Pledging Ourselves To Live Worthy Lives
When our simple church gathered this week Bill brought a copy of Dr. Darrell Bock’s Studying the Historical Jesus. He wanted to share a quote by Pliny the Younger from a letter written in A.D. 110/111.
In regards to the practices of the early church Pliny wrote:
“They had been accustomed to come together on a fixed day before daylight and to sing responsively a song to Christ as God. They bound themselves with an oath—not to commit some crime—but, on the contrary, that they would not commit theft, nor robbery, nor adultery, that they would not break faith, nor refuse to return a deposit when asked for it. When they had done these things, their custom was to separate and to assemble again to partake of a meal, common yet harmless.”
Here are some things we unpacked from that quote:
- they were accustomed to coming together on a fixed day
- they worshiped Christ as God
- they were accountable to one another to live godly lives
- they participated in life together through meals
Georges Boujakly at Missional Order recently posted about Ethical Relativism and he writes:
“New converts and long time converts, researchers tells us, are not shining stars of holiness, reflecting the image and glory of Christ. Instead of being conformed to His image, being changed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18), many have adopted a willing conformity to the world.”
We get together regularly, worship Christ and eat a lot, but how good are we at holding one another accountable to live Christ-like lives?
How much of an impact would we have on society if we pledged ourselves to live lives worthy of Christ when we leave our gatherings? What would such a practice look like in our church meetings?
Grace and peace,
Terry
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Tagged with: Community • Leaving • Participating
Filed under: Simple/Organic Church Practices
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Terry,
When we figure out how to get motivated to get out of our comfort zones and actually mingle with the people we are trying to reach, I believe the simple church will actually grow exponentially. Everywhere I turn, I see people hungry to hear some good news, but no one seems to want to hear the good news in a traditional way. However, demonstrated love and compassion does make an inroad or a bridgehead into a heart of granite. Our adolescent leaders (Terry, we still need a good non-church term to call our “youth.”) are working with “at risk teens. After several weekly meetings, I dropped in to show my support. I was thanked for actually staying and participating in the discussion instead of looking around in a supervisory type way. While there, my cell phone went off. I had forgotten to put it on silent and my ring tone grabbed everyone’s attention. A week later, the leader mentioned to me that the kid’s were really talking about “the pastor’s” ring tone. I guess it comes close to Jon Zens’ illustration of the pastor accepting a cigar. Perhaps every pastor ought to have “Back in Black” by AC/DC for a ringtone. What pharisee would have ever thought that? I know I never dreamed that a ringtone I inherited from my son would help dismantle a ministry barrier. I guess we really do need to think out of the box. Incidentally, I told my wife just yesterday, that I am ready to have a few neighborhood men over “just to get to know each other.” Developing that trust with those who need us just takes time. OK, I’m not through but my coffee cup is empty so I’m going to refill it.
Gerald, thanks for the comment and the “oops”. I will reply to your thoughts over at Balancing Fellowship and Mission.
Oops! My previous comments were supposed to have been placed on the blog “Balancing Faith and Mission.” Sorry.