Whether we realize it or not, we all have an idealized understanding of what church should be and how it should look; this includes how we judge a church to be "good" or "bad". Everybody has an ideal (even if it's "there shouldn't be an ideal") of what they believe church should be. My church, University Reformed Church, is going through a lot of change recently (and not so recently), and my constant prayer is that we would not loose site of the the biblical understanding of what it means to be the Body of Christ. There are 10 areas that I believe the Lord calling the Church to reform, and these are:
- Total love and devotion to our liege Lord Jesus Christ. This is the most encompassing and most difficult item in this list. To keep Christ first before us means that we, in life, remain devoted and preoccupied to His name-sake (Mark 12:30, I Pet 2:17). Even when this devotion would mean that we're not "nice", we cause trouble and sacrifice greatly. It should be our aim that we would begin to loose sight of what Jesus means to me or to us and gain a deep understanding of who Jesus is and what he has already done for His Children, for the delight and sake of His own Glory. We would then be a people that expects victory of Christ and His Word in every institution, every business, every book, in all walks of life. We would proclaim that Christ is King and that the world Kiss the Son, lest he be angry. In doing this, we would agree that in this life we are to be colonists rather than exiles, practicing dominion in everything we do.
- The congregation would understand that the Gospel is not the most important thing. Getting the message out or any other good and nobel thing is not the most important activity that the Church undertakes and is not our highest duty as a body. The Worship and Glory of God is to be our first and foremost concern (Dan 9:4). Our Corporate Worship would be mindful, most of all, of the magnificent, dread God we serve. We would seek out opportunities then to make sure all of our liturgy falls within this understanding of Majesty, even in how we align the chairs, adorn the walls, or otherwise outfit the sanctuary. This would also mean that we would be in the habit of singing the Lord's words back to Him; fostering an attitude of humble obedience, rather than self-fulfillment. Finally, we would have a very high regard for the means of Grace in the Table and the Baptizing of families, looking forward to and celebrating each.
- Patience and grace with the work of the Lord (Gen 49:18,Ps 25:2, 27:14). We, as God's people have been given much. Especially those within the tradition that hold to the Solas and the doctrines of Grace. Rather than getting irritated with people who just "don't get it", we would be a congregation that is known for the Love of Christ (Jm 1:26, 3:5), love for His Truth and a patient attitude waiting on His providential Hand for Reformation within the Church (I Cor 13:4) and every other area of life. We expect our Lord to fulfill His promises and we wait patiently for them while at the same time cry out for His mercies every day. To that end, the church would be a humble congregation in all that it does - that would would be a people that is characterized with the understanding that we are not alone in "doing church" and that we should not be alone. That we would rely heavily on the Word of God and those that have gone before us to provide us much needed advice on all that is to be "church".
- Christianity is a public belief system. We would hear more and more from the leadership about Public-Sphere sins of our local, State and Federal governments, calling those that rule over us to repentance with the same vigor as we call the congregation to personal holiness
(Mt 28:18). Until God does see fit to grant us Reformation, we would see that Christians do not currently have a political party, carte blanche, that represents the Biblical mandate for government and the public square (2 Tim 3:16-17, Mat 4:4). We would understand that our loyalty to our King would prevent us from voting for dark and un-biblical policies and politicians. Through the preaching of the Gospel, we would then seek to reform every political institution at every level of authority (Ps 119:160).
- We would shepherd within and to the family and fervent reliance upon Prayer and Worship within the family. The Leadership and church would support this effort with training, small groups, and other avenues that encourage and enable this most basic activity of family life. Under a biblical conviction of shepherding, we may need to look at greatly increasing the number of Elders to provide discipline (mostly positive and some negative), with the understanding that true and normal discipline is the on-going preaching and teaching and consistent application of the Word within the family over a long period of time.
