating Love (The Apprentice Series)
The sixth characteristic is “encouraging.” The theme of the chp though is not just “here’s how to encourage me so I feel better” but “encouragement to grow.”
The chp begins with a sketch of Tom Smith’s church in Johannesburg, called Clay Pot, a community that renews its commitment to one another every January — and it is a serious commitment for a serious community.
Many people talk about wanting community; few know the commitment such community entails.
What is your church doing to be more “encouraging”? What does it take for a local church to become an “accountable” church?
The false narrative that is bedeviling Western Christianity is that the church is there to serve me; the true narrative, a narrative that needs to be planted deeper into us, is that the community exists to shape us — to form us — to expect from us — to keep us accountable — to encourage us.
So a church community has a responsibility to offer such things as worship and breaking of bread and teaching etc … and that it means it has the right to encourage us to be formed by such things.
How does it do this?Three things:
1. It reminds us of who we are: we are in Christ, and all that entails.
2. It shows us what we can become: loving, holy, serving, just, etc.. To reflect God’s glory and to be conformed to the image of Christ.
3. It holds us accountable — which makes us uneasy but there is pastoral tact, sensitivity, etc.
He uses as an illustration, the societies of the Wesleys.
He finds three questions for accountability with a friend, one we can trust:
1. How is your soul? (inner life, walk with Christ etc)
2. In what ways do you need to be encouraged right now?
3. What, if anything, is holding you back right now?
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