Roxburgh affirms that christian formation happens through
practices… he charts some early church practices hospitality; marriage; caring
for widows and sick; needy… in effect this is in large part the love of others… rather than simply the love of family, this perhaps illustrates why
Jesus’ who are my mother etc was so important..
he then goes on to dismantle what he calls the prominent formational
practice of 20th C church life.. the small group… he is dismissive....
‘such
groups, by and large, have nothing to do with forming people in practices of Christian
life. …small groups usually exist to for people to connect on a personal level
to find forms of intimacy in a lonely world. The Bible serves as little more
than a springboard for conversation about each other’s lives.’ Self actualization groups and individualism….
Wow some attack fellowship group leaders out there take note!
'Too much of our current of our current church life is focused around meeting the needs of expressive individuals. Those who argue that meeting needs is a strategy to get people into the church miss the point. If we communicate a Gospel that says at the front door that Jesus is all about meeting my needs (remember, most of the time we are talking about middle class expressive individualists who are already the most pampered generation of earth), then at some point we are going to have to tell them that in fact the opposite is the case. Jesus actually came to call them into a life that requires them to let go of their needs. We created congregations full of little Hobbits who crave nothing more than their comfort and having their needs met. Some of those Hobbits have discovered that the world beyond their narrow range of vision is in terrible distress, and they have to go on a journey that will take them far away from every want and need they ever had. The rest of the Hobbits are still in the dark.'
Well don't hold back Alan, say it as you feel! Pretty challenging stuff... no wonder my head hurts!
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