Month: April 2003

Hi everyone. I just wanted to direct you to a cool post on Todd Hunter’s blog. It’s his April 25th post and you can find it at:

toddhunters.blogspot.com

I want to do some more thinking about this idea of a “regime change.” I know what Todd’s talking about when he says, “But our present conversation rarely seems to move past the church part to mission–regime change.” That’s where I want to get to in all of this transition… and hopefully quickly.

I was talking with some friends last night, and I realized how incredibly fortunate I am. God has placed a wonderful opportunity in my hands. How many people receive a call from God and a blessing from their local church to go and explore a new way of being the church? I feel like I get to wear a white lab coat as I examine, imagine and explore a new reality for church.

My imagination is working in overtime right now. Here’s what I’m thinking so far: I used to work for a Japanese Christian Church. Occasionally, I had the opportunity of attending a Buddhist funeral. I know those services held incredible meaning to the Buddhists who lived in that story, but for me it was completely foreign to my life. I would sit in the pews (yes, pews) and listen to the chanting, gong ringing and prayers without a clue to what it was all about. Then I would leave the service and enter my “real” life untouched by what I just experienced.

My experience in a Buddhist funeral service is similar to others who visit our churches. They have to enter a culture completely foreign from their “real” lives. They get up early on their only day off and come to a building where everyone is dressed nice and smiling. They think, “Boy, everyone around seems to have their lives together.” Immediately, they feel like an outsider.

Then comes the worship time. Granted, some people who are seeking God are deeply touched by moments of intimate worship. Yet, this isn’t the norm. Instead, most guests at a local contemporary church feel uncomfortable singing songs that communicate deep intimacy to someone they don’t know or contain foreign and mysterious metaphors (blood of the lamb, etc) or convey truths they don’t necessarily believe.

(Now don’t misunderstand me at this point. I’m not down on what most churches do for worship. I love intimate worship. But as I said before, I’ve been given a chance to explore something different. So keep imagining me in my white lab coat as I try to analyze the situation in order to explore something different. This isn’t an issue of right or wrong.)

After the worship time, guests then to listen to a 35 to 45 minute lecture from a 2000 year old book by a guy who seems to live and work outside of the dog-eat-dog, everyone-look-out-for-yourself world that the rest of the audience lives in. What’s worse, guests never get to engage in any kind of meaningful question-answer discussion so that their viewpoint is heard or the pastor’s viewpoint is questioned.

After the worship service, guests then re-emerge back to their “real” lives, carrying very little with them that relevantly pertains to where or how they live.

What I’ve just painted is a common critique made against the average church. The seeker-sensitive movement attempted to address this issue with some level of success by redesigning the worship event to be more “contemporary.” The music style became more pop-oriented. The sermons became more like “how-to” seminars. The buildings became more like offices and conference rooms than sanctuaries.

But, a whole new generation of people have grown up either within or around this form of church and have still not met Jesus in a life-changing way.

As a person who has been given a chance to dream outside of the box, I can’t help but ask, “So, what if we eliminate the event altogether?” Rather than trying to tweak the system, what if we design a brand new one? And what if this system introduces the church (God’s sent missional people) into the “real” world where everyone else lives? In other words, what would happen if rather than making church an event that one has to leave their normal life to attend, we re-capture the biblical idea of church being the people of God wherever they live. And what happens if we BE the church (incarnating the presence and fullness of God) in our normal daily communities — in the lunchroom at work, at home with our kids, at the park with our friends, in the bar with our co-workers?

In other words, what if we have to actually enter other people’s stories in order to transform their story and re-integrate them into God’s larger story? Isn’t that what Jesus did? He entered people’s story where they lived (the Samaritan woman at the well, the tax-collectors at Levi’s dinner party, etc) and painted a transformative vision of a larger, superior story in God. And that story he offered was big enough to hold everyone’s individual stories, but also confronted them with the necessary changes to enter God’s story.

If this becomes the primary focus of the church, it revolutionizes when we get together, where we get together and what we do when we get together. If the primary focus of the church is BEING the church (incarnating the fullness of God) in our daily lives, then everyone must view themselves as full-time missionaries where they live and work. If that is the case, then everything we do together is geared toward training the community members to fully incarnate Christ where they live.

What would our worship look like? What would our teaching look like? What would our community look like? What would our benevolence and social justice look like? How would we interact with our other Christian brothers and sisters in more established churches? What would our prayer lives look like? What would our leadership look like?

