But if I say, “I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name,” then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it. (Jeremiah 20:9)

Friday, June 17, 2011

Diagram of Identities (mostly borrowed from Soma Communities)

I am working on some things regarding what it means to be a church, especially what that should look like structurally.  I believe that God is calling our attention to examine our structures and what they say about what we believe theologically.  I picked up on this from Soma Communities in Tacoma, WA a while ago (thanks Jesse Kegg) and have been praying and thinking about it.  You can see their full identities and rhythms here.

This diagram is meant to help the church examine her main identities, with worshipers being the central identity that informs all the others.  It is also interesting that these identities are not just true for the church, but for anyone that worships anything (which is all of us.)  Take sports for example.  If you worship a sports team, then you will belong to a family (the fanbase), you will be a missionary (trying to convince others why your team is the best), you will sacrificially serve for the sake of the team (miss bdays, have people over to watch the game, etc.), and you will learn as much as you can about the team.  I would love to hear the thoughts of others on this.  Any feedback would be much appreciated.