A dog is an animal. An oak tree is a plant. I don't wait for it to rain for my dog to get water. I don't put bowls of dog food out at the trunk of the white oak tree in my back yard to nourish it. Why? Because animals process and utilize water and food differently than plants. If I treat an animal or plant like its a species from a different kingdom, I could cause it major harm.
This concept follows for human groups. People function in groups in different ways. There are countless types of people groups, but some that are particularly applicable to the church: businesses, organizations (public, non-profit, etc.), movements, and organisms. We usually talk about the church as an organization, because in its institutionalized form, that is what it most resembles. In the last 20 years, strategists have talked about the church in terms of business models. Larger churches take on many of the characteristics of a business in their staff, facility, and programmatic functions.
It is not as frequent that we talk about the church as a movement, though at times of its most effective and transformative work, this is exactly what it becomes. Think of the early church movement, the monastic movement, the Methodist movement, or the Civil rights movement. We hardly ever talk about the church as an organism. This is interesting, because when we look at the church in the bible, it appears to function more like an organism than anything else. an organism appears to be a singular entity, not a group. But it is a group in so many ways.
Every organism is made up of multiple cells, multiple body parts, and multiple organs. An organism is the furthest thing from a singular being - it is the most stunning example of a group of individuals bound together to accomplish a singular purpose. In the New Testament, the Church is called the Body of Christ - one body with many parts. It functions not as an organization or business, but as a movement of people - or better put - a movement of organisms. Each church is like a network of cells and parts that make up a body at work and these many bodies work in widespread concert with one another to accomplish movement-level transformation.
We have got to stop talking about the church in terms of organizational and business models. More importantly, we have to stop TREATING the church like it is an organization or business. The church is (as God designed it) something other than what the western world has made organized religion to be over the last millennium. We cannot feed dog food to a tree. And we cannot expect a thriving church by pumping it full of the things that make organizations and businesses run.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
All about Relationships
I often speculate about the future of the church in our local communities and broader culture. What will it look like to be the church in 10, 15, or 20 years? What will our established churches become? What new ways will the Christian faith be expressed, practiced, shared, and experienced? There are a few observations I have that inform my speculations as I think about the future. Let me be clear, these speculations are not and should not be the determining factor of "how" and "why" the church should evolve or change. The "how" and "why" for the church is always God's Spirit. But making observations and looking into the future as best we can will help us see what it is we are doing that must change and what it is that must not change.
My main observation about the effectiveness of the church is that authentic and engaged relationships are the only thing that will sustainably advance the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Put another way, if we as the church do not engage in authentic relationships with new people who are currently disengaged or alienated from the Good news of God's Kingdom, the gospel will not advance in a sustainable way. Programs, ministries, acts of benevolence, publicity, and worship services are only as effective as the relationships they produce, nurture, and strengthen.
This is why I believe our focus must be on establishing and strengthening relationships more than maintaining facilities, building staff, and producing programs. If you think about it, the "success" stories of any program or ministry is a story of relationships. If relationships are indeed the point and method of the gospel itself (which I believe they are), then the church's focus should be on relationships. If our call is to extend the gospel hope to those who do not have it, then our focus should be on building relationships of authenticity with those people.
The challenge with this relational focus in the church is that it requires commitment from members, many of which never signed up for such intensive and personal responsibility. The good news is that all of us were made for relationships - they come naturally out of us and feed us as they take place. If we can somehow create opportunities for disciples in established churches to naturally initiate relationships with those who are not disciples, we may have a future after all.
My main observation about the effectiveness of the church is that authentic and engaged relationships are the only thing that will sustainably advance the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Put another way, if we as the church do not engage in authentic relationships with new people who are currently disengaged or alienated from the Good news of God's Kingdom, the gospel will not advance in a sustainable way. Programs, ministries, acts of benevolence, publicity, and worship services are only as effective as the relationships they produce, nurture, and strengthen.
This is why I believe our focus must be on establishing and strengthening relationships more than maintaining facilities, building staff, and producing programs. If you think about it, the "success" stories of any program or ministry is a story of relationships. If relationships are indeed the point and method of the gospel itself (which I believe they are), then the church's focus should be on relationships. If our call is to extend the gospel hope to those who do not have it, then our focus should be on building relationships of authenticity with those people.
The challenge with this relational focus in the church is that it requires commitment from members, many of which never signed up for such intensive and personal responsibility. The good news is that all of us were made for relationships - they come naturally out of us and feed us as they take place. If we can somehow create opportunities for disciples in established churches to naturally initiate relationships with those who are not disciples, we may have a future after all.
Monday, June 11, 2012
It starts small
You may have heard a line from that hymn once upon a time "let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me". For years, I thought that was kind of a cop-out. I'm all for personal peace, but we'll never have peace on earth if we only worry about ourselves! We have to get others to be peaceful too! But as I grow-up (a perpetual process for me) I'm starting to believe that if I really live out the values I care about the most in my daily life and in every circumstance, there is the power to send ripples across the globe.
It starts small. Jesus started small - on purpose. He could have preached to thousands of people every week for more than just 3 years (instead it's only recorded that he did this a handful of times). He could have built the best church ever and established worldwide programs and ministries over the course of a rich and lengthy tenure as Savior-in-residence. But he went small. Very small. His locale was no where near the center of the world at that time, his clientele were far poorer and less educated than the movers and shakers of the day, and his preferred method of transferring his ethos and kingdom on to future generations did not include vast networks of thousands - it was made of 12 people. This was small stuff. Why only 12? Why in Galilee? Why only 3 years?
If I had 3 years and was stuck in the hill country of Texas, would I spend the vast majority of my time with the same 12 people? Is that really the most effective way to begin a global, earth-shifting movement? Apparently it was the perfect way. It started small. From what we can tell the early christian movement (which exploded to include a good half of the Roman Empire in less than 300 years) never had a church with over a hundred people. Maybe they would gather in big groups sometimes, but their method of discipleship was modeled after the one they were disciples of: KEEP IT SMALL.
For Christians today, we must start even smaller than 12. We must begin to personally live out, embody, and radically display our Kingdom values in every day life. If we can do that we are exceptional among the saints. If we can then extend such Kingdom living into our immediate family we accomplished a great thing. If our family can then witness to and teach a few other families to live out the reign of Christ in the world, we will have become the epicenter for transformation in our community. And if a church can be mobilized to act according to its gospel principles and Jesus culture - it will do nothing short of change the world.
