Comments on: We enter the Tunnel…I see nothing… http://highcallingblogs.com/sethdjones/2007/12/10/we-enter-the-tunneli-see-nothing/ Paul traveled on a boat from Adramyttium against the wind in Acts 27. I feel like that quite often. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:43:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: sdjones http://highcallingblogs.com/sethdjones/2007/12/10/we-enter-the-tunneli-see-nothing/#comment-12 sdjones Mon, 17 Dec 2007 23:23:06 +0000 http://highcallingblogs.com/sethdjones/2007/12/10/we-enter-the-tunneli-see-nothing/#comment-12 Hi Gordon, Thank you. I couldn't agree with you more, which is why, as I get closer to the end of seminary, the small church or house church seems so much more likely to engender true community, God willing. In the early days of Congregationalism (I am one of those), when a church got too big for the pastor to know everyone in the church - a decision based completely on the capability of the pastor - the church split. I think the Baptists did a similar thing, but you would know more about that than I. To that end, I wonder if we are way too big to be congregational in our polity. So to answer your question, no I don't think we can deal with it in Biblical ways for exactly the reasons you say. The problem of course is that everyone believes they can and are, but it just keeps getting worse. Does it work at your church in Texas, which I know is a nice size for communal sensibilities in the Christian sense? Peace! Seth Hi Gordon,
Thank you. I couldn’t agree with you more, which is why, as I get closer to the end of seminary, the small church or house church seems so much more likely to engender true community, God willing. In the early days of Congregationalism (I am one of those), when a church got too big for the pastor to know everyone in the church - a decision based completely on the capability of the pastor - the church split. I think the Baptists did a similar thing, but you would know more about that than I. To that end, I wonder if we are way too big to be congregational in our polity. So to answer your question, no I don’t think we can deal with it in Biblical ways for exactly the reasons you say. The problem of course is that everyone believes they can and are, but it just keeps getting worse. Does it work at your church in Texas, which I know is a nice size for communal sensibilities in the Christian sense?
Peace!
Seth

]]> By: gordon123 http://highcallingblogs.com/sethdjones/2007/12/10/we-enter-the-tunneli-see-nothing/#comment-10 gordon123 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:38:24 +0000 http://highcallingblogs.com/sethdjones/2007/12/10/we-enter-the-tunneli-see-nothing/#comment-10 Dear Seth, I'm a pastor of 20 years. 18 of them in one place. I want to suggest that this situation brings up another important question. Can any organization of 2000 deal with a crisis in the Biblical ways you describe? Those methods assume real community, meaning everyone in the community knows each other. Once you get too big for that, there are no New Testament models for conflict that are easily applicable. And even if there were, there are so many people in a church that size. If 5% of them refuse to follow a Biblical model (assuming you could even agree on it), then they can cause a train wreck, so to speak. And the truth is, in reality, only 5% of a church that size even know what a Biblical model is. Dear Seth,

I’m a pastor of 20 years. 18 of them in one place. I want to suggest that this situation brings up another important question. Can any organization of 2000 deal with a crisis in the Biblical ways you describe? Those methods assume real community, meaning everyone in the community knows each other. Once you get too big for that, there are no New Testament models for conflict that are easily applicable.

And even if there were, there are so many people in a church that size. If 5% of them refuse to follow a Biblical model (assuming you could even agree on it), then they can cause a train wreck, so to speak. And the truth is, in reality, only 5% of a church that size even know what a Biblical model is.

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