Things in Church Which Cannot Coexist
Mark Tidsworth, Team Leader
Even more, they cannot stand each other. They are each such a powerful presence that when they try to show up in the same church at the same time, one of them has to go. Their relationship is not complex nor complicated to understand. Consistently, every time they are in proximity with each other, their inverse correlation relationship is there too. When one increases, the other decreases; and vice versa. Their inverse relationship is proof positive they cannot stand one another. Allow me to describe each, along with their formational beliefs.
Fear of Member Loss
No, we are not describing healthy concern for one another in the body of Christ. We are not describing our aspiration to put the needs of others ahead of our own, like Christ taught us. Instead we are describing a church culture where concern is ratcheted up into anxiety. Perhaps this church has lost a few members recently. Perhaps this church has been numerically declining for quite some time. Perhaps this church is just on the other side of conflict, enjoying calm waters for once, yet anxious more fall-out may occur. However they arrived there, this church’s culture is infused with excessive concern about losing members. Therefore, fear of member loss permeates nearly everything, driving their expression of church. Subtly perhaps, everything is designed to cultivate a culture of comfort and acceptance wherein one would have to look closely for any reason to ever be challenged, much less offended.
Enlivened Vitality
The other side of this inverse relationship is another church dynamic which powerfully drives most everything in this church. It’s very difficult to describe, yet everyone in this church is keenly aware of vitality’s presence. This church embodies the theological meaning of hope; the conviction of things not yet seen. The disciples in this church recognize they cannot remain the same when they engage with this transformation-focused body of Christ. The people of this church expect something to happen in and through them as they are church together. The disciples in this church recognize they will become uncomfortable at times due to the challenge embedded in the gospel of Jesus Christ; the challenge to align their lives with the Way of Jesus. This church believes the world need its presence and ministry, living into a compelling vision of what it will look like when God’s kingdom comes more fully in this church and community. Therefore, this enlivened vitality dynamic permeates nearly everything, driving their expression of church. Everything in this church is influenced by vitality, creating a culture of hope, expectation, challenge, transformation, and aliveness.
Now, can you imagine these two dynamics coexisting? Trying to hold onto both to any degree is like mixing water and oil. Even more they repel one another like the same polar ends of magnets. When churches grow afraid of member loss, they round off the gospel’s edges until it becomes comfortable, though unrecognizable. When churches are engaged with God and their community with openness, the Holy Spirit energizes them with an aliveness that’s highly attractive for those with the eyes to see. When we look deeply, each of these church dynamics is formed by a set of formational beliefs.
Formational Beliefs Creating Fear of Member Loss
Losing members would be too painful to bear
If we lose members, we cannot continue being church in the way to which we are accustomed
Perhaps there is challenge in our faith, yet people can engage that on their own when ready
Christianity is on the decline in this country so we better hold onto every member
If we lose members, we cannot afford everything we currently have, and that would be devastating to this church
Our chief aim as a church is to keep people as comfortable and happy as much of the time as is humanly possible, ensuring their ongoing participation with presence and financial support
Formational Beliefs Opening the Door to Enlivened Vitality
We are looking for all those people for whom this expression of church opens doors to God, though this church is not for everyone in our community
We are caught up in a compelling vision for being church; committed to collectively pursuing this vision
We accept the reality that not everyone in our community or even in this church will be drawn to the vision we are pursuing
Following God’s calling is more important than pleasing one another
Loving one another includes excessive grace right alongside spiritual expectations
Our chief aim as a church is live into the Way of Jesus, becoming transformed while participating with God’s mission to bring the kingdom to earth as it is in heaven
Neither of these two church dynamics, fear of member loss nor enlivened vitality, is only a feeling. Both are formed through foundational beliefs, which when thoroughly mixed together, produce distinct church cultures. That’s when the feelings take over; after these foundational beliefs are in place. Certainly feelings are involved in the formational process too, yet they become exceptionally powerful after one of these two church cultures is in place.
Fear of member loss versus enlivened vitality
So how’s that inverse correlation relationship in your church?