In the Nicene Creed, Christians declare our belief in the four key attributes of the church when we say, “[We believe] in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.”
They are recited in the liturgies of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Moravian Church, the Lutheran Churches, the Methodist Churches, the Presbyterian Churches, the Anglican Communion, and by members of the Reformed Churches.
In fact, we’ve been reciting those attributes, or “marks” as they came to be known, since they were adopted at the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381.
The church is one. That is, a single, united body which has its basis in Christ Jesus.
The church is holy, because it is the body of Christ with Jesus as the head.
The church is catholic, an old term that means ‘universal.’ The church’s role is to spread the Word of God across the world.
The church is apostolic. That is, our origins and beliefs are rooted in the ministry of the apostles.
You knew all that, right?
But aside from reciting it every so often, does it shape your understanding of your church’s life and ministry? I’d venture to suggest that in many churches it doesn’t shape things much at all. We have become overfamiliar with this section of the creed and it no longer sparks us to action.
I think this contributes to the sluggishness many churches feel. Church can feel like riding a bike up a steep hill at times. We need a gear change.
FROM ADJECTIVES TO ADVERBS
Part of the problem might be that the marks of the church are presented to us as static adjectives. We are invited to repeat a creed that states what the church is. But in his book God’s Missionary People, missiologist Charles Van Engen suggests we should look at them as more dynamic adverbs. They are descriptors of what the church is becoming.
Similarly, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, a Finnish theologian who teaches systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, says we should look at these four marks of the church not only as a set of goals to which we should aspire, but also as God’s gifts to his church. We are one, holy, catholic and apostolic because he has made us so. And we are called to devote ourselves to continue to be these things.
God grants us unity and then invites us to maintain our oneness with each other.
Secondly, God makes us holy through the work of Christ and then invites us to remain such by repentance and obedience.
God’s grace is universal. The whole world is his, and yet he still asks us to take the gospel to the utter ends of the earth.
And fourthly, God has made us apostolic, sending us out to continue the work to which the apostles were committed, anchored in the truth first revealed to them.
These four terms describe what the church is and what is to become.
In this regard, Van Engen suggests they are adverbs, not adjectives. He thinks we need better, more colloquial terms, so he proposed the following:
- Unifying (one)
- Sanctifying (holy)
- Reconciling (catholic)
- Proclaiming (apostolic)
And Van Engen goes even further and suggests we reverse the order, starting with apostolic proclamation. This, he suggests, will remind us of our missional posture and lay out the path along which we should be moving. In other words, we should be a proclaiming, reconciling, sanctifying and unifying community. Rooted in the revelation given to the apostles, commissioned to continue their tradition of proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of Jesus, the church is called to a global concern for all the lost and broken people in the world. We can only achieve this by God’s grace as humble sinners, committed to repentance and confession and open to the continual filling of the Spirit. And in all things we strive for unity, inclusion, and radical hospitality.
In his exploration of Van Engen’s work in his book, No Silver Bullets, Daniel Im writes, “When we alter the Nicene marks of the church from adjectives to adverbs, we make the micro-shift from maturity to missionary. Instead of maturing our churches to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic, we are sending them out as everyday local and global missionaries to be a unifying, sanctifying, reconciling and proclaiming force in this world that desperately needs to hear the good news of Christ.”
This shouldn’t be read as Im’s disinterest in Christian maturity. It’s just that he sees maturity as a by-product of the church fulfilling its calling. He writes, “When we live out our core identity as missionaries, the Lord matures us.”
A BETTER METRIC
Instead of measuring how many people attend our services, or how much money we have in our accounts, or what level of staffing we can sustain, what if we committed to measuring how much more proclamatory our people are; or how much more reconciling or sanctifying or unifying they are?
Rather than demonstrating my commitment to the people of God by just turning up, what if I was held accountable to these marks of the church? What would happen if I was answerable to others to the degree to which I was growing and deepening in those things? Then, churches would be missional communities committed to equipping and supporting each other to be more unifying, more sanctifying, more reconciling and more proclaiming. We would require our members to show evidence of that deepening development. It might look like this:
| MARKS | EVIDENCE |
| Unifying (one) | Practicing unity Including and hearing from the marginal and the excluded Become a counterculture for the common good |
| Sanctifying (holy) | Being committed to holy living and personal accountability Practicing confession and repentance Desiring the gifts of the Spirit |
| Reconciling (catholic) | Demonstrating a global concern Being committed to cross cultural mission, including overseas aid, advocacy, and evangelism |
| Proclaiming (apostolic) | Knowing the full good news of the kingdom Announcing and demonstrating the reign of King Jesus Confronting society’s idols |
I’m sure I’ve left something out of that list, but I hope you get the gist of it. When do we ever hold each other accountable for our understanding of the good news or our global concern or our willingness to confront idols?
If you used a set of metrices like these I think you’d produce beautiful, welcoming, generous, godly, missional communities.
