A Study Guide on "The Church as a Redemptive Community" chapter by Murray Robertson in the 2008 Vision Congress book.  Lindsay Jones is developing these study guides for pastors and lay people looking to apply the material from the 2008 Vision Christian Leaders Congress.  

The following comes to you as one of a series of papers drawing from the chapters of the recently published Vision Congress ‘08 book New Vision New Zealand Volume III.

I am drafting these for use in the Baptist pastors clusters, New Zealand wide. 
I have obtained permission for this from Vision Network.
They are freely available for use in other contexts also.

                        Lindsay Jones 
                        Baptist National Consultant 
                        2008

 You will need to obtain a copy of the book to read the whole chapter for background.
Baptist churches can do so at a subsidised rate through Lindsay Jones
Otherwise: Vision Network Admin

The indented words in italics below are direct quotes from the chapter.

New Vision NEW ZEALAND Volume III (2008) 

Chapter 13 pgs 174 - 184

The church as a Redemptive Community

        by Murray Robertson, senior pastor Spreydon Baptist Church.

The ‘New Zealand' which our churches exist to reach and serve has significantly changed. Those changes are now so wide spread that it is far more helpful to think that our task is now cross-cultural mission. But to think like that is easier said than done, for the experience and practice of much of our church life in New Zealand has been that of ‘Christendom' - the expression of thinking and practice that the world of the church is at the centre of society.  What the world needs is the example of redemptive Christian communities.

If you ask the question, what is a redemptive community, it is best answered by a biblical description.  Luke writes about the post-Pentecost Christian community,

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.  They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people.  And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:42-47).

It is a beautiful picture of a community where the broken find wholeness, the sick find healing, the lonely find a sense of belonging, the poor find empowerment, and the lost find salvation.[1]

Murray points out that the contrast between the picture above and the typical New Zealand community today is stark.  Nightly headlines tell us heart-breaking stories of neglect, abuse, drunkenness and violence. 

A sense of community is dying or has died among us.  Churches faithfully proclaim the message of the gospel yet all too often the surrounding community remains untouched or indifferent. 

Is it really possible for churches to again discover something of the reality of the Acts 2 community?  Is it possible that churches would not simply preach a message of redemption, but be themselves agents of redemption?[2] 

Murray says that some significant changes in our thinking are needed in several areas for such things to happen...

Theology

Examining the ministry of Jesus we can see at least three dimensions at work.  The first is the dimension of Word.  Jesus proclaimed the word of the gospel, a word he said was given him by the Father. 

There was a Sign dimension to the ministry of Jesus.  He healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind and cleansed the lepers.  There is a similar dimension of signs and wonders to the ministry of the apostles.

Then there was a Deed dimension to the ministry of Jesus with his concern for the poor, the marginalized and the outcast, and his willingness to take on the powerful when they exploited the needy. 

While it is not difficult to see these three dimensions in the ministry of Jesus and the early church, in practice it is extremely difficult to hold these together in the ministry of the church today.  In fact it is so difficult that the Protestant Christian community has basically split into three groups along the lines of these ministry emphases. 

Essentially what held these emphases together in the ministry of Jesus was the gospel of the Kingdom, an understanding of which has been sadly lost in many places today.[3] 

Not only does our thinking need to change, so does our practice.

Ecclesiology

Traditionally the deeds emphasis of Jesus and the early church have found expression through denominational agencies.  Because of the growing pressure of social need around us these have often grown very large; to maintain themselves they have employed anyone whether they share a Christian commitment or not.  In this way these agencies have lost the redemptive dimension of their work.  Because their work is severed from the work of local churches there is no believing community into which recipients of care can be enfolded and supported.

For a local church to begin engaging in these various dimensions of ministry however there are a number of crucial issues to be addressed.

1          Default setting

All churches are called to minister both to the needs of their members and to the wider community.  The question is where the default setting lies. 

2          Length of pastoral ministry

Traditionally in Protestant churches the pastor does not have a particularly long tenure.  For a local church to grow into a redemptive community this needs to change. 

3          The size of our churches

A redemptive community that is going to be able to have any sort of impact in its wider community needs many resources.  Typically our normal Kiwi church is too small to provide these resources

4          The nature of leadership

There are scores of ex-pastors in New Zealand who could very enthusiastically endorse what I have been saying, but they are now ex-pastors because their attempts to grow churches like this were kneecapped by church leaders. 

5          A permission giving culture

Ministries to the surrounding community develop best in a permission giving culture.  In fact they will emerge to the extent that a permission giving culture is allowed to develop.  Many churches excel in developing permission withholding cultures.[4]

Pneumatology

The kind of redemptive community we read about in Acts can only be brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit. This usually begins with the dreams and visions of ordinary Christians, rather then the decision of church leaders.

Sometimes the most unexpected people turn out to be the most effective dreamers[5]. 

Murray cites examples of dreams (pg 181) but then raises a significant issue:

With the development of all these good relationships with people from the surrounding community, how do we help people cross the bridge from involvement in the community ministry to involvement in the worshipping and serving life of the church?[6] 

He then goes on to describe various approaches...

From Ministry to Church

1          Existing services

Some people are able to make the crossover directly into our existing worship services. 

2          Targeted congregations

Some people will become involved in community ministries who will be unable to make the crossover into a typical suburban worship service, for a variety of reasons.  If there are enough in this category it may be possible to develop a parallel worship service designed to be more accessible to people involved in a community ministry or ministries. 

3          Small group ministry

Small Groups as a multiplying movement does not tend to happen in Western countries.  Most churches in New Zealand have small groups, but the groups largely exist for the mutual encouragement of believers and for deepening the faith of those who are already followers.  This is obviously important and needs to be the concern of every valid small group.  But because this has so often become the sole focus of these groups, their missional possibilities have often not been realized. 

More recently some have begun to ask whether it would be possible to develop neighbourhood communities within the framework of existing churches.  They would consist of a core community of people living in a particular location.  This would often mean people relocate for the benefit of the poor.  The community would meet regularly for the kind of activities in which most small groups engage.  Because of their close proximity to each other and their shared concern for their neighbourhood they would also become involved with others in various things that could work for the positive renewal and transformation of neighbourhoods.  These communities would grow larger than the normal small group, and because they embrace people from a whole neighbourhood they would cover a wider range of age groups and social backgrounds.[7] 

For Further Reading

Barnett, Matthew, The Church That Never Sleeps, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000).
Lewis, Robert, The Church Of Irresistible Influence, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001).
Rusaw, Rick and Eric Swanson, The Externally Focused Church, (Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, 2004).
Sider, Ronald, Philip Olsen and Heidi Rolland Unrah, Churches That Make A Difference, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002).

Matters for discussion:

1. Discuss the following statement and question: "Churches faithfully proclaim the message of the gospel yet all too often the surrounding community remains untouched or indifferent." Is it possible that churches would not simply preach a message of redemption, but be themselves agents of redemption?
2. In what ways do you find it difficult to hold together the ministries of Word, Sign and Deed?
3. In what ways has the following statement been your experience? "Sometimes the most unexpected people turn out to be the most effective dreamers." 
4. Where does the default setting lie in your church in relation to serving the existing members or the wider community?
5. What approaches are working for your church in terms of people being integrated into a community of faith?

---

[1] Pg 175
[2] Pg 175
[3] Pgs 176-177
[4] Pgs 176-180
[5] Pg 180
[6] Pg 181
[7] Pgs 181-183

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