Cultures and communities cannot grow without leadership, but it should also be noted that they cannot fall apart without leadership either. There are two basic styles of leadership. Both of them can be done right, and both of them can go badly astray. Let us call them the inclusive and exclusive forms of leadership. Inclusive …
Growth and Change
Communities cannot stay healthy unless they are growing, and growth means change. But not all change is healthy, not all growth is healthy. Thistles grow. Morning glory grows. This is something we must think through carefully, and in our thinking we must be mature. There is a vast difference between changing because you are growing, …
Open Wide
Communities are knit together in part because they eat together. The word companion comes from the Latin word for bread. This eating together consists regular meals together, sacramental meals together, and feeding on the declared Word together. In all three ways, we must not only eat together but must also “be fed” together. We have …
Small Group Lifeline
As our congregation continues to grow, we have to make sure we are thinking about that growth properly. We are, by the grace of God, growing into a fairly large congregation. When we combine this reality with all the other ministries that are going on in our small town—NSA, Logos, Trinity, etc.—we have to come …
The Swamp By the Road
We are a congregation. We are all together. What happens to all of us happens to each of us, and what happens to some of us happens to all of us. This does not mean that it all happens in the same way—of course not—but we are all affected. One of the things we must …
No Room to Flake
We have noted that our community is growing, and an economy is growing with it. This means we have to learn how—as a group—to interact with one another in the mind of Christ. Sometimes we think, rather glibly, that the only way we can wrong others is to do so deliberately—to decide to cheat, or …
Thanks for the Congregation
We know that thanksgiving to God is an important part of our corporate Christian living together. But another aspect of that crucial demeanor is the need to be thankful for one another, and to give ourselves to this as a spiritual exercise as a spiritual discipline. The apostle Paul frequently thanks God for particular congregations. …
A Little Holiday Insurrection
As we approach the celebration of Christmas this coming week, we need to remember that such celebrations are an essential part of the cultural glue that holds a people together. When that kind of thing is gone, it is all gone. Battles over nativity sets on county courthouse grounds are not a trifle. But we …
Then You Will Know
As the people of God grow together in unity, one of the things they incur is the enmity of outsiders. For many believers, this is quite mysterious. They want to be at peace with everyone, and it is easy for them to believe that the difficulties are caused by something that they are doing. Jesus …
A Ruler of Tens
As our community continues to grow, one of the things that will grow together with it is the need for additional leadership. When a congregation is healthy and happy, as ours is, there is a temptation to sit back and let whoever is running the show to continue to the run the show. But this …