As part of this post, I issued a challenge for a Bible study to answer the question, “Is online church really church?” A couple of people said they’d like to join me in a study to read through the Bible this year and identify four things:
- What are the Metaphors for Church (Word-pictures like ‘Body of Christ.’)?
- What is the Nature of Church (Things that never change.)?
- What is the Structure of Church (The way church is organized.)?
- What are the Functions of Church (Things the church does.)?
So here is how we are going to launch into this collaborative effort.
1. We are going to use http://www.youversion.com to read the Bible together. YouVersion is an awesome social networking tool that allows people to read and comment on passages in the Bible, as well as tag verses or passages. (http://www.LifeChurch.tv is responsible for developing this awesome tool! You guys rock!)
2. As we read from Genesis to Revelation, we are going to tag verses or passages that deal with any of four categories above.
3. When we find them, we will tag them with the appropriate tag: Nature of Church, Function of Church, Metaphor of Church, Structure of Church.
4. We will look at each of those elements and ask: How does that work in offline church? How does that work in online church? We will comment in notes on YouVersion.
5. I will try to summarize things on this blog at least once a month (or more, if it gets really crazy).
Guidelines
We are looking for obvious meanings. If you have to spend 1000 words explaining how you saw a metaphor for church in Moses’ staff, then maybe you are looking a little too hard! Also, we want each finding answer the question, “How can we obey this in (insert location of church culture – online or offline)? If we only hear the Word, and forget to obey it, then we are building our houses on sinking sand!
If you want to participate, please let us know by adding your YouVersion username in a comment on this post. I will try to update this post as we learn more from this experiment.
If I need to add anything to this, let me know in the comments. I will make updates as you guys suggest things that benefit this discovery community.
Rock on!
Update 01/09/09 – To keep it interesting, I think we should try to read from the New Testament and from the Old Testament each day. Also, as you read the OT look for commands and expectations directed to the people of Israel.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
My YouVersion handle is OnlineDisciples.
Look forward to discovering what God’s Word says about church with you guys!
-Paul.