In other words, what should we be doing together so that we actually become the fullness of God — the kind of people who are capable of carrying out Jesus’ mission just like he did (John 20:21)?

I came across a prayer that we used for worship in our Spiritual Training Community months ago. I experienced a surge of emotion when I read it again. I think some of it was nostalgia, a longing for what used to be. But as I reflected on what was going on inside of me, I realized that there is a deeper longing for what is to come. I long for a community where God’s love so abounds that it transforms how we pray. So many of my prayers are still saturated with “self.” Help me. Protect me. Give me. Forgive me. Empower me.

As I read this prayer, I found my imagination stirred in two ways. I dream of a community where our prayers move from the “I’s” and “me’s” of an individualistic culture to the “we’s” and “us'” of Trinitarian love and community. A missional community’s prayers should focus on the community more than the individual. Sure, individual prayers are important, but a shift in perspective needs to occur so that the dominant prayer becomes community prayer. Remember, Jesus saves a “people” (Titus 2:14).

Second, I dream of a community where our prayers move from what I or we want to what God REALLY wants. That one is tricky because our hearts are so deceitful that many times we try to “sanctify” our agendas so they look like God’s agenda. But it is here where we need the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Only as we train our minds to synchronize with the mind of Christ through death to self can we truly know what God’s intentions are.

What does God want? Some of the things that come to mind are smallness, hiddenness, humility, forgiveness, authenticity, justice and compassion. It probably means focusing on people and not effectiveness or numbers. It probably means working on myself rather than noticing how others need to change. It probably means finding pleasure in the simple things and not murmuring about inconveniences.

All I know is that a lot more imagination needs to be used in the area of prayer! As Paul Evdokimov says, “Our whole life, every act and gesture, even a smile must become a hymn or adoration, an offering, a prayer. We must become prayer — prayer incarnate.”

So what was the prayer I read? Here it is. As you read it, also pray it. And as you pray it, give your imagination permission to dream of prayer beyond our current experiences.

“Gracious God, humble us through the violence of your love so we are able to know and confess our sins. We want our sins to be interesting, but, God forgive us, they are so ordinary: envy, hatred, meanness, pride, self-centeredness, laziness, boredom, lying, lust, stinginess and so on. You have saved us from ?and so on? to be a royal people able to witness to the world that the powers that make us such ordinary sinners have been defeated. So capture our attention with the beauty of your life that the ugliness of sin may be seen as just that — ugly. God how wonderful it is to be captivated by you. Amen.”

Lord, help us to become “prayer incarnate.”

Normally, I wouldn’t post twice in one day, but Todd Hunter posted something really cool on his blog (toddhunters.blogspot.com). He writes, “I could not and still can not read the statistics people like Barna, Gallop and the sociologists of religion give us, know what I know from the insides of denominations, etc. and not HAVE to do something about it; my conscience constrains me! Not because I am down on the church, quite the opposite, I am up on her future. I just want to help shape and form that future, to re-shape our imagination about ‘church.'”

I don’t have much to say other than, “Yes!! That’s exactly how I feel.” I’ve never been down on the church. I love the church. I am who I am today because of God, who is alive through his people. And in my love for the church, I’m excited about her future and what she will accomplish. I want to be part of that future and if God allows, I want to help stir a new imagination for what the church can be and do where God has placed me.

Many people have asked, “Why do you need to go outside of the church to do this?” That’s kind of a weird question. If God’s people are the church, then as God’s people, we aren’t going outside of ourselves. This is another example of how our current understanding and experience of church eclipses our discussion. I think what people mean by “going outside of the church” is “Why do you have to explore a different religious model or “do church” differently?”

I would like to answer that question with a question, “If the current Christian religious system we are all currently participating in really works, then why aren’t we observing significant results?” Again, the common adage comes to mind, “The system you currently have is perfectly designed to produce the results you have.” In other words, the failure of modern American evangelical Christianity to transform its members and the society it dwells in is BECAUSE of the system, not in spite of the system.

This raises a lot of thoughts in my head, so if you don’t mind, let me ask some questions: What if God’s mission on earth from Genesis onward is the redemption, recreation and restoration of humanity and creation to form a new society of redeemed people who live in harmony with God, each other and creation on a renewed earth filled with God’s glory? What if THAT is the big story we’re living in? And what if Jesus came to draw our whole lives into THAT story? That means our conversion has little to do with being forgiven of sins so we can go to heaven.

