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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about participating in God’s mission of goodness and love as embodied and commissioned by Jesus. I know this isn’t necessarily new or profound, but I’m realizing more and more that immersing myself in this mission requires living with purpose and intention. God’s mission doesn’t naturally flow out of me. That means I’ve got to intentionally live in a way that trains me in God’s grace to become the kind of person who naturally carries out God’s mission. And I’ve got to intentionally live in a a way that naturally engages the world around me with God’s mission.

This morning I began reading a new book by Tom and Christine Sine called “Living On Purpose.” The first couple of paragraphs in the foreword by Les Parrott immediately grabbed me. He says:

“There is a great line in Moby Dick, when the sailors are rowing furiously while the whale boat is racing frantically to catch the great whale. There is one person in the boat who is not doing anything. He is just sitting there, quiet and still. It’s the harpooner, ready to take aim and throw his deadly dart. And Melville writes: ‘To ensure the greatest efficiency in the dark, the harpoonists of this world must start to their feet out of idleness and not out of toil.’

“Our culture has a problem with idle harpoonists who appear ‘nonproductive.’ We are more impressed with the dazzling display of the whirring hamster wheel. The busier the better. So many of us who might be excellent harpoonists get caught up in a relentless pace and are never ready to use our gifts when they are needed most.”

That is an vivid metaphor for our lives today. We are God’s harpoonists in the dark. Our lives are to be poised, ready to launch everything we are — our very beings — into the darkness as we strike with goodness and love.

And yet, the posture of readiness for the harpoonist, as Melville writes, is from a place of idleness and not busyness. That’s not laziness, but focused readiness. I know that in my life, I am so busy that I’m usually aware of God’s mission as missed opportunities from the perspective of hindsight (if at all).

God’s mission is so counter to the way of life around us. That’s why God had to come in person to show us a radically new way of being human. But that means living my life in God’s mission requires living my life completely counter to the values, activities and busyness around me. It doesn’t mean neglect. Rather it means making “space for God” throughout a normally crammed day.

I like how Paul put it in Colossians 3:1-3 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” This happens while we engage our real daily lives. It’s learning how to intentionally live and see things “from above” as we still exist “from below.”

Father, forgive me for my hurriedness and harriedness. Forgive me for defining my identity and value from what I do and accomplish. Forgive me for being delivered into your radically different kingdom and yet still trying to live from the old kingdom. Teach me to do more than live “the Christian life.” Teach me to do more than practice spiritual disciplines as another form of busyness and activity. Use them and other instruments of your kingdom to teach me to enter into and participate in your divine nature from which true goodness and love flow. Teach me to be quiet and still, ready to cast my life into the darkness for your good. Amen.

I just got done reading Jennifer Stewart’s blog for May 6th, 2003. If you haven’t done so, stop reading this and click on her link. It’s a very moving reminder of who we are as the church. In Matthew 18:20 Jesus says, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Three elements make a church: 1) the base element of community (two or three come together); 2) in character and essence of Jesus (in my name); and 3) Jesus’ incarnational presence in our midst (there am I with them). When those three happen, then we are the church both gathered and scattered — Jesus continuing incarnation of the Father’s fullness and reign (even if imperfectly) to a world unaware of God’s salvific work.

It reminds me of a passage I read this morning in chapter six of Missional Church,

“God’s promised reign of love and hope, compassion and reconciliation, harmony and justice, is incarnated in a new humanity, a people commissioned to represent the gospel of peace to the alienated and hostile powers of the world. This communal reality of holy living, mutual support, and sacrificial service the New Testament calls koinonia. Challenging the old competitive order of independence, self-interest, and private privilege, Christian community indicates a collaborative order of interdependence, shared responsibility, mutual instruction, and commonality. Within this new company of believers studying, sharing, eating, and praying together, the promised fulfillment of creation is visible, tangible, and experienced, even though not yet perfected.”

Father, through a smile, a word, a prayer, a gift, a life — may I be Christ to all you bring into my life. And may they somehow experience Jesus’ love and lordship in a winsome and tangible way through who you have formed me to be, at this moment as your child. Amen.

I was thinking about dates this morning. When you look at a calendar, each day is marked off by a neat little square. Isn’t that how we want our lives to be — nice little squares mapped out in a predictable sequential order? And yet, for the most part, isn’t real life actually the exact opposite?

What set me off on this thought? Well today is May 1st, which means yesterday was April 30th. On a calendar, this seems simple enough, almost sterile and uneventful. And yet these two dates represent significant boundaries in mine and my family’s life.

Yesterday, April 30th, was my last day as a staff pastor in my church and probably my last day as a vocational pastor in the current established evangelical church system. That day was a day of grieving, especially as I walked the various rooms on the church campus recalling memories and praying for the people and ministries that will continue there. I grieve the end of perhaps the most important phase of my life thus far.

I grieve the changes, if not the end, to most of the friendships I’ve developed over the last eight years. I’ve moved around enough to know that comments of “Let’s stay in touch” rarely materialize into anything substantial, especially if the relationship was simply built around a weekly event. My hope and prayer is that the several deep friendships that have developed will evolve into something deeper as we move beyond the context of weekly ministry.