You see, spreading the gospel and bringing light into the world is not about getting more people together. Its about having people actually live out what Jesus taught in their daily lives - with their families, at their workplaces, in their financial decisions, in their social circles, and during their trips to the grocery store. Do it right - beginning with your life, see where it goes and who takes it up for their life, and who knows what kind of things will happen. It starts small.
It starts small. Jesus started small - on purpose. He could have preached to thousands of people every week for more than just 3 years (instead it's only recorded that he did this a handful of times). He could have built the best church ever and established worldwide programs and ministries over the course of a rich and lengthy tenure as Savior-in-residence. But he went small. Very small. His locale was no where near the center of the world at that time, his clientele were far poorer and less educated than the movers and shakers of the day, and his preferred method of transferring his ethos and kingdom on to future generations did not include vast networks of thousands - it was made of 12 people. This was small stuff. Why only 12? Why in Galilee? Why only 3 years?
If I had 3 years and was stuck in the hill country of Texas, would I spend the vast majority of my time with the same 12 people? Is that really the most effective way to begin a global, earth-shifting movement? Apparently it was the perfect way. It started small. From what we can tell the early christian movement (which exploded to include a good half of the Roman Empire in less than 300 years) never had a church with over a hundred people. Maybe they would gather in big groups sometimes, but their method of discipleship was modeled after the one they were disciples of: KEEP IT SMALL.
For Christians today, we must start even smaller than 12. We must begin to personally live out, embody, and radically display our Kingdom values in every day life. If we can do that we are exceptional among the saints. If we can then extend such Kingdom living into our immediate family we accomplished a great thing. If our family can then witness to and teach a few other families to live out the reign of Christ in the world, we will have become the epicenter for transformation in our community. And if a church can be mobilized to act according to its gospel principles and Jesus culture - it will do nothing short of change the world.
You see, spreading the gospel and bringing light into the world is not about getting more people together. Its about having people actually live out what Jesus taught in their daily lives - with their families, at their workplaces, in their financial decisions, in their social circles, and during their trips to the grocery store. Do it right - beginning with your life, see where it goes and who takes it up for their life, and who knows what kind of things will happen. It starts small.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Does the Church believe in Resurrection?
We don't like to die. In fact, we avoid the end of life like it could kill us. But the core of the gospel message is that death is not the end, it is the beginning. The central moment of Christ's life isn't his triumphal entry into Jerusalem or his feeding of the 5,000, but his lonely death on the cross.
Why is this moment the climax of the gospel? Because it exhibits a love that is eternal, victorious, and powerful. By laying down our lives, we will find eternal life. Jesus puts it this way in John 12: "24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life."
Do we believe this? Do we actually believe that if we try to survive we'll actually die and that if we lay down our life we'll actually live? Such a paradox takes tremendous faith in a God that we cannot see. Jesus had this faith with his own life and ministry. And his faithfulness was rewarded with the Resurrection. He laid down one life to take up another life. He had faith that dying was the gateway to living.
I believe the modern church has come to a time when it must choose to die if it is going to live. The mainstream institutional church must give up its current form and die if it has a chance of living in a new form down the road. But we must not die because it is our only way to live, we must die because we have a savior who died and He is also our Lord, Master, and Guide. We must die not just as individuals but as a church if we are to follow in the way of Jesus.
It will take tremendous faith for the church to realize that the most successful action it can take in the eyes of God is to lay down its life. We think that by avoiding death and preserving the church as we've known it is honoring God, but it is actually an act of faithlessness.
We must die to church being about us. We must die to a church with walls and beautiful buildings. We must die to a church that exists to meet the needs of the saints rather than equipping them for the work of ministry in the world. We must die to churches that are refugee camps for a people who are still fighting for a Christian culture rather than an alternative Kingdom. We must die to spending our money and energy on things that make us comfortable. We must die to the very way of doing church that many of us have come to call home over these last centuries.
But I believe that if we die to ourselves, we will find eternal life and the gospel will go on in ways we could have never imagined. The church that dies is the church that is resurrected. Do you believe in the Resurrection, Church?
Why is this moment the climax of the gospel? Because it exhibits a love that is eternal, victorious, and powerful. By laying down our lives, we will find eternal life. Jesus puts it this way in John 12: "24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life."
Do we believe this? Do we actually believe that if we try to survive we'll actually die and that if we lay down our life we'll actually live? Such a paradox takes tremendous faith in a God that we cannot see. Jesus had this faith with his own life and ministry. And his faithfulness was rewarded with the Resurrection. He laid down one life to take up another life. He had faith that dying was the gateway to living.
I believe the modern church has come to a time when it must choose to die if it is going to live. The mainstream institutional church must give up its current form and die if it has a chance of living in a new form down the road. But we must not die because it is our only way to live, we must die because we have a savior who died and He is also our Lord, Master, and Guide. We must die not just as individuals but as a church if we are to follow in the way of Jesus.
It will take tremendous faith for the church to realize that the most successful action it can take in the eyes of God is to lay down its life. We think that by avoiding death and preserving the church as we've known it is honoring God, but it is actually an act of faithlessness.
We must die to church being about us. We must die to a church with walls and beautiful buildings. We must die to a church that exists to meet the needs of the saints rather than equipping them for the work of ministry in the world. We must die to churches that are refugee camps for a people who are still fighting for a Christian culture rather than an alternative Kingdom. We must die to spending our money and energy on things that make us comfortable. We must die to the very way of doing church that many of us have come to call home over these last centuries.
But I believe that if we die to ourselves, we will find eternal life and the gospel will go on in ways we could have never imagined. The church that dies is the church that is resurrected. Do you believe in the Resurrection, Church?
