Reimagining Church - some quotes

I am starting my review of Frank Viola's book with some quotes that caught my attention for various reasons. I have added the comments of friends as I have processed the book with them. Remember the reason I have this blog is to help my IC colleagues process the information. Bring your thinking caps and your sense of humor........

1. .....it's the present practices of the church that I'm seeking to reimagine, not the church itself. ....I would never claim that there is one "right" way of doing church. p.13. And of course what he proceeds to do for the rest of the book is do just what he says he is not doing:). It is still a thought provoking read.

2. He defines what he means by the institutional church......all too accurate - I should know - been in it for 25 years now as one of "them......" .....constructed on programs and rituals than on relationships. They are highly structured (more structure the better :) - my note) typically building centered organizations regulated by set-apart professionals (ministers and clergy) who are aided by voluteers (laity). They require staff, building, salaries (what, a man can't make a living?) and administration, In the institutional church, congregants watch a religious performance once or twice a week led principally by one person (the pastor or minister), and then retreat to their individual Christian lives. p. 18

3. Once you learn how to spot an organic church, you will soon discover groups of people everywhere (except where I live) meeting just like the New Testament church - as bodies, families, and brides, rather than as institutions. p. 19 The nearest organic church is 4 hours away. How about I just start one on my own. Can an IC pastor actually do that? We are seriously thinking that way, thus the process......

4. organic church life.....a gathered community that lives by divine life....p. 32

5. ..... the gathered community that shares God's life and expresses it in the earth p. 35

6. The critical question them becomes which practices of the New Testament church are solely descriptive and which are normative? ........And here is where it gets interesting, because of course his list is right, and everyone else's is wrong...hermeneutics 101 can I use that word on this site:)?.....OK......

7. Speaking of the probem of overcontextualization, Richard Halverson writes, When the greeks got the gospel, they turned it into a philosophy; when the Romans got it, they turned it into a government; when the Europeans got it, they turned it into a culture; and when the Americans got it, they turned it into a business. p. 45 Lucky for him, or who else would buy his books - or does installing flooring for the rest of your life sound appealing? Comes from a comment after one colleague read the pastors section of his website.

8. ......cutting the lawn of the parsonage, ushering the aisles, shaking hands at the sanctuary door, passing out bulletins, teaching Sunday school, singing in the choir, participating on the worship team (if you make the cut), flipping transparencies, turning Powerpoint slides etc........p.55............hey, somebody's got to do it! his point is well taken, if this all there is to serving God or doing church......we are in trouble......hey, while we are talking about all this, I need another MC for the evening service......can you play guitar?

9. ....the typical IC, the spiritual nourishment of the believer is limited to and dependent on the spiritual and academic preparation of one or two people: the pastor and the Sunday school teacher. Could this be the reason why there is so little transformation in the modern IC? p. 57 ....I think he is right here.

10. ....Our spiritual prosperity hinges upon corporate meetings that are marked by mutual, every member functioning. p. 59

11. The highest purpose of the church meeting, then, is to make the invisible Christ visible through His body. Put another way, we gather together to reassemble the Lord Jesus Christ on the earth. p. 60 - ....kind of like a great big lego convention with a Christian twist.......sounds like the making of a skit to illustrate the point.....maybe a sequel to the red tractor parable.......the highest purpose of the church - pretty lofty statement.

12..........shared ministry, mutual submission, authentic community, or corporate testimony. p. 67

13. ........there's no way to explain accurately what a meeting under the headship of Christ looks like to those who have never seen one........p. 69. Makes me wonder why it is so hard to grasp? I am trying to picture the difference between an organic church meeting and a cell group. He does discuss this and so will we later on.

Well, that takes us through the first two chapters. The book is a very challenging read. I have enjoyed the way it made me think about the why's of doing church - but not quite as edgy as Pagan Christianity. Until later........Col 1:28