Meanwhile, we slide into routines and complacency. Into religion instead of the Way.

Preaching throughout the New Testament was a means of spreading the Gospel. Once a church formed, however, an apostle would train them to live by Christ’s life through his Spirit. When the church was ready, the apostle left town.

Yes, the worker would return to give encouragement and correction, and that may well have involved preaching. It was rare. All Christians were responsible to live out Christ’s life to the fullest, without segregating special functions to special people. There were gifts; everyone had them, and everyone used them – especially in a church’s regular meetings.

So what happens if your church shifts toward this pattern? First, you will lose people, a lot of people. They’ll retreat to a congregation where less is asked of them. Your building won’t make much sense, at least not for a long time. The staff will all be let go.

However, the light of Christ will shine in a way it hasn’t for a very long time. Mission will explode. Love will abound. The few who stay will fulfill their life’s calling to pursue Jesus Christ recklessly and radically. A more full Gospel will spread, and more will come.

It’s pretty easy to understand what it is, but why is it so important for transformation?

I believe the most central element to transformation is seeking a vision from God. I also believe a congregation which submits itself to God and asks for his vision will get one. However, God’s vision is fairly likely to be radical, ridiculous and will probably look down right impossible. He may call you to a people you have no common ground with, or to a purpose which seems drastically out of reach for your modest means.

Here’s where bedrock beliefs come in. They make it possible for you to pursue the impossible. They will carry you through to God’s vision. This is why it is so critical to firm them up among the entire congregation before earnestly seeking God’s vision.

Is your church struggling? Are you trying to get out of old ruts, or revitalize flagging ministry? Leave a comment below and we can talk about it.

I think this is a really crucial slip in our way of thinking. What is a church? I think most of us would define it in terms of a collective group of Christians.

Let’s look at it another way. A lot of churches have small groups or classes of some kind (many might call these “fellowship opportunities”). Suppose I participate in a small group, but don’t attend the Sunday service. Have I “missed church?”

I Corinthians (and many other epistles) expounds on the Spirit’s gifting of every member of Christ’s Body. We are each uniquely gifted to minister to each other through teaching, prophecy, pastoring, tongues and interpretation, wonders, and other gifts.

Unfortunately, a worship service (emphasis on service, as in by a professional minister to a lay audience) denies this reality in practice, by restricting the audience to receive from and, at best, support the preacher. I believe we’re actually “missing church” each Sunday when we don’t get to share the Spirit’s gifts with each other.

That’s not to say lecture-style teaching or group-led worship are un-Christian – the apostles used these methods regularly – but they cannot dominate a church’s life. These methods are used exclusively in the bible for preaching the Good News to unbelievers, and for equipping the saints to function. Both are temporary measures, usually used no more than a few months.

How would your church react if Sunday worship weren’t weekly? How could your church be equipped to function collectively rather than under another’s leadership?

“Do you experience Christ in our meetings? If so, when?”

I’m paraphrasing a little, of course. At first I was a little mixed – maybe yes, maybe not enough. Then I realized a counter-question:

“Do we express Christ in our meetings?”

Christians in North America are commonly said to be “consumerist” – we’re all about us, our needs, our wants, ‘what is God doing for me?’ attitudes. I think this is one of the subtleties that reveals some of these habits.

Ask it of your own church – do you express Christ in your meetings? Forget how you feel about it; what are you contributing? What are your brothers and sisters contributing? What’s the fruit?

This is a powerful and easily-overlooked message for us. Jesus Christ is coming! We humans are naturally afraid – with good reason! – but God has made our way safe. Ours is not a God of comfort and safety, but rather deliverance. Death may have lost its sting, but believe you me we will most certainly die.

So take up your cross, but remember: that yolk is (unexpectedly) light. Shout for joy!

That’s a big question, so feel free to meditate for a bit (and consider revisiting it later).

God sees the exact same thing when he looks at you.

I’ll explain, if you need. When the Spirit comes upon a person, making them what we usually call a Christian, they are ‘clothed in Christ.’ The bible has all kinds of poetic descriptions of this – washed in his blood, robed in his righteousness, that we put on the aroma of Christ, etc.

The point is, we are covered by Christ. Theologians say his righteousness is imputed to us. This is the nature of divine forgiveness for our sins. Christ stands in our place at judgment, between us and God, so that all God sees is Christ.

