5 Marks of a Holy Church

Holiness is a strange word for us today. We get visions of being “holier than thou” or risk presenting ourselves as “perfect.” I get a mental picture of a church lady type with a bun on her head, a long skirt, black plain shoes, a big Bible, and her husband wearing a white, short sleeved button up shirt. Just know, I would not pick this word if I didn’t have to. I am rough around the edges, to say the least. But holiness is what we are called to as a people. Peter makes sure that we understand this point: it is “as a people” that we are called to holiness and not “as a person.”

So what makes us a holy people?

1. Holy in our View of Grace

Peter talks about “girding up the loins of our mind” in 1 Peter 1:13. He knows that what he is about to say requires us to be ready to grasp. He launches out with a radical perspective on grace. Grace is not just what happened, it is not only what is happening, but it also includes what will happen. We will experience grace without measure when Jesus is revealed to us. We are looking forward to this revelation that is grace. We know that we will never be truly whole without it. So, we give others grace for being a bit of a work as well.

2. Holy in our view of Obedience

We are children of a holy God. He is our dad. My earthly dad was a broken dude. He was messed up. He was missing for much of my life and pretty brutal when he was present. He made a lot of mistakes and I never wanted to repeat them. But, when someone would tell me that I was “like my dad” I was proud. I wanted to be like my dad in the good ways. Peter reminds us that we are becoming “like our dad.” Some people might even recognize it if we are obedient to how he behaves.

3. Holy in our view of Redemption

We have a good dad. He is right. He does right things. He can recognize right from wrong. Always. And he will not lie. Never. So when he sees wrong being done, he will call it out. He will judge it. But our dad also provides a way to be forgiven, pardoned, redeemed. He wants to rescue us from this world of wrong junk and embrace us in a world that it right, fair, and just. He wants to be our standard, our measure. We are tempted to judge other things by what culture teaches us. We even try to judge God by what “feels right” according to our culture.

4. Holy in our view of Faith

Our faith is really just our trusting Jesus. When our culture and the words of God collide; we trust Jesus. When our own experience and the words of God conflict; we trust Jesus. When our emotions and the words of God contradict one another; we trust Jesus. We trust a God that was in existence before this world was formed. He became part of this world and understands it. He gave his life to bring it into relationship with himself. We trust him with our lives. We trust that he loves us and has a better vision for our lives than we do.

5. Holy in our view of Love

Peter writes that a holy community will result in love for one another. The outcome of grace, obedience, redemption, and faith is a love for each other like brother and sister. We become a new family. One that seeks to be like our dad. We welcome and care for those that are a part of this family with personal sacrifice and suffering if need be. We do this because that is what pure love does. It is what pure love did for us.

I wonder what we would think of the word “holy” if this were our experience.

If “holy” were humble.

If “holy” were welcoming of all, especially the stranger.

If “holy” just felt like love.

That is our dad’s kind of holy.

Do You Have a Questionable Faith?

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect,” 1 Peter 3:15

There are a couple of book of the Bible that are more plainly focused on being the people of God and setting out for us the vision of Jesus for what that looks like. Ephesians is one; 1 Peter is the other. Peter commends us to live lives that are worthy of questions from outsiders. His idea of evangelism and apologetics is a response to the questions that come about the hope that lies within you. How many of us are so full of hope that our neighbors are confounded? How many of us live lives that are radically reformed by the hope that we have in Jesus? What if our lives were worthy of questions from those wondering what would make us live like we do? There are several areas of our lives that Peter points out that if addressed would render our lives worthy of questions.

Courageous Authenticity

I am just going to dive into the most provocative first. Christians struggle with authenticity. Everyone struggles with authenticity, but Christians seem to be the poster child. Our world of social media and YouTube stardom have us living in a culture where we give in to the temptation to put our best face forward at all times. A simple survey of Facebook will show that Christians (and the church) are some of the worst offenders. We are always “blessed” and “giving it to God” and making “unspoken” prayer requests. The world around us is stepping out into a #metoo movement because they crave authenticity and are tired of hiding. We stand in the grace of a loving God. The grace of Jesus empowers us to be more real than anyone about our sinfulness and failures. In fact, Jesus paints the most beautiful pictures of his grace on the canvas of our brokenness.

Community of Servants

Jesus came to serve and not to be served. However, it seems that more and more we loath being last. We never say this, of course, because that would not be cool. But, we use even our “service” as a way of self-promotion. A community that is committed to serving the people around them raises questions. What family do you ever visit that races to be the one to clean the dishes? Where do you ever go where the people show up early to look for ways to help (not just ask)? Jesus commissioned a people that served each other before anything else. It was what he said would tip off the fact that we were his people.

