Truth In Action

Its been said that Jesus is the fullness of the Old Testament offices - Prophet, Priest, and King.

Prophet in that He IS the truth, He proclaims the truth. He is the very Word of God. He casts vision and brings God to the people. Priest in that He is our Great High Priest - Counselor, Mediator, bringing the people to God. And King in that He is ruling and reigning forever. He has set in place the way of life and not just a way.

The church is also to be all three. Ephesians 1:23 states that the church is to be the fullness of Jesus. Ephesians 4:13 also states that as leaders we are to equip the saints to be the fullness of Christ.

So I was thinking about how this would play out in the various aspects of the vision for the church in Fort Worth. One family trait that we will be made up of is Truth. In a future post I will unpack that vision and how it looks more precisely but I want to take a quick overview of it now as it pertains to the church being prophet, priest, and king.

Through the preaching of the truth (prophet) and Christ-centered worship (prophet) will come the repentance and confession of sin. I am huge on dealing with your junk; going deep and being honest about the sins that have been committed against you - rape, abuse, neglect, etc - and the sin in your heart - lust, bitterness, unforgiveness.

Through the prophetic word of God a lot of hurt and junk and sin will be dug up. To properly care for and teach truth to all these new converts, it will take more teaching than Sunday morning can offer and good, hardcore biblical counseling and community. That will take kingly planning and authority.

The kings in the church (elders) will have to have systems and structures, and policies in place in order to properly care for and shepherd (priest) the flock.
I am big on counseling. But one problem I see with it is that most counselors are only priestly in nature, which is why you see people having to go to one for long, extended periods of time. Nothing ever really gets solved, but they get their fix. Counselors also need to be prophets - teaching truth to overcome the lies that the counselee is believing.

What must always be remembered is that truth finally dug up, sins confessed, lives transformed must never terminate on itself. It must always lead to the Truth, Jesus. It must always lead to the church being further on mission for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Inspirations

I love the depth and meaning of the teaching of Matt Chandler and the Village Church. Read this excerpt from his blog.

What inspires you? Better yet, what stirs your affections for Christ, truth and holiness? If we can fill our lives with the things that stir our affections and avoid and flee those things that rob us of inspiration, we have a better shot at dwelling deeply. What and who inspires you? Stirs you? What presses you into holy places? What robs you of joy and vitality? What robs you of your affection for Christ and holiness?

http://dwelldeep.net/?p=31

Isnt that such a better focus to have then to make ourselves some Christian check-list that we have to follow and force our list onto others?

The focus should be on the greatness of Christ not on how great we are at morality.

What If?

What if there was a church that was for their city and not against it?

What if they served a God who was worthy of glory, worship, and praise and not just some neblous sky fairy who grants us three wishes if we do good?

What if there was a church who was so raw, so dirty, so honest that deep, dark stuff could finally be dug up and dealt with?

What if the men would be men and reflect the character of God and speak into that darkness and bring the light of the Gospel?

What if there was a church that wasn't a dispenser of religious goods and services but a place where iron violently sharpens iron and real community and relationships took place?

What if there was a church where women could be honest about their struggles without the judgment and criticism of other women, and where men could actually be men and rather being passive, impotent, and fearful of failure or brash, immature, insecure, sex freaks, they could lead, cultivate, build, redeem, and create?

Where depth is more important then width?

Where love isn't flowery, fake, and surface level, but gritty, real, and deep?

Where biblical spirituality is actually flows to our hearts, hands, and feet and is not just in our head?

Where money is used to love people instead of using people to get money?

Where the Bible is taught, read, and used to reveal the immutable, unmatching, marvelous light of the glory of God and not weird, self-help, road map to life?

Where the revitalization and growth of Fort Worth is greatly influenced by the Gospel of Jesus for the transformation of lives to the glory of God the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit?

What if?