Seven ways the American church must change its mind.
Metanoia Ministries exists to help recover, restore and grow redemptive community in the church. Our mission is to critically engage the way Christians have come to think about and practice being the church in order that the church might be restored to its biblical, communal roots. To achieve this we believe the American church must change in the following ways:
1. Recover community.
We call the church to recover community: to renounce the widespread cultural syncretism of individualism and autonomy and to replace it with biblical, one another community. We call the church to become a redemptive community where God inhabits His people; where God works in spatial ways to love, heal, forgive, encourage and grow a community of believers. The church is the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit guiding a people to be the active, present witness of a future reality. (Rom 12:10; 16;13:8;14:13;15:7,14; 16; 1Cor 1:10; Gal 5:13; Eph 4:2, 32; 5:19, 21; Col 3:13, 16; 1Ths 5:11; Heb 3:13;10:24,25;1Pet 1:22;3:8; 4:9; 5:5,14; 1John 1:7; 3:11)
2. Restore humility in holiness.
We call the church to restore humble holiness: to renounce spiritual arrogance and become a holy space where God is actively transforming His people toward completion in Christ. The church must be a people of character, the social construction of a spiritual reality — salvation and sanctification in our midst — a nurturing, vision forming community of called out, called together people who embody truth. (Mt 5: 48; Eph 5 25-27; Php 1: 9-11)
3. Revive spiritual gifts.
We call the church to revive, recognize, exercise and affirm the authority of spiritual gifts; every member serving by the gifting of the Holy Spirit according to their “measure of faith.” We affirm the Church as the Body of Christ with all members called and gifted to serve. (1Cor 12: 4-7; 27; Rom 12: 3-6)
4. Renew confession:
We call the church to be a confessional community: to be a community of forgiven saints gathered around a common confession of sin and the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. By confessing sin, the truthfulness of forgiveness becomes manifest; in proclaiming Christ, we describe a specific kind of people, separated unto Christ living in a world formed by the power of His resurrection. In confession, the church embodies a living, sustaining reality, a commitment to a specific way, truth and life. (Heb 13:15; Jas 5:16; 1John 1:9)
5. Reclaim Scripture.
We call the church to return Scripture to it’s rightful place as the historical, life-giving description of what it means to follow Christ truthfully. To release Scripture from the excess or purely objective propositional or subjective experiential interpretation:
• Propositional: where Scripture is a prescriptive rule book of do’s and don’ts and Christianity is reduced to the sum of what we “know,” and who is right and who is wrong.
• Experiential: where Scripture becomes a place where individuals project their subjective experience into the text for personal interpretation and Christianity is reduced to what we “feel.”
We call the church to reclaim Scripture as the transforming revelation of God’s salvation history where truth and rightful authority is borne out in a way of life. Scripture offers a new reality based upon the specific history of God’s called-out people who not merely “know, do and feel” but “become” a people transformed by the power and wisdom of the resurrected Christ. (Rom 12:1-2; 2Tim 3:14-4:2)
6. Reestablish witness.
We call the church to be a living witness to the world of the life-changing resurrection of Jesus Christ; to be a people truly separate, demonstrating salvation, justification and sanctification as a life-journey, not an event alone; a way of life, not a status achieved. We call the church to “life-space evangelism,” to put salvation on display through the active life and authentic word of distinctly Christian character and community. (Acts 2: 42-48; 1Ths 1: 4-10)
7. Redefine leadership.
We call the church to redefine the role of leadership according to the Spirit’s call, gifting and authority affirmed by the Body rather than achieved by vocation, education or election. We call the church to recognize the boundaries of pastor and leader roles; and to encourage service by spiritual gifting and interdependent, collaborative teams rather than autocratic fiat or democratic autonomy. (Rom 16; 1Cor 6:1; Php 4:3; Col 4:11; Phm 1:24)