ONE MORE THING…
The Seven Principles of Christian Nonconformity
“Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is – what is good and pleasing and mature.” -- Romans 12.2 (CEB)
“No one truly knows Christ unless they follow Him daily in life.” – Hans Denck (1495-1527)
Dear Church:
The first and most important principal of Christian Nonconformity is embracing discipleship as following Jesus today as best we can.
The major difference between Anabaptist (and Christian Nonconformist) understandings of discipleship and other traditions (e.g., Calvinist, Pietist, Wesleyan, Catholic), is that discipleship is defined either as mastery of information about Christianity or embracing the regular practice of activities that identify someone as Christian. For most Christians, discipleship is a “more and better” proposition – learn more, do more, be more, pray more, etc. For the Anabaptist | Nonconformist, discipleship is just following Jesus daily in life. The “more and better” propositions are nice – but they are pointless efforts of human religiosity without the foundation of simply following Jesus.
So, when we say as a church we value reliance on the scriptures, our value isn’t about knowing more about the Bible (although knowing isn’t a bad thing). Our value of reliance on scripture is about giving us insight into how to follow Jesus daily in life.
When we embrace peaceful practices that lead us to compassionate candor toward one another in the church, that isn’t about getting along better with each other, it is about following Jesus daily in a life that loves one another.
When we offer generous service to our neighbors near and far, it isn’t about adopting a self-congratulatory spirituality. We are generous because Jesus was generous, and he asked us to be generous.
Following Jesus daily in life is the simplest principle of Christian Nonconformity to state. And the hardest to adopt.
So, let’s go, church (and follow Jesus daily in life)
Pastor Jeff
jeff@bgmc.net
P.S. Monday, January 20, is Martin Luther King, Jr Holiday across the United States. We’ll still meet for breakfast at the A&N Diner at 7:30am. We’ll also meet for coffee on Friday, January 24 at the Broad Street Grind at 3:30pm. Both of these gathers are opportunities for me to listen to whatever is on your mind. See you then.