Conversion to the Church
From the very beginning of the Christianity there have been four essential features of The Way. In New Testament Greek they are Koinonia, Liturgia, kyrigma, and Deaconia. I. Modern lay terms what you can see in the chart, Fellowship, Worship, Proclamation, and Service.
Fellowship
In America, and perhaps elsewhere, there is a growing trend towards people who think they can be Christians all by themselves. J.B. Peterson has shared on numerous occasions an observation by Nietzsche. He said the end result of the Protestant Reformation would be the church reduced to individuals. However, this is far from the Gospel message!
Jesus said, “where two or three are gathered in my name I will be in the midst of them.”Matthew 18:20
Yes we know that God is with us when we are alone. However, we are not to be without a connection to a body of believers. Gold knows we need Community! There are no “Lone Ranger” Christians. Even he had Tonto! These concepts are thought in the Cursillo movement as a three legged stool of Piety, Study, and Action. However, even a three legged stool has supports that hold the legs together. The support is from Community that binds them together. A key song in Kairos prison ministry is Biind Us Together.
Bind us together.
Lord, binds js together
With cords that cannot be broken
Bind us together
Lord bind us together
Lord bind us together with love
The is only one God
There is only one King
There is only one Body
That is why we sing
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Rom.12.3-5 NIV
Worship
Yes, we can and should worship God in our separate prayers daily. However, Liturgia is “the work of the people.” It is worshiping God together. Primarily this is accomplished each Sunday as we celebrate the Resurrection and the great gift of salvation. In the more liturgical denominations this will include the sacrament of Holy Communion. Often called the Eucharist which means “Thanksgiving.”
Sunday worship often combines the other three parts of the church. There is the fellowship, both informal greeting and the liturgical passing of the peace. There is the fellowship of Coffee Hour follow g the worship as well. Sometimes there is also Dinner on the grounds.
There is also the proclamation of the Gospel through Bible readings and the sermon. Plus some service in both the leadership of the worship and the gathered prayers for the needs of the congregation.
Proclamation
This is also promoted as study. It is of course the study of the proclamation of the “Mystery of Faith.” Christ has died. Christ is Risen, Christ will come again! It is the church and her members who have passed on the Gospel from generation to generation for over 2000 years.
It is the church’s task and responsibility to preach and teach her members about Jesus and to keep the message of God’s forgiving love alive.
Service
Service or Diaconia may take many forms. There is all the service needed to maintain the church itself. There are the members of the clergy, the choir or ministers of music. In more liturgical settings there are acolytes. Plus there are greeters and ushers, sextons (janitors) teachers and administrators.
However, service is meant to go beyond the church doors. The first and many contemporary hospitals founded and run by churches. There are numerous service projects to help those in need, both in the immediate neighborhood and around the world. It has been the church that initiated visiting the sick and caring for the homeless.
We should also remember the service of Bible translators. From the Gutenberg Bible to contemporary groups translating the Bible into all known Languages.
The possibilities of service are endless.
Thus I hope that you will seek to accomplish a more complete conversion in your own life.
Read the other post in this series on Complete Conversion. Click here!