I grieve the end of my calling to vocational ministry — a calling that I’ve felt from the first days of my Christian life. All the educational and occupational training in my adult life has been focused on this calling.

I grieve the death of a dream. When Debbie and I came to Vineyard, we felt we would grow old there. We felt God would use us for a long long time to influence and be influenced by the people who called our church their home. But almost suddenly, that dream ended and within months we realized that we were to travel down a different path than what we initially envisioned.

I grieve the end of my family’s life at our church as well. This was a church that Debbie and I felt truly loved and embraced. Our children’s lives revolved around the church. They have memories of worship, playing, laughing and friends and teachers who loved them. This transition is as equally difficult for my kids as it is for Debbie and me.

I grieve the potential and actual misunderstanding we will and have received. God is calling us on a pastoral and theological journey that falls “off of the map” for many evangelicals. I’ve already heard the word “cult” used a couple of times without any real inquiry about who we are and what we’re trying to do. A lot of Christians don’t have a frame of reference outside of the current church model. To them, church is often defined by programs, events and leaders and so our ideas seem very foreign.

That’s April 30th. A day of grieving. Today is May 1st. A day of excitement.

I’m excited about the level of friendship that will be developed outside of the current paradigm of church I’ve been living and working in. I’m excited about getting together with friends just to enjoy the friendship and encourage one another on in love and goodness rather than planning programs or events. I’m also excited about the new levels of friendship and community that will be experienced in our new missional community — friendships that actually participate in the rawness of each other’s lives (right where God is working) and not in the facade of our Sunday-going-to-church lives. I’m also excited about the new friendships that will develop as our missional community actually becomes missional — deeper friendships with neighbors, coworkers and people who would rather “congregate” at a coffeehouse than a church.

I’m excited about a small group of growing apprentices who will spur each other on toward deeper discipleship in Christ that, from my experience, cannot be obtained in the current evangelical system. I really believe the theological and ecclesiological exploration we embark on will revolutionize the lives of those who stick to it. And I’m especially excited to be going with those who have committed to it. These are incredible people.

I’m excited about what my family will experience and learn in this spiritual “greenhouse.” My kids will grow up in a system specifically designed for real Christian community and spiritual formation.

I’m excited about a new career change and the personal formation that I will experience with God in all of this.

I’m excited about the birth of a new dream — a dream of a new way of being God’s sent people, disciples who take seriously Jesus’ words (“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you”) so that they are doing everything possible to learn from Jesus how to embody, demonstrate and announce God’s fullness and reign just like Christ did. I’m excited about personally participating in God’s mission of goodness and love in ways not possible in the current evangelical system.

I’m excited about the most significant phase of my life to come.

Lord, thank you for the past and thank you for the future. Thank you for being with me each day, even when it doesn’t fit into a nice little box on a calendar. It’s especially in those times when I can enter your kingdom and become a little more like you. Amen.

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.

One of the big questions that arises in the many discussions I’ve had about beginning a new missional community is “Why do you have to leave the church to do it?”

As I’ve thought about this question, I remember a popular little story that may illustrate why leaving the church is necessary. A young wife decides she want to cook her first Christmas ham for her family. She remembers her mom’s ham as being succulent and delicious and so she calls for the family recipe. She discovers that part of the family recipe is to cut several inches off one of the ends. The young wife can’t figure out why this would make the ham taste so good. She asks her mom, but her mom says, “I don’t know. That’s how my mom always did it.” Curious, the young wife calls her grandmother in hopes of discovering the secret. After asking her grandmother the question, her grandmother begins laughing. “Sweetie, cutting the ham doesn’t make it taste any better. I used to cut a large slice off when your mom was young because the pan I cooked it in was too small for the ham.”

Twenty years ago, a generation of Christian leaders blazed new trails by exploring a more contemporary form of Christian community. They introduced rock-and-roll music, casual dress, and relevant sermons to Sunday morning services in an attempt to reach their world.

Yet, their reasons for “slicing off a piece of the ham” made sense in their time and context. Twenty years later, as our culture continues the shift from modernity to postmodernity, the reasons are not as relevant. Therefore, new forms of Christian community are needed to make God’s life and love real to them.

First, many in our culture are not as convinced by “evidence that demands a verdict.” There is a growing suspicion regarding absolute truth. For many, reality and truth are not defined simply by evidence, logic or what works. What convinces many people now is embodied truth. People don’t just want to know what one believes, but whether it is embodied and practiced as daily reality.

Second, there is a growing interest in historical tradition. Whereas the contemporary church attempted to break from the past in order to be more relevant, more and more people are interested in exploring the ancient traditions, theology and practices of the church. As one writer puts it, “The future runs through the past.”

Third, theology is also changing. Forty years ago, theology was propositional. One would argue through evidence about the reality of God. However, theology is shifting toward narratives. One writer says, “The case for the Christian faith is no longer reason against reason but faith against faith in opposing stories.” Theology is part of a story or a “metanarrative.” Metanarratives are comprehensive stories for the whole world. In other words, theology is no longer ruled by reason and scientific method. Instead, theology is formed through reflection on the narrative or story of Israel and Jesus. This ultimately leads to different theological issues and positions than what the contemporary church is addressing.

