The Church is not only One; it is Many

Diving a little deeper into Howard Snyder's Decoding the Church, here is the first of four posts that look at the biblical foundation for his supposition that the church's historical "marks" of one, holy, catholic, and apostolic are only half of a church's DNA.

The New Testament record of the birth of the church at Jerusalem and its spread to Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth and beyond show the rich diversity of the church. They had unity in the worship of a risen Christ, but the churches also celebrated the ethnic, socioeconomic, and class diversity of the people who made up the church.

My thanks to Pastor Sam Vassel of Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene for the following thoughts on the leaders at the church at Antioch. Acts 13 refers by name to the leaders of the church: Barnabas (a Jewish businessman), Simeon called Niger (the black one), Lucius of Cyrene (an African), Manaen - half brother to Herod the Tetrarch (the aristocrat) and Saul (the rabbi). Quite a diverse group of leaders!

This is but one example of the unity we have in Christ but also the diversity that makes this unity so miraculous. Unity in spite of great diversity is one of the most amazing things about the early church.

The "one body, many members" teachings in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 can be applied to the universal as well as the local church. The church, locally and globally, is both one and many.

Is your church DNA a balance of the two? Or does it slide more one way, or the other?

A Great Adventure

Tomorrow I leave early in the morning for a four-day trip to Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene. Pastor Sam Vassel, the church staff, and their leaders are meeting with me all day Saturday. On Sunday I will be worshipping with the church and doing a program and space analysis. Monday I will be meeting with the church staff during the day. Monday night I will be meeting with church leaders and an architect to talk about expansion possibilities.

It's an awesome responsibility, and I'm totally inadequate for the task, but somehow Pastor Sam found me at Indianapolis WFX last spring, and again at Houston WFX last fall, and I'm trusting in God to work through me.

Your prayers are greatly appreciated and needed! Look here over the next few days for impromptu posts.

The Bronx, here I come!