 Viewpoint
You are Fit for Purpose
The front page of the Church Sunday bulletin that carried the
following caption to show who was who in the organisation was bang on
the money ‘Ministers of the Church - the congregation!’
While a church like Highfields employs a number of Staff, we are not
employing them to do all the work. We are in fact paying them to involve
the whole congregation in the work of the church. So the role of
"preparing God's people for works of service" (Eph 4: 12) is a priority
task of those who have been set aside "full time" as we say.
But we're all full time Christian workers. It's just that for some of
us our full-time work is in the hospital as a nurse or in the classroom
as a teacher. So, in theory, more Staff should mean more volunteers for
the narrow task of the local church not less; more people in mission,
teaching, leadership and the like. And more people better equipped for
their full-time job as a Christian professional or student.
The NT model of the Church as a body stresses the interdependence of
all, not the dominance of a few. We each have different tasks, but all
those tasks matter if we are going to grow up into Christ the Head. So,
find your place in the body and start functioning - our spiritual health
depends upon it!
Peter Baker
We’ve called it
Fit
for Purpose because we’re wanting to ensure that in
Christ we know what we’re about and what we’re aiming to achieve.
Discipleship ...
... is one of those Bible concepts which
allows room for multi level interpretation, so the idea of
discipline is clearly at the linguistic root. A disciple is someone who
submits to the discipline of his or her master as they are trained in
right thinking and living. It’s that feature which is brought out in
this evening’s passage from Ephesians with its military language of
being dressed for battle.
But discipleship is also a word about relationship. In fact this is
the model at the heart of Jesus’ teaching methods. Jesus invites us to
follow him as his disciples: we get to know him, observe him, and
imitate him. All this was implied by the command “Follow me” which
Christ gave to the twelve. And for three years these apprentices were
coached by Jesus as they lived in community together. They were slow to
learn, mind you, as we see in this morning’s passage from John’s gospel.
Here are a bunch of unreconstructed individuals for whom the role of
a servant was not one they wanted to adopt. So Jesus has to teach what
the life of a disciple of his looks like, by example, as he washes their
feet.
Bonhoeffer captures the essence of the servant-hearted disciple when
he comments, “when Christ calls a man, he calls him come and die!” The
Church needs such ‘Jesus people’. For all genuine ministry is service
and all service flows from a life of discipleship, which is surrendered
to Christ, the one who came not to be served but to give his life as a
ransom for many.
Peter Baker
We’ve called it
Fit
for Purpose because we’re wanting to ensure that in
Christ we know what we’re about and what we’re aiming to achieve.
Highfields - is it a building?!
Is it a business?! Is it a social club? No, it’s a
Church!...
...not defined by its architecture, organizational structure nor by
the quality of its music, but by its relationships. We, the people, are
the Church. So whenever the Church is described in the Bible, it’s in
terms of the people of God living together as a community or as a body
growing towards maturity. A dynamic, fluid, Spirit-filled,
truth-centred, cross-shaped organism whose heart beats with the love of
Christ.
Models of Church may vary. I’ve happily worshipped in a Buffalo hut
in Pakistan, in a cinema in the UK, in a McDonalds in Manila and even
within ear shot of an army firing range in Iron Curtain Romania!
What makes Church, Church, is the centrality of Christ in His Word
and the experience of Christ by His Spirit. There are a 1000 and one
ways to flesh that out but only one true Church - united in the one
hope, one Lord , one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.
Let me leave you with one question: What do YOU feel about the
Church? The answer should be more to do with what you feel about Christ
and the gospel rather than what you feel about the curious and diverse
people who make up the congregation of Highfields!
Peter Baker
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