Cruciformity and "The Parables"
This week for the blog, I am going to post an answer I gave for one of my assignment questions this week. After this post, I will make a few more comments. Now, if you are unfamiliar with the word 'cruciformity', it merely means 'crosslike'. So, if I were to state that we should live a 'cruciform' lifestyle, that means that we need to live a 'crosslike' lifestyle, in other words 'formed to the image of Christ'.
2. Which of Paul's big ideas (chapter 6 in Gorman) do you find most compelling for the church to grasp or grapple with at this time?
Choosing between two of these is going to be difficult. The reason being is that two of these, in my mind, go hand in hand. Gorman lists #9 as “Cruciformity, or The Law of Christ” on page 140, and #11 as “The Church as Alternative Community” on page 141. The way I see our culture is that we are self-centered, pied-piper following groupies. Most people go to church on Sunday to get their “get out of hell free” card stamped. They do it to “feel good about themselves”. We neglect to realize that living this “Law of Christ” includes letting the effects spill over into our private, everyday lives. Instead, we go into the world living according to the community that the world says should be. We even drag the world into our churches! We argue and fight, not create “harmony, humility and above all love-” (pg. 141). We live in our little subcultures and don’t realize the need to bring this Cruciformity and covenantal community to the world. The church I am at is battling what I see as its “final battle”. It pains me to see a split coming which will send this church into closure or a sell-out and yet the wisdom that I present as gotten from the Spirit is not heeded or paid attention to, except a few strong spiritual people. In most cases, it is completely dismissed and argued out of logic. I am afraid a lot of churches around our country will suffer this same fate if we fail to heed the Spirit’s guidance and warnings. I see these two as paramount in our world. I pray the Spirit works through our culture like wildfire and that people are open and respond to it with a fervent and steadfast love.
Going to church on Sunday is not enough to get us to Heaven. Being 'good people' is not enough to get us there either. Only Christ can accomplish that work. Once we've surrendered to Him, it is a daily work to do this. The effects of this 'surrendered lifestyle' or 'cruciform lifestyle' should spill over into our private lives. If we see nothing but dissention, disaster and discord, the convertion we've made needs to be examined. Are we attending church for the right reasons? This will be our topic in the sermons for the next 3-4 weeks. I pray you'll join us as we look at why you go to church.
Here is the link from last Sunday. Keep in mind as you watch this, I am now unsure of whether a real Shepherd goes after a lost sheep or not. I always saw this as a logical oxymoron, but I am investigating to see whether or not this is truly the case. Nonetheless, what we have to understand is that no matter what, God DOES go after the 1 lost sheep...as should we.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG-jKtRywHY&context=C3972b0eADOEgsToPDskKUG4gUfAmmzeBAz5uEwIo5
2. Which of Paul's big ideas (chapter 6 in Gorman) do you find most compelling for the church to grasp or grapple with at this time?
Choosing between two of these is going to be difficult. The reason being is that two of these, in my mind, go hand in hand. Gorman lists #9 as “Cruciformity, or The Law of Christ” on page 140, and #11 as “The Church as Alternative Community” on page 141. The way I see our culture is that we are self-centered, pied-piper following groupies. Most people go to church on Sunday to get their “get out of hell free” card stamped. They do it to “feel good about themselves”. We neglect to realize that living this “Law of Christ” includes letting the effects spill over into our private, everyday lives. Instead, we go into the world living according to the community that the world says should be. We even drag the world into our churches! We argue and fight, not create “harmony, humility and above all love-” (pg. 141). We live in our little subcultures and don’t realize the need to bring this Cruciformity and covenantal community to the world. The church I am at is battling what I see as its “final battle”. It pains me to see a split coming which will send this church into closure or a sell-out and yet the wisdom that I present as gotten from the Spirit is not heeded or paid attention to, except a few strong spiritual people. In most cases, it is completely dismissed and argued out of logic. I am afraid a lot of churches around our country will suffer this same fate if we fail to heed the Spirit’s guidance and warnings. I see these two as paramount in our world. I pray the Spirit works through our culture like wildfire and that people are open and respond to it with a fervent and steadfast love.
Going to church on Sunday is not enough to get us to Heaven. Being 'good people' is not enough to get us there either. Only Christ can accomplish that work. Once we've surrendered to Him, it is a daily work to do this. The effects of this 'surrendered lifestyle' or 'cruciform lifestyle' should spill over into our private lives. If we see nothing but dissention, disaster and discord, the convertion we've made needs to be examined. Are we attending church for the right reasons? This will be our topic in the sermons for the next 3-4 weeks. I pray you'll join us as we look at why you go to church.
Here is the link from last Sunday. Keep in mind as you watch this, I am now unsure of whether a real Shepherd goes after a lost sheep or not. I always saw this as a logical oxymoron, but I am investigating to see whether or not this is truly the case. Nonetheless, what we have to understand is that no matter what, God DOES go after the 1 lost sheep...as should we.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG-jKtRywHY&context=C3972b0eADOEgsToPDskKUG4gUfAmmzeBAz5uEwIo5
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