Monday, May 21, 2012
The Failure of the Pastoral Role
I don't doubt that there are biblical and Godly reasons why certain persons should be in certain types of leadership in the Church. I've come to terms with the fact that hierarchy can be holy. But the way that the modern church has turned the office of a "Pastor" into a kind of all inclusive Christian role is simply wrong. Pastors and lay-persons are both responsible for maintaining this problem. For many who grow up in church in America, the pastor is expected to do a lot of things that I believe all Christians are supposed to do. In our modern institutional churches in the west, the pastor is expected to do the work of the church rather than lead the church. This distinction may seem insignificant, but I believe it is largely responsible for the disengagement and low commitment level of many congregations. Let me give you an example. "Pastor, why haven't you visited Mary in the nursing home yet? No one from our church has seen her since she arrived at the new facility." Visitation of the sick, dying, and bereaved has NEVER been a biblical role reserved for Elders in the body of Christ. If anything, it is a responsibility of all Christians. "I've stopped coming to Church because the pastor would just walk by me like I wasn't even there. She only greeted me once a month before worship." Keeping up personally with each individual in a large church is impossible for one person, but I have found people countless times who become inactive or leave the church altogether because "the pastor didn't really reach out to me". Aren't all Christians supposed to reach out to one another? Since when is it the expectation of one person to do what all Christians should be doing. Let me be clear, my issue is not that Clergy persons have too much to do (in fact I think we can get pretty lazy sometimes). My issue is that by taking on so many responsibilities that belong to the whole church, Pastors give everyone else excuses NOT to be Christians in their daily life. When I do the "rounds" at church, greeting persons and introducing myself and learning something about their life, I'm not trying to be a good pastor, I'm trying to model Christian behavior that we should all embody. When I visit the sick or comfort the grieving I'm not filling the tasks of an ordained elder, I'm showing other Christians how they too should care for their own. When I teach from the scriptures the truth of the gospel I'm not imparting some secret knowledge to a group of students, I'm exemplifying that a knowledge of the bible and its message is available to all. When Pastors are expected to do the work of the church (be the body of Christ by themselves), they become products for a needy people and eventually those churches will die. The only biblical and sustainable model for pastoral leadership is one where everyone is empowered to do the work of the church and no one person is expected to do it all.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
The Sunday Squash
Lately on Sunday mornings, I've been feeling like I'm trying to squeez the universe into a thimble. I want all of the transforming power and redeeming grace of God to be realized and avaliable during one hour of corporate worship. I want people to catupult into a life of faith that will leave them changed forever. I want to make disciples that will be agents of transformation in the world. This needs to happen between 11:00am and 12 noon on Sunday. "I may not have another chance! This is it! Most people who come will not have another time during their week (or month, or year) to spend an hour intentionally focused on Christ and their faith in Him. If it doesn't happen now, it won't happen." So my mind thinks as I come to worship each week.
But does God want me to feel this way about Sunday morning worship? Sure, I know that corporate worship is a holy time that holds great power for all who attend. I know lives can be changed in a moment and that coming together as a community is biblical. But I have a sense that I shouldn't be putting so much emphasis (and presure) on what turns out to be only one aspect of the Christian life. And it dawns on me, maybe the reason the extent of many people's Christian life is Sunday morning is because they've learned, like I have, that this is the moment of the week when "God Happens". What if the pressure to change lives and make disciples wasn't put so overwhelmingly on Sunday worship? What if that burden was shared properly among the other aspects of the life of faith that scripture and tradition charges us with? What if we made it clear each week during worship that it wasn't the most important part of being a Christian and that it wasn't the only (and primary) way to relate to Christ's Church. What if Christian leaders spent the time they spent on planning worship on gathering people into missional activity in their communty. What if the pinnical of our week wasn't Sunday but the days when we are building small groups and fostering one-on-one discipleship? What if we allowed Christian worship to be Christian worship and didn't try to make it evangelistic preaching or apostolic teaching? What if we didn't try to represent every element of community in that one hour? Would people look for more? Would they start asking for other ways to get involved if we stopped giving them the reader's digest version of everything? More likely, we have work to do. Work to emphasize disciple making and world-transforming rather than worship spaces, professional muscisians and excellent preaching. Maybe our work as Christian leaders is not to get more people to have a cursory encounter with God in a large group but to guide them, one by one, into meaningful and life-altering relationships with Christ through other people. Maybe we give up having the best show in town and instead work on making the best disciples and the most living church.
But does God want me to feel this way about Sunday morning worship? Sure, I know that corporate worship is a holy time that holds great power for all who attend. I know lives can be changed in a moment and that coming together as a community is biblical. But I have a sense that I shouldn't be putting so much emphasis (and presure) on what turns out to be only one aspect of the Christian life. And it dawns on me, maybe the reason the extent of many people's Christian life is Sunday morning is because they've learned, like I have, that this is the moment of the week when "God Happens". What if the pressure to change lives and make disciples wasn't put so overwhelmingly on Sunday worship? What if that burden was shared properly among the other aspects of the life of faith that scripture and tradition charges us with? What if we made it clear each week during worship that it wasn't the most important part of being a Christian and that it wasn't the only (and primary) way to relate to Christ's Church. What if Christian leaders spent the time they spent on planning worship on gathering people into missional activity in their communty. What if the pinnical of our week wasn't Sunday but the days when we are building small groups and fostering one-on-one discipleship? What if we allowed Christian worship to be Christian worship and didn't try to make it evangelistic preaching or apostolic teaching? What if we didn't try to represent every element of community in that one hour? Would people look for more? Would they start asking for other ways to get involved if we stopped giving them the reader's digest version of everything? More likely, we have work to do. Work to emphasize disciple making and world-transforming rather than worship spaces, professional muscisians and excellent preaching. Maybe our work as Christian leaders is not to get more people to have a cursory encounter with God in a large group but to guide them, one by one, into meaningful and life-altering relationships with Christ through other people. Maybe we give up having the best show in town and instead work on making the best disciples and the most living church.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Each One Sent
I've been talking about a dream for the church in which EACH person experiences the transforming power of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Each one Known
Each one Loved
Each one Called
Each one Sent
Today I'll talk about the last element, Each one Sent:
When people are known by God and their family of faith and when they are fully accepted and loved in genuine relationships they begin to understand their value, giftedness and unique call by God. Upon the moment that such a call is heard and accepted, the natural and immediate result is for that person to be sent to fulfill it. Just because someone knows they have a calling, doesn't mean they have accepted the authority and responsibility of carrying that calling out. I've met many people who know what God has called them to do in life but have never been sent by the church to go and accomplish that calling. This may seem insignificant until we think about people's insecurity, hesitancy to act alone, and fear of seeming crazy ("God told me so!") or arrogant ("He wants to use me because I'm especially special!"). Believe it or not people need permission, affirmation, and authority to go and be who they are.
