Becoming The Authentic Church

This is the first post in a series of posts from the Booklet Becoming the Authentic Church: A Guide Toward Being in Diverse, healing Community Rooted in Reconciliation and Justice
. My firend Bob and I have taken these thoughts and begun to take concrete steps toward finding this Authenitc Church (he in his setting and I in mine) You will notice that I have been quite taken with this vision in the next several days, weeks, months, years. I relish your comments. I have a bit of video from my meeting with Gordon Cosby on Monday Nov.14, and wil begin to post some of that over the next several days, along with photos I took over that time.
The items in Authentic Church are lifted entirely from the Booklet, and my comments will be set apart with a different format, like this , for instance

The processes described in this guidebook represent an attempt to follow the simple way of Jesus.

They are not the only way, they merely express one way by which we are seeking to go deeper in order to be freed to love.

Repetition of primary ideas is intentional.
Even as we share the possibilities with you, we too are hoping to hear and understand them more deeply.

This is a work in progress. We welcome your insights as we learn from each other how to live boldly in the not yet.
Together may we discover new life giving ways to be the diverse and healing body of Christ, becoming love on behalf of the world.
-----------

At this point in my life, and at this point in our world's life, I am asking what is to be my focus to what am I to be giving my limited time and energy? What is the new thing, the genuine thing, that God wants me to be learning, doing, being now?

For me the central question is what it means to be the authentic church of Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected. What is its nature? Its essence? And how can that essence be structured and expressed so as to become a healing agent for the world?

It's not a question any longer of which issues are of primary concern and what kinds of programs might best serve those issues, but a question of being. How are we to be in the world so as to live the Jesus life with greater boldness and passion?

The temptation always is to turn stones into bread. We have tried over the years to be faithful to Christ by loving and serving the poor giving bread. But have we primarily been offering people helpful ways to get their share of the culture's bread, or have we offered the living bread of God?

The church, when it is true to its nature, is God's channel for sharing both kinds of bread. That is what I long for and want to be a part of in the remaining time that God gives me. I want to let go of whatever doesn't take us deeper, whatever takes more time and energy and effort than it yields, and together with others I want to embody that transforming presence in the world. This might not be what is most important for you, but for me, it is all that ultimately matters.

N. Gordon Cosby

The above was taken from Becoming the Authentic Church: A Guide Toward Being in Diverse, healing Community Rooted in Reconciliation and Justice
. Copies of this booklet are available via Potter's House Book Service for 3.00 each (Well worth it. I have been working with this booklet since I picked it up on Saturday. Comment here and I will make sure Potter's House gets it-----right now, I cannot find it on their Web site. I gotta talk to them about getting thier GREAT book store completely online.