Reflections on Total Church

I think a question I’ve have been good at asking is what does it mean to be a Christian during the week? Maybe the question I haven’t been asking is, ‘What does it mean to be church during the week?’

The answer to that is NOT: ‘meeting together in a small group once a week…’

It means sharing our lives with each other, and with unbelievers. It means living out our identity in Christ not just individually but corporately.

In one sense it’s quite simple, and not that different to where we’ve being trying to head here in Dubbo, although these TC guys seem to be ahead of us.

I’m not sure whether Dave Thurston has read total Church but I think, apart from getting people to live near each other, what TC are doing is exactly what Dave is trying to do at Central Sydney Presbyterian Church (now Abbotsford). You can see it in most of his sermons and Bible Study material.

And it’s where I’ve been trying to take morning church. Bryson preached a cracker sermon about this kind of life in his love series here. Bryson hasn’t read any of the total church stuff yet but this talk was exactly what Tim Chester was talking about in his attractional versus missional church talk.

I think once you move past fighting about other issues and reacting to what the Catholics or Liberals or Pentecostals are doing – when you just start preaching the Bible and getting people to live it out – this is where you end up. Love God and love each other and share your lives and the good news with one another, together.

So I’m excited about it not because it’s anything new but because it’s refreshingly simple and the trajectory our church is on anyway – and it’s good to be able to look at other people who are ahead of you and learn from their mistakes!