Once someones call is understood and accepted, it is the role of the Body of Christ to send (commission) that person to act and to covenant to support them in the living out of their call. Our concept of this is extremely limited in the mainstream church and it is a huge factor in why lay-leadership is such a problem in the local church.
To send someone is to do several things. First it tells the person that his/her calling is not just about him/her. Its about God and His mission in the world taking place through His people, the church. Secondly, sending someone tells them that they are a living, important, and unique part of that mission. Thirdly, sending people gives them the permission to act with the authority of a community behind them. It allows them to take risks, but also provides them accountability and support when the calling is not easy to live out.
Think about this, the very identity of the 12 disciples was defined by the fact that Jesus sent them to accomplish His mission in the world. The word "apostle" simply means "one who is sent". Who are we? We are the ones who are sent! We aren't the ones who came up with this mission or calling on our own but we come on behalf of one who holds unending love and power for the world that is here at our disposal through grace! The point of becoming a Christian is to become an apostle (lower case "a") and to be sent out to accomplish the mission of God in a unique way by using your own gifts, calling, and environment.
As the church we must Send people out and empower them to be all they are created to be. Every worship service should have a commissioning of "regular" Christians - A mother who is sent to be an apostle to her family and the mother's day out she works for. A retired man who is sent to be an apostle to his breakfast group, golf buddies, and grandchildren. An accountant who is sent to be an apostle to his firm, clients, and industry.
When we are known and loved we can be truly called and sent. This is one of God's dreams for the church!
Each one Known
Each one Loved
Each one Called
Each one Sent
Today I'll talk about the last element, Each one Sent:
When people are known by God and their family of faith and when they are fully accepted and loved in genuine relationships they begin to understand their value, giftedness and unique call by God. Upon the moment that such a call is heard and accepted, the natural and immediate result is for that person to be sent to fulfill it. Just because someone knows they have a calling, doesn't mean they have accepted the authority and responsibility of carrying that calling out. I've met many people who know what God has called them to do in life but have never been sent by the church to go and accomplish that calling. This may seem insignificant until we think about people's insecurity, hesitancy to act alone, and fear of seeming crazy ("God told me so!") or arrogant ("He wants to use me because I'm especially special!"). Believe it or not people need permission, affirmation, and authority to go and be who they are.
Once someones call is understood and accepted, it is the role of the Body of Christ to send (commission) that person to act and to covenant to support them in the living out of their call. Our concept of this is extremely limited in the mainstream church and it is a huge factor in why lay-leadership is such a problem in the local church.
To send someone is to do several things. First it tells the person that his/her calling is not just about him/her. Its about God and His mission in the world taking place through His people, the church. Secondly, sending someone tells them that they are a living, important, and unique part of that mission. Thirdly, sending people gives them the permission to act with the authority of a community behind them. It allows them to take risks, but also provides them accountability and support when the calling is not easy to live out.
Think about this, the very identity of the 12 disciples was defined by the fact that Jesus sent them to accomplish His mission in the world. The word "apostle" simply means "one who is sent". Who are we? We are the ones who are sent! We aren't the ones who came up with this mission or calling on our own but we come on behalf of one who holds unending love and power for the world that is here at our disposal through grace! The point of becoming a Christian is to become an apostle (lower case "a") and to be sent out to accomplish the mission of God in a unique way by using your own gifts, calling, and environment.
As the church we must Send people out and empower them to be all they are created to be. Every worship service should have a commissioning of "regular" Christians - A mother who is sent to be an apostle to her family and the mother's day out she works for. A retired man who is sent to be an apostle to his breakfast group, golf buddies, and grandchildren. An accountant who is sent to be an apostle to his firm, clients, and industry.
When we are known and loved we can be truly called and sent. This is one of God's dreams for the church!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Each one Called
Each one Known
Each one Loved
Each one Called
Each one Sent
Many churches have a strong emphasis on creating a "family feel". Kind of like the opening to "Cheers", church is a place where everybody knows your name. As the mainstream church, there is often some emphasis on knowing one another. Churches also seem to have a fairly healthy sense that they should love one another. We could do a lot better at this, but it is something I think most churches value to a great extent. These next two elements though are very under-valued and under-emphasized in the institutionalized church. This week I will look at the third element to a dream for the church. Let me talk a little about divine calling.
Every baptized member of the church universal has a divine call upon their life. Every person who has entrusted themselves into the care of Jesus Christ is called to full time ministry. Every Christian, every believer, every one who calls Jesus "Lord" is called by God to the work of realizing his Kingdom in their lives and in the world around them. Calling is not limited to vocation - job - career. A person can live out their calling in any job, setting, or environment. This calling emerges from the transformed life that results through conversion and discipleship. It is a calling that in many ways is common among all believers as far as its values and priorities. We are all called to love, to serve, and to live humbly. But each person has a unique calling that is tailored to use their passions, gifts, and personal relationships for the purpose of furthering God's Kingdom. Many Christians assume that a calling is some kind of anomaly reserved only for a select few. This is simply not true. Our Christian calling does not depend on our extra-ordinary talent or time availability. Every Christian is called by God to a life of service and love for God and their neighbor through everything they do.
One of the biggest obstacles for many Christians in realizing God's call on their lives is a sense that they are not worthy of being called. The mainstream church has recognized the call of Clergy persons and vocational ministries to such a degree that most "regular" Christians can't imagine that they too are called by God to full time ministry. Another obstacle is that many Christians don't feel like they know what it is they are called to. They cannot discern who God is calling them to be in the midst of their everyday lives. But I believe that if we seek in faith the reality that God is calling us and if we are open to hear that call in our lives through our own heart and through the community of faith, we will undoubtably hear the call.
We must encourage one another as Christians to understand and know that we are called. We are gathered as a community to affirm one another in our giftedness and passions. I believe that the body of Christ (the church) is not functioning properly unless each member is fully engaged in their calling. What if you are the leg that is not walking? What if you are the eye that is not seeing? What if you are the heart that is not beating?
