A few weeks ago a small group of us met and decided that we wanted to begin meeting with our families in community in the very near future. Today, Lisa and I hosted our second gathering. We loved it! Not only was the food AWESOME, but we found time for a little discussion. Our topic centered around the implications of living within a New Covenant paradigm (a model of the Marriage, Mosaic, and New Covenants were presented along with Hebrews 7:12 and 2 Corinthians 3:7-11), here is a short summary of our thoughts:
1) New Covenant thinking does not focus on the sin...we all sin, everyone sins, Paul told us how much he sinned in Romans 7. Obedience is important, but in the New Covenant we rely on grace and remember that our focus is following Jesus.
2) New Covenant thinking sees no one as better than another. All are one and all are equal in Christ.
3) New Covenant thinking places our entire identity in Christ. There is no identity crisis in New Covenant thinking. This is much easier in theory than practice, but though we doubt and though we have our moments where we question, we know by faith that our hope lies in Christ.
4) New Covenant thinking is servant leadership by nature, but "let's just focus on being servants and let the leading take care of itself" (thanks Dan).
5) New Covenant thinking recognizes that all are ministers. Old Covenant thinking centers around the temple and is very ritualistic, very hierarchical. In the New Covenant, we minister because we want to, and ministry flows form the voice of God working on our hearts.
We will meet again in two weeks, I'm already looking forward to that time.
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Finding Peace and Joy in a Life with Christ
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2 comments:
Good stuff. Is "servant leadership" at all in conflict with Church hierarchy? While hierarchy can often descend into tyranny, can't a lack of it lead to descent into anarchy? Where's the balance?
You are correct, our thoughts did not call for a lack of leadership, or what one might consider a totally egalitarian system the was we understand it in our comtemporary culture. (The leadership is very egalitarian in nature, just not how we would think of it.) First, we discussed that the idea of leadership and ministry is still temple- and ritualistic in nature, from the OT, that we have not adapted to the NT idea of ministry. Second, there will be leaders, but the leaders will be those gifted in those areas and will exist for the edification of the body, not built up through some hierarchical system. Third, and most important, the leadership will be servant, taking after the model of Jesus, first the cross, then the crown.
This summer in Kenya I'll be teaching a group (including a pastoral team, elders, and lay ministers from a church plan in Masii) on proper models and methods of leadership. I am humbled in this adventure, and am excited to get into my research and develop the presentation.
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