http://www.merehope.com/blog/authentic-church finding that Jesus is enough Sun, 08 Jan 2012 17:17:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://www.merehope.com/blog/authentic-church/comment-page-1#comment-3279 michael Sun, 12 Jul 2009 07:18:04 +0000 http://www.merehope.com/?p=1265#comment-3279 I have read and enjoyed Shenk's article and very much appreciate your emphasis on the church giving herself away to seek the purposes of God. But I do wonder about the need to form intentional and intense community. It seems to be what the earliest glimpses of the church exemplified and endorsed. But it could be seen to be a distraction from the sacrificial pursuit of God's mission. Some might say that the liminal experience of the dying-to-self type of of mission can create a special community (communitas), but it doesn't seem sustainable. So I guess my question is this: how does a church radically give herself away for the pursuit of God's purposes in a sustainable, reproducible manner? I have read and enjoyed Shenk’s article and very much appreciate your emphasis on the church giving herself away to seek the purposes of God. But I do wonder about the need to form intentional and intense community. It seems to be what the earliest glimpses of the church exemplified and endorsed. But it could be seen to be a distraction from the sacrificial pursuit of God’s mission. Some might say that the liminal experience of the dying-to-self type of of mission can create a special community (communitas), but it doesn’t seem sustainable. So I guess my question is this: how does a church radically give herself away for the pursuit of God’s purposes in a sustainable, reproducible manner?

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