Tag Archives: identity

Feb 12 2015
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The "Why" Questions

Moving Forward

In our latest series on this space, we have been attempting to form appropriate responses to three questions asked by the leaders of our movement. Jonathan started us off by framing an answer to the purpose of the Church of God movement. Joe and David each gave us a response to the Church of God’s unique contribution to the Kingdom. And Shannon began to help us think about what this would all mean as we move forward. In this entry, I will attempt to respond to Shannon’s thoughts:

Upon what should the Movement focus going forward?

In a world that is rapidly changing, we see Christ communities of various forms struggling to remain both relevant and counter-cultural. To try to form a few coherent thoughts about moving forward is a big task. But try we must, so we press on. Continue reading →

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Jan 20 2015
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The "Why" Questions

Our Focus As We Move Forward

We (along with the rest of the Church of God Movement) have been commissioned to answer three very important questions. All three hope to address the more pressing question: why do we exist as a Movement? Jonathan posted about the purpose of the Church of God movement and Joe shared in response to query about the Church of God’s unique contribution to the Kingdom. The third question is this:

Upon what should the Movement focus going forward?

This is the question I was asked to explore. But how can I be so bold as to propose the focus for the whole Church of God as we move forward into the future? I began to sweat as I thought about what I could possibly suggest. But then it hit me. The question could just as well be “where should my focus be?” As I live my life as a follower of Christ and as a Church of God Pastor, where should my focus be? Because the truth is, if I can’t get on board with the answer to this question (or the others) that we are asking for the Church of God at large, than why am I part of this Movement?

And so, for better or worse, I approach this question for myself. As I move forward (in life, in ministry, as a believer) what is to be my focus? As I think about this question it occurs to me that I don’t have to come up with something new or brilliant. Jesus laid out for us the perfect focus for now and for our future: make disciples (Matthew 28:19). If this was the focus of the Church of God – the world would be changed. If we spent our time and energy on this call – we could transform the lives around us.

I am aware that this focus should be the focus of all churches and not just the Church of God, but I find myself wondering why we have to separate ourselves out before we get to doing the work that God called us to. Wasn’t the whole point of why the Church of God came to be? To “come out of denominational Babylon”? Isn’t that why the Movement was formed? And here we are once again trying to define our uniqueness in the family of God rather than just accepting that we are part of it and that we have work to do.

There are so many people who are truly lost (outside of relationship with God) and we’re worried about our Movement being lost in the tide of denominations. There are so many lost people (people who God created and who God loves) who are separated from God. There are so many people who are dying and need what we have.  We are so distracted about things that don’t matter that we’ve forgotten why we do exist – and it’s not to be unique. We exist because we know God and we want other people to know God too.

So for me, what has to be our focus as we move forward is those lost people and the work that still needs to be done. We cannot lose sight of the mission that we are called to:  19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you (Matthew 28:19-21).

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Jan 13 2015
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The "Why" Questions

The Church of God and the Kingdom at Large

Why does the Church of God Movement exist today?

There’s no more important question for us to answer, and answer well, because how we answer this one question will define how we go forward from here. Jonathan began the process of putting together a purpose statement for the movement, and I appreciate his willingness to press into the fact that identifying a purpose will necessarily require us to speak about what makes us distinct from other church denominations or movements.

But nowadays distinctives scare us.

I don’t know if we’re afraid of offending people, or we’re afraid that by saying we are distinct from other groups in the church sounds like we’re dividing the body of Christ, but the idea makes a lot of people squeamish. Distinctives don’t have to divide us however. In fact, the body metaphor itself helps us see where distinctives are good. I want the parts of the various systems of my body to be distinct from one another. If they’re not then I have a serious problem. The key is that all the parts and systems must be working together for a singular goal, the overall health and growth of the body at large. To that end, its important for us to ask this second question as we seek to identify our purpose for the next chapter of the Church of God. Continue reading →

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Jan 06 2015
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The "Why" Questions

The Purpose of the Church of God Movement

If you could capture in one sentence, “What is the purpose of the Church of God Movement?” what would it be?

Over the last half century there may be no question more important, with greater impact on the Church of God Movement, than this one. How we define our purpose carries implications for what we do, how we do it, and why we do it. With this one sentence comes a telos (end, purpose or goal) for the rest of the movement. A purpose statement is a powerful thing; it guides and directs where you go and how you get there. It informs why we exist and why our existence matters.

Well, now I feel completely inadequate to answer the question… Oh well, we press on.

