Organic Church

What does church look like?

 

The church we read about in the New Testament was "organic."  By that I mean it was born from and sustained by spiritual life instead of constructed by human institutions, controlled by human hierarchy, shaped by lifeless rituals, and held together by religious programs.
To use an illustration, if I try to create an orange in a laboratory, the lab-created orange would not be organic. But if I planted a seed into the ground and it produced an orange tree, the tree would be organic.
The same way, whenever we sin-scarred mortals try to create a church the same way we would start a business corporation, we are defying the organic principle of church life. An organic church is one that is naturally produced when a group of people have encountered Jesus Christ in reality (external ecclesiastical props being unnecessary), and the DNA of the church is free to work without hindrance.
To put it in a sentence, organic church life is not a theater with a script; it's a gathered community that lives by divine life. By contrast, the modern institutional church operates on the same organizational principles that run corporate America.

Excerpt from Reimagining Church
by Frank Viola

Go Make Disciples

Loved this video I saw on The Sheepfold. Don't go to church. Be the church.

What about Children's Church?

I love this Spurgeon quote Mrs. Fuentes shared on her blog A Wise Woman Builds Her Home:

Let no Christian parents fall into the delusion
that Sunday School is intended
to ease them of their personal duties.
The first and most natural condition of things
is for Christian parents
to train up their own children
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

-Charles Haddon Spurgeon

My husband and I are not a big fan of Sunday School.  First of all, I don't really care for the way that churches mimic the humanistic institutional method of separating children by age groups.  Secondly, I've seen too many Sunday School classes that look more like playtime with a story of Jesus thrown in somewhere.  I've seen churches put on a big Children's Church production every week (with characters singing and dancing across the stage) that rivals Disney Musicals. The focus is on entertaining the children and keeping them busy- not Jesus.

I've been to churches where children are not allowed in the service.  There have been times when Sunday School teachers have argued with us, making quite a scene as the pastor got up to speak, and have even grabbed our children's arms and attempted to drag them away from us into their Sunday School classes even after we have made our stance known.

I don't want you to think I'm completely against children's bible classes.  Certainly many children, especially those without godly parents, benefit from them.  However, many parents have surrendered this command to disciple and train up their children to the church- some in part, some completely.

I think many homeschool families may use Sunday School as a means of socialization, and certainly it is good for our children to fellowship with other families within the body of Christ, but children also should learn to worship, praise, and learn alongside their parents.  Obviously there may be times when certain subjects will not be appropriate for children's ears.  However, I believe pastors, teachers, and anyone bringing a message from the Lord should keep children in mind and try to present their message in a clear manner.

Somehow people have picked up this idea that children are incapable of understanding such "lofty" things from the bible without significantly "dumbing them down", but I have found that most children are able to understand more than we give them credit for.  Yes, there will be certain things they don't understand which parents can expand on later, but they will soak up quite a bit.  It helps for parents to explain what is discussed within the meetings over the days following. This not only helps the child grow in their understanding, but it keeps the message from evaporating from the mind as soon as the church service or gathering is over (at least, I have found this to be true for me).

I believe sitting within the church meeting, listening along with my parents, and reading the bible at home when I was a kid helped in other ways as well. My vocabulary grew, and I  learned how to define words by the context they were used in.  I grew up reading the King  James Version, which, even at six or seven years old, was not too far above my comprehension.  (We tend to read the NASB or Holman Christian Standard with our children, though.) I also learned how to sit still and be quiet for an hour or two.  I have heard many say this is impossible for young children, especially toddlers, but I can tell you, it is not impossible. Yes, there will be some days when things don't go so well, but children can learn to be still and quiet.  This is easier done when you start from birth.  Children have a harder time doing this when they have become accustomed to playing and being entertained during church meetings and services.

Another issue I have with children's church is that we don't always know what is being taught to our children.  When our children sit in the meeting or service with us, we hear what they hear, but when they are separated from us, we cannot be totally sure what they are being taught, even when we are given an outline or a sheet that explains it. At one church we attended, the only "test" a Sunday school teacher had to pass was a background check.  As long as their record was free of felonies and such, they were allowed to teach children. No one questioned their doctrinal beliefs.

Don't misunderstand me here. I'm not saying you cannot send your children to Children's Church.  This is something you need to pray about and consider yourself.  (I'm not going to judge you either way as it is not my place!)

Some have asked what we do.  When we visit the Church in Moss Bluff, Louisiana, our children attend the Children's Church classes.  When we have a Church meeting or a fellowship gathering in our home, our children often play in the backyard.  When we have a meeting or a teaching at someone else's home, our children usually sit on the floor and color or draw when we are not singing or praying. I believe they are capable of listening and taking in while they color or draw, so this is fine with us.

Most of all, we understand that we should not depend on children's classes, church meetings, services, or teachings to disciple and train our children. That is our task as parents which is to be done daily in the home as we walk together, talk together, and live together.  There are many moments and opportunities in every day life to train and teach them "the way of the Lord".

