Renovation of the Heart
Spiritual Formation in the Local Congregation (2|4)
Pages 255-261
• Flawed Versions of Faith Negate Spiritual Transformation
• Giving Up Your Life
• Disciples Are Us
• Stage Two
TOGETHER read the devotional and the scripture.
INDIVIDUALLY take notes in your journal on what stands out.
1 Corinthians 14:22-25 (NIV) Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”
Matthew 13:24-30 (NIV) “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
TOGETHER pray for one another.
INDIVIDUALLY answer the questions in your journal - process your devotional notes and pray.
Flawed Versions of Faith Negate Spiritual Transformation
“Most professing Christians today have ‘prayed to receive Christ because they felt a need and would like him to help them deal with it. - Their problem is that they have rejected God, for whatever reason, and have chosen to live life on their own. They have not surrendered their will to him. They do not want to do what God says to do, but what they think is best. They do not know what their real needs are and do not think of themselves as rebels and outlaws who must radically change because they are not acceptable to God. They do not think they need the grace of God for radical transformation of who they are, but that they need a little help. They are good people. Or so it seems to them.”
How do misunderstandings of what faith in Christ is disconnect it from spiritual transformation?
Giving Up Your Life
“If spiritual formation is to be the central focus of the local congregation, the group must be possessed by the vision of apprenticeship to Jesus in kingdom living as the central reality of salvation and as the basic good news, and they must have formed the clear intention to be disciples and to make disciples as the central project of their group.”
Have you experienced a congregation pursuing an apprenticeship with Jesus in this way? What would a congregation need to do to be more like this?
Disciples Are Us
“To achieve this, the leadership of the local congregation, the ministering elders and overseers, must recognize that the primary candidates for discipleship are the people who are already there. And they must recognize that the first step in leading the people who are there to become apprentices of Jesus is for the ministering elders and overseers to be apprentices of Jesus.”
How does/should the leadership of a congregation recognize the “primary candidates” for discipleship? What are attributes both positive and negative that the leadership should be looking for?
(See Matthew 13:24-30 above) “We are not talking about purifying the church, by getting all the ‘tares’ (weeds) out. Even tares (weeds) real or apparent, are to be loved and served - and called to apprentice to Jesus. ‘Purifying’ the church, on the other hand, has always been a part of the illusion of being perfectly ‘right.’ Instead of pursuing that illusion, we are trying to clarify the local congregation to itself in the light of Christ’s call to it. We are trying to make clear what it is that even false professors must profess in order to participate fully in the congregation.”
Do you agree with this statement and how it is applied to Matthew 13:24-30?
Stage Two
“The presence of God in the midst is the only sure mark of the true ecclesia. Of course, there are conditions under which God will not be present in a group, and biblical church history painfully illustrates this over and over. But every condition that omits his presence as the essential redeeming factor is just another effort at substituting a vessel for the treasure. Spiritual transformation will not occur, in that case, for it is a work of God. God’s intent is to be present among his people and to heal them, teach them, and provide for them.”
What are some ways (marks, signposts) for a church to spot if the presence of God is in their midst? What sort of fruit should be identifiable? What are some ways (marks, signposts) that a church can spot a vessel for the treasure? How might this be remedied?
“So what should we expect of a local congregation of disciples of Jesus? If we come at it from the viewpoint of New Testament realities - ‘principles and absolutes’ - and the highest ideals of historic Christianity, we should expect it to be a place where divine life and power is manifestly present to glorify God and meet the needs of repentant human beings. This would imply an atmosphere of honesty, openness, indiscriminate acceptance of all, and super natural caring, with utter admiration for and confidence in Jesus.”
Is this expectation too much for the Western church? Is there hope for the current Church of Christ (Capital C - the Global Bride of Christ - everyone who declares Jesus as Lord)? What will it take to bring the Church (every denomination and sect) together to unite so that “we should expect it to be a place where divine life and power is manifestly present to glorify God and meet the needs of repentant human beings?” (a global crisis? global persecution?)
EXTRA READING:
“The power of a fully lived life or a truly learned mind is not a power to be sought or contrived. It comes only as we let go of what we possess and find ourselves possessed by a truth greater than our own.”
- Parker Palmer (born 1939) author, educator, and activist.