A Theology of the Laity (1)

…the laity, generally speaking, feels itself spiritually powerless and illiterate as to its witness in that sector, which is the very place where most of its life is spent. This is the appalling problem, hidden by the fact that this laity, impotent and paralysed in the most strategic region of their life, are often faithful worshippers and do all kinds of service in the ordinary run of church life. The problem is still more appalling because the relevancy of the Church, and what she represents in the modern world, is dependent on the conversion of this impotence and paralysis into a manifestation of power and spirit. (37-8)

Sounds like an extract from an LICC publication? These words were written in 1958 by Hendrik Kraemer in his Theology of the Laity. I stumbled across this book while we were in the process of clearing the LICC library and began to flick through it. It only took a few glances to realise that Kraemer's words (sadly) remain as potent and relevant today as when they were first published. (For those interested, the book is still in print and available from Amazon)

5 Values For A Whole-life Disciplemaking Church: Intro

How do you tell a whole-life disciplemaking church when you’ve got one? What should you look for? If you are a church leader, how do you tell when your work in shifting the culture is making a positive difference?

These are questions we frequently ask ourselves as a team. Indeed, it is sometimes difficult to tell when a culture shift has begun to gain traction in the life of the church and to articulate what differences it is making. However, as our work in the church pilot project progressed it became increasingly clear that there are 5 core values that are central to a whole-life disciplemaking church that we believe provide a good guide to when a culture shift has begun:

Value 1: We submit to the Lordship of Christ in all things
Christ is Lord of All is a fundamental scriptural tenet (Col 1:16-17; Eph 1:22). As a community we are committed to exploring what ‘all things’ mean, recognising that no area of existence is excluded from God’s interest, purpose and redemptive power.

NEW Imagine DVD Small Group Resource

This new resource guides a small group through the themes, ideas and questions raised by the Imagine DVD. Over the course of 6 weeks, groups will grapple with the material and discover new ways of supporting and equipping one another as whole-life disciples.

To download this free new resource click here...

Conversations Journal: How We Change

Conversations journal, published twice a year in the US, has devoted its latest issue to the question of How We Change.

As the editorial puts it:

...it has become commonplace to live as though what Jesus meant to be Christianity 101 - learning to live our lives with supernatural abilities - has become Christianity 401, a curriculum most reserve now for the saints.

So, they have devoted the latest issue to exploring the dimensions of change and growth. Coming out of the spiritual formation school it provides a certain take on the question and there is little on the role of the church in the transformation of the individual but with contributions from Dallas Willard, Larry Crabb, David Kinnaman and Ruth Haley Barton there is much for reflection.

To explore the contents and purchase a copy go to the Conversations website.

Gospel in Life: Grace Changes Everything

The new DVD course Gospel in Life: Grace Changes Everything presented by Tim Keller from Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Manhatten is now available. Having watched the course DVD (in Black & White as the DVD is in NTSC format rather than PAL), we think it is an excellent resource for churches and small groups. The DVD features eight 10 minute films featuring Keller and is accompanied by a very thorough Participants Guide that contains session outlines and preparatory reading.

The DVD explores the gospel and how it is lived out in all of life. Bookended by a theology of the city, Keller, with typical clarity and depth, explores how Christians work out life and community in that context, remaining faithful whilst resisting the temptations of assimilation. As he says, "you work out the gospel in the city, in order to work the gospel into your own heart."

The 8 Sessions are:

1. City: The World That Is


2. Heart: Three Ways To Live


3. Idolatory: The Sin Behind The Sin


4. Community: The Context For Change
   
5. Witness: An Alternate City


6. Work: Cultivating The Garden


7. Justice: A People For Others


8. Eternity: The World That Is To Come

For more information and to purchase go to the Gospel in Life website.

Praying in the Plural

How do the whole-life ideas shape the way we pray on our Frontlines?

There are varied responses we might want to give to this, but as a start here is a great and simple idea from a series preached by Robert Gelinas, lead pastor at Colorado Community Church and self-styled Jazz Theologian (It is well worth checking out his excellent blog) in September ‘09. Hear or download the talks here...

Over the course of six weeks, Gelinas explores a number of passages (2 Chron 6:18-21, James 1:1-5, Is 29:13-14, Eph 1:15-20, Eph 3:14-21, Mk 9:14-24) and emphasises that many prayers in the Bible are in the plural rather than the singular. Think, for example, of the Lord’s Prayer. The voice of the prayer is not 'me' but 'us'. But how often do we pray it in a way that recognises this?

Gelinas suggests that we model our prayer on this plural model:

Instead of I say we. Instead of me say us.

Obvious and simple really…but in practice life changing for Christians on the Frontline. When we face difficult or challenging situations our typical response when we pray is to ask God to help me (not a bad prayer). But it is unlikely that we are the only ones who are facing such a situation, so why not instead pray God help us.

Welcome

Welcome to the new blog from LICC’s Imagine team.

A Quick Recap…
For those of you who are not familiar with the Imagine project, we are part of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC). The project began in 2003 with the publication of Imagine: How we can reach the UK by Mark Greene which argued for the recovery of whole-life disciplemaking as key to reaching the UK with the gospel: equipping the people of God to live with a vision of the Lordship of Christ that impacts every area of life as they engage day by day, in different contexts, schools, homes, daycentres, offices…

Since then the work of the Imagine project has led to two pilot projects, working with churches across the UK, exploring the ways in which churches can equip their people to engage fruitfully and faithfully in life as disciples of Jesus.