The Great Reset: Becoming the Church Decentralized

Episode 1 • April 3, 2020 AD

Public Discipleship as Exercise for the Body of Christ

Ernest Prabhakar, Speaker Domaĝanto: Question Tamer in Esperanto

1. Assumptions to Discuss
   • A1: Nothing on earth is more important than becoming (loving) like Jesus
   • A2: That includes becoming like Him in His sufferings (“drinking from His cup”)
   • A3: God as a good Father sometimes asks us, like Jesus, to embrace things we don’t see as good for us.
2. Questions to Answer
   • Q1: Are we also willing to submit to the Father’s plan, no matter how painful?
   • Q2: What is the suffering God might be calling each of us to rejoice in, rather than reject?
   • Q3: What is the joy set before us, that would make it all worthwhile?

Rebooting Church

As I write this, we are experiencing an unprecedented “global sabbath” as over a billion people are sheltering in place due to COVID-19. I have started calling it The Great Reset (hat tip to Richard Florida), as pretty much all of our institutions and rituals are either suspended or on emergency footing; including most of what we have traditionally called “church.”

This gives us a once-in-a-millenium opportunity to experiment with new rituals and prototype new institutions, to fill that gap. I personally miss our weekly opportunities for corporate worship, and hearing our pastors share the deep truths they have wrestled with during the week. However, it occurs to me that this might be a great time to “flip the script.” Instead of having public worship and private discipleship, what if we used this season to practice private worship and public discipleship?

Inspired by an earlier conversation with Ted Hahs and John McClements.