Each one Loved
Each one Called
Each one Sent
Many churches have a strong emphasis on creating a "family feel". Kind of like the opening to "Cheers", church is a place where everybody knows your name. As the mainstream church, there is often some emphasis on knowing one another. Churches also seem to have a fairly healthy sense that they should love one another. We could do a lot better at this, but it is something I think most churches value to a great extent. These next two elements though are very under-valued and under-emphasized in the institutionalized church. This week I will look at the third element to a dream for the church. Let me talk a little about divine calling.
Every baptized member of the church universal has a divine call upon their life. Every person who has entrusted themselves into the care of Jesus Christ is called to full time ministry. Every Christian, every believer, every one who calls Jesus "Lord" is called by God to the work of realizing his Kingdom in their lives and in the world around them. Calling is not limited to vocation - job - career. A person can live out their calling in any job, setting, or environment. This calling emerges from the transformed life that results through conversion and discipleship. It is a calling that in many ways is common among all believers as far as its values and priorities. We are all called to love, to serve, and to live humbly. But each person has a unique calling that is tailored to use their passions, gifts, and personal relationships for the purpose of furthering God's Kingdom. Many Christians assume that a calling is some kind of anomaly reserved only for a select few. This is simply not true. Our Christian calling does not depend on our extra-ordinary talent or time availability. Every Christian is called by God to a life of service and love for God and their neighbor through everything they do.
One of the biggest obstacles for many Christians in realizing God's call on their lives is a sense that they are not worthy of being called. The mainstream church has recognized the call of Clergy persons and vocational ministries to such a degree that most "regular" Christians can't imagine that they too are called by God to full time ministry. Another obstacle is that many Christians don't feel like they know what it is they are called to. They cannot discern who God is calling them to be in the midst of their everyday lives. But I believe that if we seek in faith the reality that God is calling us and if we are open to hear that call in our lives through our own heart and through the community of faith, we will undoubtably hear the call.
We must encourage one another as Christians to understand and know that we are called. We are gathered as a community to affirm one another in our giftedness and passions. I believe that the body of Christ (the church) is not functioning properly unless each member is fully engaged in their calling. What if you are the leg that is not walking? What if you are the eye that is not seeing? What if you are the heart that is not beating?
Monday, April 16, 2012
Each One Loved
In the last post, I talked about a dream for the church in which each individual would be known in a real and holy way. Here are the four parts of that dream together:
Each one known
Each one loved
Each one called
Each one sent
Today, I'll talk a little more about what I mean by "each one loved".
It is one thing to have every person known in a real and holy way within a community of faith. It is another thing to have each one loved. Knowledge is a powerful thing. To know somone and to be known is actually quite awesome. Intimate and personal information, when it is known, can either be used for good or bad. Love is the law of the church and it insists that knowledge of a person be used to build that person up in faith. When we say that each one must be loved for a truly Christian community to exist, this doesn't mean that we have a warm feeling of favor and affection for each person at all times. Rather, each one loved means that we have as our culture the practice of love and respect for every person in the community. This love, at its height results in mutual affection and brotherly love as Paul puts it. This love is the new commandment given by Christ by the example of washing His disciples feet. Love sometimes means that boundaries and guardrails be placed in someone's life and in their relationships so harm cannot continue to be done to that person or others. Love does not mean always giving a person what they want or always making sure they are happy, love is seeking the best for each person in the wisdom of God.
The way that love can be shared among the family of God stems completely from the way we are loved by God first. If we do not have a strong sense of God's constant, everlasting, and powerful love for us, how can we have any source to love our neighbors? Only when we are standing on the reality of God's grace can we offer that grace to others without exausting our own emotional resources. The Christian community should have as its first priority a meditation and singular focus on God's love for each person. When we know that we are loved and when we know that our brother or sister is loved, it becomes natural and even easy to love others and be loved by them.
The other important emphasis of "each one loved" is that we cannot only love those who are easy to love. The scriptures are clear that if we only love those who love us, we are no better than the pagans. But if we love our enemy and those who are most difficult to love, it will be a testament that God's love is true and higher than human love. If you cannot honestly say that you are able to love your enemy or those whom you do not like, what power does God's mercy, forgiveness and grace have in your life? In the community of faith there will always be people we do not like who are not easy to love. These are the ones we focus on loving the most by praying for them, meditating on God's love for them, and remembering God's great love for us in the midst of our struggle with that person.
Each one known
Each one loved
Each one called
Each one sent
Today, I'll talk a little more about what I mean by "each one loved".
It is one thing to have every person known in a real and holy way within a community of faith. It is another thing to have each one loved. Knowledge is a powerful thing. To know somone and to be known is actually quite awesome. Intimate and personal information, when it is known, can either be used for good or bad. Love is the law of the church and it insists that knowledge of a person be used to build that person up in faith. When we say that each one must be loved for a truly Christian community to exist, this doesn't mean that we have a warm feeling of favor and affection for each person at all times. Rather, each one loved means that we have as our culture the practice of love and respect for every person in the community. This love, at its height results in mutual affection and brotherly love as Paul puts it. This love is the new commandment given by Christ by the example of washing His disciples feet. Love sometimes means that boundaries and guardrails be placed in someone's life and in their relationships so harm cannot continue to be done to that person or others. Love does not mean always giving a person what they want or always making sure they are happy, love is seeking the best for each person in the wisdom of God.
The way that love can be shared among the family of God stems completely from the way we are loved by God first. If we do not have a strong sense of God's constant, everlasting, and powerful love for us, how can we have any source to love our neighbors? Only when we are standing on the reality of God's grace can we offer that grace to others without exausting our own emotional resources. The Christian community should have as its first priority a meditation and singular focus on God's love for each person. When we know that we are loved and when we know that our brother or sister is loved, it becomes natural and even easy to love others and be loved by them.
The other important emphasis of "each one loved" is that we cannot only love those who are easy to love. The scriptures are clear that if we only love those who love us, we are no better than the pagans. But if we love our enemy and those who are most difficult to love, it will be a testament that God's love is true and higher than human love. If you cannot honestly say that you are able to love your enemy or those whom you do not like, what power does God's mercy, forgiveness and grace have in your life? In the community of faith there will always be people we do not like who are not easy to love. These are the ones we focus on loving the most by praying for them, meditating on God's love for them, and remembering God's great love for us in the midst of our struggle with that person.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Each One...
