A Framework for Christ-Centered Transformation: Change the Way You Think (Romans 12:2)

[Reimagine Curator]

#ResetYourChristianity

A Framework for Christ-Centered Transformation:

Change the Way You Think (Romans 12:2)

     

                       

An INTERACTIVE MINI-COURSE for PERSONAL REFLECTION ... GROUP DISCUSSION ... MINISTRY RENEWAL

{ A ReCenterCHRIST Parable: The Unexpected Knock }

 

YOUR INVITATION TO REASSESS

What if some of what we call Christianity needs to be reconsidered?

Jesus Christ has not changed; truth has not expired; Scripture remains relevant. But cultural, theological, institutional, and personal influences may have shaped our understanding and practice of Christianity without adequate examination.

Some assumptions are so deeply inherited that we no longer recognize them. Others are embedded so firmly in churches and ministries that challenging them feels like challenging Christianity itself.

But are they the same thing? Is questioning our Christianity necessarily questioning Christ? Or could examining what we have come to believe and practice be an expression of deeper trust in Him? Or could our refusal to reexamine a cherished belief—even when Scripture, the Holy Spirit, or fellow believers challenge us—become an act of disobedience?

This is the invitation of #ResetYourChristianity: not to abandon faith, dismiss the historic Church, or assume inherited beliefs are mistaken, but to reassess and, where necessary, unlearn what fails to reflect Christ and Scripture. Renewed thinking should transform relationships, decisions, and practices.

And above all, to re-center Christ. Not simply Christ remembered. Not merely Christ explained. But Christ—living and present with us.

Question before every other question: Are we willing to allow the living Christ, through Scripture and the Holy Spirit, to renew how we think—and thereby transform how we love, live, lead, and practice our Christianity?

What if re-centering Christ requires more than giving Jesus greater attention?

What if we are more committed to defending our position on a theological spectrum than to discerning the mind of Christ?

What if I am using Scripture to defend a position I have already decided to hold, rather than allowing Scripture to examine and possibly change that position?

We are invited to distinguish our living Lord from religious systems built around Him, test our understanding humbly, and allow renewed thinking to reshape how we love, live, lead, and serve.

Romans 12:2 calls for a renewed mind and transformed life; John 15:4–5 locates fruitfulness in remaining in Christ. We seek not merely different thinking, but greater faithfulness to the living Lord.

Remeber:

Believing the Bible is the Word of God does not confer infallibility

onto your interpretations

nor inerrancy onto your applications.

 

HOW TO ENGAGE — This Mini-Course Is Interactive

It is not an essay to read or a commentary to consider. It is an invitation to explore, questions to prompt guided pursuit.

SCROLL to survey each Movement and discover its focus.

SCOUT for provocative questions that challenge assumptions and provoke your thinking.

SELECT one issue or question for closer examination.

STUDY the Scriptures and perspectives, being open fresh understanding.

SEEK a Spirit-led response through prayer, reflection, and conversation.

Remember: The goal is not to simply read, but to allow renewed thinking to reshape how we love, live, lead, and follow Christ.

 

We return repeatedly to WHAT? → SO WHAT? → NOW WHAT? as a key facilitation function.

Consider the ReCenter Christ Big Question or Forum as context references.

Print/Post/Promote this Mini-Course >>> ResetYourChristianity_Mini_Course".docx

 

MOVEMENT ONE — WHY RESET?

Truth is timeless. Our understanding is not infallible.

Christianity can be described as beliefs, doctrines, traditions, practices, institutions, and ways of life associated with Jesus Christ. Yet people administer this religious system, bringing histories, cultures, assumptions, fears, ambitions, and limitations.

We may be devoted to Christ while remaining mistaken about something we believe. We may affirm the authority of Scripture while misunderstanding its meaning. We may inherit a practice that once served a useful purpose but no longer serves its original mission. We may confuse a denominational preference with a biblical command. We may mistake a successful ministry method for a universally faithful model. We may defend what is familiar simply because it is familiar.

Truth is timeless. But Christianity, as a humanly expressed system of beliefs and practices, is not immune to distortion.

Influences from outside

Christianity exists within culture. Language, politics, economics, national identity, technology, and history influence how we communicate and practice faith. Each generation must apply biblical truth in its circumstances.

But cultural assumptions can enter Christianity unexamined until communicating faith within a culture becomes conforming faith to that culture.

Influences from inside

Theological presuppositions, inherited interpretations, denominational traditions, institutional priorities, and leadership models also shape Christianity. Some preserve wisdom; others conceal distortion. A familiar interpretation can be mistaken for Scripture itself.

The danger is not our traditions. The danger is becoming unable—or unwilling—to examine them.

When influence becomes infection

Influence becomes an infection when it displaces, distorts, or contradicts what should govern Christian faith and practice. Consider the possibilities:

• Biblical authority becomes confidence in our own interpretations.
• Christian unity becomes pressure for denominational uniformity.
• Leadership becomes the preservation of institutional power.
• Discipleship becomes participation in religious programming.
• Worship becomes a performance evaluated by consumer preferences.
• Evangelism becomes the promotion of an organization rather than witness to Christ.
• Prayer becomes a request for God to bless decisions already made.
• Ministry success becomes attendance, activity, income, or visibility without adequate attention to spiritual fruit.

These are diagnostic possibilities, not accusations. What have we inherited that faithfully reflects Christ? What have we inherited that needs correction?

Scripture sidebar — The call to examine

• Romans 12:2: Be transformed through the renewing of your mind rather than conforming to the patterns of this world.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:21: Test everything; hold firmly to what is good.
• Mark 7:6–13: Jesus challenges traditions that undermine God’s commands.
• 1 Corinthians 13:12: Our present knowledge is partial; we do not yet see with complete clarity.
• Revelation 2–3: The risen Christ examines congregations, affirming what is faithful and confronting what requires repentance.

Wider conversation — Nancy Beach and Samantha Beach Kiley

The Next Sunday interview brings an intergenerational perspective to church disappointment, injury, restoration, and hope. Their conversation invites us to listen to people whose experience of Christianity has been painful without assuming that every church has failed in the same way.

Their challenge to this framework: Can reformation and renewal make room for the voices of people harmed or disillusioned by church culture? If our reassessment is led only by the people who built and benefited from current systems, what are we likely to miss?

Our question back: How do we distinguish legitimate critique and needed accountability from a conclusion that the Church itself is beyond recovery? Listening carefully must coexist with careful biblical discernment.

WHAT? Whose experience is missing from our assessment? SO WHAT? What might their testimony reveal about our practices? NOW WHAT? Who should be invited to speak before we announce a reform agenda?

Reimagineer reading path

Christian-ITY: How a 3-Letter Suffix Shifts Our Focus • Steps to unLearning Church • Syncretism Breeds Pharisees • Explore Phil’s ReimagineFILES

WHAT IF...? — A QUESTION THAT CHALLENGES OUR ASSUMPTIONS

What if I am defending a tradition that once served Christ’s mission but now needs reassessment?

WHAT? → SO WHAT? → NOW WHAT?

WHAT? Which assumptions, traditions, and practices most strongly shape our Christianity? SO WHAT? Which reflect biblical convictions, and which may reflect cultural or institutional influences? NOW WHAT? What one assumption should we prayerfully reexamine before our next major ministry decision?