In fact, what if our conversion in Christ is actually about restoring our relationship with God so we can participate in God’s call and mission — your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven? What if participation in God’s mission on earth is a better understanding of salvation rather than (although including) forgiveness of sins? And if that’s the case, what if our participation requires us to become the kind of people who naturally embody, demonstrate and announce (literally, to incarnate) God’s character and kingdom? What if that is what Jesus meant when he said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21)? That means we need to engage in a whole new lifestyle of spiritual formation to become by grace what Christ is by nature so we can participate in his mission.

If this is what it means to be the church, then it literally changes EVERYTHING. It demands a new way of being and acting as the church because the current Christian religious system has drifted from the true story of becoming the kind of people who can carry on God’s mission on earth. Whatever Christian church system we participate in — the current one or a new one — it MUST have as it’s primary purpose the transformation of people so they can engage God’s mission as Christ did.

I’ve heard a few comments lately about how quickly this missional community is forming. I think part of the confusion is that we still think of Christian community from an organizational perspective rather than an organic one. What do I mean by this?

In regards to our newly forming missional community, Mark, Barb, Deb and I have been experiencing deep Christian community for years as staff at our local church. Although being on staff was a form of community from an organizational perspective, our friendship and love for each other and our common goal to become like Christ far exceeded the organizational structure. That friendship, love and purpose around a Christ-centered goal is organic community, because it exists regardless of the organizational ties. And the same is true for those who choose to be part of this missional community outside of our local church structure. Those people have been in the same type of organic missional community with us as well.

In reality our organic missional community (love, fellowship and common purpose) has existed for years within the structure of our local church. It has found expression at times within organization structures like Bible studies and ministries, but it exists even when those structures are removed. So as we explore God’s calling as a distinct entity apart from our local church, it is simply another expression of the community that has existed for years. And since it has already existed organically for a long time, it’s quickly finding its expression as we anticipate moving beyond our local church.

I’ve discovered from the many conversations I’ve had since announcing my resignation that one of the most difficult questions to answer is, “So what are you guys trying to do?” Explaining a missional community can be a difficult task. Why? I think it’s because our experiences and understanding of the church eclipses any discussion about the nature of the church. We’re so embedded in our current experience and understanding of the church, that we don’t know anything else. This makes it difficult to imagine or discuss another reality other than what we already experience or understand.

So what are we trying to do? Ultimately, a missional community is about one thing — re-presenting real human life under God’s reign. It’s about being, doing and speaking (embodying, demonstrating and announcing) every aspect of daily life as a human being who is truly submerged, engaged and submitted to God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom is God’s constant attempt to re-create all of creation by bringing all of his goodness, rightness, love and power to bear upon it. It’s his intention to move creation not only back to its pristine state, but to move it to its intended maturity and fullness.

God’s redemptive and re-creating influence (God’s kingdom) invites human participation. It’s been his dream from Day One for human beings to cooperate with him to nurture society and creation to its intended maturity. But sin has brought corruption and crisis to both God’s creation and co-workers. Jesus came to show what a human being who completely embodies the fullness of God and total participation in God’s order can accomplish. He then makes this new way of being human available to us by his death, resurrection and ascension.

So the question we’re posing as a newly forming missional community is “What does a community of Jesus’ followers, who desire to be participants in God’s redemptive work in creation, need to do in order to become the same kind of people as Jesus so we can re-present God’s redemptive reign in our world?

I knew beginning a new Christian community would be difficult. I expected that more time would be needed to formulate vision. I expected the additional conversations as people became interested in what we were doing. Yet, what has proven to be the greatest challenge is the conflicting emotions within me.

First, I am not a pioneer by nature. It has never been my dream to begin something new or to “church plant.” I don’t like risk. The thought of a career change at this point in my life scares me like it would anyone else.

Also, I’m deeply saddened about leaving my church family. I love these people. I’ve shared so much with many of them. I truly hope to stay connected with all of them, to continue sharing lives with each other. Yet, knowing that I won’t see most of them regularly saddens me.

I’m also sad for my children. They love our church and their entire lives revolve around Sunday school and the community we’ve established there. They will definitely miss their teachers and friends.

I also know that God holds my church family and its leadership in his hands. He is doing great things in their midst and it saddens me that I won’t be part of the work being done there. Many will come to know Christ through my church family and although I will share in their joy, I know I won’t be there to celebrate with them together.

