#ReimagineFutureChurch: Adam Shields - "Churches will have to change."
I read a lot. I blog my reading. I am a spiritual directior.spiritual directior.
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• WHAT? - What is the "1-Question" leaders must ask in order to #ReimagineFutureChurch?
How do we move to teach Christians to discern (hear from God, seek after where God is leading, understand the spiritual world around us, both God's leadership and satan's temptations)?
• SO WHAT? - What makes this an urgent need for leaders to contemplate/explore/discuss/pray into?
So much of our discipleship methods have been about teaching people what to think or do or believe. Often, our mass discipleship (large classes, videos, national curriculum) has used "fill in the blank" style teaching where people have been taught to follow the leader instead of learning to think, discern, or act for themselves (or in cooperation with those around them). In cooperation with many homogenous churches, this has allowed people to live in silos or with significant blind spots and we have acted as if we life in a system where simple flow charts will answer all of our questions. But the world is much more difficult than what a simple flow chart or "five steps" systems can account for.
True Christian maturity requires that there must be more than simple following. Christ is the head of the church, but our Church structures mean that we are often instructed how to follow our pastors or denominational leaders, but not how to be Christian in our daily lives. This has much of the church dependent on others in an unhealthy way. While we still should be in healthy community, maturity means that you do not need someone else to hold your hand and give instructions for every activity. As you are learning, you will need more help. But over time you will gain confidence in hearing from God. The goal isn't to be an autonomous individual that does not need others but to be a healthy individual that can contribute toward a healthy community.
To help people move toward maturity, they need to learn how to think and act independently. Necessarily, that will mean that different Christians will come to different conclusions about various issues, but they still need to remain in the community with those who disagree.
• NOW WHAT? - What action do you recommend we initiate?
Our discipleship has to move away from mass methods and toward diverse (in all senses) church communities. Diverse communities have different assumptions and can challenge default cultural biases. Individualized discipleship, oriented toward spiritual discernment, will help people mature. But what this will not become is a magic bullet. Individualized discipleship is time-consuming. And it will need individual and communal stability. Churches will have to change. And no one will be perfect at discernment. There will be disagreement and grappling with the ensuing conflict will be part of what it means to encourage discernment.
The traditional, single-lead pastor model of church will have to change to become a plurality of leaders. No single person can disciple a whole congregation, not only because of a lack of time but also because no single person can disciple all types of people. We will need to have a variety of leaders. And we will need to embrace a diverse, countercultural, multi-generational model of the church.
•PRAY THAT …
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