Great observations about a church-culture that can so easily drift into a corporate, spirit-less, organization-centric way of being. One way that I look at church is:

ORGANISM > ORGANIZATION

It seems that whenever we get this backwards, God’s redemptive purposes are lost in the mix.

Thanks for stirring this up and asking good questions. Keep up the great posts!

Tim Mossholder
http://UnsolicitedHope.com

I could be mistaken, but I’m sensing that you have a particular prejudice (or heightened sensitivity) against a bar/pub. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions about any struggles you might have (whether addiction runs in your family or not, or if you’ve ever struggled with addiction or not). I’ll just reply under the assumption that you’re not a former addict, but I implore your forgiveness in advance if I’m wrong.

Here are my concerns. First, allow me to defend my intention in the post. I’ve used the pub as an example within the hypothetical circumstance I’ve painted regarding Matt and Steve. I hope you understand that I’ve not focused on the pub as the outlet for meeting others. You can insert whatever place you like. I would argue, however, that there is perhaps no better place to develop friendships (while one could make a very strong argument for the coffee shop, in my particular culture, the coffee shop is hardly a place that people gather and fraternize; generally, people buy their coffee and rush out of the door). Please understand that I’ve not used the pub in my example as the primary venue for making friends with non-believers. However, in the culture in which I live, it is the central location for camaraderie, socialization, and open, healthy conversation.

The examples you listed (local language clubs, running groups) don’t necessarily allow for the freedom of discussion that a tavern or coffee shop would allow for (unless you and your conversation partner(s) are fluent in said language). Additionally, how wide a net are we casting? If we enter the running club, how are we to reach the non-runners? If we enter the language club, what are we doing to reach those who aren’t interested in learning that language? (I don’t know what a progressional club is, so I can’t address it. I’m sorry.)

Second, my concern is your use of the “weaker brethren” term. From what I’ve seen in Paul’s letters (Romans 14, being the passage in question), when taken together (Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians), there’s a fairly clear picture of tempering our care for those who are “weak in their faith” and the freedom we have experienced in Christ (Galatians 2). Here’s a good blog post on the topic: http://bit.ly/d7XrrP

You’ll notice in the diagram I posted that the process is cyclical. No matter where you start, the process moves through intentional discipleship (a redundant phrase, I suppose, since discipleship should be intentional). So, regardless of where you are, you’re being discipled by a stronger, more mature Christian. Bear in mind that this is all supposed to be done in community anyway. You wouldn’t call someone to enter a mission field and then let them plow that mission field without at least one brother or sister to walk through life with them, would you?

You’re right when you say that “the point is to be Christian in everything that we do,” but I want to challenge you on the second half of that sentence. Spurgeon’s quote above is especially pointed. Since we are all missionaries, we must take a mission-minded posture with regards to the world around us. Why would you not enter the arena in which the vast majority of people gather? It may be the pub in your context, or it may not. Regardless, your suggestions reach only a small segment of society. So, whether the pub or another place, my suggestion is this: look at the culture in which God placed you. Search for where people of your demographic tend to gather (try to avoid the mall; in my culture that’s the absolute worst place to try to build relationships). Go there and interact with people the way Jesus would interact with people. And when you find someone to disciple, teach that person to do as you do.

Also, you’re absolutely right about small groups being more therapy groups than discipleship groups a lot of time. Discipleship can go on in them, but more than often it doesn’t. That’s something I’ve been thinking about in order to improve. I’ll look forward to reading your next post.

Concepts of an afterlife vary between religions and among divisions of each faith. Here are three quotes from “the greatest achievement in life,” my ebook on comparative mysticism:

(46) Few people have been so good that they have earned eternal paradise; fewer want to go to a place where they must receive punishments for their sins. Those who do believe in resurrection of their body hope that it will be not be in its final form. Few people really want to continue to be born again and live more human lives; fewer want to be reborn in a non-human form. If you are not quite certain you want to seek divine union, consider the alternatives.

(59) Mysticism is the great quest for the ultimate ground of existence, the absolute nature of being itself. True mystics transcend apparent manifestations of the theatrical production called “this life.” Theirs is not simply a search for meaning, but discovery of what is, i.e. the Real underlying the seeming realities. Their objective is not heaven, gardens, paradise, or other celestial places. It is not being where the divine lives, but to be what the divine essence is here and now.

(80) [referring to many non-mystics] Depending on their religious convictions, or personal beliefs, they may be born again to seek elusive perfection, go to a purgatory to work out their sins or, perhaps, pass on into oblivion. Lives are different; why not afterlives? Beliefs might become true.

Rob Bell asks us to rethink the Christian Gospel. People of all faiths should look beyond the letter of their sacred scriptures to their spiritual message. As one of my mentors wrote “In God we all meet.”