In getting ready for our church
wide “retreat” on Saturday, my mind has been going back to some of the reading
I did for one of my DMin classes from last year. JR Woodward[1]
talks about “church as sign, foretaste, and instrument.”
“The church is to be a sign
of God’s coming Kingdom, pointing to a reality that is right around the
corner.” Signs point us towards something. If we at Christ Crossman
are a sign, to what are we pointing? To what do we want to point? What about
God’s kingdom do we want people to see when they know us?
“The church is called to be a foretaste
of God’s kingdom, a place where people can get a taste of the future in the
present.” What is the flavor that people experience when they are
with us? What do we want them to taste? Do we want them to have a bitter
aftertaste, or that je ne sais quoi
of a sublime taste that lingers and brings a warm smile to the lips?
The church is “an instrument
in the hands of God to bring more of heaven to earth in concrete ways.” Do
we act in such a way that other people can see more justice, peace, and freedom
in this world through us, or at least the hope of more justice, peace, and
freedom? Or does being in our presence diminish that hope?
To whom or what do you want to
point? What about our fellowship at Christ Crossman?
I, for one, want to be that je ne sais quoi hint of a glorious feast.
I want to be a sign of the living grace of God. I want to be an instrument so
beautifully played that others will hear the wondrous symphony of melody,
harmony, and counterpoint and know the Composer from whom it flows. All of this
means knowing enough of God in my personal experience, and my life in community,
so that I point beyond myself.
1
John 1:1-4
We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we
have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched
with our hands, concerning the word of life— this life was revealed, and we
have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was
with the Father and was revealed to us— we declare to you what we have seen and
heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is
with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so
that our joy may be complete.
[1] Woodward, JR. Creating
a Missional Culture: Equipping the Church for the Sake of the World.
Downers Grove: InterVaristy Press, 2012. P. 28.
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