- The importance of the "trustee family" as the most atomic, ordained unit of society, including that of the church. We, as the body of Christ need to preach, teach and uphold, the Biblical doctrine of the family where the husband is the covenant head, a steward of responsibilities before the Lord and the wife is her husband’s help-meet, unto the Lord. Members of the family see themselves as trustees of the family blood, rights, property, name, and position for their lifetime. They have an inheritance from the past to be preserved and developed for the future. The future-focused family is under God, the trustee of children, property, inheritance, welfare, and education. It manages the basic areas of social power in terms of God’s law and grace. Leadership then works within this framework to administer Word and Sacrament.
- The care for the poor and needy within our midst that rivals and shames the State Institutions. By God's grace, we would realize that the comforts in our life and culture are a blessing but not a necessity. On the whole, the congregation would make the Christian lifestyle, especially in the area of personal finances, a reality. This means that each of us, in service to others would be more independent from the "grid" and other financial obligations so that we can make needed adjustments as needs arise in the body. Furthermore, we would follow the Deuteronomy model (12:6, 12:11, 12:17, 14:22, 14:23, 14:28) and establish a fund for interest-free loans to the needy within the congregation, along with a "tithe barn" or other "banks" of goods (Mal 3:10) to help those in need. We must understand that God has established the local Church (not the para-church) for the daily ministry of the saints of God. As we are called to be a "praying and preaching" church, we are likewise called to be a Tithing Church (Lev 27:30, Prov 3:9, Mat 23:23). But first, the congregation will have to change many of our habits that we just accept as "normal American" before we can be the tangible witness to the community (I Cor 16:1,2 ). We ought to be a people characterized by financial freedom instead of financial slavery.
- Our Gospel mission would be all-encompassing. We would understand that Evangelism is not limited by the awkward sales pitch but instead it is an all-inclusive activity in all walks of life wherever there is truth to proclaim. Our missional outlook would be vibrant with an understanding of Church Planting and effective families as the primary means by which the Lord grows his Kingdom. We would also understand that there is missionary work to be done everywhere and that we would not single out a class, a window, or a geographical area of the world as being special or unique to this effort. We are to work wherever Christ is not Worshipped as King. To this end, I would hope that our yearly budget would reflect this understanding and would include often overlooked but viable outreach efforts including adoption, child foster care, crisis pregnancy care, church planting, and Pastoral training and sending to areas of need.
- In Praise of Unity and Diversity. We have to come to grip with the One and the Many - unity and diversity. We respect our racial and cultural differences without pretending that they don't exist. We uphold unity in Christ and the Word. We would see the harmony within Diversity and encourage diversity without forcing the notion that differences don't or shouldn't exist; or worse, that people are just interchangeable "parts" in a grand "marxist" machine. We need to understand that this may mean a certain amount of natural "coagulation" of people with similar backgrounds and convictions and rather than discourage such activity, we would see that this is the biblical understanding of harmony and Unity. God loves diversity and so must we (Mk 11:17, 13:10, Rom 1:5, 4:18). We would then be a body that understands the importance of community - that there is great reward for maintaining a geographical proximity to one another and to our children and grand-children. To be "scattered" is a curse and to be together is a blessing.
- Focused on the future. As Christians, we realize that there is much work our Lord has yet to complete. Because God is sovereign and Loving, we have an optimistic outlook of the future. To that end, it is my hope that the leadership would be forward thinking in everything we do. This would mean that they would care for a 500-year plan for the congregation, the community, and the larger area of influence. We would encourage, through the teaching of the Word, locale permanency and investment in and around our community. Rather than understanding life as "temporary and throw-away" would would buckle down and outreach to all of life. Multi-generational congregations speak volumes about the God we serve (Lk 1:48, Ps 33:11, Ps 100:5) and the understanding of God's character; it says something grand about the God we worship and serve.
"Blessed Magnificent God, we are not deserving of your favor in anyway. For the Love of thy dear Son we humbly ask that you visit your Church with renewal and Reformation. We pray, Father, that you would grant an awakening that touches all things - an awakening that produces a faith to do the hard things, say the hard things, and believe the hard things, to your Glory. In Christ alone, we would fear nothing but you and your judgements. Amen."
