"Your church is hard to find! "Good!"

Excerpt from a great article by Lee Wyatt:

The Submerging Church, as I see it, is radically subversive, relentlessly incarnational, and ruthlessly hospitable. It dives deeply into everyday life, sharing it with others, while at the same time questioning and critiquing the conditions of that life we share. Since this community lives from its center, the risen Jesus Christ, its boundaries are porous and permeable with arms outstretched to everyone who encounters it.

Here are some characteristics of the Submerging Church:

• first, it is hard to find because it is small and spread throughout the community;
• second, it is difficult to join because “membership” is relational and based on a shared journey towards the center;
• thirdly, it is culturally atheistic, that is, not committed to a cultural Christ or his civil religion;
• fourth, it is more like yeast (which though small permeates the whole) than a beast (a mega-church prominent in the community);
• fifth, it finds its “niche” with those at the margins and their experiences, which generates the “lens” through which it views and responds to the world; and
• finally, it focuses on “inner-tainment” (life with God) rather than entertainment.

The core content of the Submerging Church comes from:

• first, being a Kingdom Outpost rather than a religious institution;
• second, following a Cruciform Jesus rather a Cultural Christ;
• third, living by a Holy Script (Bible) rather than a cultural script;
• fourth, being centered on a bath and a meal rather than programs;
• fifth, seeking justice for all (especially the poor) instead of good for “just us”; and
• sixth, sharing “communitas” rather than just fellowship (Google it!).
•                                      Lee Wyatt, full article 
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