The next four posts will be about a dream I have for Christ's church. Actually, I don't think its my dream, I believe its God's dream revealed in scripture and put in my heart. The dream is simple but tremendously challenging: that EVERY believer who makes up the body of Christ would experience, practice, and embody 4 things...
1. Each one Known
2. Each one Loved
3. Each one Called
4. Each one Sent
1. Each one Known - I believe what sets the church apart from the world is that people are known and seek to know others in a real way. This begins with our primary relationship - the one with the Lord. If we were to intentionally focus on how deeply we are known by God each day, it would radically alter our attitudes and behaviors. God knows us because God made us inside and out. 1 Corinthians 13:12 describes heaven in this way - we will know fully, even as we are fully known. There will come a day when we will know God as deeply as God knows us! It is important to be in communication with the God who knows us far better than we know ourselves - this is how we constantly grow in self-awareness of our needs, our gifts, and our short-comings.
Being known doesn't stop with God. I believe that it is God's intention that we be known by others. By "being known" I don't mean recognizing an acquaintance, I mean being known deeply and personally by another human being. Most will only have a hand full of people who truly know them. Some people feel like no one ever really knows them. The community of Christians is built upon the premise that we will actually be known by other people outside our blood relatives and spouses. This is a scary prospect for many people. What if someone knows us and violates us? What if someone knows us and doesn't accept us? What if someone knows us and shares with others who we are before we want them to? These are all reasons (among a host of others) why we don't want people to know us. But I believe we cannot truly experience church the way God intended it until we are in a community where people knows us as we truly are. We are called to be real, be honest, and be vulnerable about who we are with people we can trust in faith.
Being known means we have to know others. It means that we have to have actively pursue with patience and compassion a deeper understanding and knowledge of other people with whom we share a faith covenant. The flip side of being known is knowing someone else. We often overlook the gravity that comes with truly knowing another person. When you know someone, their lives become unified with yours. When you know someone, you are compelled to care and be involved in their lives. When you know someone, you are entrusted with a part of them that is extremely valuable and fragile. But God intends us to know one another in the context of Christian community.
In order for the "Each one Known" element to work there must be communities of tremendous trust, care, sensitivity, and compassion that are built on the foundation of God's knowledge of each one of us. The only way we can be known and know others is by first understanding that we are known by God.
Are you in Christian fellowship in such a way that you truly know others in Christ and are known by them? Do you realize how well God knows you and are you actively seeking to know Him more?
1. Each one Known
2. Each one Loved
3. Each one Called
4. Each one Sent
1. Each one Known - I believe what sets the church apart from the world is that people are known and seek to know others in a real way. This begins with our primary relationship - the one with the Lord. If we were to intentionally focus on how deeply we are known by God each day, it would radically alter our attitudes and behaviors. God knows us because God made us inside and out. 1 Corinthians 13:12 describes heaven in this way - we will know fully, even as we are fully known. There will come a day when we will know God as deeply as God knows us! It is important to be in communication with the God who knows us far better than we know ourselves - this is how we constantly grow in self-awareness of our needs, our gifts, and our short-comings.
Being known doesn't stop with God. I believe that it is God's intention that we be known by others. By "being known" I don't mean recognizing an acquaintance, I mean being known deeply and personally by another human being. Most will only have a hand full of people who truly know them. Some people feel like no one ever really knows them. The community of Christians is built upon the premise that we will actually be known by other people outside our blood relatives and spouses. This is a scary prospect for many people. What if someone knows us and violates us? What if someone knows us and doesn't accept us? What if someone knows us and shares with others who we are before we want them to? These are all reasons (among a host of others) why we don't want people to know us. But I believe we cannot truly experience church the way God intended it until we are in a community where people knows us as we truly are. We are called to be real, be honest, and be vulnerable about who we are with people we can trust in faith.
Being known means we have to know others. It means that we have to have actively pursue with patience and compassion a deeper understanding and knowledge of other people with whom we share a faith covenant. The flip side of being known is knowing someone else. We often overlook the gravity that comes with truly knowing another person. When you know someone, their lives become unified with yours. When you know someone, you are compelled to care and be involved in their lives. When you know someone, you are entrusted with a part of them that is extremely valuable and fragile. But God intends us to know one another in the context of Christian community.
In order for the "Each one Known" element to work there must be communities of tremendous trust, care, sensitivity, and compassion that are built on the foundation of God's knowledge of each one of us. The only way we can be known and know others is by first understanding that we are known by God.
Are you in Christian fellowship in such a way that you truly know others in Christ and are known by them? Do you realize how well God knows you and are you actively seeking to know Him more?
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Understanding our Mission
There is a worn out cliché whose message really illumines the problem of the modern mainstream church: “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”. If we do not prayerfully focus on hearing what it is God is calling us to do and to be, we will invest our resources in efforts that may have little lasting significance. The “falling for anything” part I name as the self-preserving and self-promoting gene that dominates our individual and corporate sprits. Without intentional focus on an alternative (i.e. holy) mission, this will be our default mission – to survive and thrive. I worry that this is happening in the mainstream church by both clergy and lay leadership. Almost by default, people who are concerned with their churches adopt a mission to "preserve and/or expand" the ministry and reach of the church. In my own church the underlying concern and priority is "how can we continue to grow while preserving the good that we've enjoyed up to this point?"
This sentiment isn’t in and of itself bad. It’s when it takes center stage and becomes the defining assumption and paradigm for the church’s activity and attitude that we have a problem. My argument is that this mission, this purpose should not be taken for granted as it is. This self-preserving and self-promoting spirit is neither directly biblical or Christ-like and should not be the core motivation of life or ministry. Why? Because, the preservation of the church and the promotion of the church are prerogatives of the Holy Spirit, not the people of God. The prerogative of the people of God is to follow their leader, Jesus Christ. When we take on the wrong yoke, we may very well head in a different direction from our Lord.
