Believing versus Belonging: what comes first?

During the last generation there has been ever increasing discussion of the relationship between believing, behaving and belonging in the Christian community.

This discussion is important as we think about what we expect of people joining church and how we organise our church life together.

It has traditionally been held that people begin by believing. This changes their attitudes and that is seen in changes in behaviour that enables them to belong to the people of God gathered. This is certainly the thinking of the early church as they structured how church life functioned.

In recent days sociological studies have declared that the actual way people change and grow is by belonging to a group that has a particular ethos, which almost by osmosis leads to a change in behaviour and that provides the fertile ground for a change in belief.

Some churches structure their meetings along these lines. The meeting’s main activity is to be accessible so that the newcomer immediately feels as though they belong to this group, and so that through continued relationship they change their behaviour and their belief.

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