I suppose that, like Martin Luther over five hundred years ago, most of us in ministry have strong feelings about what we'd like to change about the church. These are some of the convictions I've developed over the past three decades of ministry.
In honor of Reformation Day and in the spirit of Martin Luther, I offer my 9.5 theses.
#1 No single church is or should act like it's the whole body of Christ.
"The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,..." 1 Corinthians 12:21-22
#2 The value of denominations is in what they uniquely offer to the Body of Christ, not what separates them from the rest of the Body.
"If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body." 1 Corinthians 12:17-20
#3 "When God looks at a city, He doesn't see many churches; He sees one church in many congregations." - Ed Silvoso
"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:4-6
#4 For the good of the kingdom and as a wise use of God-given resources, churches need to join forces, pool resources, and at times even merge together!
"For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us." Romans 12:4-6
#5 God has blessed large churches to be a blessing to the rest of the body of Christ.
"But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." 1 Corinthians 12:24-26
#6 "The purpose of unity is not 'unity for the sake of unity' but to demonstrate that God's truth is true." - Mike King
"We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister." 1 John 4:19-21
#7 A divided Body of Christ is a defeated Body of Christ.
"I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought." 1 Corinthians 1:10
#8 Young pastors and youth pastors are the best candidates to forge unity (new wine and new wineskins and all that).
"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Philippians 2:1-4
#9 A church united is extremely difficult requiring-and thus demonstrating-the supernatural love of God.
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." - 1 John 4:7-11
#9.5 This kind of love is what the world is waiting to see.
"I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one- I in them and you in me-so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." - John 17:20-23
Those are my thoughts about building a better church; I'd love to hear yours.
_____________________
Travis Deans is the Northeast Regional Coordinator Pennsylvania coordinator for the National Network of Youth Ministries, founder of 9 Month Missions Trip, and pretty much a networking guru. Connect with Travis Deans