PAUSE • PRAY • PONDER • PROCEED — GUIDED EXPLORATION

Use these prompts for self-study, paired conversation, or group discussion. Record a response or discuss it aloud.

Read: Romans 12:2; Mark 7:6–13; 1 Corinthians 13:12; Revelation 2–3.

• WHAT? What beliefs, traditions, and routines shape my Christianity? What is inherited, and what have I actually examined
• SO WHAT? Where might culture, institutional habit, or personal preference have displaced faithfulness to Christ?
• NOW WHAT? Name one assumption to examine, one person to hear, and one Scripture passage to study.

NOW WHAT? Name one assumption to examine, one person to hear, and one Scripture passage to study.

NEXT STEP — Name one specific response, someone to involve, and a date to revisit what you learn.

 

MOVEMENT TWO — FOCUS: CHRIST, LIVING AND PRESENT WITH US

Our faith is in Christ, not merely our beliefs about Christ.

Christianity cannot be reset without returning to its center: not an institution, denomination, doctrine, tradition, or strategy, but Jesus Christ. Our faith is in Him, not merely in beliefs about Him.

Doctrine matters because it shapes how we trust, obey, and follow Jesus. But our descriptions of Christ must never replace Christ Himself.

We can defend His teachings while resisting His correction. We can explain His authority while refusing His leadership. We can memorize His commands while neglecting communion with Him. We can study the historical Jesus while failing to cultivate a responsive relationship with the risen Lord.

The problem is not the teaching. The problem comes when the teaching becomes a substitute for the Teacher.

Christ is alive, exalted, and present

Christian faith rests on Jesus Christ crucified, risen, exalted, and reigning—not merely on a historical teacher’s influence. His resurrection and exalted authority are central to apostolic proclamation.

Jesus promised His disciples that He would remain with them. He promised the Holy Spirit. He called His followers to remain in Him. Paul spoke of the Spirit of Christ dwelling in believers. Re-centering Christ means more than recovering the historical pattern of His ministry. It means cultivating communion with and responsiveness to the living Lord who is present with His people through the Holy Spirit.

We do not merely follow what Jesus taught then. We follow Jesus Christ, who is present with us now.

From affirming His lordship to responding to His leadership

A church may affirm that Jesus is Lord in its statement of faith. But how does that conviction operate? Does it shape prayer, decisions, interpretation, conflict, relationships with neighbors, discipleship, and the exercise of authority?

The question is not whether Christ’s lordship appears in our doctrinal statements. Is His leadership genuinely welcomed, sought, discerned, and obeyed?

Re-centering restores Jesus as Lord and Leader—not as a one-time ceremony, but as a coronation to preside, as a continuing posture.

Scripture sidebar — The exalted Christ is present

• Matthew 28:18–20: Christ’s authority and promised continuing presence. How should His presence reshape mission?
• John 14:16–20: The promise of the Advocate and Jesus’ assurance that He will not abandon His followers.
• John 15:4–5: Remaining in Christ as the condition of fruitfulness.
• Romans 8:9–11: The Spirit of Christ and resurrection life.
• Ephesians 1:20–23: Christ raised, exalted, and appointed Head of the Church.

Wider conversation — David Bryant: Is our vision of Christ too small?

In David Bryant’s ReCenter Christ interview, his emphasis on Christ’s supremacy and fullness invites us to examine whether our Christology has become selective. A congregation might teach forgiveness faithfully yet neglect the reigning Christ, or pursue mission while neglecting communion with Him.

Bryant’s challenge: Have we reduced Jesus to the dimensions that fit our theology or programs? Our question back: How does a fuller vision become trust, obedience, discernment, and accountability?

Wider conversation — Lilian Schmid: Attention or realignment?

The How Do We #ReCenterChrist? discussion introduces a distinction between making Jesus the subject of attention and actually reordering life around His leadership. Christ can dominate our sermons and songs while remaining peripheral to our decisions.

Schmid’s challenge: Are we learning about Jesus while resisting surrender? Our question back: How do we test spiritual impressions through Scripture and discernment within the Body?

Presence requires discernment

Christ’s presence does not make every spiritual impression authoritative. Scripture, prayer, wise counsel, accountability, and the gathered Body help test our interpretations. Spiritual responsiveness requires discernment.

Reimagineer reading path

A ReCenterCHRIST Parable: The Unexpected Knock • How Do We #ReCenterChrist? • David Bryant interview

WHAT IF...? — A QUESTION THAT CHALLENGES OUR ASSUMPTIONS

What if I am defending correct beliefs about Christ while resisting His present leadership?

WHAT? → SO WHAT? → NOW WHAT?

WHAT? How do we currently describe and practice Christ-centered Christianity? SO WHAT? Where have we substituted religious knowledge, activity, or momentum for communion with Christ? NOW WHAT? What would it mean to Invite • Invoke • Investigate • Involve Christ in our next gathering or decision?

PAUSE • PRAY • PONDER • PROCEED — GUIDED EXPLORATION

Read: Matthew 28:18–20; John 14:16–20; John 15:4–5; Ephesians 1:20–23.

WHAT? Where is Christ central in our teaching and where is His continuing leadership welcomed in our decisions?

SO WHAT? Where might knowledge about Christ or religious activity substitute for communion with Him?

NOW WHAT? Try the four practices: Invite • Invoke • Investigate • Involve. How will Scripture, prayer, and shared discernment test the result?

NEXT STEP — Name one specific response, someone to involve, and a date to revisit what you learn.

 

MOVEMENT THREE — BEING: GOD’S FINGERPRINT IS LOVE

Before examining Christian DNA, consider who God is.

Christianity begins with God, not our doctrines or practices. Our beliefs describe Him and our practices express relationship with Him; yet God exists before our explanations.

First John declares that God is love. Love is not merely something God feels, commands, or does; it belongs to who God is. Scripture also describes God as holy, just, truthful, righteous, merciful, faithful, and powerful. We should not define love only through our preferences and use that definition to judge every biblical text. We learn what divine love means through God’s self-revelation, supremely in Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:8 reveals God’s self-giving love in Christ. Jesus embodies love, and through the Holy Spirit that love transforms His followers.

God’s fingerprint is love

A fingerprint identifies. It provides evidence of presence and action. As a metaphor, God’s fingerprint of love becomes a searching diagnostic for Christian belief and practice.

Can God’s fingerprint of love be clearly discerned in every doctrine, discipline, and practice of our Christianity?

This does not mean love must always feel comfortable. Loving correction may be painful. Justice may require confrontation. Truth may expose cherished assumptions. But Christian teaching and practice should never treat cruelty, contempt, manipulation, or indifference as acceptable substitutes for God’s character.

Does the way we teach, lead, correct, serve, and relate faithfully reflect the love revealed in Christ?

Theological inquiry — Does God’s love govern our reading of His other attributes?

