By John Cole
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By John Cole
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Sticky Labels OR "How to be an Apostolic Church" L ots of 'churchy' words have been used in this chapter.Most are really only labels. We use them as a kind of shorthand. If we were to say precisely what we meant, we could probably only do it by painting pictures. For example: if we want to know what we think ‘ministry’ means in any particular church context, we try to form a picture in our mind of someone ‘ministering’. For years now clergy have been telling their congregations that ministry is what they were all baptised for - but what use is this if the only image people have is of a clergyman at a bedside?
The statement on the pad above tries to be pictorial. It still contains a great deal of theological language, but it does challenge the reader to form six mental pictures of the church’s task. Listed in the puzzle below are SEVEN decidedly ‘sticky’ labels! Where would you tie them on to the six phrases in the statement? TWO of the seven labels will have to be tied to ONE of the six phrases. Which one should that be?
There may well not be one single ‘right answer’ to this puzzle: but attempting to do it may be enough to shed new light on the meaning of the labels, particularly if you discuss your different answers with each other in a group. |
