GroshLink

What would Kuyper have to say about Megachurches Adding Local Economy to Their Mission?  His oft quoted phrase might be used to advocate such a perspective:

No single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’

Quote from Abraham Kuyper's inaugural address at VU Amsterdam, 1880. Taken from Abraham Kuyper, "Sphere Sovereignty," in Abraham Kuyper, A Centenial Reader, ed. James D. Bratt (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 488.

But, maybe Kuyper would question whether the megachurches have the Biblical framework to properly develop/sustain such efforts and whether such pursuits are the province of the Church in specific.  Are local congregations called to entice/buy families for Christ or provide extra income for expanding ministry through complex modern business strategies?  I don't think so.  Instead I would advocate our Father calling His people, i.e., the Church, to be salt and light in the fallen creation and society.  In some small and incomplete manner, as we are guided by the Word, the Spirit, our particular experiences/context/gifts, and those which have gone before us (i.e., our tradition, theology), we dispel the darkness, return flavor to what surrounds us, and bring a glimpse of the end goal of the new heaven and new earth. 

Advent reminds us that our Creator comes to us, extending the gift of His love.  Will we receive His gift of relationship and allow Him to guide us in daily, weekly, annual rythmns of worship and confession as individuals, families, local congregations, and the Body of Christ?  Such times provide a lens for who God is, nurture a self understanding of being created in the image of God, give birth to and reinforce the blessing/loving/confession to neighbor, and the blessing/loving of creation.

Christ is King.  He calls the world to follow, to worship Him as Lord over all creation.  Local congregations are communities in which the people of God are apprenticed in Christ-likeness and sent out on our mission in the daily grind.  Although such apprenticeship will lead to a transformation in our understanding of commerce, our responsibility for neighbor (even giving birth to hospitals, schools, tutoring, childcare, economic development agencies, local missions, international projects), the call to Christlikeness in our vocation, etc . . . local congregations are not centers of commerce. 

Would love to have comments as I'm in process (as you'll no doubt notice by my ramble).  As time permits, I will begin articulating my thoughts on how religious communities such as the Bruderhof, monasticism, etc differ from projects such as the dome's merger of profit/non-profit. 

Interestingly enough, the other night a friend pointed out to me although there is much shared in Amish society, their separateness from the larger society has not led to Church directed business ventures as they don't have buildings for the people of God but they also do not have corporations/structures/land holdings overseen by their elders. Note:  earlier piece Willow Creek repenting of its failures.