The Green Room carries the latest in my series on three models of the kingdom of God:
In some ways fortification churches do best at emphasizing the cruciform nature of discipleship to Jesus Christ. Believers are required to submit to the death of their desires for both individual comfort (as against the accommodation paradigm) and corporate influence (as against the dominance paradigm). The church is not here to make us comfortable and happy, nor is it here to influence society; it is here to become like Christ, regardless of the consequences.
As always, your thoughts are appreciated!
I disagree it’s not there to influence society? Surely the church can have a huge impact on what’s happening outside it’s walls?
“Can have” and “is there to” are different things! The church not only can have a big impact on what goes on outside its walls, it ought to have such an impact – even if only by provoking a negative response from the world (although I think some people overemphasize that aspect of things and underemphasize how normal it is for the church’s impact to be constructive rather than merely convicting).
However, if we ever make that impact the purpose of church activities, we will not only have displaced our first priority (discipleship to Christ) for what ought to be a subordinate priority; we will also have eviscerated our own ability to have an impact on society, since it is giving first priority to our uncompromising discipleship to Christ and only giving first priority to our uncompromising discipleship to Christ that gives the church any supernatural power to have such an impact. If discipleship to Christ regardless of the social consequences is not our first priority, then the church is not really the church, it’s just another arm of the culture within which it resides.