Of all the studying I’ve done over the past two years, one of the most impacting books I’ve read is The Shaping of Things to Come by Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost. Not a quick read by any means, but full of great information and ideas about how church and ministry can be reshaped to better serve this culture. It gave some cohesion to a lot of thoughts I’d already been processing. So I’d like to give credit here and tell you that I’m borrowing ideas from that book to write this post.
In the last two posts I talked about how we’ve come to use the “sinner’s prayer” as a sort of determining factor in deciding who is “saved.” We questioned whether this is really an accurate litmus test, since conversion really is a matter of the heart, not a prayer formula. And this also begs the question: why do we even feel this need to measure this? Why are we bent on deciding who is “in” and who is “out”?
The answer to this question hinges on how we view the church–or rather, how we have viewed it for many centuries now.
The institutional church functions as a “bounded set.” That is, it has a well-defined set of parameters and boundaries, and a specific set of criteria to determine its membership. Those who have met the criteria are “insiders”, and those who have not are considered “outsiders”. As such, the whole focus of growing the church is to try to get as many outsiders as possible to meet the criteria, at which point they come “in.” Outsiders might be treated well as visitors, but they are still considered outsiders until they meet the criteria–and the differentiation can definitely be felt. This is how it has been for centuries. But it is not necessarily a Biblical model; there are other ways to look at the church. And The Shaping of Things to Come uses a great analogy to describe the difference: the difference between fences and wells.
Here in America, when people keep livestock or do cattle ranching, we use fences to bound our property and keep our animals inside clear boundaries where they are supposed to be. The fences define and contain our property, and the whole purpose is to keep our livestock within the fences, and to keep intruders out. The emphasis is on the boundary between in and out. This is a “bounded set,” similar to the institutional church.
But in Australia, ranching is done differently. The wide-open spaces there are so, well, wide and open, that fences are ludicrous. To keep the animals from wandering off, they don’t use fences; they dig a well. The idea is that the well is life-giving in an arid climate, so although there is no fence to keep the animals contained, they never stray too far from the well because the well means life. In this case, the emphasis is not on the perimeter of the property, but on the well in the center. This is what is known as a “centered set”. And it can teach us a lot about another way to look at church.
What if, instead of focusing on the outer boundaries and perimeters of our faith, we put Jesus at the center and turn the focus on Him? What if we stopped worrying so much about who is “in” and who is “out”, and simply encourage people to draw near to the center? What would be the ramifications of this change?
First, I can see that this approach is far more welcoming to those who have not yet committed to Christ, because everyone is made to feel equally welcome to draw near. Some will be nearer to the center than others, but no one is made to feel excluded because of the level of their faith or their proximity to the center.
Second, there will obviously be a core of committed believers that hover near the center, but because they aren’t contained by a fence, the commitment and involvement level will naturally be high. After all, these people are near the center because they want to be–not because they feel they have to be.
The end result and benefit of this approach? There is a strong community of commited disciples near the center who are strongly bonded with one another and engaged in the mission of Christ; and there is also ongoing relationship with others who at various stages of interest and curiosity, and at various distances from the center. But because there is no “in” or “out”, the more distant ones do not feel excluded from the group nearest the center, and those nearest the center don’t feel their experience is being watered down by the presence of “outsiders.” All can coexist in the same system, because all are welcomed to partake of Jesus, the water of life.
Does this mean there is no call to repentance and conversion, no challenge to yield to Christ and His Lordship? In the words of Paul–God forbid. 🙂 In the course of relationship, as the Holy Spirit draws people toward the center of the circle, certainly there will be the constant invitation, and moments of decision. And decisions for Christ will be celebrated. It’s just that there is no longer a compelling need to measure people by whether they are “in” or “out”, because the focus is on the Center, not the outer edges.
I happen to think this is a great approach, and one that is very timely for a culture in which our current forms of church are having less and less influence. In a time when boundaries are being pushed, moved, and blurred constantly, perhaps it’s time to stop trying to protect our fences, and start digging some wells.
Perhaps it’s time to give people a reason to want to draw near. Just a thought… 🙂
Wayward Son
Musician. Composer. Recovering perfectionist. Minister-in-transition. Lover of puns. Hijacker of rock song references. Questioner of the status quo.
I'm not really a rebel. Just a sincere Christ-follower with a thirst for significance that gets me into trouble. My quest has taken me over the fence of institutional Christianity. Here are some of my random thoughts along the way. Read along, join in the conversation. Just be nice.
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Jeff,
This is an excellent analogy of the Body of Christ, with Jesus as the Center!
Indeed, just like the cattle intuitively stay near the well, because it contains water, substance of life, we…as Believers…will stay near the Center, Father Son Holy Spirit, because we KNOW He is Life and we WANT to.
God’s Church was never meant to be organized by man. Papa organizes the Body of Christ Himself. When man tries to organize the workings of God, this is the fencing. In essence, man actually creates an unnatural boundary, which only imprisons.
Christ’s call to “follow me” is an invitation, not a decision that requires one to walk into a jail cell. One can always choose not to, and walk away from the Well or Center (Christ). The more and more a person is fenced/caged in, that takes away mans true ability or option to CHOOSE Christ and walk daily and intentionally in and near Him (the Well).
Good post, Jeff. I really like this analogy, as you can see. 🙂
Blessings,
~Amy 🙂