CN | Faithmapping Part 2 of 3: The Whole Church

Whole Gospel for a Whole Church for the Sake of the Whole World Pt 2

Here is the link to the previous post on Faithmapping:

• CN | Faithmapping Part 1 of 3: The Whole Gospel

To review, our servant leadership development team has recently spent the last two months on what has quickly become a new favorite book of mine. Faithmapping: A Gospel Atlas for Your Spiritual Journey is an excellent reflection on how God has given us a whole gospel for a whole church for the sake of the whole world. For anyone exploring Jesus or desiring to become more like Jesus, these are core foundations for what the Scriptures tell us about who we are and how we can live. This is part 2 of 3.

Part 1 | One glorious gospel, in three aspects:

the gospel of the kingdom
the gospel of the cross
the gospel of grace

Part 2 | Forms one church with five identities:

worshipers
family
servants
disciples
witnesses

Part 3 | Who lives out those identities in all areas of life:

  

location – where we live

vocation – where we work

recreation – where we rest

restoration – where there's need

multiplication – where we reproduce

Part 2 of 3 | Introduction to the Whole Church

"What we do as believers will always flow from who we are, and in Christ, we've been given a radical new sense of identity. ... The church is a gospel-centered and gospel-formed community, and we can most faithfully live out our purpose and mission when we cling tightly to the good news of God's kingdom, cross, and grace. ... We are worshipers, family, servants, disciples, and witnesses. Each of these identities flows from the fact that God has welcomed us into his life through his Son, and each find its fullest expression and definition in the person of Jesus." – pg. 103

The Whole Church | Five Identities – Worshipers, Family, Servants, Disciples, Witnesses

1) The Whole Church | Worshipers

 
"True worship, spirit-and-truth worship, is a balm for anxious souls and hearts, inviting us to remember a story that's bigger than us, and a story in which all of the causes of our fear, anxiety, and tension are resolved. It's worship that is learned in community as we gather, hope, and remember – and practice throughout our days. In this way, gathered worship and scattered worship work in dialogue with each other. The conscious, momentary gatherings where we remember our story in community serve as life-forming experiences, shaping the way our days and weeks are lived out. The days and weeks are filled with all kinds of challenges and troubles, and gathered worship punctuates them with an affirmation that in Christ, they're all held together and reconciled. Our scattered days fill with reasons to fear and sweat, which we bring to the church when we gather, only to hear them all held up and reconciled in Jesus and to be charged again to carry that reconciliation with us as we scatter. In time, as we grow in grace, we learn to hold those things up moment by moment, and we experientially know the joy of all-of-life worship. The whole mess gets offered up, and Christ perfects." – pg. 119 

Q: Who am I?
A: As a worshiper, I live a that glorifies God the Father by the power of the Spirit and through the work of the Son.

Q: Where am I?
A: I am either worshiping idols, worshiping self, or worshiping God. If I worship idols, my life is oriented around them: the acquisition of more stuff, more status, or more security. If I worship myself, my life is all about me – my pleasures, my beauty, my reputation. True worship is a life lived to the glory of God. I worship both gathered and scattered, gathering as an outpost of faith in a troubled world to affirm what's true and encourage one another, and scattering to live a life of worship in my home, neighborhood, and workplace.