Our starting statement, God’s fingerprint is love, is more than a ministry slogan. It raises a serious theological question: when Scripture says God is love (1 John 4:8, 16), does that describe one characteristic among others, or does it name something foundational to the divine life? The answer shapes how we read texts about holiness, judgment, justice, wrath, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

Three interpretive approaches deserve examination rather than premature harmonization:

• Love as one divine attribute: God's love, justice, holiness, and truth are equally affirmed; no attribute should be isolated from the rest of Scripture.
• Love as a defining lens: God's actions and attributes must be interpreted through the biblical revelation that God is love, especially as disclosed in Jesus Christ.
• Love revealed in the whole biblical narrative: God's covenant faithfulness, mercy, judgment, and redemptive action are studied together, resisting simplistic definitions of either love or justice.

These approaches invite inquiry, not premature agreement. Disagreements about atonement, judgment, salvation, and unity need not be settled before we examine our own beliefs and practices.

A safeguard: The fingerprint-of-love question tests our teaching and practice; it does not authorize us to discard difficult Scripture passages because we dislike them. Nor does an appeal to holiness justify cruel or coercive ministry behavior.

Wider conversation — John Armstrong: Is love merely one attribute among many?

John Armstrong’s work, including discussions surrounding The Transforming Fire of Divine Love and Tear Down These Walls, challenges the way theological systems can obscure the living reality of God’s love. His theological emphasis deserves more than a supportive quotation: it calls for careful consideration of whether love is simply one item in a list of divine attributes or foundational to how Christians understand the divine life.

Armstrong’s challenge: Have elaborate theological systems neglected the New Testament’s “God is love”? Our question back: How does love relate to holiness, justice, judgment, atonement, and the whole biblical witness?

This inquiry also matters for unity. Can believers with serious theological differences listen to one another as members of Christ’s Body without pretending those differences are trivial? Unity is neither the erasure of conviction nor the refusal of relationship.

John Armstrong — A deeper conversation with the primary source

In Phil’s conversation about *The Transforming Fire of Divine Love*, Armstrong identifies God is love as central to his understanding of divine revelation and connects a right view of God with transformed faith. He also speaks of judgment through the lens of divine love. His *Tear Down These Walls* conversation makes Christian unity a practical, not merely theoretical, question.

Armstrong’s emphasis invites Scripture-fed inquiry into love, judgment, justice, and salvation. Christians disagree about their relationship. Read the relevant passages, consider alternative interpretations, and ask what needs rethinking.

From doctrine to OS: If we believe God’s love transforms, what difference should that make in our treatment of people with whom we disagree? If we affirm unity, how do we practice partnership without concealing meaningful doctrinal differences?

Wider conversation — Gail Dudley: Does love become justice and public witness?

In her ReimagineFORUM coaching session, Gail Dudley connects Romans 12:2 with the need to unlearn entrenched mental habits and institutional assumptions. She calls Christian leaders to listen to people whose experiences differ from their own and to examine how prayer, evangelism, justice, and community relationships function in practice. This is not simply a call to think differently; it is a call for renewed thinking to reshape the ministry Operating System (OS).  Read the original: Gail Dudley coaching session

Dudley’s challenge: If God’s love shapes our DNA, how is it expressed toward people affected by injustice, exclusion, or neglect? Our question back: How do we maintain the biblical connections among justice, compassion, reconciliation, proclamation, and prayer without reducing the Gospel to any one of them?

Gail Dudley — Prayer, justice, and the test of public witness

Gail Dudley’s perspective connects prayer, justice, evangelism, and community engagement; Ready to Pray explores spiritual formation. These are guided inquiry questions, not quotations from Dudley.

• Does our congregation pray about injustice but avoid listening to those who experience it?
• Can prayer motivate practical compassion without becoming a substitute for it?
• Can public advocacy remain Scripture-fed, nonpartisan in its Gospel commitments, and open to criticism?
• When we disagree about public policy, how do we avoid treating political agreement as a test of Christian fellowship?

A Guided Exploration: Select one local concern. Listen first to people affected. Read Micah 6:8, Isaiah 58, Luke 4:16–21, and James 2:14–17. Pray together. Identify one modest, accountable act of service. Revisit what you learned before designing a larger initiative.

Scripture sidebar — Love revealed and practiced

• 1 John 4:7–12: God’s love and our responsibility to love one another.
• Romans 5:5–8: God’s love poured into hearts through the Spirit and demonstrated in Christ.
• John 13:34–35: Love as the distinguishing mark of disciples.
• 1 Corinthians 13:1–7: Religious gifts and activity without love are inadequate.
• Ephesians 4:15: Speaking truth in love.
• Hebrews 12:5–11: Discipline and formation remind us that love is not identical to comfort.

Reimagineer reading path

Let Love Rule Your Prayers • John Armstrong: Tear Down These Walls • Gail Dudley: Ready to Pray

WHAT IF...? — A QUESTION THAT CHALLENGES OUR ASSUMPTIONS

What if my understanding of God’s character is biblically grounded, but the way I express it obscures His love?

WHAT? → SO WHAT? → NOW WHAT?

WHAT? Where is God’s love visibly expressed in our beliefs and practices? SO WHAT? Where might our theology be formally correct but its application inconsistent with Christlike love? NOW WHAT? What policy, relationship, teaching, or ministry practice should we reassess through the fingerprint-of-love question?

PAUSE • PRAY • PONDER • PROCEED — GUIDED EXPLORATION

Read: 1 John 4:7–21; Romans 5:5–8; John 13:34–35; Hebrews 12:5–11.

Central diagnostic: Can God’s fingerprint of love be clearly discerned in every doctrine, discipline, and practice of our Christianity?

WHAT? Choose one teaching, policy, or practice. What does it claim about God's character?

SO WHAT? How are love, truth, justice, holiness, mercy, and correction expressed? What is contested or unclear?

NOW WHAT? What should we study or change before drawing a conclusion?

NEXT STEP — Name one specific response, someone to involve, and a date to revisit what you learn.

 

MOVEMENT FOUR — MVP: THE MISSION, VISION & PASSION OF CHRIST

What is central to Jesus?

Before examining our ministry’s mission, vision, and passion (MVP), we should explore Christ’s Mission, Vision, and Passion in the Gospels and wider New Testament.

MISSION — What did Jesus come to accomplish?

Jesus announced the good news of God’s kingdom, called people to repentance and faith, came to seek and save the lost, served rather than demanding service, gave His life as a ransom for many, and commissioned His followers to make disciples of all nations. These descriptions are complementary, not competing. A Christ-centered mission must account for reconciliation with God, formation as disciples, participation in God’s kingdom purposes, and witness through word and deed.

VISION — What future did Jesus announce?

Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God, described people reconciled to God and one another, prayed for unity among His followers, promised the Holy Spirit, anticipated the continuing spread of the Gospel, and spoke of His return and the fulfillment of God’s purposes. Our vision must be larger than organizational expansion or institutional survival. Christ is Head of the Church; God’s kingdom is larger than any one congregation or ministry organization.

PASSION — What moved Jesus?

The Gospels reveal His compassion for people who were harassed and helpless; concern for the poor, marginalized, sick, and spiritually lost; zeal for His Father’s house; grief over Jerusalem; confrontation of hypocrisy; love for His disciples; and obedience even through suffering. If we claim to share Christ’s mission but do not share His compassion, humility, truthfulness, and obedience, something in our Christianity deserves examination.

