Ecclesiology, Extra, & Excess

One of our church’s framing values is simplicity.

We value simplicity not for simplicity’s sake but for intimacy’s sake.

We all agree (hopefully) that the primary ecclesial reality for the church is spiritual family. Family is the redemption thread from creation to Christ to our future consummation.

From Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the one God existing in triune community before the world was ever created.

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation” (John 17:24 CSB)

From the first “not-good” interrupting the “and God saw that it was good” cadence of the Creation of mankind

“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone’” (Gen 2:18).

(Just think, God could have created Eve from Adam from the start, and yet he chose to allow man to experience the tension of isolation in order to create an empathic moment within the creation narrative).

From God choosing to birth a nation through the miraculous intervention that resulted in the family of families.

“After these events, The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision…Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless…Now the Lord…took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”… (Ch. 17) Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful (Ch. 22) and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me.” (Gen. 15:1-5; 17:5-7; 22: 18)

From God sending His only begotten Son, the New Adam, so that sonship might be offered to all the descendants of the first Adam.

For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive...So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God. (1 Cor. 15:22, 45; John 1:12-13)

And to the moment the church, is together gathered around His table, celebrating the marriage of the Bride and Christ.

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:31-32).

“Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!’” (Rev. 17:7-9)

To quote Dallas Willard, “The aim of God in history is the creation of an all-inclusive community of loving persons, with Himself included in that community as its prime sustainer and most glorious inhabitant.”

There is no doubt, the primary form of church is spiritual family.

And yet, the question is how do we actually define family?

I’m a father of three and together we make a nuclear, biological family of five. You would think it absurd if I defined my family based upon what we have and what we do rather than who we are. Even the world gets this. It’s the theme of every great family Hallmark movie — the materialistic, distracted family learning that the true essence of family is simply being together. The truthful cliche is…well, true: home is where the heart is.

The nucleus of family, is simply that — the people that make up that family unit and the love that binds them.

Naturally, there are extra things we do as family. The extras are things we can do as an overflow of our wholeness and love but not things that make us any more whole or loving. Leah and I are looking ahead to summer and hoping to take the kids on a vacation. A vacation doesn’t make us a family, but can be a fun way to grow our intimacy and make strong memories. If we simply can’t swing it, nobody would (hopefully) ever say, “You didn’t go on vacation? Then you’re not a good family!” Nor, would I ever look at a family on vacation and assume they are whole and healthy simply because they are on vacation. The only way to really be a whole, loving family is to be one in the everyday rhythms of life.

Extra can be good. But it cannot be defining. When extra becomes defining, extra becomes excess. There is a tipping point when the extra becomes distracting and actually diminishes love. There is a critical spot when the extra becomes a substitute or crutch for intimacy, maturity, and growth.

Therefore, it’s important to identify symptoms of excess:

Can we be a family without the extra?

Do we despise the simple, slow times?

Is our familial identity defined by the extra?

Is our familial rhythms built around the extra or does the extra flow around and out of our familial rhythms?

If the church is first and foremost a spiritual family, how does this intersect?

First, it’s important to note, in the same way that I can’t judge where the line between extra and excess is for another family, I can’t nor shouldn’t with another church.

However, it’s important to evaluate the symptoms of excess in the church:

Can we as a church, be a church, without any of the extra? Can we be a church with just each other? What if all we had was one-another, Scripture, and the Spirit? What if there was no building to meet in, no stage to listen from, no band to lead us? Would we honestly still be a part?

Would we as a church despise this?

Have we gotten to the place as a church, where we actually define church by the extra? Is the church defined by the building, the services, the programs, the influence, the brand, or the platform of the leaders?

When we are seeking to steward the extra do we use it to continue to build family and intimacy or do we need to leverage community to build up and sustain the extra?

Arguably, modern day evangelicalism is more complicit with materialism than we care to admit. We’ve made a beeline for excess to the point where our systems try to reverse engineer family - start with excess than hopefully turn the crowd it’s gathered into family. But the created pattern from Genesis identifies a vital principle and truth: it’s family that begets family.

What if we started with family? Sure it’s slow. Anybody trying to get a toddler to eat their dinner at the table will tell you that.

And, yes most of the time it’s pretty simple.

To once again quote Dallas Willard, “The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.”

If discipleship - followers of Jesus raising up new generations of followers of Jesus - is the main thing, then spiritual family is the form and function that God has prescribed and ordained as the wineskin and vehicle for maturity and love to grow and flourish.

Extra won’t make disciples. It can’t. Excess certainly won’t and has created damage to discipleship efforts.

But family - as God said in Genesis and restated in what we call the Great Commission -  family has the ability to “bear fruit, multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28).