The basis for the church's mission is obedience to Christ and faith in the power of God. This may mean that we are called to things that seem to threaten our preservation or seem counter to promotion. It may mean that our numbers dwindle rather than swell. Following Jesus may mean we become less popular in the eyes of mainstream society rather than regaining a top spot in the status of our culture. Following our mission may mean we die before we live. It may mean we have the cross before Easter. The promise is that if we are obedient and we follow Christ as the church, the preservation and promotion of the Church will result according to God's timing and manner. So why don’t we leave God to God’s work and focus on our work? Put simply, we don’t have enough faith.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Conversion and Discipleship
For the last 200 years or so, the evangelical church has been primarily concerned with converting souls. When Europe was a Christian civilization, this was expressed through missionaries sent to parts of the world where the western version of the gospel had not been adopted. In the American colonies and then in the United States this took place through first and second great awakenings that produced a slew of denominational churches across the nation. The primary idea that demands this priority of conversion has been that thousands of people live in perilous danger of eternal damnation and it is the church’s task to offer them the good news of salvation from such a terrible end. The goal is mostly achieved once a person puts their faith in Jesus because they are now "saved" from hell. Conversion can be roughly described as the moment when an individual comes to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and puts his or her trust in Him as Lord.
While this primary thrust of evangelism created a nation full of people who call themselves Christians, it has not maintained a church or a society that is Christ centered and Kingdom building. Rather, what we observe is a great quantity of people who have converted to Christianity (or been born to people who converted) that still function in ways in their daily lives that are completely inconsistent with a Christ-like life.
Furthermore, conversion is not the task of the church biblically speaking. The great commission is to “Go and make disciples” not to “convert and save souls”. I challange someone to make a biblical case that our mission as the church is to save the world from eternal damnation. And while “making disciples” certainly includes a conversion of heart and life, such an experience is at best the very beginning of the Christian life.
To elaborate further, let me use the analogy of baseball. For centuries our goal and aim has been to recruit people to be on the right baseball team. We've done all we can to get them in the right dugout and put the right uniform on their backs. But this is not what God commands us to do. God commands us to train and develop persons into hardworking and effective baseball players. In fact, God is more concerned that we play the game well and play it right than that we have the right uniform and are in the right dugout. To put things another way, we have prioritized orthodoxy (right belief) over orthopraxy (right practice). As the church we are charged not only to rescue souls from eternal death but to utterly recast their worldview, behavior, and attitudes so that they may become world-changing agents for the Kingdom of God.
If the modern church is to shift its mission from converting souls to making disciples, we will have to make some major changes in the way we approach worship, Christian formation, youth and children's ministries, and even our outreach to the greater community.
Monday, March 5, 2012
The Church Transforming: Attractional and Missional
Can you believe that only a couple hundred years ago (equivalent of 5-6 generations) if you were born in Western Europe you were automatically considered a member of some institutional/national church? For example, during the American Revolution, if you were born in England, you were Anglican. Today, only a tiny number of those people’s great, great grandchildren consider themselves Christian. That’s because the church in Europe really didn’t change after the enlightenment. Unfortunately the church we know today in the US was also largely built upon the premise of Christendom (Christian Civilization). The primary place to do any evangelical mission work was to those civilizations that had not yet been Christianized. Even the great growth of the church going westward during the 1800s was due in large part to a Christian culture that was imbedded into the imagination of the pioneers.
This kind of church is the one that the mainstream institution still basically follows today. We stand on the assumption that if we put up a sign and build a structure, people will naturally come. In some sub-cultures, people will. If you are more traditional and carry on the practices of your grandparents, church may inherently be a part of your life. But if you're the majority of the people in our western context, you won't. We've responded to a culture that is post-Christian by ramping up our attractional efforts (better programs, more publicity, free coffee and donuts) rather than adapting our whole paradigm. In fact, the mainstream church in America is several decades behind the culture in this awareness of Christianity’s diminishing role in society. Folks in church lament the fact that society is no longer centered on "Christian values" and the obligation/duty of church attendance. But rather than adapt we complain and pray that things would return to the way they were. Even worse, we cling to a way of doing church that is comfortable to us but is no longer relevant or applicable to the majority of people (who by the way are disproportionately young).
The primary shift that must be made in our local churches is our strategies for growth. Most churches are almost entirely attractional in the way they gain new people. In other words, the non-churched have the burden of coming to us. We must move to a greatly increased focus on missional outreach, where we have the burden of going to them. This burden is not simply going outside the walls of the church to invite people back into the walls where we are comfortable. It is learning to do church in a new way that speaks the language of the people who otherwise will never come to Sunday morning worship.
Monday, February 27, 2012
The Church Transforming: Part 4
Since I began this series "The Church Transforming" at the beginning of the year, I've begun reading a book that was recommended by a friend. This book has shed tremendous insight on my adventure. The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch is a book committed to discussing the church in the western world (Europe, USA, and Australia) as one of the most crucial mission fields on earth. Without going into detail about this book I want to make sure and give it credit for many of the ideas that are swirling around in my head concerning the need to transform the mainstream institutional church into a new kind of body.
One of my major questions is "can the mainstream church as it is co-exist and function alongside a new kind of church, one that is more missional and organic?" The longer I contemplate this question, the more I believe it IS possible for an institutional church and a missional one to work together side-by-side. Let me paint a picture of the kind of scenario I'm imagining. For this post, I will simply try and point out some primary assumptions that the church will have to transform if they have a chance at reaching new people.
Think of a larger mainstream church (between 2500-3000 members) that is steeped in institutional norms (large physical campus, large full and part-time staff, countless programs and ministries) that is trying to reach a largely "unchurched" population. This "unchurched" population is defined more by the church's imagination than by its true form. In other words, the church doesn't really know who they are trying to reach. By and large, there is an assumption that the people who are not involved in the church are like those who are, but they just haven't found the right invitation or opportunity by which to come. I would argue that the fundamental problem is that most of the people who are not coming to church (more than half) actually have much different worldviews, cultural assumptions, and attitudes about life than the people who are at church. More invitations and opportunities to engage will not be enough to cross the many chasms that exist between those "inside" and those "outside" the church. This mainstream church has a choice to make. It either needs to be honest about the modest percentage of "church-friendly" folks that are out there who are potential attendees (this does not include the "church-shoppers" and "church-hoppers" who are not "unchurched" but are looking for a church), or they need to be honest that something fundamentally different must be offered to a much larger group of people who are currently "out-of-touch" with the church's very heart. The deeper truth here is that the mainstream church needs to forsake the assumption that the way they are presenting the gospel is the best or only way for all people. This church either needs to stop acting like they have "something for everybody" or start finding out what that "something" actually is.