Continue reading →

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Jan 05 2015
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The "Why" Questions

The “Why” Questions

Our denomination, the Church of God (Anderson), is doing some introspective investigation these days. We have been in existence since the 1880s, and our self-understanding has shifted and changed through the course of time. We now stand “at the crossroads,” as it were. Our leaders, from General Director Jim Lyon on down, are asking three important questions about why we exist as a body of believers.

These are crucial questions, and we hope to contribute our answers to them:

(A) If you could capture in one sentence, “What is the purpose of the Church of God Movement?” what would it be?

(B) What is the unique contribution that the Movement makes to the Kingdom in the world today?

(C) Upon what should the Movement focus going forward?

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Nov 18 2014
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At the Crossroads

A Missionary Church: A Response

It is not the job of other people to be God’s missionaries. It is our job, because we are God’s people!

David used these two sentences to end his post how the Church of God has as a part of our identity the call to be a missionary church. David’s post highlighted the fact that God has worked through people to be a blessing to the world for his sake since the call of Abraham in Genesis 12. I would argue that it goes even further back than that. One of the significant threads that runs right through the whole of scripture is God’s design to use men and women as his representatives in the world. And it’s by going all the way back to creation that I believe the Church of God must find our roots for being just what the title of these posts call us to be, A missionary CHURCH.

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Oct 30 2014
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At the Crossroads

A Missionary Church

What does it mean to be the Church of God? What contributions does this group make toward broader Christianity? These and other questions have been on our minds since we began this series on the strands that comprise “the fabric of what it means to be God’s church.” Now, as this series draws to close, we have one last perspective to consider. For God’s church to truly be God’s church, it must be a missionary church.

In recent decades, Christians have written tremendous amounts of material on the meaning of “missions” and “missionary work.” These terms have been interpreted and acted upon differently by various groups over the years. Denominations of all varieties have sent people to foreign countries in order to spread the gospel of Christ. Some groups have practiced door-to-door evangelism in local communities. Short-term missions trips are an implicit prerequisite for understanding the world and, perhaps, for being a “good” Christian. In our own movement, Church of God women have historically raised money and provided tangible goods for missionaries all around the world. Continue reading →

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May 12 2014
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At the Crossroads

A Unity Church

That the Church should be one is not debated.  The Bible makes it pretty clear that God’s intention for the Church is oneness.  Jesus, in the garden before his betrayal, fervently prays that his followers will all be ONE (John 17:21).  Paul makes it pretty plain in his letters that all believers are baptized into ONE Church, part of ONE body (1 Cor. 12:12-31; Eph. 4:1-16).

But, while we do not doubt that the Church should be one, we seem to have a lot of questions and disagreements over how we get there, and what that looks like practically.  Well I can’t pretend to have all the answers, but I can throw out some food-for-thought and maybe encourage further discussion.

Continue reading →

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Apr 03 2014
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At the Crossroads

A Born-Again Church: A Response

Growing up in the Church of God, talk of being “born again” was something about which I heard a lot. The struggle for me came when my experience and relationship with God did not reflect this one, pivotal moment, when I turned from a lifetime of sin and became a new person. Eugene Peterson describes discipleship as a “Long Obedience in the Same Direction” and that is a good description of how I have understood my own faith story. Sure, I had the time when I was 5 years old and I asked my parents to pray with me, following a church service where a Southern Gospel group had come to sing and, apparently, scare the living daylights out of a 5 year old with a hellfire-and-brimstone-type message. And maybe we could point to that moment as my moment of conversion. But as an adult, looking back on my faith journey, I see transformative seasons in my life, where I was being born again.

Continue reading →

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Mar 06 2014
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At the Crossroads

A Born-Again Church

I can’t remember the first time I heard it, but I know I’ve heard it a lot since. 

“I’m a Christ-follower.”

I understand what people are doing when they say that. It’s an attempt to avoid the cultural baggage of the term “Christian,” a term that has come to mean all sort of things to people outside of the church which fall far short of the vision of the Kingdom of God we find in Christ. That being said, I’ve never been able to embrace “Christ-follower” as an alternative. It seems to me that it fails to communicate the reality that when a person puts his or her faith in Jesus as Lord, something radically different happens to their very being which changes them. Their identity, which does come from following Christ, is changed at the core of who they are. It’s as if in that moment, they are born all over again into someone new.

I see that hand!

This belief, that as Christians, we are born-again is woven deep into the history of the Church of God. Having grown out of the revival and camp-meeting background of the 19th century, the Church of God has been a people who have held up the importance of that moment of rebirth. We call people to remember the day when their life changed forever and they were reborn in the Spirit of God! Sure, some are more dramatic than others, but it’s a part of who we are to believe that there is a day in our past to which we can point as our “second-birthday.” Continue reading →

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