The Present Future |
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Our last class period focused on reality #4 entitled “The Return to Spiritual Formation.” Philippians 3:10 states “I want to know Christ…” McNeal, in his book says that despite that example from Paul, we have “turned our churches into groups of people who are studying God as though they were taking a course at school or attending a business seminar. We aim at the head. We don’t deal in relationship. And we wonder why there is no passion for Jesus and His mission.” Many church leaders (myself included) have made it their goal to develop better church members, when God would have us about the business of developing followers of Jesus. How can we turn that around? Jesus said that He “didn’t come to be served but to serve.” Maybe that’s a starting point! I think God smiles when we are serving others. I think we look more like Jesus when we serve others. And “spiritual formation” is really all about having Jesus formed in us, isn’t it? (Romans 8:29-30)
2 Comments
Scott, thank you for ordering the book. For the most part I find myself agreeing with the author in so many ways and I can relate to many of his observations regarding “club membership” and how we go about ministry. And his description of the mode of operation for the most part fits and I would be a fool to ignore his challenges and the questions he is putting forth. One organization that comes to my mind as I read his description of how the kingdom should function is the Salvation Army. I think we could easily partner with them and accomplish much outside our walls. In my opinion the Army goes a long way in doing ministry and in the name of Christ, but do they place much emphasis on what I call “Saving the Lost”? Will the latter automatically happen because of the former? I do not know. I would have to do more analysis to answer that.
One concern I have as I read the book: He is very quick to call out in very negative fashion, in my opinion, some ministries and terms that congregations (our “clubs”, and apparently his too) have used to promote furthering the gospel (Christ and Him crucified) and development of Christians (followers of Jesus). I get the impression that he is frustrated and he comes across as a bit egotistical and with lack of patience (and possibly love) for his fellow church (“club”) members. A resemblance of a vendetta. This bothers me – we are still brothers and sisters in Christ!
Thanks for your comments and interest J. I think as you near the end of the book some of your concerns will be “lightened” a bit. I think Reggie comes on a little “strong” because he wants to get our attention. Having met him I can assure you there is no vendetta, he just wants to get his point across. Sometimes we can be awfully dense and at other times stubborn. I’ve found personally that when I focus on the things that I myself can change for the better I’m in a much better frame of mind. Can you believe that some folks even misunderstand me at times and think I get “a tad” negative? By the way, I agree with much too much in this book too. At heart I think I’m a follower of Jesus, but in reality I’m far too much of a “club member.”