The mental models that guide CLC have all been shaped by and arise from scripture. Every mental model is constantly tested against scripture.
In Churches Learning Change, we understand scripture to be, primarily, the story of God and everything that exists from the beginning in creation to its culmination in a new creation. The Bible introduces us to God and helps us understand ourselves through the stories of the Old Testament, and then, even more clearly in the New Testament story of Jesus and the early church.
One mental model that arises from this view of scripture is that God is constantly at work to reconcile human beings to God and to one another– and to restore creation to even more than its original design. God calls people to participate in this mission, revealing to followers of Jesus and to modern congregations the role the Holy Spirit has called them to play within God’s larger mission.
An important corollary is that God has provided us with a design for human flourishing, what the Israelites named as “Shalom.” In the Old Testament, this design is expressed in the “Shema” as found in Deuteronomy 6, in the call to love our neighbor as explicitly stated in Leviticus 19:18; and in the Ten Commandments which give us a guide as to how we are to love God and neighbor.
In the New Testament, Jesus declared that he did not come to overturn God’s law, but to take it seriously and complete it. He said that the entire law and prophets were captured in two commands: to love God above all and to love our neighbor as ourselves. By doing so, he emphasized God’s Design and intent for human flourishing as being rooted in love. Through teachings like the beatitudes, demonstrations of love that cut across all barriers, and behaviors that showed what love looked like in practice, Jesus taught and tangibly showed the full dimensions of love.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us that he has come so that we may have life, and to have that life abundantly. In CLC we often say it this way: Jesus shows us how to live a fully human, fully alive life as disciples– people learning to live in the way of Jesus.
CLC invites individuals and congregations to grow in our capacity to live the life God created us for-- fully human, fully alive, in step with the Spirit.
We invite the Holy Spirit to transform us through the renewal of our minds. We open ourselves to “metanoia,” to receive a new, changed, mind from God through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals mental models that have caused us to disconnect from God, self, and others. In their place we see the fully human, fully alive more clearly and we are empowered to live the joyful, abundant life that Jesus promised. With the Spirit’s presence, we become people who can love like God, be courageous like Christ, live with integrity and according to God’s design for us, and authentically turn to our loving God with curiosity and hope.
In the various Gospels, Jesus commissions the church, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to continue the work he began by making new followers of Jesus and teaching them to practice everything he taught us. In other words,
We believe that every faithful act of love, every word we speak, every thought we think is to be consistent with the Kingdom and will of God; is to match the character and way of Jesus, and is to exhibit the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
We have found that focusing on these key mental models from Scripture has made much of the text come alive for our modern times. Stories, instructions and encouragements become invitations to explore and adventure with the Holy Spirit in the ways of Christ in each of our contexts. Learning to experiment within the freedom of Christ for the purpose of communal flourishing has brought joy into our lives and ministries. Though the way of Christ is challenging and involves sacrifice, we trust that God uses these things to give us a bigger life in the Spirit.
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