Christ-centered Community Part 1: What is Christ-centered Community?

Considering where change needs to happen, where it can happen, and a way forward for the church

Photo by John Cafazza on Unsplash

In my last post, I expressed that we need better questions for the church. Too often, we focus on systems and structures that rely on power and authority and inherently undermine the dignity of the family of Christ. I think we can do better, and it is my hope that the church across the world begins to adopt ways of living that provide space for people to belong as family, embrace the dignity of all Spirit-gifted saints, and live as the body of Christ that depends on the flourishing of each member. And I realize that my convictions for what church could be require some context (because most churches don’t operate this way today), which is why I am beginning a series of posts that outline what the church, what Christ-centered community, could be.

What is Christ-centered community?

A Christ-centered community is a group of diverse but equal¹ individuals, interdependent on one another and united in love by the pursuit of the shared, transcendent purpose of living out the gospel of Jesus.

I’ll use both “Christ-centered community” and “church” interchangably, along with phrases like, “body of Christ,” “family of God/Christ,” etc. These are phrases I use to describe a concentrated congregation of believers, or a local church. The word, “church” carries connotations beyond simply a gathering of Christ-followers (i.e., building, denomination, etc.), so I want to qualify it a bit here. Invariably, I am making general statements of what I think church should be that are consonant with certain denominational values. I’ve been involved in Baptist churches much of my life, so don’t be surprised if there is some overlap. But this is not a Baptist apologetic. And while we will likely never see (on this side of the eschaton) a denomination-less church, I’d love to dream we can get closer to true unity among the broad body of Christ, and I believe embracing these values is a good way forward.

Disclaimer: I have never been in a church that has fully embraced these values in practice, despite many having expressed much continuity in theory. Along the way, however, I’ll inevitably share about a few years where I was part of a community that did a lot of this by accident as well as my time in a different house church that sought much of this ecclesiology deliberately.

Why does Christ-centered community exist?

If you Google, “why does the church exist?” you’ll predictably get thousands of results from writers, churches, and denominations across the world. It’s central to any particular church’s mission to answer this question. And I suggest it’s as simple as living out the gospel of Jesus.

Jesus gathered, trained, and empowered his followers to spread this gospel to the world, and the command to “make disciples” lies at the heart of the global church’s purpose today (Matt. 28:19). But the gospel was and is more than just believing the right things, and it was and is more than just securing the state of our eternal souls. The gospel is especially about bringing people into God’s group, to a place of belonging with God so they can flourish and live out their purpose of being in relationship with God and others. This is why the central acts we are called to point us to communal relationship—baptism is not a solo act, communion is not taken alone, and discipleship is meant to be done alongside one another in community, not on our own.

And this community is to relate as family, being known by our love for one another.

What does Christ-centered community look like?

In a community that seeks to live out the definition I posit above, there are some things that should be true of its members. This is not a comprehensive list, but I believe it is an essential one, where none of these things would be untrue or hidden in Christ-centered community. Also, this is not strictly a list of doctrinal affirmations, rather descriptive statements that are true of a critical mass of the group (and “in progress” for everyone). I’ll unpack each of these in future posts, one at a time, but I’ve shared a bit on family in my previous post.

Where Christ-centered community exists, these things should be true of its members:

• Belonging in family

• Empowerment in priesthood

• Competency in scriptural interpretation and application

• Engagement in spiritual gifting

• Growth in maturity

The beauty of these markers is that they provide room for the Spirit to move in and among the body of Christ in ways that are unique to a specific context. In other words, churches should look different from place to place, and there is no one, comprehensive look to church. Having lived in several cities across three different countries, I’ve seen a lot of the same look in churches—from the structure, to the type of leaders, to the layout of buildings, and more. While I haven’t seen it all, I’ve seen enough to know there is a “type” of church, a way of doing things, that has crossed borders. And I’m not sure that’s entirely a result of the Spirit of God moving freely in diverse contexts. No doubt, God is moving in powerful ways around the world that reflect the cultural makeup of people and places, and my desire is that we only see that more.

So, my next post will talk about how belonging in family is a core marker of Christ-centered community, and I’ll talk about the other four markers later on.

Looking forward to sharing with (and hearing from) you all as we go.

1. I’ll talk more on this in the future, but it is critical that every member be recognized as equal in value. This is both theoretical AND practical. However, at any given moment, the functional value of any particular member may not be weighted the same. For example, a more mature and long-standing sister in Christ might have the experience and wisdom to say something to the church that carries more influence than a member who is newer to the community or younger in faith (and perhaps, less mature). This is especially true when someone has earned influence over time and has a Christlike, mature pattern of living that is tested and recognized among the other members. However, the Spirit of God can move in and through anyone, even a younger or seemingly “less mature” believer. So it is crucial to test what is said among the community and for decision-making to be transparent and subject to review, critique, and corporate discernment.

Further, and this will be expanded in another post, each member has the dignity and capacity to progress toward full maturity in Christ. A person who is “immature” in their faith today will presumably grow into Christlikeness and maturity over time and in the context of Christ-centered community. The nature of the church dignifies and equips them to earn influence through a life and demeanor that looks like Jesus. There are no barriers within the church to people growing into maturity. Rather, there should be every opportunity for growth so that each and every member can thrive. This is fundamental to leadership in the community, but the call to maturity is universal to all disciples and allows each member the potential to permeate even elder/leader distinctions.