by Kanok Leelahakriengkrai
Jesus Christ and church cannot be separated theologically and practically. Jesus ministry is unconditionally love for the sake of the Father’s will, the church ministry is also serve Jesus as He is the Head of the body and no one else. For all ministry is God’s ministry, the church is Body of Christ serving for His will to be done on earth and the Kingdom of God where is coming, already come, and will come at the end time.
Jesus poured out himself or made himself self-emptiness to subordinate and obeyed the Father (Philippians 2:7). Jesus Christ, the messiah, achieved His mission in death and resurrection by the power of the Holy Spirit therefore the messianic community followed his model by pouring out as self-emptiness and obey Jesus the Lord unconditionally.
Accordingly, the kenotic community develops on this principle. The church pours out herself for His will. Apostles and His disciples poured out themselves to fulfill the Great Commission. In addition, Christian at these day as the church, the Body of Christ and the kenotic community, should completely submit to the Lord and fulfill His will both on revelation Jesus Christ to the world and reconciliation people to Him.
A ministry in the church is not for taking title one own self rather than favoring Jesus Christ alone. We cannot determine our vision / mission just for the sake of ourselves and using the name of the Lord as a rubber stamp. Contemporary churches today develop vision / mission, dictate policies, and direct all activities accordingly but we should be aware not to stand the church on anyone else without having Jesus at the midst of the mastermind. In practical, a mission / vision, any strategies or tactics or any activities of the Church cannot be isolated for herself without revealing Jesus Christ ultimately.
My personal observation to the church pastoral leaders and myself, it’s unlikely many time when the church might pay less attention to the ultimate mission for revelation and reconciliation unintentionally since pastoral leaders took very much effort to deal deeply down with those pastoral care programs to our members. It inevitably come up with the opening of the article questions. “Is whether the church direction still in the right track?” And “What should we learn to be able to keep the church direction in the midst of God’s heart demonstrated in ministry?” They need to alert us to revisit our actions in the body of Christ. Perhaps, it’s difficult to give just simple suggestions for these matter because the church is not a simulator but real life. Perhaps, serving in the genuine hot environment in the church might like an acrobat balancing himself on the tight sling.
Reference: Anderson, Ray S. Theological Foundations for Ministry and The Shape of Practical Theology
Jesus Christ and church cannot be separated theologically and practically. Jesus ministry is unconditionally love for the sake of the Father’s will, the church ministry is also serve Jesus as He is the Head of the body and no one else. For all ministry is God’s ministry, the church is Body of Christ serving for His will to be done on earth and the Kingdom of God where is coming, already come, and will come at the end time.
Accordingly, the kenotic community develops on this principle. The church pours out herself for His will. Apostles and His disciples poured out themselves to fulfill the Great Commission. In addition, Christian at these day as the church, the Body of Christ and the kenotic community, should completely submit to the Lord and fulfill His will both on revelation Jesus Christ to the world and reconciliation people to Him.
A ministry in the church is not for taking title one own self rather than favoring Jesus Christ alone. We cannot determine our vision / mission just for the sake of ourselves and using the name of the Lord as a rubber stamp. Contemporary churches today develop vision / mission, dictate policies, and direct all activities accordingly but we should be aware not to stand the church on anyone else without having Jesus at the midst of the mastermind. In practical, a mission / vision, any strategies or tactics or any activities of the Church cannot be isolated for herself without revealing Jesus Christ ultimately.
“For the fundamental truth of the kenotic community is not revealed to the theologian at his desk, but to the pastor in the midst of his people.” (Ray Anderson, Theological Foundations for Ministry)The church in practical is also deal with the real people and social problems in the certain context each culture such as pastoral care, abused, separation or divorce in family, therapeutics, homosexuality, bitterness and forgiveness, burn-out and etc. We push the Great Commission of Jesus Christ in practice and reach out to the real people in society. People who decide to follow God are gathered in the church. They’re nurtured in spirit, taught, prepared, and equipped with the Bible by the supporting of the Holy Spirit for they will continuously grow up in the fullness of Christ. Eventually, the church could be busy with the outreach programs for nonbelievers and specific training and discipleship programs for members.
My personal observation to the church pastoral leaders and myself, it’s unlikely many time when the church might pay less attention to the ultimate mission for revelation and reconciliation unintentionally since pastoral leaders took very much effort to deal deeply down with those pastoral care programs to our members. It inevitably come up with the opening of the article questions. “Is whether the church direction still in the right track?” And “What should we learn to be able to keep the church direction in the midst of God’s heart demonstrated in ministry?” They need to alert us to revisit our actions in the body of Christ. Perhaps, it’s difficult to give just simple suggestions for these matter because the church is not a simulator but real life. Perhaps, serving in the genuine hot environment in the church might like an acrobat balancing himself on the tight sling.
Reference: Anderson, Ray S. Theological Foundations for Ministry and The Shape of Practical Theology
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