Ecclesiology: Cell Church (Laurence Singlehurst)
Discussion Point #1
Laurence speaks of the importance of Church where 'love is the agenda' and how for evangelism to be effective there needs to be a 70% element of love beeing seen in action before words will be heard. He suggests that we need to evangelise and disciple in a new way.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Are there any dangers conected to such thoughts in terms of how we evangelise?
To what degree do you see the values of cell church supporting this?
posted by ETLnetwork at 7:30 AM
6 Comments:
I would tend to agree with his statement. I do think love needs to be at the centre of all we say and do because God is love and has a tremendous love for, and places infinite value on humanity. I also think that we need to look seriously at how we evangelise and disciple today in order to engage effectively with our culture. If relational based evangelism is effective in our culture then this is the road we need to go down.
Possible dangers - could this in terms of how we evangelise make actions take priority over words, where does proclamation fit in? I think we do need to evangelise in appropriate and relevant ways for our time but I wonder if this ratio of action to words is a bit out of balance? Also, perhaps our love in action has to be exercised with wisdom and discernment otherwise it could be reduced to action for the sake of it, or mere sentimentalism.
I would say to a greater extent the values of the Cell Church support this statement.
Singlehurst comments that the Cell Church is based on 3 strands of DNA i.e. loving God, loving one another and loving the lost world. I would say because of that it has love at its core and love is the agenda. Also, Cell Church can provide a new way to evangelise and disciple. yvonne
Cell Church
Discussion 1
In a previous lecture somebody said the only Bible that many people read will be us (Christians). Non Church folk look to see in us Grace . Grace and love is what makes Christianity stand out from the rest . I believe if we get this right then people will listen to what we say . However, like Yvonne says we need to proclaim the Good News to those that have never heard it . Singlehurst I believe thinks this as well, but suggests that if we love people truly we will have more success.Where I have difficulty is where Christians preach at people without ever knowing anything about them . Christ's Ministry was born of love and sacrifice . Non - Christians saw this love in Him and flocked to Him for healing and wholeness . We could do a lot worse than follow that example. Cell Church I believe answers the needs of many people . Many folk need Family , they need community they need love . Cell groups at their best provide this . I have been challenged by a number of the lecturers who say to us that we need not to be friendly Churches- We needs to be friends with people we meet.
Chris Hall
I do not think this is necessarily a new way of evangelism or discipleship - I recall shortly after becoming a Christian (20 years ago)going on a 'friendship evangelism' course as well as 'person to person' . . . and at the core of these was the need to love unconditionally. Furthermore, there was a great emphasis on spiritual growth and working towards 'spiritual adulthood', which was generally supported through small groups (not cell church). This is a good reminder that small groups are of extreme value as people become far more relaxed and begin to trust the group with those deep concerns. During my early years in that corps there was such a revival and I firmly believe that it was because there was a real deep love for each other and for the lost of the community.
I can understand Laurence Singlehurst suggesting that this may well be a new way of effective evangelism for this post-modern society but we need only look into Scripture to see the effectiveness of loving in community and see how the church added to the numbers daily.
What I have seen over the years is that there is fewer corps who perhaps has such a focus on 'simply' loving unconditionally. Certainly in this current appointment, the culture dictates that this would be an intrusion of ones privacy, which has made it almost impossible to break through these barriers within an older congregation.
I understand what Laurence Singlehurst gives as the values of cell church but I would have to say that these must be the same in any church, large or small. He did not make reference to how often these cells meet for a larger gathering, after all he did begin by reminding us that in the early Church there was the home gatherings as well as those held in the Temples. Could this not therefore be argued that it is the equivalent of having house/fellowship/teaching groups and a corporate act of worship on a Sunday?
I do not see this as the only way to evangelise, and see this perhaps more as witnessing to the love and impact that Christ makes in a life. I cannot recall who made reference to the best sermons are preached without words . . . but this made be the most effective way of showing Christ's love.
On our first Christmas at TSA one of daughters (8 years old) was in hospital and we could not believe the real love and practical help we received from within the corps, this was probably one of the best sermons ever preached!
Laurence may well use love as the core of the DNA for cells but his 3 strands can actually be found in the Early Church and therefore I must agree that these values are relevant for the church today, i.e. whatever form that may take.
Chris reminded me of the lecture by Martin Hill who spoke of how anyone can be friendly but actually what is needed is real friendship and few undertake this. This is also about being involved in peoples lives and showing Jesus to them. I see this as one of the easiest forms of evangelism, that is 'living Jesus’ in an authentic way, loving one another and not just because we have been told to, but because out of our experience with Christ we are compelled to.
Unfortunately I was unable to access this lecture due to a 'codec' being needed, but I will still try and answer the question.
Overall I would agree with this statement and it is love that we must show to others through our actions. Actions speak louder than words although there must become the time when we explain to others why we do as we do.
Cell church can support this theory and the three strands of DNA mentioned by Singlehurst show what we must do ie love and it is imperative to love unconditionally. Yes it would be great to see our corps filled with people every Sunday but it is imperative not to underestimate Kingdom values that is our community based work through the week.
I do agree with the statement that evangelism is more effective when love is seen in action. Isn't it written in biblebook Jacob that words without deeds are worth nothing? I think that Laurence means what Hirsh and Frost call incarnational church and being apostolic. The greatest danger probably is if people start to divide words from deed, just like evangelism can be seperated from social action. But it is not about seperating them, it is about the organic and dynamic way they move through the church and its people and the way they move people to respond towards God, each other and the world.
I strongly believe that in such small 'communities' like cell groups, values like loving God, each other and the world are easier to practice, teach and learn than in bigger groups, because the 'member'of the group will be more personally involved.
I believe that evangelism can only be effective if there is unconditional love. There can be no division between words, deeds and the heart.
Jesus never went to a big church meeting like we are used to nowadays. He ministered to and from within a cell. This is the example of how church can be.
At the moment 'cell church' is a fashionable word in TSA in the Netherlands. A danger to this is that top-down the principles are forced upon the churches without the ingredient of unconditional love.
Like Mariska said: It needs to be organic, flexible, voluntary and loving. Any model that has these elements will be flourishing for God's Kingdom.
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