Step 4. Shape a transformative community (not just a caring one)

There is no way I want the latest trend in churches to be formation – the next thing after church growth, seeker friendliness, church health, etc. There is a great deal of writing on this subject at present; it just may be that we are starting to see God’s agenda for the post-Christendom Church. But this is not about trends for churches; it is about having our theology govern us. This century evangelical theology is being re-shaped, and along with it how we train people for ministry and how we ‘do church’. This time is a watershed in our history and God is doing a new thing. I believe theology belongs in the church, so here’s a very brief, practical theology of formation.

It has traditionally been called sanctification, the theology of the Holy Spirit’s work in the believer, separating us for the work of Christ and for the process of becoming like him. The key texts are Rom 5-8, Gal 5-6, Col 1:1-17, 2 Pet 1 etc. But we need to teach and model the effort needed on our part for the power of God’s grace, by His Spirit, to transform our hearts. I have found people struggle with grace and effort, but a passage like Titus 2:11-14 supports Willard’s insight that grace is not opposed to effort but to earning. Self-discipline, regular spiritual exercise, is the key for us to teach and model.

As we teach these texts, we could provide a vision for people of what they would be like if they could automatically do what Jesus would do, rather than having to stop and think ‘WWJD’. Paint a picture for people of involuntary obedience and the fruit of the Spirit. Motivation starts with a personal vision, a glimpse of me, thinking, relating, behaving as if Jesus was me. When you read Willard, you discover his formula for teaching formation: Vision, Intention, Means. The means is spiritual disciplines, or what I prefer to call healthy spiritual habits. They are very similar to, and more necessary than, the regular exercises which we include in our physical diet and lifestyle. People do not get the value of spiritual self-discipline unless they have a vision and motivation.

They also need encouragement and support – transformation happens best in community.

Whatever expression of church you favour the goal is life change and that means formation is the focus. Forming the character of Christ within each of us must be the purpose of a local community of God’s people. This means a significant shift is probably required, to become a transformative community. There are a number of things churches do really well – building a caring community and a sense of belonging is one of them.

When we place people in nurturing small groups, the level of care will hopefully bring others into the life of the group. Some of us have moved to ‘connect’ groups, to re-engage the members in outreach, as well as praying and supporting each other. Whatever structure you have, it needs to facilitate formation. The focus for your church, in both celebration and cell, needs to be providing a structure that enables people to intentionally engage in a journey of transformation. That’s why community needs to be a safe place – not a safe place to hear a dangerous message, so much as a place safe enough to develop trust, and to be authentic and accountable. They are the keys to formative community.

3. Preach and model making disciples (not converts)

Friends, we preach Christ crucified. Make no mistake. As pastors and leaders in his Church, we guard the gospel; we preach and live it as faithfully as we can. We are serious about evangelism and seeing others come to Christ. We have programs in our churches year after year to reach out to people. How we go about evangelism is a key question, especially now that the socio-cultural context has significantly changed.

I want to confess a significant shift in my philosophy of ministry from several years ago. There I was as part of a team making everything we did contemporary, training our people in witness and encouraging them to build relationships with others and invite them to church. Be “seeker friendly”; “invest and invite”. But the shift for me came with a gradual realization. I was privileged to see men in their forties come to Christ, but then they became totally enveloped in church life and lost virtually all other relationships they once had. Converted, but converted to what – local church membership?

To focus on evangelism can lead only to making converts not disciples. The imperative in the great commission is to ‘make disciples’ – ‘go’, ‘teach’ and ‘baptize’ are supportive participles, meaning they are part of disciple-making. I confess that I once saw the command as “go” (outreach), but there is no division in the great commission into evangelism (read conversion) followed by teaching. If the Church has very few new Christians, it may be because our church members are not serious about being disciples.

We have been doing mission without making disciples. Making disciples is about shaping people to Christ-likeness; it’s about formation. Mission follows formation. Anyone who is passionately shaping their life to be like Jesus will be seeing life missionally and being missionally active, to use some recent terminology. If we focus on getting people into heaven, we miss the mark. Rather, as Dallas Willard says, we seek to get heaven into people. If we sow formation in our church, we will reap mission.