MVP as a diagnostic

MISSION: Are we pursuing what Christ calls His followers to pursue? VISION: Is our imagined future shaped by God’s kingdom or institutional ambitions? PASSION: Do our motivations reflect what moved Jesus—or what preserves comfort, influence, and success? PRESENCE: How are we remaining responsive to His continuing leadership through the Holy Spirit?

Wider conversation — Jim Morgan: Disciples or customers?

Jim Morgan’s ReimagineFutureChurch discussion challenges the assumption that church growth and member satisfaction are sufficient measures of faithfulness. He raises questions about whether congregations equip disciples for mission or unintentionally train participants to consume religious services.

Morgan’s challenge: Does our organizational MVP serve Christ’s mission or primarily institutional maintenance? Our question back: Does a customer/employee analogy fully express the Church as family, Body, flock, and people of God? The analogy may expose consumerism, but it must not become our controlling ecclesiology.

Wider conversation — Lynn Cory: Mission from the neighborhood outward

Lynn Cory’s Pastoring Neighborhoods Mini-Course emphasizes prayer, care, relationships, collaboration, and witness in the everyday places people live. A congregation may profess love for its neighbors while designing nearly every activity around bringing people to its own events.

Cory’s challenge: Are we equipped to know and love our neighbors where they live? Our question back: How do we ensure neighboring remains genuine love rather than a recruitment technique?

Scripture sidebar — Exploring Christ’s MVP

• Luke 4:16–21: Jesus’ announcement of His mission.
• Mark 1:14–15: The good news of God’s kingdom.
• Mark 10:42–45: Servant leadership and self-giving mission.
• Luke 19:10: Seeking and saving the lost.
• Matthew 9:35–38: Compassion and the need for workers.
• John 17:20–23: Jesus’ prayer for unity.
• Matthew 28:18–20: Disciplemaking under Christ’s authority and presence.

WHAT IF...? — A QUESTION THAT CHALLENGES OUR ASSUMPTIONS

What if I am defending our ministry’s mission while overlooking what matters most to Christ?

WHAT? → SO WHAT? → NOW WHAT?

WHAT? How would we describe Christ’s Mission, Vision, and Passion from Scripture? SO WHAT? Where does our organization’s MVP align or fail to align with His? NOW WHAT? What priority would change if Christ’s MVP reassessed our next annual plan?

PAUSE • PRAY • PONDER • PROCEED — GUIDED EXPLORATION

Read: Luke 4:16–21; Mark 10:42–45; Matthew 9:35–38; John 17:20–23.

WHAT? What do the Gospels reveal about Christ's mission, vision, and passion?

SO WHAT? Where does our personal or organizational MVP align with—or drift from—His?

NOW WHAT? Which priority, budget item, calendar commitment, or relationship should we reconsider?

NEXT STEP — Name one specific response, someone to involve, and a date to revisit what you learn.

 

MOVEMENT FIVE — DNA: REEXAMINE WHAT SHAPES OUR BELIEVING

God is not the same as our understanding of God.

Christian DNA is a metaphor for the convictions, assumptions, interpretations, values, identity, and theology shaping belief and thought—not God’s own being, but our understanding of His revelation.

Our theology can be faithful without being exhaustive. Our interpretations can be well supported without being infallible. Our convictions can be strong without pretending we have no remaining questions.

When beliefs become untouchable

We begin with confidence in Scripture. We develop interpretations of Scripture. We organize interpretations into doctrines. We inherit theological systems that explain doctrines. Eventually, we may treat the entire chain as equally unquestionable. But the authority of Scripture and the authority of our interpretation are not identical.

This does not mean every interpretation is equally valid. Some readings are demonstrably stronger than others. It means we must continue the difficult work of careful interpretation.

However, without a recentered Christ, we are prone to defending our position rather than discerning Christ’s perspective.

Regardless of how sincerely we hold our convictions, what if our commitment to a position on a theological, political, or cultural spectrum has become stronger than our willingness to reexamine that position under the leadership of Jesus Christ?

• Left or right?

• Freedom or fundamentals?
• Law or grace?
• Conservative or progressive?
• Tradition or innovation?
• Truth or love?

What if these familiar categories, even when they identify important differences, sometimes restrict our ability to recognize what Christ is saying to His Church?

What if we have become more skilled at defending our interpretations than examining them?

What if we are more concerned with proving our side is right than discovering where our thinking needs to change?

Re-centering Christ does not require abandoning biblical convictions. It requires submitting every conviction—including our most cherished interpretations—to the authority of Christ and the examination of Scripture.

The goal is not compromise for the sake of agreement, nor finding a comfortable position between competing extremes.

The goal is a renewed mind that seeks to discern Christ's perspective rather than merely defend our own.

            WHAT? Which theological or cultural positions have become central to how I identify myself or my church?

            SO WHAT? How might my loyalty to those positions shape what I notice, dismiss, defend, or refuse to reconsider?

            NOW WHAT? What would it look like to examine one strongly held position through Scripture, prayer, listening to others, and a willingness to be corrected?

 

#ReExamineSCRIPTURE — TEXT • CONTEXT • PRETEXT • APPLICATION

TEXT: What does the biblical passage actually say?

CONTEXT: What did its words mean within the author’s language, purpose, historical setting, literary form, and wider biblical context?

PRETEXT: What assumptions, experiences, traditions, and cultural preferences are we bringing to the passage?

APPLICATION: How should the passage faithfully shape our beliefs and practices today?

Exegesis seeks the meaning of the text through careful attention to its context. Eisegesis occurs when we impose our ideas upon it. Our task is not to make Scripture agree with preferred theology, but to allow Scripture to examine and, when necessary, correct our theology.

Unlearning as a spiritual discipline

Unlearning is not forgetting what we learned. It is becoming willing to question, reconsider, and relinquish what we once assumed was true. Some assumptions need refinement; some correction; some abandonment. Others, after examination, deserve renewed confidence. Unlearning is not a commitment to novelty but to learning more faithfully. Sometimes what we must unlearn is our resistance to what Scripture actually says.

A mature Christian can say: I believe this is true; here is why; here is the biblical evidence; here are the strongest objections I have considered; here is what I still do not fully understand; and here is where I remain willing to learn. That is conviction disciplined by humility.

Wider conversation — John Armstrong and the limits of theological systems

Armstrong’s questions about divine love ask whether internally coherent theological models still reflect the whole biblical witness. But difficulty with a doctrine does not justify discarding historic teaching. Reformation must be Scripture-fed.

Wider conversation — Dee Stokes: What assumptions shape authority?

In Dee Stokes’s ReimagineFutureChurch contribution, accountability, leadership, and submission to Christ emerge as questions for congregational culture. DNA includes our implicit theology of authority: who may lead, who may question, whose gifts are recognized, and whose perspectives are ignored.

Stokes’s challenge: Does our doctrine of leadership produce accountability and mutual respect, or protect authority from examination? Our question back: How do we combine biblical leadership responsibilities with transparency, cultural awareness, shared discernment, and safeguards against abuse?

Scripture sidebar — Learning and unlearning

• Romans 12:2: Transformation through renewed thinking.
• Acts 17:10–12: Examining Scripture carefully.
• John 5:39–40: Studying Scripture without coming to Christ.
• Luke 24:25–27, 44–49: The risen Jesus reshapes His disciples’ understanding of Scripture.
• 2 Timothy 2:15: Responsible handling of the word of truth.
• James 1:19–25: Listening, receiving, and practicing the Word.