United in Mission

Sometimes I think that if you had ten people in a room, you would find ten different agendas. Most of the agendas are pointed to our own personal gain and satisfaction. We do this often, I think, with the way we gather for church services. We hire the best preacher, desire the best music, demand the perfect temperature. But it could look different if a group of people were gathered and focused on ways that we could love and serve other people. Even in missional communities it is uncommon to see people sharing the work. If the only thing that unites us is where we gather for an hour a week then we are not living the same mission as Jesus. He calls us out of our gatherings as a gathered people to scatter them in order to display to the onlooking world his grace and redemption of all things (and all kinds of people… wink, wink) and then gather them together.

Welcoming and Generous

People don’t like to share. Days like “giving Tuesday” and “Amazon Smile” exist because people hate to share their space and their stuff. I will break you off five bucks but don’t touch my lunch, invade my space, or ask me for my time. This is a part of the culture we live in. Our society created a church that asks for “10%” as a means to keep up the salaries and buildings for our gatherings and we conclude that this is church. This is not. The vision of Jesus for the people of God is to practice hospitality by opening our space to others and welcoming them in. He desires that we share our stuff (all of it) with others as they have need or that being in the same space with them might require. Let’s admit it, people that hold their space and their stuff loosely are weird. Jesus calls us to be weird. He asks us to bring the better wine. He asks us to host the parties, too.

Live Our Calling Everyday

What is your calling? Do you know? Do you think that only those that pursue full-time ministry or are at the church “every time the doors open” have a calling? If you are a follower of Jesus then he has placed his Spirit in you (don’t ask me where) and one of the results is that you possess the spiritual DNA to reproduce the entire church. In you. That is true. No person has more Jesus than anyone else. This means that your everyday life has as much potential for kingdom impact as any pastor or preacher. In this day and age, your life has more potential because you are around people that are looking for grace, they are longing for hope, they are desperate for redemption and they are not going to the church building to find it. They just don’t know that what they are looking for is Jesus. Your home, your neighborhood, and your city in the everyday patterns and rhythms of your life can display the movement and intentions of Jesus.  

Express Heartfelt Praise to Jesus

That brings us to our next point. You don’t have anything. Nothing. It is not yours. What you do claim as possession, you don’t deserve. You did not earn it. You have been lied to. Now, the truth. Everything you have and all that you are is from Jesus. He desires for you to be cared for and loved. He gives you relationships and provisions. His grace gives you courage and boldness. He commands leaders, presidents (even the ones that are “not yours”), and kings. They all serve his purposes. Because this is true, we live every day in praise of him. How weird would it be to pray, not just before a meal, but during it? Praising Jesus for making steak taste so good and inspiring the person that invented macaroni and cheese. If we honestly believed these things then we would never run out of praise and we would not need to wait for the worship band to start playing to express it. We would already be doing all the stuff they sing about.

Display Justice, Peace, and Hope

When is the last time that you heard someone ask, “Why are you Christians so peaceful?” or “How do you Christians always show such hope for this world?” Yeah, I have never heard that either. In fact, I think that the reputation for the people of Jesus is quite the opposite. We are seen as angry at the way the world has become. We do not see any other way to fix than to have “our way, our president, and our laws.” We demand and require a “Christian nation” in order to live our “Christian lives.” We stand against “immigration” as if we are not aliens in this world. We want walls to keep out the outsiders even though Jesus says that we are strangers. We place our comforts before our compassion. We will not suffer in order to share. Because we don’t have much hope for this world. But Jesus does. He desires a people of peace. That will walk among our enemies, as we love them, as they harm us. He desires that we have eyes that can see the injustice in our world (including in our church buildings) and do something about it. He wants a people that are not afraid of any neighborhood. He fills us with his grace and presence so that we will be full of hope, his hope, so we can be a loving presence in this place and for these people.

What if our neighbors thought we were weird? “But even though weird, there is something different about them.” I wonder what our lives would be like if evangelism required just answering all of their questions, “Oh, the reason I am like that is because of Jesus.”

Then invite them to be weird.

But not in a weird way.

Oh, you get it.

Missional Church as a Repentance Movement

The missional church has been described as many things. Some see it as a fad. They claim that this is just a temporary over-reaction and that eventually these wayward souls will return to the fold and once again see church "their way." Some claim that it is offensive. They say that those practicing missional church are against the church and are at war with tradition; something that they hold dear. Some make it a means of salvation. They say that church that looks alternative to tradition is more authentic (okay, I don’t know if anyone actually says this, but they seem to think it). After 6 years of pursuing missional church I have seen truth reflected in many of these. But I have come to see missional church as a repentance movement.

