Week 4- Monday Reflection

Speaking about the emerging church certainly challenges one's assumptions about what it means to follow Jesus.  This is true especially for what it means to be about the missio dei.  God's intention in the world is to redeem, to save, and to bring wholeness- and for whatever reason God seems to want to involve us in this process somehow.  It hurts my feelings greatly, but I don't think that God is impressed by the grandiose programs that we construct or the numbers of people that we can convince to walk through our doors.  What is truly challenging, is that in a certain sense God does not want us to even start "churches" necessarily.  The concept is revolutionary, but if the word church tends to ruffle feathers in a particular locale or cultural context, then perhaps it is right to drop the term all together.  Why not drop the term "Christian" as well?  If, at the end of the day we go around and found long lasting communities where God's spirit is poured out, Jesus is worshipped and followed, and God's love is made manifest, then I am for calling the "thing" whatever term tickles the fancy.  How about calling on people to be members of the "Jesus club", or to call on people to become associates of the "Institute for the Following of Jesus".  Whatever the term, it will be the content that matters.