Reimagineer reading path

Eisegesis: ReExamine Scripture to Untangle Original Intent From Infallibility Overreach • Syncretism Breeds Pharisees • Explore Phil’s ReimagineFILES

WHAT IF...? — A QUESTION THAT CHALLENGES OUR ASSUMPTIONS

What if the position I am defending is biblically sound, but the spirit in which I defend it does not reflect the mind of Christ?

WHAT? → SO WHAT? → NOW WHAT?

WHAT? Which convictions and assumptions form our Christian DNA? SO WHAT? Which are grounded in careful interpretation, and which reflect inherited presuppositions? NOW WHAT? What doctrine, assumption, or interpretation deserves a fresh, prayerful, Scripture-fed investigation?

PAUSE • PRAY • PONDER • PROCEED — GUIDED EXPLORATION

Read: Luke 24:25–27; Acts 17:10–12; 2 Timothy 2:15; James 1:19–25.

TEXT: What does the passage say? CONTEXT: What did it mean in its setting? PRETEXT: What assumptions do I bring? APPLICATION: What response fits the passage faithfully?

WHAT? Identify one conviction and its supporting texts.

SO WHAT? What alternative interpretation deserves serious consideration?

NOW WHAT? What should be retained, refined, or unlearned?

NEXT STEP — Name one specific response, someone to involve, and a date to revisit what you learn.

 

MOVEMENT SIX — OS: REASSESS HOW OUR CHRISTIANITY FUNCTIONS

Our Operating System reveals what our DNA actually produces.

As a ministry metaphor, the Christian Operating System (OS) describes how convictions operate in real life: worship, prayer, teaching, discipleship, leadership, decision-making, relationships, mission, correction, collaboration, stewardship, and service.

A church may claim prayer is foundational while making important decisions without meaningful prayer. A congregation may affirm that every believer is a disciple while providing little relational formation. A ministry may proclaim servant leadership while operating through intimidation or unquestioned authority. An organization may describe love as a core value while treating disagreement with contempt.

Our stated DNA and our functioning OS may not be the same.

Worship — Encounter or performance?

Worship honors God through devotion and obedience. Preaching, music, planning, and technology can serve it or become performance. Households, small groups, and prayer circles also gather for worship, listening, and response.

Prayer — Program or dependence?

Prayer may be scheduled without shaping decisions. A Spirit-led OS practices communion, dependence, discernment, intercession, and response. Are we seeking Christ’s leadership or His endorsement of plans already made?

Discipleship — Information or formation?

Teaching is essential, but knowledge alone is not the whole of discipleship. Disciples are formed as they trust, obey, love, serve, pray, discern, and follow Christ in everyday life. If systems produce informed participants but little growth in Christlikeness, examine the OS.

Leadership — Control or servanthood?

Jesus contrasted dominating authority with servant leadership. Christian leadership must be assessed by character, accountability, humility, and how power is used—not effectiveness alone. Does it cultivate the gifts of others? Welcome correction? Make space for shared discernment? Recognize that Christ is Head of the Church?

Mission — Maintenance or participation?

Budgets, facilities, staffing, and programs are legitimate tools, but may become ends rather than means. Do our systems equip Christ-followers to participate in His mission?

Witness — Promotion or love?

Evangelism can become an event, program, technique, or numerical objective. These may have uses, but witness should flow from love for Christ and people. Do our methods communicate dignity, truthfulness, compassion, and genuine concern?

Community — Separation or engagement?

Congregations can become so occupied internally that surrounding communities remain largely unknown. A reset may require listening, relationships, partnerships, compassion, and appropriate witness.

Wider conversation — Robert Loggins: Who equips the equippers?

In his ReimagineFORUM coaching session, Robert Loggins stresses how difficult it is to rethink one’s own thinking. He describes change as a continuing process rather than a single event, and insists that the starting point is within, in Christ. This makes his contribution particularly relevant to our framework: renewed thinking must arise from life in Christ and become Spirit-led discipleship, leadership development, and changed practices.  Read the original: Robert Loggins coaching session

Loggins’s challenge for our reflection: Do our leadership systems equip others to examine, learn, and lead—or reinforce dependence on a few personalities? How might we assess leadership multiplication by Christlike formation and faithful service rather than organizational expansion alone?

Robert Loggins — Multiplication that changes the leadership OS

Loggins links renewed thinking with spiritual maturity and equipping leaders. His coaching cautions against making transformation another program. Does our DNA and OS cultivate growth or reproduce inherited routines?

Consider this team assessment: Ask each leader to identify one person they are equipping, one decision they can share rather than control, and one assumption they are willing to have challenged. Review the results in thirty days. Measure growth not by how many people report to a leader, but by evidence of character, responsibility, learning, and service.

Wider conversation — Dee Stokes: Is accountability actually operating?

Accountability must operate beyond an organizational chart. Who may challenge a leader? What happens to complaints? Are people protected from retaliation? Does submission to Christ produce correctable leadership?

Dee Stokes — Accountability is more than submission language

In her #ReimagineFutureChurch response, Stokes explicitly challenges church leaders about accountability, submission, and the lordship of Jesus. That challenge deserves operational questions, not simply agreement in principle.

Assessment of the leadership OS: Who receives a complaint? Who investigates? Are affected people heard without pressure? Are decisions documented? Can those with authority be corrected? Are biblical calls to submission ever used to silence legitimate concerns? How do leaders distinguish spiritual accountability from loyalty to a personality?

A necessary safeguard: Submission to Christ is not an excuse for coercion or concealment. A process for correcting harmful conduct must be credible to those who are vulnerable, not only to those already in leadership. Where abuse or criminal wrongdoing is alleged, ordinary ministry discussion cannot replace appropriate safeguarding and reporting processes.

Wider conversation — Chuck Lawless: Are we prepared to change ourselves?

In Think. Pray. unlearn. Before You Make Changes, Chuck Lawless brings a pastoral perspective to the pace and posture of change. Leaders must examine their own assumptions, pray, explain reasons, and listen. His challenge: Are we imposing reform through authority or facilitating prayerful transformation? Our question back: When does patience become avoidance of necessary correction? Serious harm may require urgent action.

Wider conversation — Gail Dudley and Lynn Cory: Does the OS reach beyond our walls?

Dudley’s emphasis on prayer and justice and Cory’s neighboring model ask whether prayer leads to compassion and outreach builds genuine relationships. Worship, witness, and service belong together without reducing one to another.

Scripture sidebar — The operating life of faith

• James 1:22–27: Hearing and doing the Word.
• John 13:12–17: Jesus’ example of humble service.
• Acts 2:42–47: Practices of the early believing community.
• Ephesians 4:11–16: Equipping the Body toward maturity.
• Galatians 5:22–26: The fruit of the Spirit.
• Colossians 3:12–17: Christlike character expressed in community.

Reimagineer reading path

Reshape Your Ministry Culture: A Leader Lab for Examining Your DNA + Operating System • Let Love Rule Your Prayers • Pastoring Neighborhoods Mini-Course

WHAT IF...? — A QUESTION THAT CHALLENGES OUR ASSUMPTIONS

What if our stated convictions are faithful to Scripture, but our practices contradict them?