Movement from Mission Centered on Growing a Gathering

The traditional form of doing church has been struggling for many decades (maybe centuries) to shake the one troubling characteristic that has plagued it: having a larger mission than their own growth. Some have outright embraced growing their church as synonymous with growing the kingdom (I am looking at you, Rick Warren). This has been turned over and over by eloquent and charismatic speakers to convince us that if the “local church” is growing then the kingdom of God is growing. After all, “isn’t Jesus’ point to grow the Kingdom of God; therefore, invite your friends to church this Sunday.”

The problem is that we walk away feeling sticky. We feel like we have just taken part in some kind of fraud but it is too complex to argue. We don’t really have an alternative. So, we invite our friends (which are probably all Christian) to church this Sunday. Deep down inside we feel that the Kingdom is bigger, that the purposes of Jesus are not for the number of people in a building, that our mission should expand our personal horizons and grow us as more Kingdom minded people. The reality is less compelling. A successful pastor will be the one that adds people to the congregation. Period.

Movement from Collecting Money to Pay for the Building

No one likes to talk about money. Except for the church. People that preach and teach in the church seem to love the topic. Truth is… they don’t. They hate it. They hate asking for money. Pastors feel like they are beggars sometimes. They have a unique burden that many don’t see. They feel the weight of the bills. The lights, water, gas, teaching materials, repairs, landscaping, cleaning supplies, coffee filters… the list is seemingly endless. But two line items are particularly burdensome, salary and building. These weigh immensely.

The pastor’s salary is significant but it is even more burdensome if there are other staff. Then he feels especially responsible for another person. Then there is the rent/mortgage of the building. The truth is simple, for the leaders in the gathering to continue to teach and preach then the building must survive. If the building must survive then money must continue to grow. But our money was never meant for such purposes alone was it? Should it really feel like begging? Is this constant burden and pressure not a danger to the spiritual position and growth of the pastor? Is the mission of God to the poor and needy of this world really second to these practical priorities?

  

Movement Toward the Church Described in the Bible

These are no the description that we find in the Bible of the church; increasing a gathering and giving. The missional movement is attempting to step toward the description of the church that is found in the Bible. Not as an addition to the gathering and giving numbers being a priority, but as a movement to make the care for the poor and broken a priority and building expenses the secondary concern.

In order to do this, there is a need to shed the weight of the building. This doesn’t mean that the building is always gone but that the weight is shed. Some move to homes and gather as smaller communities throughout the city. Some use a business or some other way of sharing the costs of having a building. Not in some temporary way like when planting a church gathering but as a constant way of staving off the costs that demand church “look” a certain way.

This allows for money to be decentralized from a collection called for by the pastor. No longer does he feel the need to “convince” you to pay for the cost of “doing church.” Instead there can be a focus on the real needs of real people and the Spirit has freedom move your heart toward those needs and those lives. This is mission.

Movement Toward Affirming the Mission in Everyday Life

The mission and vision of the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed is not beholden to a certain few or fixed on working a certain way. It is compelled by the Spirit, led by him, moved forward by him, it depends on him. So, every Spirit indwelled person is a part of this mission and vision. So, here it is… Jesus has a mission for you… He has a vision for your life. It does not need filtering through your pastor. It is around you… your everyday life.

Jesus did not make you less than your pastor, or the preacher on television, or the famous (sort of) Christian author that you like to read. He is on mission right now, all around your home, in your workplace or school, in the lives of many people that are in your city. He is working in the lives of those that go to the synagogue, the mosque, those that are atheist. He is moving. Do you see him? Those people that he is calling and reaching are people that you are passing every day. You are on mission.

You are at the ends of the earth. Your driveway, your job, your favorite gas station, or grocery store. Mission is not another country or culture. Mission is the movement of Jesus into the lives of other people. There is no church in Scripture that is not a missional church. It is true that Jesus calls people to go to other countries, and he may call you. If he does, then it will probably be in response to your obedience where you are.

Missional as a Movement of Repentance

So, I don’t see the missional movement as another way of doing church. I see some problems with the way the church has been for centuries and many attempts by many people to repent and change to better fit the mission that Jesus has called us all to in the Scriptures. This repentance comes from outside and inside the traditional church but ultimately leads to one place: an acceptance of the consequences of Jesus’ way of life and his commands.