Encouragement, Accountability, and Worship
Solitude, community and ministry are three areas requiring balance and integration in the Christian walk. The focus on self, which is anathema to Christianity, becomes the norm without a Christian community. For a Christian community to function as the bride of Christ, Christ must be the focus, not the community. As the community and its members put the needs of Christ first and express love for Christ amongst the members of the church community and the greater community of the world, true Christlikeness occurs. Boa notes that “conversion to Christ and to the cross should lead to conversion to community.”
A healthy church provides Corporate Love and Compassion; Corporate Identity and Purpose, Corporate Nurture and Service, Corporate Discernment, Corporate Forgiveness and Reconciliation, Corporate Authority and Submission, and Corporate Worship and Prayer. Boa refers to “Corporate Identity and Purpose” and “Corporate Nurture and Service” as crucial areas that can lead to either a Christlike church or a church of the world.
The need for submission to Christ and to one another, living in humility before God, and a desire to express the love of Christ for each other are critical for corporate spirituality to be part of the fire of the Holy Spirit and not the dross of the world.