WHAT? → SO WHAT? → NOW WHAT?

WHAT? How does our Christianity actually function? SO WHAT? Where do behaviors contradict convictions? NOW WHAT? Which practice or system should we assess, revise, or replace to become more responsive to Christ?

PAUSE • PRAY • PONDER • PROCEED — GUIDED EXPLORATION

Read: James 1:22–27; Ephesians 4:11–16; Galatians 5:22–26; 1 Peter 5:1–4.

Choose an area: worship, prayer, discipleship, leadership, witness, neighboring, compassion, or collaboration.

DNA — What do we say we believe?

OS — What do we actually do?

EVIDENCE — What observable fruit or harm appears?

GAP — Where do our convictions and practices diverge?

ACTION — What should we retain, revise, recover, or relinquish?

NEXT STEP — Name one specific response, someone to involve, and a date to revisit what you learn.

 

MOVEMENT SEVEN — RESET: REEXAMINE, UNLEARN, UNTANGLE, RECOVER, REALIGN, REPRACTICE

Reset is both recalibration and repair.

Reset is neither nostalgia for an idealized early Church nor innovation for its own sake. Old failures and assumptions can survive new programs. Reset is continuing discernment and transformation toward faithfulness to Christ and Scripture.

1. REEXAMINE

Begin with observation rather than accusation. What are we believing, teaching, practicing, and producing? What assumptions shape decisions? What evidence supports conclusions? Where are we relying on impressions rather than careful examination?

2. UNLEARN

Identify beliefs, assumptions, habits, and inherited practices needing correction. Unlearning may involve relinquishing the ideas that familiarity proves faithfulness; success proves divine approval; agreement proves unity; activity proves maturity; doctrinal precision guarantees Christlike behavior; institutional continuity guarantees missional faithfulness; or authority eliminates accountability. These are assumptions worth testing, not substitutes for biblical doctrine.

3. UNTANGLE

Disentangle Christ from cultural identity; Scripture from interpretation; doctrine from presupposition; faith from institutional self-preservation; discipleship from mere participation; mission from organizational expansion; prayer from ceremonial routine; and Christ’s present leadership from the assumption that our plans must already represent His will. The goal is not destruction. The goal is discernment.

4. RECOVER

Recover what has been neglected: trust in Christ, communion, Scripture-fed discernment, Spirit-led prayer, humility, repentance, love, servant leadership, relational discipleship, faithful witness, and the participation of the whole Body. Recovery may retrieve ancient wisdom rather than invent something new.

5. REALIGN

Bring convictions and practices into closer alignment with Christ. This may require changes in priorities, budgets, schedules, leadership structures, teaching methods, partnerships, and accountability. What will we stop, strengthen, and begin? Who should participate? How will we recognize fruit?

6. REPRACTICE

New understanding must become lived obedience. We pray, lead, interpret, engage neighbors, facilitate conversations, and measure faithfulness differently. We continue learning from what happens. Reset is incomplete until revised thinking becomes revised living.

Wider conversation — Holding change and unity together

Armstrong reminds us to consider whether reform deepens love and unity. Lawless challenges us to attend to the process of change. Nancy Beach and Samantha Beach Kiley remind us to listen to people who have experienced institutional harm. Stokes insists accountability must become functional. Morgan asks whether structures equip mission. Cory asks whether we genuinely love neighbors. Dudley presses the relationship between prayer, justice, and witness. Loggins asks how leaders equip others to think and serve. Bryant and Schmid direct us back to the living Christ.

No contributor supplies a complete blueprint. Their different questions should keep our framework from becoming another closed system.

WHAT IF...? — A QUESTION THAT CHALLENGES OUR ASSUMPTIONS

What if I am defending a needed change but pursuing it in ways that contradict Christ’s character?

WHAT? → SO WHAT? → NOW WHAT?

WHAT? What requires reassessment? SO WHAT? What has become misaligned with Christ and Scripture? NOW WHAT? What will we retain, recover, revise, relinquish, or repractice—and when will we reassess?

PAUSE • PRAY • PONDER • PROCEED — GUIDED EXPLORATION

REEXAMINE — What is happening?

UNLEARN — What assumption needs correction?

UNTANGLE — What has become wrongly fused?

RECOVER — What faithful practice has been neglected?

REALIGN — What priority or system should change?

REPRACTICE — What new behavior will we try?

REASSESS — When, with whom, and by what evidence will we review the results?

NEXT STEP — Name one specific response, someone to involve, and a date to revisit what you learn.

 

A CROSS-GENERATIONAL CHALLENGE — NANCY BEACH & SAMANTHA BEACH KILEY

The *Next Sunday* interview gives this framework something that a discussion of doctrines alone cannot: the lived experience of people who continue to hope for the Church while acknowledging disappointment and harm. Their conversation distinguishes restoration from defensiveness, calls for humble listening, and questions whether information-heavy gatherings necessarily produce transformation.

A challenge to our framework: Who has the authority to declare that a reset has succeeded? The leaders who designed it? The congregation that voted for it? Or should the assessment include those who were excluded, overlooked, or injured by the old system?

A practical test: Before changing a discipleship program, invite three different perspectives: someone deeply invested in the current model, someone who stopped participating, and someone newer to the community. Listen without rebuttal. Record points of agreement, disagreement, and missing evidence. Only then decide what to retain, revise, or replace.

WHAT? Whose stories have shaped our definition of a healthy church? SO WHAT? Which experiences have been absent? NOW WHAT? Whose voice must be heard before our next decision

 

THEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION — FOUR NECESSARY TESTS

 

1. BEING → DNA → OS is a metaphor, not a formula for God.

BEING names the divine reality: who God is. DNA names our beliefs and assumptions about God. OS names how those beliefs operate. These are not three components of God or a formula for the Trinity. The movement is not automatic: our DNA may misunderstand God’s being, and our OS may contradict our DNA. Our understanding and practice require ongoing formation, correction, repentance, and discernment.

Diagnostic: What do we claim God is like? What biblical evidence supports that claim? How does it shape behavior? Where do our behaviors contradict our profession?

2. God is love: essential truth, not a shortcut past difficult texts.

First John declares that God is love. Scripture also speaks of holiness, justice, mercy, righteousness, faithfulness, and judgment. John Armstrong’s emphasis challenges us to examine whether divine love is foundational to understanding the others. But the relationship between love, judgment, and atonement involves serious interpretive disagreements. We should not resolve them by slogan or assume that discomfort with a passage proves its meaning mistaken.

Diagnostic: Does our teaching about love preserve holiness and justice? Does our teaching about judgment preserve mercy and compassion? What does the wider biblical witness require us to reconsider?

3. The present Christ: communion without presumption.

Christ’s promised presence does not mean every decision is divinely directed. A strong feeling, majority vote, established tradition, or leader’s confidence is not proof of the Spirit’s guidance. Scripture, prayer, the gathered Body, fruit, accountability, and patient examination support discernment without making it infallible.

Diagnostic: Do we invite correction? Who can ask difficult questions? Are decisions tested through Scripture? Can we change course when better evidence or interpretation emerges?