To God, you look just like Jesus Christ. So what do you see in the mirror? What do you see in your fellow brothers and sisters? I’m thinking God has the right perspective on this one.

A little honesty might go a long way.

The premise is that rather than having a single large church experience, you have lots (and I mean lots) of cell churches or micro-churches. These are largely autonomous, and each church is probably no bigger than 40 people.

Membership means you’re expected to participate. Each church is guided by mentors (elders) who help others discern their God-given gifts and calling. Churches learn to obey the headship of Jesus Christ rather than any particular leader. The mentor is rather a kind of overseer who points people toward Christ, then gets out of the way so they can respond. This mentoring process is largely one-on-one, and each church typically raises up a handful of mentors.

The micro-churches are tied together into a network, with a central hub greatly resembling a diocese or parish. There is a central office and lead pastor, but the pastor’s job is to hold and spread a vision from God for the church. The pastor embeds the vision in key leaders (who we might tentatively call “deacons”) who are gifted and called to work with the micro-churches and mentors. These deacons also carry out the networking function, helping micro-churches stay connected. They also measure the health of the larger church through various metrics, combined with insights from working directly with micro-churches.

The office is the resource point for organizing large events or missions. One common event will be large-venue worship. This is not a weekly affair, but rather monthly or even quarterly. The key purpose is evangelism. Church members are expected to share faith with newcomers as much as experience the event. These events will take whatever shape will best reach the community.

In my own New Orleans context, I’d expect them to look like concert venues, all-day fairs or other large public events. They might happen in public parks, stadiums, convention centers or other places made to accomodate crowds.

The other common task of the central office is facilitating mission. Micro-churches carry all the weight, including following Christ’s call to mission service. Many mission projects take more than a couple dozen people, though, so the central office helps connect mission leaders to resources, existing non-profit networks, communications tools, training and whatever else they need.

The key to this model functioning successfully is discipleship. Members of the micro-churches must be disciples of Christ, prepared to follow his lead and act on his wisdom instead of their own ideas. This will never be a perfect scenario, which is why the deacons and lead pastor pay regular visits and keep in contact with the elders and church members. Much of this process is about encouragement and alignment.

This necessity is intentional. Declining churches are unhealthily dependent on the lead lastor, staff and a few overfunctioning leaders. Many just do as they’re told, passively receiving. The micro-church model takes many of the safeties off.

Often that means staff and clergy pick up the slack. This often leads to church members slacking more.

The reason lay people are notoriously passive is because of the very distinction between laity and staff/clergy. Laity are amateurs, while clergy are professionals. Lay people volunteer to support ministry, but the truth is the ministry belongs to the church, and the church is run by the professionals.

There are various strategies to boost lay ministry, but I believe they are ultimately short-sighted. When a particular mission is accomplished, laity will default back to a passive mentality until prodded into action again. The goal should not be specific participation but a perspective change that empowers laity to pursue mission without waiting for approval.

The first step for pastors and staff is stop doing ministry! As long as you’re willing to pick up the slack, laity will feel they have permission to leave slack.

Ministry is the job of the whole church, not a specially appointed caste of ministers. Pastors often see their calling as “doing ministry” when this actually robs the church of its full functioning.

Instead, pastors must become equippers of the saints. This does not happen through sermons, meetings, counseling, or educational opportunities. It happens through one-on-one or small group mentoring, to help members discern their personal gifts and callings, then coaching them on pursuing that calling with integrity. The goal must explicitly be to train and release a Christian missionary into the field.

The second step then is to train small group leaders. Leading the groups yourself maintains the perception that it’s the territory of professionals. For your first mentoring small group, seek out one or two people gifted and called to equip others for ministry. Focus your attention on them. Go to lunch, do hands-on mission together, talk to them about your work and ask for their thoughts. If you’ve stopped or at least reduced your time “doing ministry,” you’ll have time for this.

The third step will be getting out of the way. Depending on your polity and particular congregation, control is held by different people. If Christians are being released into mission with integrity, and continue to be supported and held accountable through small groups, they will need a streamlined process to gain permission. Ultimately, this should not require asking for it.

Christians will find true motivation only through pursuing Christ. The church’s job is to help them hear Christ’s call, discover Christ’s gifts, equip them for excellence, and keep them on track as they “run the race.”