Perhaps one of the greatest challenges for the Christ-Follower,

Is striking the constant, circumstantially-driven,

Elliptical Balance,

Of practicing the

The LOVE of Christ's TRUTH,

For the TRUTH of Christ's LOVE

The greatest heresies in history

Are Always some contextually driven form,

Of privileging one of these dynamics

(Truth or Love)

Exclusively over the other...

The Witness of "Imago Dei"

We Can Know If A Local Church

FAILS

In Its Divinely Given God-Given Purpose,

When Any ONE PERSON Within It,

Is A More Authentic Representation

Of Jesus Christ,

Than The SUM TOTAL Of The Individuals

Within The CONGREGATION Itself.

It Must Be The Comprehensive Witness

Of The "Imago Dei"

My Thoughts Of What The Church Should Be

The Church

The church [ecclesia] is a group of people 
   graciously called by God the Father
into right relationship(s),through Jesus Christ 
   living as a dynamic "incarnational" [Christ in 
   our flesh] presence within the world, 
rooted in and emanating out of 
  an authentic and transparent community 
   [koinonia], 
dedicated to reconciling and restoring all things 
  over to the image and purpose of Jesus Christ…

• Illuminated by the Holy Spirit
• Instructed by the Scriptures
• Informed by Church tradition

rsg (May of 2009)

LEADERSHIP - some random thoughts...

Leadership: Unquestionably a vital topic for all to explore and learn about... And when studied faddishly, often causing much in the way of delusional thought and grandiose behavior. In my heart, I find that I am really wary of those who would self-describe themselves as a "leader." It seems right to me that if anyone is to be referred to as a "leader" it should be done only by others (always received with some sense of incredulity), than to confidently come to that conclusion on their own. Our motivation for leadership ought always from a strong sense of calling and faithfulness, rather than cold desire for influence. Inescapably, leadership always involves the use of some form of power. Because at the heart of leadership is the ability to influence the behavior of others. The brutal and troubling reality of being a leader, is that the entire dynamic of "leadership" is laced inextricably with a tricky thing called "power." Power is always and ever, an unstable and potentially corruptive elixir that is monumentally difficult to exercise and contain. As a rule, in everyday life when called upon to verbally influence, I think it best to live out of the context: "This is what I think," rather than confidently asserting "this is what you must do." There are perhaps, some appropriate exceptions to this axiom, but I don't think too many... To speak out, through our life: "This is what I think," appropriately assumes that people care what you think; and if they care what they think, then they've experienced something about your character that has favorably gotten their attention - and that thing is usually "good." It draws others in, rather than drives others to - for whatever reason. Yet at the same time, those who speak out of their lives according to what they think, are often cautiously circumspect about what they think they know; and how what they think they know should be applied to those around them (see: The Noetic Affects of Sin). To me Leadership is: "The faithful, passionate, commitment to one's giftedness and calling." I realize this may not appear to apply for those who work in the business world, but as a presuppositionalist, I believe that it does. Even in the business world, if you don't have the right people in the right place, exercising their natural abilities and skill-set with an overt sense of "calling," then they are probably in the wrong place and not serving well the agency they are working for. Ideally, I think all employers want those employees, who when they do their work, do it, as if it were not work because they find it so fulling; and in a certain sense, effortless because of their natural abilities and passions. These people rarely need to be managed or supervised. Leadership ought always be ontological and not merely epistemology in its application and this particularly true for the Christian community. The thought occurs to me that when it comes to the kind of Leadership exercised in much of the church and institutions of Higher Learning; as it relates to the praxis of Biblical knowledge and Theological understanding - educationally... ...Christian Leadership who instruct and teach ought to be able to have the kind of thoughtful, measured and probing conversations found around a French Cafe table, rather than the self-assured, positivist and forceful lectures pounded over the podium of a German lecture hall. (still in process!)