4. Unlearning: humility without endless uncertainty.

Unlearning is not abandonment of conviction. Some beliefs become stronger through examination, some are refined, some relinquished. Revelation is not identical to interpretation. Tradition is not identical to distortion. Innovation is not identical to renewal. A mature reset can preserve what is faithful while correcting what is not.

Diagnostic: What deserves preservation? What needs correction? What new idea are we tempted to embrace without examination? What do we believe strongly enough to explain—and humbly enough to reconsider?

 

THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE — WHERE WE SHOULD NOT PRETEND TO AGREE

A serious framework for reformation and renewal must distinguish shared Christian convictions from disputed interpretations and from proposals about ministry practice. Consider three examples.

God’s love and judgment: Armstrong emphasizes divine love, while Christians disagree about judgment, atonement, punishment, and final restoration. Compare interpretations with Scripture; neither manufacture agreement nor equate disagreement with lovelessness.

Church authority and accountability: Stokes raises the urgent need for submission to Christ and accountability. Christians differ in governance structures and understandings of ecclesial authority. Yet a framework can still insist that no leader is beyond correction, that concerns are heard, and that protecting people matters more than protecting reputation.

Church renewal and institutional continuity: Beach and Kiley call attention to restoration after disappointment; Morgan challenges consumer models; Cory emphasizes neighboring; Lawless calls for prayerful change. These are complementary concerns but can produce different priorities. An outward-facing reset must not neglect worship and teaching; an emphasis on patient change must not postpone necessary protection; a critique of programs must not imply that every organized program is unfaithful.

Discussion protocol: State the position fairly. Name its strongest biblical arguments. Name a thoughtful objection. Distinguish nonnegotiable convictions from secondary questions. Ask what practices could be improved even before the dispute is resolved. Then return to WHAT? → SO WHAT? → NOW WHAT?

A QUICK SELF-CHECK — BEFORE THE FULL ASSESSMENTS

If time is limited, begin with these eight statements. Reflect rather than calculate a score; the fuller personal, team, and fingerprint-of-love assessments follow.

____ I cultivate communion with Christ, not merely knowledge about Him.

____ I welcome Scripture-fed correction of my assumptions.

____ I can identify where love shapes my conduct toward people who disagree.

____ My priorities reflect the mission, vision, and passion of Christ.

____ I distinguish the biblical text from my interpretation and application.

____ I welcome accountability and appropriately shared decision-making.

____ My everyday practices reflect the beliefs I profess.

____ I am willing to revise a ministry practice when evidence warrants it.

WHAT? Which statement is most difficult to affirm? SO WHAT? What might explain the gap? NOW WHAT? Which concern will you explore with a trusted conversation partner?

 

GUIDED ASSESSMENTS — FROM INSIGHT TO ACTION

Assessment One — My personal #ResetYourChristianity inventory

For self-study, spiritual direction, or discussion with a trusted partner. Choose 1 Rarely true • 2 Occasionally true • 3 Sometimes true • 4 Usually true • 5 Consistently true • ? Unsure. This is a reflective inventory, not a validated spiritual-maturity measurement.

FOCUS — Christ, living and present

1. I intentionally cultivate communion with Christ, not merely knowledge about Him.
2. I invite the Holy Spirit to examine my motives, assumptions, and decisions.
3. I am willing to change my plans when careful biblical and prayerful discernment indicates I should.

BEING — God’s fingerprint of love

4. My understanding of God’s love is shaped by Scripture and Jesus’ life.
5. My treatment of people reflects truth and compassion.
6. I examine beliefs or behaviors that may contradict Christlike love.

MVP — Mission • Vision • Passion

7. My priorities reflect what Jesus taught and modeled.
8. My concern extends beyond people sharing my preferences.
9. I understand discipleship as participation in Christ’s mission, not merely personal religious development.

DNA — Believing and thinking

• I can explain biblical reasons for important convictions.
• I distinguish Scripture from my interpretation of Scripture.
• I am willing to unlearn assumptions when careful examination reveals problems.

OS — Living and practicing

• My practices are reasonably consistent with stated beliefs.
• I welcome appropriate correction and accountability.
• My faith produces observable growth in love, humility, service, and obedience.

Reflection

Which responses were lowest? Which surprised me? What evidence supports my answers? Where might I overestimate maturity? What deserves further exploration?

WHAT? What have I discovered? SO WHAT? What hinders communion with and obedience to Christ? NOW WHAT? What one practice will I reconsider, begin, or strengthen?

Assessment Two — Our church or ministry DNA + OS

Step 1 — SELECT an area: Worship, prayer, discipleship, leadership, evangelism, neighboring, compassion, collaboration, stewardship, teaching, or decisions.

Step 2 — EXAMINE DNA: What do we say we believe? Which Scripture passages shape it? What assumptions have we inherited? How does it reflect Christ’s MVP? How should love be evident?

Step 3 — EXAMINE OS: What do we actually do? What structures, roles, schedules, and resources support it? What behaviors are rewarded? What evidence and outcomes do we observe?

Step 4 — IDENTIFY GAPS: Where do practices support convictions? Where do they contradict them? What needs unlearning, untangling, retaining, correcting, or replacing?

Step 5 — CHOOSE RESPONSE: Retain what works faithfully. Recover what was neglected. Revise what needs improvement. Relinquish what should stop. Repractice what should become normal.

Step 6 — ACCOUNTABILITY: Who participates? What coaching is needed? What evidence indicates progress? When will we reassess? How will we hear from those affected?

Assessment Three — God’s fingerprint of love

The issue: What doctrine, interpretation, discipline, policy, or practice are we examining?

Biblical inquiry: What passages are relevant? How have they been understood? What interpretations deserve examination? How does the life, teaching, death, resurrection, and lordship of Christ inform us?

Love inquiry: How is love understood? Whose well-being is considered? Whose experience has been overlooked? Does the practice reflect compassion, truthfulness, humility, and justice? Is correction offered for another’s good or to protect authority?

DNA inquiry: What convictions and presuppositions shape this practice? Are we confusing a cultural preference with biblical truth?

OS inquiry: What behavior does it encourage? What harm could careless application cause? What good could faithful application produce? What evidence do we have?

Discernment inquiry: Where do we agree and disagree? What must we study? Whose perspective should we invite? What does faithfulness to Scripture and Christlike love require?

WHAT? What does the assessment reveal? SO WHAT? What are the theological, relational, and ministry implications? NOW WHAT? What should we retain, revise, unlearn, or repractice?

PAST • PRESENT • FUTURE — A TEAM CONVERSATION

Based on Steps to unLearning Church. Examine Principles • Priorities • Programs • Practices • Places • Peoples.

PAST: What did this ministry intend to accomplish? Whom did it serve? What should we honor?

PRESENT: What is happening now? Whose experience have we not heard? What evidence is available?

FUTURE: What would faithful ministry look like in our present context? What will we retain, revamp, or replace?

 

FACILITATING THE GUIDED PURSUIT

A group rhythm for exploration and response

Before gathering: Assign a Scripture passage and one linked RN resource. Invite each participant to identify an insight, a question, and a concern.

