This title is taken from one of Francis Schaeffer’s sermons contained in the wonderful collection: No Little People. In that message, Schaeffer makes the following comment:
“As I see it, the Christian life must be comprised of three concentric circles, each of which must be kept in its proper place. In the outer circle must be the correct theological position, true biblical orthodoxy and the purity of the visible church. This is first, but if that is all there is, it is just one more seedbed for spiritual pride. In the second circle must be good intellectual training and comprehension of our own generation. But having only this leads to intellectualism and again provides a seedbed for pride. In the inner circle must be the humble heart – the love of God, the devotional attitude toward God. There must be the daily practice of the reality of God whom we know is there. These three circles must be properly established, emphasized and related to each other.”
His words got me thinking about the church. If I were to diagram what he was trying to say, I would present it this way:
The outer circle concerns the church and our theological/experiential understanding of it. The next circle in concerns our grasp of what God would have us do in His world, in other words, His vision for us. The most inner circle concerns our total dependence upon Him, expressed through prayer & worship.
Sketching it in this way, the diagram left me with a probing question: We, as World Team, say that our main priority is to establish the church, the local church. Yet, do we as a World Team community know what we mean when we say: “church”?
That’s the conversation I would like us to begin to have over the coming days.
Filed under: Church, Community | 1 Comment »
Thoughts Along The Journey 