Comments on: Why Denominations Cannot Complete the Great Commission

By: walkingchurch

walkingchurch — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:58:33 +0000

"In the mean time, I will keep working with lost who want to know the Creator, and help them to become obedient Disciples of Christ who will take seriously the planting of the Gospel, the making of Disciples, and the salvation of a generation."

I could not agree with you more.

What the key is: Do you want a relationship with doctrine or a relationship with Jesus.
I choose the latter. My experience is that He wants to be the Head of his Church.

One of my T Austin Sparks questions is: What is the measure of Jesus Christ in this (thing or activity). When you answer that…it sure cuts to the chase on its value.

For me there is nothing outside of Jesus. It has to be Christ centric.

He has called a few of us here locally, passionate for Him, outside the trad church and has taken us into the marketplace (sounds like a familiar finger print eh?)

Keep on posting salt and light bros!

By: David_Watson

David_Watson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:49:54 +0000

You may want to review the follow-up article I wrote in response to Carpenter Kid's comments.

http://www.davidlwatson.org/2009/09/26/church-pla...

Blessings!

David Watson

By: Beck

Beck — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:32:40 +0000

Wow, thought provoking questions. Some of which I had as I read the above article. I appreciate your thoughts Carpenter Kid. I hesitate to believe anyone person or group has found the 'right' strategy, too. I personally prefer to trust God with the big picture myself as I faithfully follow him.

By: David_Watson

David_Watson — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:29:32 +0000

Hi, Tim. My response is too long for the comment page, so I have posted it to the article page.

By: The Carpenter's Kid

The Carpenter's Kid — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:50:26 +0000

Just curious: Statistically speaking, what does "completing the Great Commission" look like to you? Is your answer rooted in Scripture? Was Jesus always successful in disciple making? Were Jesus' "success stats" any better than ours? As I recall, he got himself killed and said his followers would be just as popular as he. What is God's responsibility in this whole Great Commission thing? Or is it all up to us? Is it possible that some people just don't want our Jesus to be their Savior, regardless of how well he is presented to them? We've had 400 years of denominationalism … and 400 years of expert strategies to go with it. Do you really think *yours* is finally the right key to unlock the door? Or might we be seeing the great falling away that Scripture predicts, against which no seminar junkie or missional expert can successfully fight? What if we all just dragged the net as best we can and trust God with the big picture results?

By: Why Denominations Cannot Complete the Great Commission - Integrating Missionally

Why Denominations Cannot Complete the Great Commission - Integrating Missionally — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:48:11 +0000

[...] subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!I found this link from my friend Steve Addison to an article by David Watson. A really interesting article to consider. Here are some [...]

By: Can denominations get the job done?

Can denominations get the job done? — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:34:13 +0000

[...] David Watson pulls no punches in explaining Why Denominations Cannot Complete the Great Commission. [...]

By: Wayne Prevett

Wayne Prevett — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:34:12 +0000

David,
Well done! The extension of the kingdom has always ben the responsibilty of individual people, not groups of people who represent a particular faith culture. If only we would just represent Jesus in all areas of life at al times. I guess this discussion is an old topic for me as I left denominational nonsense many years ago, denominations do not redeem people…EVER.
My greater concern is what can we do, or better still what are we doing? It is counter productive to state the obvious in a negative way. (your article title is negative) My wife and I, both denominational pastors for more than 15 years as Baptist/Presbyterian Glergy founded a ministry that serves the 80+ % of the Canadian population that has abondanded the institutional church. We have a mission "to help people celebrate and navigate life's significant moments" we marry them, do their funerlas, bless their children and much more. We need to find new and creative means to serve our culture, we are doing that. We train alll our clergy and equip them to serve using their gifts and abilities, without having to waste years in a usless, irrelevant seminary. Check out our site at http://www.celebratinglife.ca

Wayne

By: Janet Lock

Janet Lock — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:54:50 +0000

Thanks for your comments, David. Of course the gospel is hindered, and we are so 'nice' we seldom expose the problem. If I may add a perspective of my own… I believe God gave a 'great commission' to the old creation (when Noah came out of the ark) to go forth and multiply. For a while the people did this, but eventually they decided they didn't want to be scattered all over the world, but they wanted to build a tower up to heaven and make a name for themselves. The result was Babel and God's response to that. To the new creation (men and women who are born again) God also gave a great commission which was virtually the same: go into all the world and make disciples / multiply; for a while Christians did this then people came along who wanted to build a tower up to heaven and make a name for themselves. Within the tower the most important is at the top, those who contribute to its reputation are positioned at suitably high levels in the tower, and the 'problem people' stay in the basement. I call this the spirit of 'empire' because it steals the God-given inheritance from ordinary people and gives all the goods to those at the top. This model is not limited to the Catholic Church, or any other big denomination. I have seen tiny churches in New York city that have just a handful of attendees bearing the most grandiose names. The heart of man is the problem. So many love to rule, and many abdicate their spiritual responsibilities. God open our eyes!
Many blessings to you,
Janet Lock

By: Anne McCrady

Anne McCrady — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:50:29 +0000

A friend of mine who "pastors" pastors spoke words of wisdom this week. He said, Tell me how your feel about yourself and I'll tell you your image of God. Tell me how you love yourself, and I'll tell you how you feel about others.

I am struck by his idea that our own self-image is projected onto both God and others. Think how we reinvent God: awesome, stern, strict, powerful, loving, gentle, peaceful, white, male, American, Catholic, Baptist, wise, protective, nurturing. Denominations, new churches, spiritual leaders and world conflict seem to be born from those differences.

Maybe we should consider my friend's idea that our personal image of God is mostly what we want him/her to be based on who we are or what we want! (That would explain cultural and generational differences in spiritual ideals and practice.) Then we can go on to let God be what everyone needs!