About
About viralJesus.org
It is important, I suppose, to tell you what we’re doing here. And to me it’s important to be upfront about intentions. So I have put together an introduction that walks through the original thoughts, ideas, and methods of viralJesus.org. You will find it on the categories list under the “Introduction” category.
About me
“Me” isn’t the real subject of this conversation – Jesus and His church are. But if you must know…my name is Jon and I’ve been a Christian minister in a large Protestant denomination since about 1996. Along the way, I’ve become less and less interested in corporate “church” as I have come to know it (and actively participated in and perpetuated it) and more interested in the person and work of Jesus and His intentions for His Church. viralJesus.org is an online discussion I have started to sort out what I believe about the church.
One more thing – if you’ve read this far and aren’t clicking the red “x” to shut ‘er down, I encourage you to join the conversation. There are no pre-requisites. However you got here and whatever you believe, you are welcome to post in the discussion and propose topics of discussion.
Jon, what do you mean by corporate church?
Great question. Clearly you’ve been trained to ask insightful, probing, and revealing questions instead of blindly accepting whatever people say as truthful and valid. That’s got to stop
.
Corporate is maybe not the best word, but it’s hard to define. Maybe it’s more “church for church’s sake” – the inward focus of many American churches on building a mini church empire that derives its ethos more from business theory than missional thinking (thus my word “corporate” – feels like a corporation more than a body). I’ve spent way too much of my life with folk who think the church’s purpose is to build buildings, develop programs, increase weekly service attendence, and bring in enough cash to cover the mortgages and salaries that sort of approach takes. My only interest these days is to be a part of communities of faith that see participating in God’s mission of redeeming the world as the primary focus – communities that couldn’t care less about those other things. You can see the difference – one is a more grassroots, shoestring budget operation with the mission as its focus, and the other is, well, corporate.
To that end I entirely fund my family’s needs via other work so I am free to teach and lead in churches for no fee. For now, it seems the most honest way for me to work out this issues in my own heart. Hope that answers the question. I’m not trying to bash anyone else – we are all called to do different things, but for me this is the way I think God is leading me.