OK. I am convinced there is no such thing but if I had a perfect Church, here is how it would go:
1) It would be Christian. Not in the pop-culture way. But in that it would follow the true teachings of Christ. Thats a pretty radical idea in itself
2) It would have morals (dont kill, cheat on, steal, etc) but not get stuck on hot button issues. There is more to life than those gay people having abortions (since gay people usually dont have kids, I gotta wonder about that one). Point being there is more to life than that.
3) It would respect all life. Now is that pro-life. Well in the true sense yes. All life. Unborn, alive, old, young, muslim, Christian, green, purple, poor, rich. All Gods people (and animals too to some extent) deserve to live. No I am not a vegan or vegetarin but I couldnt kill anything except bugs. Oh yeah and environmentally concious. God made trees too. Not so you can cut them down.
4) It would be Egalitarian. Men and women would have the same rights and all holding the complementarian viewpoint would be challenged. None of this submission stuff.
5) It would be a peace church. If Jesus is the prince of peace, the Church would have to have loyalty to him above any government. I would say pacifism is a must
6) It would be A-Political. No endorsements of politicians
7) It would be non-tithing. I dont believe tithing is a new testament concept. I dont care if you want to believe that but I cant deal with all the "sowing seeds" talk. If you want to tithe than tithe. But dont shove it down my throat. Giving would be voluntary and not out of guilt
8) It would be emerging . Now this is a can of worms. By emerging I dont mean a member of Emergent village. But I do mean relevant and not stale and boring.
9) It would not be capitalist and run like a business. Too many Churches are run like businesses and care about money. Preaching would be free speech not what wont piss off the big givers. Its not business
There is probably more and I am sure its imperfect. Please comment and give me your ideas on perfect church
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3 comments:
YEAH! I like your suggestions. The only one I would add is:
It would be accepting of ALL people, and truly make them feel welcomed and loved, (not preached at for their particular "sin", excluded, or judged in any way): gay, transsexual, divorced, remarried, unwed mothers, depressed, bulemic, poor, mentally and physically challenged, smelly, etc. I have actually seen people asked to leave or at the very least shunned for all of the above reasons (okay, maybe not smelly, but that poor person was actually "talked to" by the deacons). Yes, this suggestion even makes me uncomfortable, in a selfish kind of way (OMG, do I have to sit next to the smelly, mentally handicapped kid who says crude things at the most inappropriate times?!) but I think it would all challenge us in our faith and help us be more like Jesus when we're confronted with "the Other" that Jesus was so concerned with. :) It would remind us that we're ALL different, and all recipients of God's love, and should treat each other accordingly.
I may not agree with a few of your points here but I am TOTALLY with you on number nine. Our CEO/Laity model really hinders the Gospel in my opinion.
My dad once gave me some good advice about church. He said, "If you ever find a church that is perfect, stay away from it. You are human, and you'll ruin it."
Oh, I get tired of all the stupid church people. I want to punch them. Then I realize I am one.
This is what I love about the Lord Jesus - he's the only one who can set me free from myself!
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