Sunday reads

Hey folks!  Today was an exhausting Sunday for us.  I had one of those good long naps that brought back memories of childhood Sundays.  I always thought my parents were really strange for taking midday naps on Sunday, but now I get it!  Whew, did I need ever that rest!  I  pray that your Sunday was been restful and rejuvenating.  It is my hope that you have been encouraged and strengthened in Christ, not only in your church gathering but in your own devotional time with the Lord. 

Here are some blog posts I've enjoyed "chewing on". I've included some excerpts, but definitely check out the full posts! 

Exactly one year ago, today, I left a twenty-five year pastorate and the professional ministry. The move came after a two year struggle of conscience where I tried to do what Wolfgang Simpson describes as “trying to cross the river without getting your feet wet.” After a year of reflection I offer to you the seven worst/best things I did as a conventional church pastor.

1. Took a full-time salary. Until I left the ministry I had no idea how corrupting a compensation package is to the church. It changes the way you think about yourself and changes the way people view you. You become a sort of professional Christian that floats above the unwashed masses of laity. It affects your decision-making almost every day. The Trinity becomes Father, Son and Holy Cash Flow. [.....]

-The 7 Worst (& 7 best) Things I did as a Pastor in a Traditional Church Ministry

In the previous blog post Longcuts, I shared that the expression of faith in simple, organic and missional paradigms of Christianity require intentionality on your part. Nothing is done for you. Your the initiator of the level of intimacy you want with God. Not only the initiator, but also responsible for your own maturity. Maturity is not easily or quickly attained, so the quicker we start on this journey the better. God expects us to mature, and Paul exhorts the Ephesians and us, in Ephesians 4:14-16 with, "Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature".

Children have everything done for them. We don't expect anything different, and neither do they. Of course, we want them to mature, to become more and more responsible for themselves in all areas. We move them into adulthood. We call this maturity. That is one of our main purposes as parents and adults in their lives.

Unfortunately, we don't have this same mindset in much of the church. The defining of maturity seems illusive, like a target we never hit or sure of where and what it is. We claim we are training, teaching, leading, etc. people into maturity, and yet they never seem to reach it! All through the process we communicate messages like: "you need me for your spiritual growth", or " without my leadership, you and everything else will fall apart", or "your not ready yet, and I'll be the one to know when you are".

-Longcuts , and the following post, Time to Grow Up

This is my hypothesis.  These parents aren’t trying to train their children to obey, they are trying to control chaos.  Their discipline is based on the amount of chaos they can handle at a given time.  Deliberate disobedience is far less of a concern.  Therefore the child learns to monitor their parent’s mood and the situation closely knowing that the things they can get away with are not dependent so much on them and their behavior as on their parents and the environment.  This is a disaster for kids.  It makes the parents patience and tolerance the real trigger for discipline instead of the child’s behavior.  It trains kids less how to obey and more how to manipulate a situation.  This leads the child to routinely push his or her parents to the edge since they have been systematically trained to find that edge of tolerance and keep their parents there continuously.  How exhausting for the parents.  How destructive for the children.  And when they see an obedient child their reaction is, “I wish my child had that temperament”.  So they blame their child when they have spent years training their children to behave in this manner.  There’s a much better, easier way.

- Controlling Chaos VS Obedience Training for Young Children


The author of this post so clearly puts into words what I love about being part of a simple home church that seeks to "do life" together. I truly love the people we meet with and am always looking forward to fellowshipping with them again.  The Spirit bonds us together as we share our heart and our struggles, teach, rebuke, and pray for one another, as well as join together and lift our hands in worship and praise to God.

- Read: I've Got Your Back

One of the hallmarks of Jesus’ character is His radical inclusivity. When Jesus walked this earth, He despised the spirit of separatism, elitism, and self-righteousness (Mark 9:38-40). And He still does today (Hebrews 13:8, NKJV).

Augustine’s famous line still holds true: “In essential, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”

These essentials of the faith embody what C. S. Lewis called Mere Christianity—“the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.” (An earlier version of the same idea was put forth by Vincent of Lerins: “Christianity is what has been held always, everywhere, and by all.”)

In this post, I’d like to make a few observations about the “non-essentials.”

To put it in a sentence: If the perfect interpretation of the Bible were the standard for Christian fellowship, then I would have had to disfellowship myself twenty years ago! I’m still learning, thank God, and my interpretations of Scripture are maturing. None of us has a corner on the truth. And if a person thinks they do, they’re deluded. In the words of Paul, “We know in part” (1 Cor. 13:9).

I have to wonder what will happen when Jesus returns. I can imagine all the Christians who specialized in “perfect doctrine” passing out after they discover who made it into the kingdom. Angels will be running around all over the place with smelling salts to wake them up!

The church of Jesus Christ is one. But we are called to maintain and guard the unity of that oneness (Eph. 4:2–3).

 - Rethinking Christian Unity


Love and Blessings in Christ,
      Mandy