Gospel 101 from Sojourn Community Church on Vimeo.
It made me think about the purpose of a body of Christ (like church or CCF) and also the variety of gifts that exists in a body. According to this video, there are people who focuses on:
- Bringing the message of the gospel out to the streets and on doing deeds
- Teaching the body about the truth of the gospel
- Emphasizing on the grace of God
I can see how in CCF, members can be roughly "categorized" into these previous three points. There are definitively people who are zealous on serving, there are people who are hardcore in presenting the truth in Scripture, and there are people who focuses in encouraging and caring for each other.
The beauty of this is that if we only emphasize in one of these three points alone, there is a danger of falling as we are not living out the complete picture of what a Christ-centered community should be. Part of being in a community is to spur one another, as one's strength and help other's weakness. This is how a body of Christ should work, everyone united focusing on the same goal and partnering in the gospel.
CCF has a majority of people who come from a conservative Chinese church background, and these members are usually focused on the Scriptures. Recently, we are blessed with having members coming from charismatic churches, and they are more focused on being filled by the Holy Spirit. An interesting discussion came out several times about what the focus should be. If we focus too much on the Scripture alone, the fellowship can become very dry spiritually. But if we only focus on the Spirit, then the fellowship can become "drunk" by the lack of truth. So it is important to have both together. Two passages (Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:18) give a good indication that knowing the Word and being filled by the Spirit comes hand in hand.
3 comments:
Interesting thoughts. Reminds me of John 4:24. =)
Not sure what you meant by it, but I feel that a big focus on scripture isn't necessarily a problem. That should be a good thing, in fact. ("Sola Scriptura") I think it can get "dry" when we read without a humble heart seeking to truly know God but instead have a proud spirit. Like the Pharisees, perhaps?
"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life."
I wonder how it is possible to be filled by the Spirit with a lack of truth, though? Likewise, I wonder how it is possible to truly be in the Scriptures without the guidance of the Spirit?
Hmm.
phil
hey Phil,
Interesting point you brought up.
I think I should have been more clear =P. I agree that focus on Scripture is great, as long as it is complete. So this includes what you said about a having a humble heart, and faith in that the Spirit will reveal you the truth, and internalizing the Word in our lives, so that it can be transformational leading to action.
What I mean in the post is that the "dryness" come from having the knowledge, but not the full understanding, and therefore no experience of the true power of the gospel. I can relate to this because the Holy Spirit is not very emphasize in my home church, and most of the members have the knowledge but I don't see transformation and zeal. I guess I should not say emphasis on "Scripture" but emphasis on "knowledge" just as the Pharisees.
On the other hand, people who are more focused on the Spirit but lacking understanding of the truth will not be filled by the Spirit I believe. The reason of this is because it can lead to a believer to rely on his/her own emotions, claiming that these emotions are a revelation from the Spirit.
To add, not focusing on Scripture can lead to misinterpreting the truth from the Bible (eisegesis), and that is bad.
So yeah, that is why I believe that knowing Scripture and being filled by the Spirit come hand in hand. Sorry for the confusion.
Cool, thanks for the clarification, Jorge!
Post a Comment