A Question About Hierarchy In the Church

By 
Eugene Kim
Facebook LogoTwitter LogoLinkedIn Logo

What if Jesus’ original plan was for us NOT to put people on pedestals?

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

Matthew 23:8-12

Most of us can't imagine a practice of Christianity that isn't top-down, hierarchical, and dependent on people in power. But I believe the Scriptures make a strong case for something very different!

Christ inaugurates a Kingdom (new reality) based on:

  • love, not power
  • suffering and taking up crosses, not winning and defeating others
  • mutual submission, not domination
  • flexibility, not hierarchy
  • the last first, and the first last
  • the greatest in this kingdom being children and servants

We preach about this Kingdom but generally do not live it out very well in our systems and structures. Can we go back to the drawing board and ask how the Church can look more like God's Kingdom and less like religious hegemony?

The Way to Greater Truth Is Greater Love

The solution to misinformation and the lack of critical thinking in the Church and society as a whole is not more information or making better
...
More

A Taste of New Wine! (Third Thursdays Season One)

Curious about what we’ve been working on? Watch this Youtube playlist of short clips taken from our first season of Third Thursday webinars (Aug-Dec 2022)!
More

Ecclesiology 101: How To Be The Church (According to 1 Corinthians 12 & 13)

Most churches are organized as hierarchies with leaders at the top and followers or workers at the bottom. Some voices matter and some don't as much! But can we imagine
...
More

The Kind of Innovation the Church Needs

There are many doing the work of spiritual innovation but not all innovation is the same. We need a fundamentally different approach to church, which
...
More

How Real Change Happens

Christianity is in crisis. We believe the Church can and must do better. But how does change actually happen? Start a revolution!
More

New Wine Collective: Executive Summary

A brief summary of the mission, vision, and strategy of New Wine Collective. We're creating a new way of doing church that makes spiritual community more
...
More

How Movements Move (And Also Get Stuck)

A framework to help us understand how grassroots movements become institutions and why institutions sometimes need to die.
More

Rethinking Church "From the Ground Up"

The problems the Church is facing will require more than surface level pragmatic solutions. What do we mean by reimagining church and spirituality "from the ground
...
More

Rethinking Church Part 5: Church Business

Our discipleship model is often just our business model in disguise. If we change the business model, we change the Church. And if we change the Church, we
...
More

The Future of Spirituality

Authentic spirituality is a journey that continually expands, integrates, and includes. Therefore, we must create a more flexible "open architecture" for church an
...
More

Rethinking Church Part 4: Beyond Belief

The core of discipleship has always been the practice of love. In other words, if it’s not loving, it’s not Christian. How did we lose sight of this?
More

Rethinking Church Part 3: Empowerment

It’s about empowerment and mutual connection, not hierarchy and control; distributing power, instead of hoarding it. In other words, we’re not trying to
...
More

Rethinking Church Part 2: Love First

We’re reimagining church from the ground up, based on a simple foundational premise: Love is what matters most. And if love is what matters most, then
...
More

Rethinking Church Part 1: Why?

Throughout my 25+ year ministry career, I’ve worn almost every hat there is. I enjoyed my work and like to think I was pretty good at my job! But this year, I made the di
...
More

A Question About Hierarchy In the Church

Most of us can't imagine a practice of Christianity that isn't top-down, hierarchical, and dependent on people in power. But I believe the Scriptures make a strong
...
More

Worldly Empire vs. God’s Kingdom

God’s invitation is to live into a new alternative reality– God’s Kingdom on earth. But worldly empire can be so deeply embedded in our operating systems and structures,
...
More

Our Name & Logo

New Wine represents the radically new spirituality Christ embodied that transcended and challenged the religious structures of his day. New wine requires ne
...
More

June 2020: Time for Justice, Time for Change

It has been a heavy and tumultuous month. We are clearly living through a time of significant upheaval and change. But some changes have been long overdue
...
More
New Wine Collective
Copyright © 2020
Facebook LogoTwitter LogoInstagram LogoLinkedIn Logo
Join the conversation!