What are we trying to do?

As we gather in church what are we trying to achieve? Learn together the mind of God? Create community? Know God better?

I suspect that most of us don't ask that question. Rather, we just do what we have seen done, only better.

But this is a question we should address. If you don't know what you are seeking to accomplish you will more than likely accomplish what you don't want. 

Those who grew up with the Prayer Book will recall that as the 10 Commandments are read the congregation responds with "incline our wills to keep this law".

As I have been thinking about what we seek to achieve in our church gatherings I have become more convinced that this is our desire under God: That He would incline our wills to keep his law. 

Affections and inclinations

Much ink has been spilt discussing the differences between and the place of passions, affections and emotions.

I don't want to revisit those issues here but I agree with the great American revivalist Jonathan Edwards who saw the pastor's task as developing religious affections. Edwards saw that our wills could be inclined toward or away from God. The task of the preacher was to aid the congregation to be so powerfully affected that their will would be inclined to choose obedience to God. This inclination can only be the work of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit works with Christian people to bring this about. 

Edwards' ideas are similar to the British Puritans who saw the goal of gathering as imagination. By imagination they did not mean visualising something unreal but rather vividly seeing yourself in the position of making a choice, and seeing the only sensible decision as choosing obedience to God. 

If this is right there are many implications for our gatherings. Here are some. Each of them requires to be filled out rather than just stated. 

  1. our gathering are not merely for the impartation of information. They are for transformation.
  2. Our gatherings must not be devoid of information. God makes Himself known in his propositions about Himself, and these are so glorious that knowing Him will incline our wills toward Him.
  3. Our gatherings should aim to buttress inclinations toward God, which may not be observable, and will only be seen and tested in difficult times
  4. In our gatherings we are calling people to live a different story to what is natural. We are calling for decisions to be made that seem foolish, but which the individual desires to make.
  5. We are calling saints out of living what others would see as a 'balanced life' into wholehearted commitment to Jesus.
  6. We should work for and pray that our proclamation and inter-relationships changes lives and does not just add data to people's knowledge store.