The elephant in the western Church is formation. We are about the Father’s ‘business’ of changing lives. Arguably, conversion may be the start we require, but inner transformation produces the fruit of the Spirit’s life-changing work in us. We only have to look in the mirror to know we can have a head-full of Bible knowledge and be strongly evangelistic, but if the ungodly attitudes, words and behaviours remain, we are not being formed into the mini-Christ that God desires us to be. His plan is to have mini-Christs serving Him, by loving others, all around the globe. Mini-Christs are the result of a formation focus, not head-knowledge and involvement in local church activities and programs. Transforming the world one person at a time starts with ‘me’.

A disciple is someone who wants to become like their master, not just believe and belong. The essence of discipleship is the journey to Christ-likeness; it is transformation. That is best done in community – Paul’s use of the term “you” is almost always in the plural. Those of us entrusted with congregational formation, must pay heed to our own inner journey to Christ-likeness, and invite others with us on that journey.

Step 2. Preach on being disciples of Christ (not just members of a church)

I don’t know how many times we did a series on what it means to be the church. In trying to get people to belong to a church that is serious about evangelism, I have been part of a team that repeatedly preached on what church is, its mission statement, what it means to belong to church and how important it is to be inviting others to come to church events. The paradigm is well-intentioned: belong here, play your part in the body, be active in helping us reach out to people, invite them to church so they can hear the gospel and hopefully become Christians. This is a Christian community; we love and care for others, as Jesus commanded us to: seek the lost, care for the found.

Here is the paradigm of Jesus: there is a kingdom greater than any earthly kingdom, it is an eternal kingdom; to have the eternal kind of life you need to repent, go on trusting and following me, and represent the purpose and values of my kingdom to all you meet.

While we want to build commitment and involvement in our churches, leaders need to teach and model being a disciple of Jesus and member of his kingdom. American author Reggie McNeal has exposed the dangers of churches becoming very club-like. When we give the view that the Christian life centres around church, we fall short of living the gospel of the kingdom of God. It can result in people seeing church activities as Christian and everything else as ‘secular’, when God’s kingdom and our involvement in it extends way beyond church. All that God has made is sacred, there for us to steward and enjoy.

Trusting Jesus means following him, which is the life of a disciple. The concept of a disciple, like KoG, comes to us through the Jewish people. It means following Jesus because you want passionately to become like him – being intimately close to him, trusting him, allowing his Spirit to shape you, on a journey of personal transformation. Being a disciple of Jesus is about intentionally seeking to become more like Jesus.

When I see myself as trying to become the sort of person Jesus would be, if he was me, then I am being a disciple of Jesus and honouring God. Christ-like character can be formed in me [Gal 4:19]. Formation is essentially spiritual, it continues to change me as I live by God’s Spirit. To live/walk by the Spirit includes being involved in the body of Christ, and it concerns other personal spiritual habits that require self-discipline in my private life as well. It means learning to master the natural human responses that we find ourselves so easily doing. It has the goal of involuntary obedience to God’s rule replacing involuntary disobedience.

Make this preaching series almost entirely from the Gospels. The term ‘Christian’ occurs 3 times in NT; ‘disciple’ occurs 269 times. Jesus only speaks of ‘church’ twice but always teaches about the kingdom. Transitioning a church requires a Gospel language and focus: as an individual, what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus, representing his kingdom in today’s world? What are kingdom values? Collectively, is our church a visible expression of life in God’s kingdom – his purpose, his values? Are we showing the world what it looks like when a community of people lives under the grace and rule of Jesus Christ?

Step 1: Preach on the Kingdom of God

Preaching and teaching are the nerve-centre of ministry in a local church. Explaining the word of God to people who want to hear it is a huge privilege. If you are seeking to shift a congregation onto God’s agenda in the world, then the topic of the kingdom of God is the place to start. God’s agenda is his kingdom, its purpose and values.