2) The Whole Church | Family

"At our core, we're deeply selfish people, and life in the family of God will continually push against our selfish tendencies. Paul points to Jesus's own attitude as a reason to 'do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others' (Philippians 2:3-4). Jesus's example of self-sacrifice wasn't merely for the sake of his own achievement, but for the good of the whole family of God. As family, then, we're obligated to one another. The gospel should compel us to: 'Love one another, and try to outdo one another in showing honor' (Romans 12:10); 'Live in harmony and associate with the lowly – those 'beneath' our social status' (Romans 12:16); 'Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us into God's family' (Romans 15:7); 'Bear each other's burdens' (Galatians 6:2); 'Confess our sins and pray for one another' (James 5:16). ... The purpose of the many-membered family of God is to build up a broad base of life and experience. When I suffer, someone else who suffers can encourage me, and when I have joy, I can share that joy with those around me. We are fools to think we can one-another ourselves. We need family around us. We need support in good times and bad because the days are evil and there is a hellish army intent on pulling us away from the hope we have in Christ. As the writer of Hebrews said: 'Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meeting together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near' (Hebrews 10:23-25). ... Many, after years in the church, decide that it's not worth the pain and risk of being burned and hurt once again. But being conflict-free has never been a biblical promise. The Bible calls Christians ministers of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20), and points to the gospel as the reconciling power of the universe. God has eliminated the sin problem between him and us ... Jesus expects the same (Matthew 5:23-24), and John says, 'If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen' (1 John 4:20). ... Conflict is sure to emerge. People, pressure, and life circumstances are determined to drive us apart, and temptations abound for people to bail on ministry or church for the same reason they bail on anything in life: it's hard. ... It takes long, challenging work to maintain friendships in a setting where conflict is certain, but the gospel makes it possible, and makes it a priority. Conflict in the church is a universal reality, but the power of grace should be transforming us in such a way that we see reconciliation as being truly better than holding a grudge." – pgs. 135-136, 138-139 

Q: Who am I?

A: I'm a child of God in the family of God.

Q: Where am I?

A: You are either committed, casual, or cut off. If you are cut off, it's either because you have never really trusted in Jesus and joined the family of God or because you deny your faith by your actions through rejecting God's church. Nowhere does the Bible show us an individualistic faith where Jesus is only your personal Savior. This isn't just about going to church; this is about being faithful to the gospel. We're saying that the commitment that God has made to us through the sacrifice of the Son results in commitment to one another and sacrifice for one another. Great families call for great commitment and great sacrifice.

3) The Whole Church | Servants

"Think of the way the gospel story unfolds: Darkness takes root in God's world, and God sets out to redeem it. He powerfully floods the whole earth, but that's not the victory. He rescues Israel from slavery in a spectacular way, but that's not the victory. Israel becomes a glorious kingdom, conquering all of her enemies, but that's not the victory. Instead, God brings about world-changing salvation when a young, unimportant Jewish girl gives birth to a baby of mysterious paternity. He's not a conqueror or scholar, he's a carpenter who recruits his followers from common people – fisherman, housewives, and tax collectors. They don't rise up and become an army, instead, they suffer and die – first first Jesus, then his disciples. And yet his sacrifice is the hinge of history, shaping everything before and since in relation to his execution. The gospel is the greatest underdog story ever told. As Pastor Tullian Tchividjan puts it, 'In God's upside-down economy, the road to the top is from the bottom – and that flies in the face of everything our culture believes is necessary to be successful. Through a handful of relatively unimportant people who suffered, served, and died, God changed the world, making himself available to you and me and setting a trajectory to make all things new. When Jesus takes hold of our hearts, he plants that same underdog spirit in us, inviting us into a life where we discover that everything about how the world sees greatness is backwards, that it's truly better to serve than be served, to give than receive, to be lowly rather than great.'" – pgs. 143-144

Q: Who am I?

A: I have been called, created, and saved to serve.

Q: Where am I?

A: I am either a self-servant, working only for my own interests, a selective servant, serving only when it's convenient, or a servant of all, ready to meet needs whenever and wherever they arise. You don't necessarily need to do more things, but just do what you do differently. Be willing to say, 'Lord, I want to be a servant. As opportunities come, help me to follow your promptings.'