One of my major questions is "can the mainstream church as it is co-exist and function alongside a new kind of church, one that is more missional and organic?" The longer I contemplate this question, the more I believe it IS possible for an institutional church and a missional one to work together side-by-side. Let me paint a picture of the kind of scenario I'm imagining. For this post, I will simply try and point out some primary assumptions that the church will have to transform if they have a chance at reaching new people.
Think of a larger mainstream church (between 2500-3000 members) that is steeped in institutional norms (large physical campus, large full and part-time staff, countless programs and ministries) that is trying to reach a largely "unchurched" population. This "unchurched" population is defined more by the church's imagination than by its true form. In other words, the church doesn't really know who they are trying to reach. By and large, there is an assumption that the people who are not involved in the church are like those who are, but they just haven't found the right invitation or opportunity by which to come. I would argue that the fundamental problem is that most of the people who are not coming to church (more than half) actually have much different worldviews, cultural assumptions, and attitudes about life than the people who are at church. More invitations and opportunities to engage will not be enough to cross the many chasms that exist between those "inside" and those "outside" the church. This mainstream church has a choice to make. It either needs to be honest about the modest percentage of "church-friendly" folks that are out there who are potential attendees (this does not include the "church-shoppers" and "church-hoppers" who are not "unchurched" but are looking for a church), or they need to be honest that something fundamentally different must be offered to a much larger group of people who are currently "out-of-touch" with the church's very heart. The deeper truth here is that the mainstream church needs to forsake the assumption that the way they are presenting the gospel is the best or only way for all people. This church either needs to stop acting like they have "something for everybody" or start finding out what that "something" actually is.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Invitational AND Expectational
"Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. A scribe then approached and said, 'Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.' And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.' Another of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father.' But Jesus said to him, 'Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.' (Matthew 8:18-22)
It is disastrous to develop a recruitment process that is invitational without being expectational. To invite someone on a life changing journey without giving them some idea of what that journey will do to them and require of them is not only a set-up for horrible retention, it's cruel. And yet that is exactly what many mainstream churches have opted to be: invitational but not expectational. Perhaps because of an overall decline in attendance, membership, and general participation in our local churches we feel that we will scare people off if we have high standards. So we choose instead to invite everyone (which is very Biblical) and only express the positive possibilities of being a disciple without being honest about any aspects of Christ's calling that are very difficult (which is unbiblical). Perhaps we figure that if we can get new people to keep coming to our churches and get involved in our ministries and programs, they will naturally become disciplined, faithful, and trustworthy servants of the Kingdom of God. Unfortunately we see that this is not at all the case. In most of our congregations the back door that lets people out of engagement in the church is wider than the invitational one that people enter into at the front. We experience high turnover, a lack of committed leaders, and slipping sense of responsibility among most members.
I believe a big part of our problem happens at the moment of invitation. Jesus did not use marketing strategies or persuasive techniques to gain disciples. He invited them to a full commitment to his own person and if they asked what the conditions were, he was clear that the relationship with Him must be primary to all other concerns. He did not compete with the folks who had major allegiance elsewhere. Instead his market was those who had nowhere to go at all, or those who were desperately seeking for a new way of life. There simply was not a group that was invited to be moderately engaged in the life of discipleship, to have Jesus as one of many Lords. That is not to say that there were not moderately engaged people. As the opening of this passage in Matthew points out, there were crowds that followed Jesus and he would accommodate their relationship to himself. But these crowds are distinguished from disciples. As far as we can tell there is little difference between the crowd that listened intently to Jesus' teachings and the crowd that shouted "Crucify Him!"
It is time that our local churches are more honest about what Christ calls his disciples to be and become. To do this we must first seek an earnest understanding of what that is. What does it mean to be a disciple? What are we really inviting people to? Moderate participation in a religious organization? Or life changing commitment to a savior and community that was designed by God to transform the world?
It is disastrous to develop a recruitment process that is invitational without being expectational. To invite someone on a life changing journey without giving them some idea of what that journey will do to them and require of them is not only a set-up for horrible retention, it's cruel. And yet that is exactly what many mainstream churches have opted to be: invitational but not expectational. Perhaps because of an overall decline in attendance, membership, and general participation in our local churches we feel that we will scare people off if we have high standards. So we choose instead to invite everyone (which is very Biblical) and only express the positive possibilities of being a disciple without being honest about any aspects of Christ's calling that are very difficult (which is unbiblical). Perhaps we figure that if we can get new people to keep coming to our churches and get involved in our ministries and programs, they will naturally become disciplined, faithful, and trustworthy servants of the Kingdom of God. Unfortunately we see that this is not at all the case. In most of our congregations the back door that lets people out of engagement in the church is wider than the invitational one that people enter into at the front. We experience high turnover, a lack of committed leaders, and slipping sense of responsibility among most members.
I believe a big part of our problem happens at the moment of invitation. Jesus did not use marketing strategies or persuasive techniques to gain disciples. He invited them to a full commitment to his own person and if they asked what the conditions were, he was clear that the relationship with Him must be primary to all other concerns. He did not compete with the folks who had major allegiance elsewhere. Instead his market was those who had nowhere to go at all, or those who were desperately seeking for a new way of life. There simply was not a group that was invited to be moderately engaged in the life of discipleship, to have Jesus as one of many Lords. That is not to say that there were not moderately engaged people. As the opening of this passage in Matthew points out, there were crowds that followed Jesus and he would accommodate their relationship to himself. But these crowds are distinguished from disciples. As far as we can tell there is little difference between the crowd that listened intently to Jesus' teachings and the crowd that shouted "Crucify Him!"
It is time that our local churches are more honest about what Christ calls his disciples to be and become. To do this we must first seek an earnest understanding of what that is. What does it mean to be a disciple? What are we really inviting people to? Moderate participation in a religious organization? Or life changing commitment to a savior and community that was designed by God to transform the world?
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