“Furthering the Invisible…”

It has been said, that we need “new kinds of churches” in order to reach a “new kind of culture and people group”. Where will these new kinds of churches come from? If what is needed is something “totally other” than what has been, then it will take completely different types of leaders to see these types of churches formed and sent into the “new world” we find ourselves in.

“the kind of thinking that will solve the world’s problems will be of a different order to the kind of thinking that created those problems in the first place.” (Albert Einstein)

“…box like thinking simply can not solve the probems of the box.” (Michael frost “The Shaping of things to come”)

1. So what is spiritual or church leadership?

2. Is spiritual leadership any different than other types of leadership (ie political, sports, military, cooprate etc…)? What would be the simularities and the differences?

3. What is a leader? Is it about “position”, “power”, “personality”, or something else?

4. Why does it seem we have few if any real “spiritual leaders” of which we can know and talk with?

5. How has spiritual/church leadership functioned in the past?

6. What have been your experiences with spiritual/church leaders and how have they “lead” you?

7. How do you think spiritual/church leaders should function in the church today?

8. What do you think about the language we use, such as “leaders” and “followers”?

9. Is there such a thing as a “pure” leader and or a “pure” follower? In other words are there people who always lead or follow or do all people function in both at some point in time and circumstances?

10. How should spiritual leaders lead the church? What do they do? How do they get people to “follow” or should they even try to get people to follow?

11. If you are a leader of some type, these are questions you must ask yourself. “How do I lead a group of people who are suppose to be following someone else? And how do I lead a group of people to follow a vision which is not my own?”
 

 

 

1. What are the essentials when it comes to being a disciple of Jesus?

2. What must a disciple believe?

3. What must a disciple do?

4. How do measure your own personal growth as a disciple of Jesus?

5. Have you ever “discipled” someone else?

6. How have you tried to disciple others?

7. How do you know you are effectively discipling someone?

8. How do disciples mature?

As always, think through these questions, feel free to add other questions, and by all means post any comments you have. 

I think probably more than any other (essential) topic this one is by far the most neglected. When was the last time you heard a sermon, read a book, etc… which directly dealt with this question? Hopefully this discussion will help us get a better idea of “what is church”?

1. Is the church a verb or a noun?

2. Is the church “a place where” certain things happen?

3. How do you know you are “a part of a church”?

4. How do you know you are “being the church”?

5. Are you being the church everytime you meet with other believers?

6. Can you be the church as an individual believer?

7. What does it mean to be a “member” of a church?

8. What is the purpose of the church?

9. What is a “false church”?

10. What makes for a healthy/un-healthy church?

11. How do you judge whether the church is being faithfull/un-faithfull to the call of Christ?

As always there are many more questions to be asked and feel free to ask them, state your ideas, experiences, fears, hopes etc… 

Hey Clay community….
Here are some more questions I hope will help us think through this all important issue.

1. Is the Gospel only about what God did in the past?

2. Are there any “here and now” aspects to the Gospel?

3. Are there any “future” (both near and far) aspects to the Gospel?

4. Are there any “Pre-Incarnation” aspects to the Gospel?

5. Is the Gospel a static set of beliefs one can define and write down or is there more to it?

6. What are the factors needed for a “faithful” proclamation of the Gospel?

7. Can the Gospel be “faithfully” proclaimed without “demonstration”? (i.e. in word only)

8. Can the Gospel be “faithfully” proclaimed in the same way no matter what the culture, time, or people group?

9. If the Gospel has to be “translated” into every culture, how is this done without “changing the message”?

10. How do we “faithfully” translate the Gospel?

11. Why do we need to “proclaim” the Gospel?

If any of you have any more questions which you think would further stimulate this conversation please feel free to throw them out. 

The Clay Community is starting a journey where we will be asking ourselves….

1. What is the Gospel and how do we proclaim it today?

2. What is the Church and how do we be it today?

3. What is an authentic disciple of Christ and how do we develop new disciples today?

4. What is church leadership and how should it function in the church today?

We do not expect to ever fully “arrive” at the answers but we hope these questions will help keep us focused on God’s call on our lives as a group and as individuals. We invite all sincere readers to join in on the discussion, so feel free to add to, ask more questions, tell your stories and experiences etc….

There is a book out, edited by Spencer Burke, called “Making Sense of Church.” It is basically a book that eavesdrops on emerging conversations about God, Community and Culture. Much of what is included in the book is blog entries and responses.

The book deals with how things are changing so much, that we need to find new metaphors to describe the makeup of our lives. Old language must be discarded for new. Old wineskins must be replaced with new, or we will be completely out of touch, irrelevant, and unable to communicate to the culture in which we live in today.

Here are some metaphor/vocubulary transitions that Burke proposes…can you think of anymore???

from…
Tour Guide to Traveler- A Conversation about “Leadership”
Teacher to Facilitator- A Conversation about “Learning”
Hero to Human- A Conversation about “Spiritual Growth”
Consumer to Steward- A Conversation about “Ministry”
Retailer to Wholesaler- A Conversation about “Missions”
Adversary to Ally- A Conversation about “Faith”
Warrior to Gardener- A Conversation about “Evangelism”

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