Breaking Ground
Where is the most culturally alien place that you’ve ever visited? What was different about it & how did it make you feel?
The Dig
This Sunday, we continued our series Boundless Church, where we’re exploring what it means for Element3 to become a centered-set community. As a reminder:
- Bounded-set churches define who’s included by whether or not they share a set, clearly defined, & strict list of similarities (the same doctrinal beliefs, race, cultural background, socioeconomic status, political views, etc); while excluding those who deviate from these shared characteristics.
- Centered-set churches define who’s included solely by their relationship to Jesus Christ as our shared center. Moreover, they direct members to focus less on assimilating to shared characteristics & more on whether they’re moving towards their shared center.
This week, we sat with how this centered-set vision should impact our engagement with race & socioeconomics.
What has been your personal experience when it comes to race & socioeconomics? How has your lived experience shaped your understanding of these topics?
Where have you seen the Church engage these topics in both healthy & unhealthy ways? What impact have you seen this have on real people & our world?
Read the following verses:
- On Wealth & Socioeconomics – Matthew 6:19-24, James 2:1-13 & 4:13-5:6, 1 Timothy 6:10-19, & Acts 2:42-47.
- On Race & Ethnicity – Acts 6:1-7 & 10:34-36, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:28, & Romans 10:12-13.
These are only several of many examples of the Bible addressing issues of wealth, socioeconomic status, & race; as well as their impact upon the life of the Church.
What stands out to you the most about these texts? What overarching themes do you see within them?
Why do these two topics so consistently seep into & fracture the Church’s unity (especially in the form of racism & inequality)? What makes them so persistent & challenging to find healing within?
What boundaries do you currently have when it comes to race & socioeconomics? How is that impacting you holistically (physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, & relationally)?
How might a Centered Set vision on race & socioeconomics be both helpful & challenging for our church?
Coming Out of the Hole
During each week of this series, set aside time to reflect on your own struggles with creating boundaries & excluding people from Jesus & his community.
- What’s your history with this week’s topic? In your experience, has this been used as a boundary of exclusion in the Church?
- Where do you struggle to fully embrace those who differ from you when it comes to this topic? Do your attitudes & treatment of them reflect Christ or our world more?
- How can you humbly adjust your posture towards this topic over the course of this coming season in order to embrace a more Christlike one towards it? How can this help E3 further live into its vision of being a centered-set church?
Journal, reflect, & pray on how God might be speaking to you through each week’s teaching. Share your experience with your growth group next week!
Additional Resources*
TheBibleProject.com
Centered-Set Church: Discipleship & Community Without Judgmentalism by Mark D. Baker
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
Coming Up This Week:*
Sunday, August 18th: Join us next Sunday as we finish our series Boundless Church!
* Please see mye3.org for details.