4) The Whole Church | Disciples

"On some days we're accountants, feeling good about our little deeds and acts of God-pleasing. On others, we're slackers, throwing up our hands at the futility of following Jesus and hoping that grace is sufficient while we resign ourselves to the spiritual equivalent of wandering around the house in a bathrobe, eating pizza rolls, and napping the day away. The scandal of grace is that God welcomes accountants and slackers, but it's nonetheless a tragedy for us to miss out on the opportunity before us to live resurrected life now with Jesus. It's an opportunity to learn from the greatest teacher the world has ever known, who not only rules over all of creation, but dwells in our hearts. Apprentices of various trades eventually become full-fledged masters; they eventually are set free to work their trade or skill on their own. That day is coming for us, too, when Jesus returns to rule and reign, inviting all of us to rule with him. 'Everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher,' Jesus says (Luke 6:40). ... The point of any spiritual discipline is to put our minds, hearts, and bodies in a place where the Spirit can do his work. Through discipline we cultivate the kind of life that shapes us into the kind of people God wants us to become. ... Our Christian lives should be marked by focused, intentional, and disciplined energy, not a random hodge-podge of sloppily adopted Christian culture. ... This takes intentionality and planning. It means spending time reflecting on where we are right now, where we believe the Lord is calling us, and where we want to be, and then it requires mapping out steps to get there." – pgs.169, 171

Q: Who am I?

A: I am a continuing student of Jesus, loved by the Father and empowered by the Spirit, and I creatively seek to live in the good of the gospel.

Q: Where am I?

A: A serious student of Jesus ... knows that the gospel has freed him from earning any grades at all, but nonetheless is a serious disciple for the joy of knowing and learning from Jesus. Serious students learn and grow because they know it's the key to a joy-filled life. 'I will work out my salvation as God works in me. God gives me the desire to be with Jesus. He not only gives me the want-to, he gives me the how-to. He gives me the power. We're called to work out what God has worked in.

5) The Whole Church | Witnesses

"As theologian Darrel Gruder says: 'As witnesses, we must bear witness. We are to make known this experience, this intimate knowledge of God and his saving purposes. But the power of our testimony is not to be sought in the persuasiveness of our report, as might be the case with an effective witness in a court of law. Rather, the Spirit, working us, will enable the hearer to acknowledge the truth and relevance of this testimony, and thus will draw that hearer into the witness' experience to share it and, ultimately, to become a co-witness.' We don't necessarily need training or a new set of skills to be witnesses; we just have to believe that the gospel is truly good news. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is continually saying that he must go on to other villages (Mark 1:38; Luke 4:43). Jesus's life is a movement toward people who are lost and broken. The incarnation is a story about God, in infinite power and holiness, moving toward us, enduring the humiliation of becoming human, bound up in a body with hands, feet, and speech, living a common, ordinary life for thirty years. It's a movement from the glorious to the obscure, a journey of seeking us out. The movement continues throughout Jesus's life. He moves toward the unacceptable members of society like tax collectors and prostitutes. He moves toward women who were marginalized in a male-dominated culture. He moves toward blue-collar workers like fishermen. He moves toward outcasts who are sick or disabled. Religion huddles up. ... The gospel moves outward. God moves toward us, and as his witnesses, we move outward too, moving toward people who are marginalized and excluded by the boundaries of religion. The gospel should compel us outside our circles of familiarity, to the marginalized, the 'least of these' of our society. In fact, something is terribly wrong with our understanding of the gospel if it is not continually moving outward. ... Witnessing is a natural response to the experience of God's grace, and its power lies entirely in the gospel. If we're not compelled to share the gospel, we should wrestle with whether we actually believe it." – pgs. 181-182

Q: Who am I?

A: I am a witness of God sent by God to proclaim the gospel.

Q: Where am I?

A: I am either apathetic, embarrassed, or unashamed. If I am apathetic, I lack any compassion for the lost, and thus I lack motivation to share the gospel. If I am embarrassed, my compassion for the lost is overshadowed by my fear of rejection. If I am unashamed, then the gospel has broken through to give me compassion and boldness. I am a witness for Jesus.

Next post: CN | Faithmapping Part 3 of 3: The Whole World

– Sully 

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