If your church feels like its straining to pedal uphill, this simple micro-shift could be a gear change for you. In saying that, I’m well aware that while shifting the marks of the church from adjectives to adverbs is a simple mind shift, it would involve a paradigm shift to implement it. But with the church’s fortunes continuing to wane in the West, what choice do we have?
Really?
by Impressum
8 thoughts on “The Micro-Shift That Could Be a Gear Changer for Your Church”
I am not a theologian, or even an ordained minister. I am a lay non-conformist Christian, a Baptist by conviction, Scottish by birth but I have live lived for nearly forty years in England. Scottish church traditions are very different to those of England and both are very different to those of USA.. Unusually, I read Christianity Today by subscription. I am a retired family doctor. I am sympathetic to other theological convictions and a supporter of the Christian Church Worldwide, in all its various forms.
Looking at your final thoughts, I think a lot depends on what we mean by ‘answerable’ and ‘require’. There is a chance it could produce the beatific situation described, but it is equally likely to produce anxious, bondage-ridden KPI-strivers. Forgive me if I sound argumentative; in my head I’m speaking in a gentle, interested voice, if it helps, and coming from a background of spiritual abuse survival. I still hold a vague notion that in a ‘missional’ church there is facility for seekers/incumbents to belong before they behave. Not sure if by ‘members’ you mean ‘voters’ or ‘regular adherents’.
How about instead of ‘answerable’ we tried ‘aspirational’, and instead of ‘require’ (which suggests you could be kicked out of your church for failing to hit a too-high Jesussy benchmark set by … whom?) we could try ‘encourage’? I realise this would not produce as large a shift as might be desired. But I am concerned about, well, people like me, who love Jesus and people passionately, can’t seem to produce a nice, straight, upward vector. More like a tangly piece of string, but God’s with me in my mess and calls it Art. And my ‘worst case scenario’ brain can’t help but worry that it could all end, especially in some churches, with a monthly meeting where you have to give an account for your growth before a tribunal of some sort … you get the picture! It’s a silly extreme, but you can see how it could arise; whereas gentle accountability happens in friendships and connect groups which foster growth by acceptance, example, and good teaching in an environment where vulnerability isn’t a liability. I like to say that magic happens on Sunday mornings but discipleship happens on Tuesday nights. Just some thoughts to add to the discussion. Love your work.
I hear what you’re saying, Rebekah, and I had anticipated someone might respond like this. I know terms like ‘accountable’ and ‘answerable’ conjure unhelpful images for a lot of people. I certainly didn’t mean that it should look like a tribunal or that people get excommunicated if they fall short. Rather, I saw it in the context of intentional pastoral care. My pastors or home group leaders should enquire of me at some stage how I’m living out the things listed, instead of just asking, ‘How are doing?’ Why do I only talk to my pastor when I have a problem instead of talking to her about how to be more unifying or sanctifying etc?
I have several friends who have drawn enormous strength and comfort from their 12-Step groups. These groups hold their members accountable in the context of supreme grace. We could learn a thing or two from them.
Great post–thanks! I think of proclaiming in terms of inviting others to the great wedding feast. Some holy clothing is required. In the meantime, we share physical bread as well as Living Bread, and care for all Creation.
Doesn’t it all hang on that big IF?
If you abide in Me you will bring forth fruit, then more fruit then much fruit. John 14.
My Father is the vine keeper and He prunes you to make you fruitful. (My paraphrase).
Its a fact that God is never more closer to the branches than when He’s pruning them.
There’s organic growth simply by abiding in the true Vine. The only violent part of it is the pruning.
Its interesting that joy and sacrifice are intertwined throughout Scripture. Phillipians comes to mind as Paul is chained between 2 soldiers awaiting his imminent execution and writes whether by life or by death I just want Jesus to be glorified. You cant kill a guy who’s already died to himself.
Exactly, nailed it also John 17 that we will understand we are now one with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The church is God’s habitation Ephesians chapter 3, and it’s all about His glory filling believers . His goal and will for our life is knowing his high, wide, deep that glory is in fact with us now.
I really love this Mike: it grounds orthodoxy in praxis that stems from the apostolic commission to ‘Go…’ (Matt 28)
On a personal level, it really challenged me this morning in a couple of ways that reminded me I am part of incarnating these facets of being part of the Church. So, thank you
It’s now 11.30am in Scotland & John & I are still discussing this with great enthusiasm — a connection we made during our morning reading from Hosea!
I’m going to dig out Van Engen’s writings again to reflect more & inspired by Veli-Matti’s reversal! Resonates with how Steve Croft (now Bishop of Oxford) was similarly inspired in envisioning Fresh Expressions of Church. Sits well with reversing ‘believe/behave//belong’
The practice of letting Scripture shape the way we live as much as the way we think has for me been profoundly shaped by working with Raymond Fung *author of The Isaiah Vision) as well as the guys who’ve inspired you – and right now I’m thanking God our paths have crossed again because this piece today is a rich feast Mike.
Shalom
Olive