I was thrilled to read in a variety of places in UK media over the last few weeks that there is a decisively fresh appetite in the emerging generations (Ages 18-24) to explore the bible and The God of the bible by connecting with local church.
Having chatted to various mission partners in the UK, especially in pastoral ministry / local church leadership it was even more encouraging to hear that most shared the same optimism and assessment. However, they also shared the view that an authentic illustration of the gospel we preach must come through the new community, and that finding the reality of that trend was of greater concern to them. In other words, authentic faith in God, and authentic declaration of the good news about Jesus (which is the only answer for our nation) cannot be divided from authentic discipleship in an authentic community of God as outlined in the bible. It begs the question, does the local church in the UK currently display what it is like to live under God and by the truth of the bible ?
The individualism we see rife in our society has led many to explore many things on their terms, propelled on their "journey". A rejection of their parents which rejected church as an option is part of that. It may well be that some in the next generation come to explore Christianity through this lens. They search the internet, they subscribe to a YouTube/ TikTok channel, they decide it is of interest, and they decide to search out a local church. At no time in that process is there a full two way authentication or communication process at play. When we are our own advisers we can hear what we want to hear ( Proverbs 12:15). What happens when a pattern of individual desire and search leads to a local church, can GOD use such an instinct rebellious at root /individualism) for good? What should such an individual see and be met with ?
Evident and transparent love:
A NEW COMMUNITY WHICH ILLUSTRATES COUNTERCULTURAL LOVE.
By this will all men know that you are my disciples.... ("IF").... (John 13:34-35)
The great command to love one another as He has loved us is the litmus test of our vital life signs in the heartbeat, and indwelling presence of God. You cannot have the authentic gospel preached by a church without authentic love (1 Cor 13) being displayed. If the grace of Christ is preached in a community without grace, and the love and forgiveness of God rings hollow amongst listeners who are not applying it, there is no authentic church to illustrate the reality of what is being preached. Is it possible that some young people will enter a church with passion to explore, listen and see, only for that passion to dissipate as they see the reality in play?
A NEW COMMUNITY WHICH ILLUSTRATES LIVING UNDER HIS LORDSHIP.
Seek first the Kingdom of God...
Along with the great command, the great collaboration that we are living with His priorities not our own shows that we acknowledge Christ not merely as saviour but also as LORD. Many in our world our looking for salvation solutions, far fewer are prepared to acknowledge that such only comes from Christ in His Lordship, not ourselves. (John 14:6) His exclusivity as Lord is central to the gospel we preach. Our illustration that this is in action amongst us authenticates that there is only one name given under heaven by which we are saved (that it works).
A COMMUNITY WHICH ILLUSTRATES SHARED LIABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR WITNESS WITH INTEGRITY.
True community in a world of fake connections.
Body life (Romans 12:6-8) (1 Cor 12:4-31) means that those who are joined by The SPIRIT, show their "joinedness" and connectivity in multiple dimensions. Only in Jesus do we find our place in eternal indestructible community. When we are baptised, we are baptised into community. It is not an individual act only but a personal confession that we want to be part of the whole. (I have some issue with those who spontaneously baptise many on instinct before this has been tested). The unity of the local community and their quality of witness together therefore comes into play. We cannot say we practice believers baptism if the believers in that community are not living out their witnessing obligations to the name of Jesus Christ, To share with the responsibility of living for Jesus in unified witness to Him is at the very heart of what it means to confess Christ as Lord (Romans 10:9). A litmus test as to whether we are ready for baptism is if we are wearing the badge of discipleship (getting abused at school for clearly being a follower of Jesus, being a worker who gets last place in favours because we are doing what is right out of love for Jesus). This badge of discipleship says we belong to the consequences of not only being a witness to Jesus ( ) but also a part of the coorperate witness of Jesus.
Body life also means that we are serving others primally and not ourselves. We cannot say we follow Jesus if we are not following His pattern, but instead attending a church to serve ourselves and our needs. This is not authentic "Christianity", it is using Christ for "Selfanity", to make ourselves feel better and keep ourselves in the driving seat of our lives as we define spiritual worship around ourselves, our needs and preferences. An integral part of our inclusion and assimilation into the church is our desire to serve others. We cannot say we love Jesus without saying we love the ones He died for. His passion is our passion, His priorities become our priorities.
A couple of questions arise out of this...
1) Does your church visibly show the united love and grace of the new community which commends the gospel we preach as young friends walk in the door ?
Don't get excited about a new appetite from the next generation to go to church if you have no intention of attending to this as a church leader, or setting the temperature of it yourself as a model member of the new community. What are you doing to increase love in your new community gathering ?
2) Shared belonging - brings shared liability. The spirit of our age is individual passion. Mission can only be fruitful when it is outworked through community/ team of shared passion and joint collaboration for Christ. That is the way God has designed it before He returns. Do people see Christ is first in our new community behaviour, or do they see our personalities and passions growing and encroaching over the truth like poisenous ivy ?
Don't get excited about mission and evangelism if you are not prepared to work with others in the great collaboration to seek His kingdom together. Don't think you can live as you please, by your own rules / individualism and still commend the gospel. If you live as you please, you may not only be disqualifying the gospel you share, but counteracting the gospel preached by other believers who are truly living under His Lordship. We are all one in Christ, preaching / authenticating/ displaying the same Christ. It takes one of us living for ourselves to nullify the effectiveness of the gospel we preach.
What are you doing to display that you are living with His people for His kingdom, showing His holiness, submitting to His way and His leadership and not calling the shots yourself?
It is interesting how "passion" has become a buzzword synonym for mission in the UK. ("Passion for life") . Passion of the church to do mission, or passion of the seeker to find Christ, is not the only issue in play or that arrises in the Western Church World in the missional decline of 2025. How we display our passion is critical, and what we have passion for critically matters for the fruitfulness of the gospel we preach and the authentication we display. Preaching the gospel with great connectivity, social media, awareness in communication is wonderful, but far more wonderful is when this done from a new community which is authentically inhabited and uninhibited to live out the life of the LIVING GOD. This is way more breathtaking and irresistible.
Pray that our churches do not disqualify the message we preach, or tinker with it for our individualistic age, Pray that he will turn the hearts of many to seek Him, and that in their seeking they will come across the authentic people of God displaying and teaching the authentic gospel of grace in THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
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