I hope that you have learned as much from the baptism post experience as I have. It wasn’t fun, but it was good to have gone through. Here are a few reflections on the past few weeks:

• The most important rule of dialogue: seek first to understand, then to be understood. Don’t assume. Clarify.
• The second most important rule of dialogue: show your listeners respect regardless of their position. Do all things in love. Try to attribute the best to other people.
• What good is adhering to sound doctrine if we cannot pursue it and live it with love? 1 Corinthians 13
• Many people from many backgrounds and locations read my thoughts on baptism. As a consequence, there were clearly many different interpretations of what I really intended to communicate. If we can understand this then maybe we can begin to comprehend how and why people interpret the scriptures differently and we can show them grace at first blush instead of judgment.
• I was amazed at the outpouring of love and sympathy from those believers in the blogging community. However, I feel that there were no innocent parties in this travesty. I was not guiltless as much as I tried to convince myself. I would encourage you not only to continue in your love and encouragement, but also in your loving correction. Thank you Darren C. (an elder of my congregation) and my father-in-law for your challenges in this matter.
• I cannot express how gracious and wise the elders have been in dealing with this situation. Without their leadership, this issue probably would have ended very, very badly.
• Jesus was right. The gates of Hades shall never prevail against the church. Awesome.

The Metro model for urban churches, which I worked on extensively before Seattle Metro Church really got started, has lain dormant for over a year. I haven’t opened the intricate little diagram with its text boxes and symbols to tweak or rename anything. If anything, I’ve realized in recent months that my model didn’t exactly work itself out. But I think it’s time to start looking at what church might look like if we start with theology rather than tweaking current practice. This is what I’ve obtusely called a theologically congruent ecclesiology - a way of doing church that truly reflects the content of our faith.

Theological starting points:
“Whenever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there with them” - sometimes, without any larger organization or planning, church just happens
Creation
Crucifixion
Ephesians 4/fivefold ministry - apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers
Eschaton
Fivefold leadership paradigm of Ephesians 4 (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers)
Great Commission Jesus gave to the church
Holistic 24/7 faith
I don?t think church structure or ecclesiology has to be the big deal we often make of it. It?s probably just a small part of what God really wants church to be. The bulk of the work is loving God, loving each other, walking in faith, walking in power, and studying God?s word. It might sounds overly simple, but we just have to go out and really do it.
Identity of the church as the called-out people of God
In but not of the world
Incarnation, and the corresponding need to contextualize the Gospel
Inherent unity of the church universal
Kingdom-now message of Jesus
Leadership model of shepherds under the Shepherd
Light of the World/Salt of the Earth
Meeting people where they are, but not leaving them there
Missio Dei
Missional vocation of the church in the world
Peoplehood
Prayer & spiritual disciplines
Priesthood of all believers
Prophetic visions & injunctions toward social order & justice
Release for the prisoners, sight for the blind
Resurrection
Resurrection, and the identity of the people of God as a Resurrection people
Sacrificial life of Jesus
Signs of God’s future breaking into the present
The distinct differences between Christians & non-Christians
The Kingdom of God
The need for leadership; differential roles, gifts, calls
The need for long term interaction for conversion
The not-yet/already paradox of the kingdom
Treating the Needy as Jesus
Trinity
Unified, cross-cultural local character of the church modeled in scripture
Unique gifting and calling of each Christian to ministry
Only God knows who are His
The lack of physical wealth in the NT church
Deep Ecclesiology (Andrew Jones)
Conregational vs. trans-congregational
NT city-church model
The spontaneous expansion of the church / rapid multiplication expected
Church is something beyond us, that is out of our control, and is only in God’s control
(more were suggested here)

So…above are some starting points. Where do we go from here? How do all these emphases inform a real-world church?

One of the key issues we’ve struggled with as a new emergent church is the tension between leadership and, well, lack of leadership. Initiative as leadership is fine, but we haven’t really gotten into the idea of one person being in charge of the direction of our community. However, the limitation of this is that we all tend to do our own thing and there is really no one to set a standard for us. We’re left to live our lives and talk about them on Sunday, but it is very awkward to challenge each other’s comfort levels with various aspects of our missional activity.

Perhaps there is a way forward. Perhaps we are called to transcend the dichotomy of leader-in-charge vs. no one in charge. From Missional Church:

Discerning communities are not hierarchical in structure, but neither are they egalitarian. Because all receive gifts to contribute to the common good, everyone enjoys the right and the obligation of participating authoritatively in decisions of faith and practice. Yet because the Spirit distributes different gifts, responsibilities, and functions, there is also an element of differentiation. Spiritual gifts are not distributed in monotonous uniformity but in rich diversity. The focus here is not on the prerogatives of designated leaders or on the equal privileges of members, but on corporate responsibility for discerning the wisdom and prompting of the Holy Spirit. Thus communities of giftedness are neither autocratic (the rule of one) or democratic (the rule [of] the people) but pneumocratic (the rule of the Holy Spirit). Authority within missional communities is found neither in particular status nor in majority opinion. It is dispersed throughout the whole body through the illumination and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The image is of a participatory community earnestly expecting and seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit in its midst, utilizing the diverse gifts of all participants, and willing to be bound by what is mutually decided. p173-174, emphasis mine

If this is to be reality, it will require us to recognize that God may speak to us through each other, that He may use us to push each other in His direction.

There is certainly ample biblical justification for this approach, but I don’t think many churches would be comfortable with it. Sure, we believe in the Holy Spirit, but only in an abstract sense (or in a concrete, visible signs-and-wonders sense if you’re more charismatic). Making the leap to a form of communal life that actually assumes and depends on the guidance of the Holy Spirit is something else entirely. Where would that take us?

Hi, this is Justin. I’ve worked about a hundred hours in the past nine days, and I’m tired. I love you all and will write something interesting and thought-provoking when I get a minute to breathe. I’m coordinating our school’s trip to a fair as well as starting two grad school classes this week, Thursday and Friday nights. Needless to say, I haven’t much time for blogging, though I am keeping up with Virusdoc’s post comments.

Pneumocracy. There shall be blogging on this soon.

Oh, and this is the most awesome catalog in the world.