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{"id":33701,"date":"2012-10-24T05:15:20","date_gmt":"2012-10-24T10:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?p=33701"},"modified":"2012-10-24T05:32:54","modified_gmt":"2012-10-24T10:32:54","slug":"church-institution-for-overactive-consciences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2012\/10\/24\/church-institution-for-overactive-consciences\/","title":{"rendered":"Church: Institution for Overactive Consciences?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>So what is that many of us are members of, participants in? Just what is this thing called \u201cchurch\u201d? I like it when pastors theologize, so when Andy Stanley gets to doing theology I want to see how he thinks. I know how he preaches; I know how he writes; but in his new book\u00a0Deep & Wide<\/em><\/a><\/strong> he ponders what a church is.<\/p>\n

First, he contends a church is a movement and not an institution; its organic and not an organization. Too many think the church is an institution for overactive consciences (51). \u00a0Many of us (count me one of them) run from such institutions. He defines a church as a \u201cgloriously messy movement with a laser-focused message and a global mission\u201d (51). \u00a0He gives us a sketch of church history that would sound like Yoder\u2019s polemic against Constantine if I didn\u2019t know this is an old Baptist story. He\u2019s got good points; it\u2019s more complex, but he\u2019s right that Constantine\u2019s engines made the church far more institutional, hierarchical and authoritarian than it had been. Stanley\u2019s thesis is that the word \u201cchurch\u201d (ekklesia<\/em>) in the NT means \u201cgathered ones\u201d and \u201ccongregation\u201d and not a building, not an institution \u2014 it\u2019s a movement, not a location. His story means the Reformers, beginning with Tyndale, recovered the movement element.<\/p>\n

What do you think of his grace and<\/em> truth approach to ministry?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If I chose one good example of this I\u2019d choose Acts 15, as does Andy. How does grace and truth manifest itself in the Jerusalem Council\u2019s decision? Was that simple exegesis or was that a step beyond the Bible?\u00a0<\/strong>Andy quotes Acts 15:19 and says \u201cchurches shouldn\u2019t do anything that makes it unnecessarily difficult for people who are turning to God\u201d (91).<\/p>\n

Second, Stanley offers what I think is one of the finest essays into the tension and messiness of genuinely Spirit-led pastoral theology. His theme is that gospel work is about \u201ctruth\u00a0and<\/em> grace\u201d and not one or the other, not one first and the other second, but always both at the same time.<\/p>\n

When the word \u201cand\u201d is added, tension arises. He opens with a classic story about his father\u2019s church and the gay parade and that they decided to let everyone out early and they were to exit the back of the church so they\u2019d miss the parade\u2026 but they let out on time and everyone watched and they saw the Methodists handing out cold water to those in the parade and \u201cIt was embarrassing\u201d (71).<\/p>\n

Who is the church for? Sinners. Can we welcome the sinners or do they have to get cleaned up first? It\u2019s not \u201cJust as I am\u201d but \u201cJust as I ought to be (and if not I\u2019ll fake it).\u201d That\u2019s not from Andy. \u201c\u2026this is in fact a tension to manage and not a problem to solve or really even a question to answer\u201d (72). Some of this was in italics. \u00a0\u201cChurches designed for saved people are full of hypocrites\u201d (74). Conservative churches are big on truth and too often lose grace; liberal churches are big on grace and too often lose truth.<\/p>\n

Jesus embodied grace and truth\u00a0and what he did was neither fair nor consistent<\/em>. \u00a0He gives folks a full dose of truth as in \u201cYou\u2019re a sinner and you\u2019re forgiven.\u201d<\/p>\n

Living grace\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>truth is real messy.<\/p>\n

North Point\u2019s approach: we \u201cwade in hip-deep and sort things out one relationship, one conversation, at a time\u201d (78). Here are some examples\u2026<\/p>\n

they put people in leadership too early\u2026 adults learn on a need-to-know basis\u2026. no formal leadership training \u2026 we encourage non-believers to sign up for short-term mission trips\u2026 they don\u2019t lead\u2026. it doesn\u2019t seem fair \u2026 \u201cWe let women baptize. I\u2019m not confident with that. I let \u2019em do it anyway\u201d (80). Andy thinks remarriage is sin and teaches that; they allow remarried couples to lead at every level in the congregation. They don\u2019t do charity work; they support local charities. Big time. \u201cOur doctrinal statement is conservative. Our approach to ministry is not\u201d (81). Got problems? That\u2019s the tension. He reads all the critical mail; he responds personally to the most critical.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why we need grace and truth: \u201cEither you were a mess, are a mess, or are one dumb decision away from becoming a mess\u201d (82). Grace takes you as you are and welcomes you home. That\u2019s grace and truth.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"