During gathering: SCROLL the material. SCOUT for assumptions and questions. SELECT one issue. STUDY Scripture and differing perspectives. SEEK a faithful response through prayer and discussion.

Discussion rhythm: WHAT? What are we discovering? SO WHAT? Why does it matter? NOW WHAT? How should we respond?

After gathering: Identify one action, assign responsibility, invite prayer and accountability, and return to evaluate what changed.

RELATED MINISTRY-CULTURE RESOURCE

The Reshape Your Ministry Culture Leader Lab offers further help examining DNA and OS.

The Reshape Your Ministry Culture Leader Lab offers five adaptable sessions: Open the Hood; Diagnose Our Ministry Reality; Discern What to Retain, Revamp, Replace; Reformat & Act; Cultivate & Recalibrate. It complements rather than duplicates this framework.

Past • Present • Future

The Steps to unLearning Church resource offers another assessment method. Examine Principles, Priorities, Programs, Practices, Places, and People across past, present, and possible future. Honor what was faithful, examine what now operates, and prayerfully discern what comes next.

 

OPTIONAL GROUP FORMAT — FIVE GATHERINGS

Explore seven movements individually, selectively, or in five adaptable gatherings. Each session closes with WHAT? → SO WHAT? → NOW WHAT?

Session 1 — WHY RESET? + FOCUS

Read Movements One and Two. Examine the difference between devotion to Christ and unquestioned devotion to a religious system. Consider Romans 12:2, John 15:4–5, and the risen Christ’s present leadership. Output: one assumption to reexamine and one practice that invites dependence on Christ.

Session 2 — BEING + MVP

Read Movements Three and Four. Use the fingerprint-of-love inquiry to examine how doctrine and practice express God’s love without separating it from holiness, justice, and truth. Explore Christ’s Mission • Vision • Passion. Output: a revised ministry-purpose statement and one concrete test of love.

Session 3 — DNA

Read Movement Five. Examine beliefs, values, interpretations, and unspoken assumptions. Use TEXT • CONTEXT • PRETEXT • APPLICATION. Invite differing perspectives and test them by Scripture. Output: one DNA conviction to retain, one to examine, and one to reconsider.

Session 4 — OS

Read Movement Six. Assess how prayer, worship, leadership, discipleship, mission, witness, and community actually function. Compare stated convictions with lived practices. Output: an OS assessment identifying one gap between belief and behavior.

Session 5 — RESET + Repractice

Read Movement Seven. Reexamine • Unlearn • Untangle • Recover • Realign • Repractice. Name one concrete change, an owner, a time to review, and a measure of faithful practice. Output: a 30-day experiment and a date to revisit its fruit.

 

FACILITATOR’S COVENANT

Welcome sincere questions, distinguish interpretation from Scripture, listen across differences, and protect participants from pressure. Seek Christ’s leadership through prayer, study, discernment, and accountability. Do not mistake agreement for transformation.

Closing circle: WHAT have I discovered? SO WHAT matters most? NOW WHAT will I do? Identify a next step and revisit it.

FIRST STEP — Choose one movement that addresses a current concern. Invite one or more conversation partners, study its Scripture, complete its questions, and agree on one observable response.

 

FOUR CONTEXTS FOR REFORMATION & RENEWAL

1. My personal life

What assumptions shape my understanding of God? Am I cultivating communion with the living Christ? What am I learning and unlearning? How is the Spirit reshaping character, relationships, and choices?

2. My church

Does our DNA reflect Christ and Scripture? Does our OS cultivate worship, prayer, discipleship, love, unity, and mission? Are we welcoming Christ’s leadership or maintaining inherited systems? What needs reassessment?

3. My ministry team, group, or organization

What is our MVP? What assumptions govern decisions? How do values operate? Are we open to assessment, correction, and collaboration? What must be retained, revised, or replaced?

4. My theology and worldview

Which beliefs have I carefully examined? Which have I inherited? How do culture, history, experiences, and preferences shape interpretation? Can I distinguish biblical conviction from personal certainty? Am I willing to be corrected by Scripture?

 

THE CONTINUING DIAGNOSTIC

FOCUS: Does the Christianity we embody keep Christ—living and present with us—at the center? Are we trusting Christ or merely our understanding of Him? Do teachings lead people into communion with Him?

BEING: Does our understanding of God reflect His self-revelation in Christ? Can God’s fingerprint of love be clearly discerned in every doctrine, discipline, and practice of our Christianity?

MVP: Does our mission reflect Christ’s mission, our vision His kingdom purposes, and our passion His compassion, truth, humility, and obedience?

DNA: Are convictions faithful to Scripture? Which presuppositions deserve examination? Where have we confused interpretation with revelation? What must we unlearn?

OS: What kind of Christianity do beliefs produce? Do practices cultivate Christlike character and relationships? Are we responsive to Christ’s leadership? What must change?

RESET: What should we retain, recover, relinquish, and repractice? How will we recognize transformation? And when we have reset, are we willing to reassess again?

 

A FINAL INVITATION

Our "Christianity" can become occupied with defending beliefs, preserving institutions, and maintaining traditions while neglecting the living Christ. Yet He calls us beyond a religious system into responsive relationship.

He knocks on our door to call us to remain in Him; trust Him; learn from Him; follow Him; love as He loves; participate in His mission; and remain open to His correction.

The purpose of #ResetYourChristianity is not a better religious system, but people who center Christ in all things of life and ministry.

Reexamine what you believe. Unlearn what distorts. Untangle what distracts. Recover what is faithful. Realign what has drifted. Repractice what reflects Christ.

Keep returning to the living Lord. Because Christianity is not our destination. Christ is.

 

 

 

YOUR NEXT 30 DAYS — FROM DISCERNMENT TO REPRACTICE

WHAT? — Identify one conviction, interpretation, or ministry practice that deserves careful reexamination. State what you know, what you assume, and what you still need to investigate.

SO WHAT? — Ask how this concern affects communion with Christ, the fingerprint of God’s love, your Mission • Vision • Passion, your DNA, and your Operating System.

NOW WHAT? — Choose one faithful experiment: a conversation to initiate, a practice to revise, a neglected discipline to recover, or an assumption to test. Name who will participate, what evidence you will examine, and when you will reassess.

PRAY • ACT • REVIEW — Return after 30 days. What changed? What did you learn? What needs further Scripture study, conversation, correction, or practice?

 

EXPLORE

• John Armstrong: Tear Down These Walls; The Transforming Fire of Divine Love.
• Nancy Beach and Samantha Beach Kiley: Next Sunday interview.
• Dee Stokes: ReimagineFutureChurch.
• Gail Dudley: Ready to Pray; ReimagineFORUM coaching session
• Robert Loggins: ReimagineFORUM coaching session
• David Bryant: ReCenter Christ interview.
• Lilian Schmid: How Do We #ReCenterChrist? discussion.
• Jim Morgan: ReimagineFutureChurch.
• Lynn Cory: Pastoring Neighborhoods Mini-Course.
• Chuck Lawless: Pray. unlearn. Before You Make Changes.

 

• Christian-ITY: How a 3-Letter Suffix Shifts Our Focus

• Eisegesis: ReExamine Scripture

• Reshape Your Ministry Culture: DNA + OS Leader Lab