I also realize that our leaving will confuse, threaten or even hurt some people. I never intended to confuse or hurt anyone. I really hope that when all the dust from this transition settles, both the church we’ve called home and our new community will stay connected, serving Christ’s continuing revolution of goodness together in true love with each other.

Yet, even in the sadness, frustration, and fear, I’m excited about where God is leading me, my family and my fellow pioneers. I’m convinced that it is the Lord who leads us.

What’s really cool is the leadership at our church also recognizes God’s leading in this adventure. They have been so gracious to us and desire to bless us on this new endeavor. They have chosen to take the high road. So I want to say thank you to Mike, Chris, Dennis and Dar. I’m so appreciative and thankful for your love and for your patience with me as I sought God for his direction.

Even as I write this, the emotions surge within me. I’ve always hated the stories and movies where the friends and companions have to say good-bye at the end to pursue the new chapters of their lives. Yet, such is life in God’s kingdom. And that’s because we always remain together in the Father’s hands.

A friend of mine, Ryan Hendrickson, sent me a cool and encouraging email and asked me a great question, “So where does this offramp exit onto?” In conversations about this new Christian community or church plant or whatever we want to call it, I’ve been intentionally using the word “exploration.” That’s because we really don’t know what the destination is going to look like exactly.

In some ways, what we are doing is similar to having a baby. You have certain assumptions, goals, and dreams, but that “little bundle of joy” seems to have a mind and personality of its own. Raising a child is a journey, an exploration. It’s not about reaching a destination. Think about it. When are you done being a parent? Even when little junior or juniorette grows up, you’re still being formed as a parent.

But I ramble… So where is the off-ramp leading us to? I don’t know the destination, but I have some assumptions about the exploration. First, we will discover that life as apprentices of Jesus and ambassadors of his kingdom is a lifelong journey of formation. In other words, the journey is as important, if not more, as the destination itself. Life is about becoming someone. It’s about journeying with Jesus from the image of God to the likeness and fullness of God. It’s about becoming people who naturally, easily and routinely embody, demonstrate and announce the fullness of God on earth. It’s about joining and cooperating with Jesus’ revolution in ultimately bringing all of creation, humanity, cultures and societies to become the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

Second, we will discover that God’s dream for his people is to truly embody the fullness of God. When Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9), it was as much a statement about his humanity as it was his divinity. In other words, God’s dream for us is that we too could say, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” This means learning how to “participate in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) so “that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). This goes far beyond “What Would Jesus Do?” When we embody the fullness of God, we rarely have to ask that question since we live as Jesus would if he were in our place.

Third, we will discover that life is holistic. Our modern Christian worldview makes natural/supernatural or physical/spiritual distinctions. However, those distinctions are not biblical. According to the Bible, all of life is from God. Psalm 33:5-6 says, “The earth is full of his unfailing love. By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” Although God is completely separate from his creation, he chooses to fill every aspect of his creation with his love and presence. In our journey, we will explore what it really means when we say that Jesus is the master of life. Just like a master violinist can take the elements of wood, wire and horsehair to make the most beautiful music, Jesus takes the raw elements of life (skin, bone, blood, thoughts, emotions, deeds, relationships, waking, sleeping, eating, walking, working, space, time, etc.) and makes the most beautiful music with them. Every part of life is important to God. Therefore, the Christian life is more than just being forgiven of sins. It’s involving all of the raw materials of life to elicit the melodious harmonies of grace, justice, mercy, love, compassion, and righteousness.

Fourth, we will discover organic community. Jesus’ life, teaching, death, resurrection, ascension and future intentions for all of creation and humanity form a new community. The church is the people, not the organization. Therefore, we will be exploring a more organic form of community, not one that is derived from a business management or military hierarchical model. It is a community of prayerful love where every relationship is mediated through Christ by the Spirit of love. In this organic community, we will learn from each other as Christ in you teaches me and Christ in me teaches you. It is a community of sojourners in a new life. Leadership exists in this community, but it is relational and shared by those recognized by the community to lead from within the community.

Ultimately, this off-ramp will take us on a different journey than where we were going. And that journey will be experienced in three ways. There will be the inward journey — doing whatever it takes to enter into and engage God’s kingdom in all of life so that we become the fullness of God in our daily lives. There will be the outward journey — doing whatever it takes to embody and bear God’s life to the world in winsome and relevant ways. There will be the corporate journey — doing whatever it takes to experience this together in a community of prayerful love.

In the days to come, we will make some articles available that will attempt to explain what we want to accomplish in more detail.