Hey everyone! Haven't forgotten about the blog. Been thinking about what to write after spending so much time on Functional Masculinity. I guess you could call this entry an "application" on functional masculinity: finding a nice solid Godly church.
Before I go on, most of you who know me away from Blogspot know I'm a bit "peculiar" (to say the least). My current church home embraced my personality (as they were only concerned in my desire to grow in and serve the Lord), and let me do my thing otherwise (the growth and servanthood thing is MAD REQUIRED though). I was skiddish about joining a church BECAUSE I'm so "different". Many churches only see Christians in a certain light. And I don't like that model. And neither does God. Something that bugged me a while ago was that someone I knew was tired of their church and didn't feel like they were growing. I told her that if that church isn't helping you get God for yourself you need to BOOK IT! I still agree with what I told her, but I thought about it, "What ELSE does every good church need to build up powerful and productive believers? (shout out to Jesus is Alpha and Omega Ministries (http://www.jaom.org), hopefully merit is seen in my assessment in the eyes of the LORD.
Before I begin though, I put this in terms of the pastor/leader of the church. I felt this would be best because in any given church a pastor has to take the most ownership over the direction of the church (fellowship, fundraising, servanthood, visits to other churches, getting contemporaries on one godly page, etc.). I understand it takes a solid leadership structure to make a church work, and those things need to be tight too (see future blog entry). Now this list probably isn't comprehensive, but I wanted to just start with these items:
If a church is suitable for growing folks up in Christ, a spiritual leader must:
1) Refer to the church as God’s church and the ministry objective is clearly following that notion. (Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 44:6, Matthew 16:18)
2) Make sure the ministry message drives congregation to get God for themselves and is serious about doing it, and making sure that he doesn’t, either deliberately or accidentally, put himself on the throne reserved for Christ). (Genesis 2:2 (God’s default Model) Matthew 6:6-12, 33-34; Colossians 1:28)
3) Only teache from the Word of God. (Revelation 22:18-19)
4) Not be into a bunch of titles and be approachable (within reason) in that his identity is in Christ and understands what that means (stewardship, servanthood). (Matthew 6:5, Matthew 28:18; John 13:1-17; 2 Timothy 2:19;Hebrews 11:24-25)
5) Allow congregation members to be themselves so long as it lines up with the Word of God, allowing for each to use their own gift to edify the Body. (1 Corinthians 12)
6) Have content is taught in a fashion where it uplifts, convicts, and triggers change in the congregation (at least the members who are serious about following the message). (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
7) Be only concerned with that which uplifts those around him, both inside and outside of church. (Ephesians 4:25-32)
8) Have a message lines that up with his own walk and it is evident that he got into this position of leadership in an orderly fashion. (1Timothy 3)
9) Not be obsessed with getting in a whole bunch of topics and teaches the depth of Scripture. (1 Corinthians 2:15-16; 2 Timothy 2:19)
10) Talk with (and sometimes to) his congregation and not at it. (Luke 7:29)
Anything I miss? Anything you disagree with? DISCUSS!!!! And have a great day folks.
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