Jesus preached and taught the kingdom, nothing but the kingdom. He focused on communicating kingdom of God purpose and values, especially with his disciples. Living in God’s kingdom is our purpose in life; it gives us our reason to live and a relationship with Jesus that richly sustains us. Jesus focused on living by kingdom values – he explained them in Matt 5-7 and in various instances as he had opportunity. His values are the inverse of earthly values, and if we live them our lives will honour God.

Here are some things to include in a series on the kingdom of God. The goal is to have people catch a kingdom perspective on all of life and a kingdom heart …

• It is THE theme of the Bible - from Genesis to Revelation. God’s invisible but systematic order of power over all things is exerted. The KoG is eternal, is exercised from the heavens, and can be compared to my kingdom, which is what I want and try to make happen.

• It is central to the mission of Jesus. Most clearly in the Synoptics, Jesus preaches the kingdom, announces its availability to all mankind, and calls people to follow him, the king. He also demonstrates the kingdom, bringing healing and salvation.

• Jesus’ mission was to inaugurate the kingdom on earth; to start a new order. It included his reconciliation of "all things", including creation, not just the salvation of individuals or a community. I live in the kingdom by trusting Jesus.

• Following the ascension of Christ, preaching and demonstrating the kingdom of God was entrusted to his disciples. Those who trust Jesus are part of his mission, his purpose and his way of living. The end goal is for his kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth, as it is in the heavens. That can happen through us!

• His Church was birthed and empowered by the Spirit to embody and witness to Christ and be a tangible expression of the kingdom of God. His Church is to be a sign and foretaste of his eternal kingdom.

Majoring on this theme gives our people a kingdom of God perspective on all of life. We are children of the king, called and empowered to live as kingdom representatives. We live the same purpose as Jesus; we live the same values as Jesus. We bring the kingdom of God to others when we act like Jesus towards others; loving them by serving them in any small way we can. This is not confined to church; KoG is much bigger than church.

The things that Jesus valued matter to us. With a kingdom heart and perspective on all of life, we have a view of family, work, friendships, church, and those in our self-destructing society that brings hope. We are agents of hope, instruments of change by bringing the goodness of God to others, one person at a time. The whole of life of the whole body of Christ’s disciples is fundamental to the impact of the whole church.

Steps to Transition your Church

One of the new year conversations I had was with two old friends, chatting about an operation one was going to have; the other just happened to be a doctor in general practice. The doctor confirmed that the technology now used in such procedures guarantees what the specialist surgeon promised our friend – a 97% success rate. We marvelled together at the advances of technology, and started sharing memories of the past compared to the technology the present generations are being raised with.

That conversation eventually turned to the topic of church: “Steve, what do you think about all this change and the future of the church?” An interesting conversation ensued. They’ve been in churches for decades and they are very concerned not just about their own local church, but about the future of churches generally, especially given the tendency they see in churches of a reluctance, more accurately a resistance, to change.

In this series of short articles, I want to begin by considering three simple strategic things church leaders can, and must, do, to help transition your church. For leaders, these three steps are relatively easy to implement because they involve the preaching and teaching ministries, through which you can provide a biblical platform for cultural change.

There are three topics that if addressed in preaching, and modeled by leaders, will lay the foundation for culture shift. Briefly, here are three preaching series, which could last a few months or all year.

1. Preach on the kingdom of God.

Jesus preached and taught the kingdom, nothing but the kingdom. He focused on communicating kingdom of God purpose and values, especially with his disciples. We need to major on this theme to give our people a kingdom perspective on all of life [more on this including resources, in the next article].

2. Preach on being disciples of Christ (not just members of a church).

Leaders need to teach and model being a disciple of Jesus, living kingdom purpose and values. Our people need a bigger perspective of Christ in all of life to overcome the sacred-secular divide. They need to understand that a disciple of Jesus is someone who is intentionally seeking to become more like him on their journey of faith.

3. Preach and model making disciples (not converts).

We are serious about evangelism and seeing others come to Christ. We have programs to reach out to people. But I suggest that to focus on evangelism can lead only to making converts not disciples. The imperative in the great commission is to make disciples. A disciple is someone who wants to become like their master, not just believe and belong. The essence of discipleship is the journey to Christ-likeness; it is transformation.

I’ll share my thinking in this series. We welcome your input and interaction.