A New Kind of Church 2

By Rev Dr Forest Koh

Koinonitis: this is a new term I learned when I read God’s Missionary People by Charles Van Engen.

Most of us know koinonia, a Greek word that means fellowship. Koinonitis is a tweak of koinonia; it is not Greek but a wordplay to describe unhealthy fellowship. When koinonia is unhealthy, it becomes koinonitis, a serious disease of the church.

Charles Van Engen writes,

“Koinonia becomes koinonitis, these interpersonal relationships become so deep and so mutually absorbing, they can provide the focal point for almost all church activity and involvement. Church activities and relationships become centripetal [introverted].1”

When the church is all about loving one another within the church or the CG, there is a danger that we become very inward-looking. We will end up dealing with unending unresolved relationship issues and get entangled by it.

The sacrificial love of Christ is not just meant for those within the church, for we are saved and called to love our neighbours and those outside the church. This should be the other nature of church which I missed as I read the Letter to the Ephesians.

“And he put all  things under his feet and gave him as head over all  things to                          the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all  in all.” (Eph 1:22-23)

These two verses are not just about Christ as the head and us as His body, enjoying a loving and intimate relationship with one another. We also have a mission with Christ as his body.

Christ put all things under his feet, he has authority over all creation. Christ has supreme and sovereign authority, and he wants His fullness to fill all in all. What is His fullness? His fullness includes peace, love, faith, hope, kindness, humility, truth, integrity, honesty, life… Christ wants His fullness to fill all of His creation. This is the mission of Christ, the mission of the church. Our God is a missional God!

Although we cannot find the term “mission” in the Bible, being missional is the essence of God! As God’s children and His church, being missional should be the DNA of all followers of Jesus.

Paul also reiterates,

And he (Jesus) came and preached peace to you who were far off and

peace to those who were near.  -- Eph 2:17

Jesus preached the gospel to those far off and those who were near. This is the mission of Jesus when the Word became flesh. Jesus is the first missionary on earth to preach the Gospel and He is the Gospel. Being His body; we are to do likewise. If not, we are not  His body.

Emil Brunner states, “The Church exists by mission as fire exists by burning.” If the church is not missional, it is not a church. The new kind of church is a missional church; other than that, it is not a church.

The next pressing question is: what is mission? [To be continued…]

[1]Charles E. van Engen. God's Missionary People: Rethinking the Purpose of the Local Church                

(Kindle Locations 1307-1308). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.