Fourth, people are hungering for mystery and beauty in spiritual issues, more than simple answers. When Jesus said, “I am the truth,” he was declaring that truth wasn’t abstract. It was embodied. Therefore, truth can only be known by those who live it.

Fifth, people are living more active lifestyles while hungering for deeper community. The average family is racing from one activity to another. The church’s call for commitment to Sunday services, mid-week Bible studies, and areas of ministry is only contributing to more frantic lifestyles and less opportunities for genuine community.

These are but only a few shifts in our culture.

In truth, I believe reaching people today doesn’t necessarily require a new kind of organized church. Rather, it requires a new kind of Christian. It requires authentic disciples of Jesus, who like him, have learned to die completely to themselves and have entered God’s kingdom so deeply that they are able to embody, demonstrate and announce God’s life, love and power easily, naturally, and effectively in all circumstances.

As I read the New Testament and as I read about Christians from other Christian traditions and in church history, I’m amazed at how many attained such spiritual maturity. Yet when I contrast that with my own lack of growth and with the general consensus of religious sociologist that American Christian spirituality as a whole is at a similar level of spiritual immaturity, I begin to wonder. My guess is that to become a new kind of Christian requires a new way of BEING the church. It goes back to the old adage, “The system you currently have is perfectly designed to produce the results you currently have.”

And that is why I need to explore something new. Not everyone needs to leave the established church. However I do. This is an issue of obedience. Over the past four years, God has begun forming me into a new kind of Christian. With this formation has come a new theology, new ideas, and a new dream. Therefore, I must follow God into this new exploration and attempt to be as faithful on my watch as others before have been on theirs.

Last night I left off with the question, “So what in the world are you doing?” There are a lot of ways I could answer that question. However, yesterday morning I was reading Brian McLaren’s newest book, The Story We Find Ourselves In. It’s a sequel to A New Kind of Christian. In one of the chapters, the main character Neo discusses God’s call to Abraham to journey to a new land in Genesis 12:1-4.

Neo gives this interpretation:

“Leave your people. Leave your identification and status as a member of a certain known people. Now, step out into the unknown, from a certified somebody who is a member of a people and step into a journey where you don’t know who you are anymore. As you do this, I will give you a great new identity: you will become a new kind of people in the world; you will have a new identity. And that new identity — as a people blessed by the one true and living God — will bring blessing to all the other peoples.”

Blessed by God to bless all peoples.

Arriving as the true Israelite, Jesus takes the promise given to Abraham and Israel to the ultimate level. Then he hands the baton to his followers, to us, and says, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21).

As Jesus’ follower, I want to be a “blessed-to-be-a-blessing” kind of person. I want to be a member of God’s resistance movement against evil. I want to be a cooperative friend of Jesus living a constant life of creative goodness.

Therefore, I know I (and any others who choose to join us) must step out into the unknown and into a journey where I don’t know who I am anymore. As we journey together, God will give us a new identity as we become a new kind of people on the earth, recreated to bless all peoples on God’s behalf.

God has blessed us and it’s our privilege and responsibility to bless all peoples — to bless them with the wonderful life of God as embodied in Jesus, to bless them with the ageless story of God that makes sense and significance of their lives, to bless them with a new way of being human, to bless them with the hope of redemption and harmony with God, each other and creation.

So what in the world am I doing? I’m hoping to somehow live Paul’s commandment in a way I’ve never done before, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1-2). I’m hoping to participate in a community of Christ-followers that takes Jesus’ call to be his apprentices seriously. I’m hoping that together we journey from the image of God to the fullness of God in order to continue Jesus’ incarnation on earth and to bless everyone we encounter.

I’m on vacation this week so I’ve had a couple of days to think about what I did on Sunday. On Sunday, I announced that when the new senior pastor arrives at our church, Mark and I and our families would be leaving staff to begin a new kind of Christian community. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was before the sermon. I was literally shaking as the worship team and I prayed.

Well, the deed is done. It’s now public and a new phase of the journey begins.

This entire endeavor goes against my grain. I’m not a pioneer. I don’t like risk. I have faith, but I thrive in a stable environment and do well in developing existing systems, not inventing new ones.

So you may be asking, “What in the world are you doing?” Trust me, I’ve been asking myself that question for the last month. All I know is that something deeper than me compels me to pioneer, to risk, to explore. I’ll share about it tomorrow with a little more depth. Until then, blessings.

Wow, my first blog. And my first post to my first blog…. Hmmmm.

You would think that the first post to one’s first blog would be met with greater fanfare.

Anyways, you might be asking, “So, Jason, what are you going to do with your blog?” To quote a famous TV personality, “The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world!”

Okay, that might be a little too ambitious. Actually, what I’m really hoping to do is simply post my thoughts, reflections and musings as I and others leave our established church and attempt to create a new missional community together.

Our hope is to be part of a new community of Christ-followers that attempts to be his students in life, thereby continuing Jesus’ incarnational presence on earth for the sake of the world. Wow. Perhaps we are trying to take over the world… but with his life and love.