How should we then do...?

I'm having a lot.. A_LOT.. of conversations lately about how we Jesus-followers should "do church" and "do life".

I am having them, primarily, with the people who read this blog. So if I'm not having them with you, feel free to hit me up about it sometime.

One of the questions that is asked over and over, after two or three of us dreamers get together and spin a delightful web of postmodern communal utopia is, "OK, so that's great and all, but.. what does that look like? How do we give it legs?"

One question that I have asked, particularly, is about authority. Being a bunch of Jesus-loving slackers is great and all, but there is certainly a biblical precedent for authority in the church.

Of course, God is ultimately in charge, but do we need a person/people at the front of the pack who can say stuff, as the apostles always had to, like, "No. It is not okay to marry your goat, Ephraim. We're sorry, but it's just not."..?

In my mind, I think that maybe you need a chosen "lead" guy, chosen from among a core group of mature slacker-types (the eldership, if you will), so as to avoid power-mongering and whatnot. And hopefully, you end up with a person that the elders can champion, instead of having to battle.

I also think that a nice hefty detox period from the "organized church" is in order for any persons undertaking the formation of such a community. (thank you, Brant, for voicing it in this way) There are just so many assumptions. I think we need desperately to be able to wean ourselves off the institutional christianity that we've come to accept. And all the assumptions we've come to accept along with it. I've been reading a blog lately that talks about spritual detoxing, and Brant (again) has pointed me toward a few similar resources.

In these few examples, a current group model is the Alcoholics Anonymous structure. Says Brant, "[This] group tends to adapt the AA approach, saying we're all addicted to something, mainly ourselves, and that's where we start in reclaiming a Kingdom life. I do think the AA model of leadership might be more akin to this kind of life than the typical church understanding, even the hip/emergent/whatever understanding."

I'm passing the resources on to you now, so if you have been asking these same kinds of questions, please take advantage of them:

http://www.getting-free.blogspot.com/

http://whatischurch.com/mustardseed/

http://www.whatischurch.com/vc/

I can certainly see the value/potential of the AlAnon structure, at least as a jumping-off point. So my next question(s) is, "How does AlAnon work? ...How are facilitators chosen? How are groups formed? Who are they accountable to?"