WHY DIVERGENT?
"MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD"
JESUS
John 18:36
WHY DIVERGENT? It is a bit weird isn't it? Isn't that a movie? Are you trying to be different from other Churches? There are a number of different questions we have been asked about our shift to Divergent and why this name matters for us as we move forward, how it helps shape and reflect our identity and call.
Below we hope to answer some of your questions and feel free to send us any you might have.
DIVERGENT
dʌɪˈvəːdʒ(ə)nt,dɪˈvəːdʒ(ə)nt/
adjective
1. diverging or causing divergence
2. (of opinions, interests, etc) different
3. having no limit...
CHURCH
Greek: ἐκκλησία 1557
1. an assembly, gathered community, congregation, church; the Church, the whole body of Christian believers.
ekklēsía(from 1537 /ek, "out from and to" and 2564 /kaléō, "to call") – properly, people called out from the world and to God, the outcome being the Church (the mystical body of Christ) – i.e. the universal (total) body of believers whom God calls out from the world and into His eternal kingdom. Strongs: 1577
BECOMING DIVERGENT - Our story
In John 12 and Matthew 26 the story of a woman, anointing Jesus feet is told. She, bringing her brokenness and worship pours out in the perfume every security, with her hair wipes even his feet with what culturally was considered her ‘glory’.
Jesus response?
“She has done a beautiful thing ( ‘a wonderfully significant thing) to me” Matt 26:10
Our heart has always been to be significant, not in the sense of public esteem or praise but one that, like the woman in Matt 26, pours out all our security on his feet, laying down all our 'glory' before him.
We love Izmir, we love Turkiye. For a number of years we have lived here, done business, built family and community. Like a biological family, there is something special about new life. There are some amazing Church communities in Izmir however we believe in such a large population there is room to add to the beautiful diversity of Jesus' bride, the Church, in Izmir.
WHY DIVERGENT? Isn’t that weird? Divisive? From a movie? Why does it matter?
For us 'Divergent' speaks of the nature of Jesus' kingdom. It is a different kingdom, one which does not match the principles and practices of this world.
Jesus' kingdom is a place where faith replaces fear, where life swallows up death, where love reigns over hate. It is a radically different kingdom to the patterns of this world.
There is a great deal of pressure both from the world and even from many Christians to 'conform' to the expectations of this world but the Apostle Paul makes the call clear for each believer and community.
"DO NOT BE CONFORMED to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Romans 12:2)
Divergent means
1. diverging or causing divergence 2. (of opinions, interests, etc) different 3. having no limit... (mathematics)
We believe that the meaning of Divergent matches the general nature of Jesus' kingdom.
We pray we would walk different paths, we aim to call and cause people to a different way, that of Christ. We believe that all believers are called to be unashamed about being 'different'. We also love the sense of the mathematics definition though it's context is somewhat different and that is 'having no limits'. The Church of Jesus Christ is called to be a community dedicated to the cause of Jesus Christ, a catalyst for radical change, one without limits. Jesus’ kingdom is a different kingdom, a divergent kingdom. We pray that we can be just one expression of Jesus' wider kingdom as expressed in this City, nation and world.
Our heart is that this name will be genuinely reflected in being a part of Jesus' divergent kingdom.
"My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36)
DIVERGENT BECAUSE…
…LIGHT OVERCOMES THE DARKNESS
…TRUTH STANDS OUT FROM THE DARKNESS
....LOVE OVERCOMES HATE
…WE WERE NOT CHOSEN FOR THE COMFORTABLE ROAD BUT THE ONE MARKED AS THE ULTIMATE CAUSE
…we are part of a kingdom that is not of this world but brings a declaration and demonstration of the life of Jesus into every household, into every workplace and into every sphere of life.
You can also follow the new Divergent social pages at www.instagram.com/divergentizmir
COME FOR THE JOURNEY - BE DIVERGENT
DOES DIVERGENT MEAN YOU HAVE DIFFERENT BELIEFS TO OTHER CHURCHES?
No, not at all. We celebrate the diversity of the wider Church and maintain a wholehearted commitment to the core historical doctrines as espoused by all mainstreams Churches whether they be Pentecostal, Protestant, Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox.
Together we affirm the Apostles and Nicene Creeds.
We do have some relatively minor differences in that we affirm more Pentecostal/ Charismatic doctrines centred around our conviction that all can be empowered by, enabled by and sent by the Holy Spirit to effectively outwork the declaration and demonstration of Jesus kingdom. We also recognise that these beliefs and the working of the Spirit is in no way limited to any one expression or tradition of 'the Church'.
If you want more detail on our beliefs check out - What do we believe
DID YOU RIP THIS OFF THE MOVIES?
Hmm... the word 'divergent' has existed long before the movies or the books and we think it describes Jesus kingdom so well. The movies might have helped in confirming our thoughts toward the name and meaning (and admittedly also make it a little awkward as well)
What we do know is that this name has been on our hearts for years (before the movies)
We used to watch a pretty negative blog that used to own the domain name hoping they would 'drop' it. They did, we bought it in hope that this day may come.
On the movie theme, we think that they speak in many ways like a parable that can be quite closely aligned to our heart. Some of our team LOVE the movies others think them a little too generic Hollywood but that is ok, we feel called to be 'divergent' anyway :)