imagining how the church can reorient around mission

“I lift my eyes up to the hills—where does my help come from?”

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There are many reasons why people dislike the established organization that is the church. We as followers of Christ understand that we are not in any position to judge anyone, yet still we outcast and segregate church and church members. Church should be a place where people are accepted for who they are. Many times I have seen that churches attract a certain demographic. There are upper class, middle class, and lower class organizations. Why is there a need to separate and divide Christ’s body? How can any follower of Christ be compared to another. Why is it that we believe some churches are better than others? If people took serious the call of Christ they would not need to compare and judge one another. Christ calls us to follow him. This call needs to be the focal point of our entire lives. If we all have sinned how could one judge another. It seems like to me today that churches will cast stones at other denominations. Try and prove why there difference in practice is better. Are we not missing the point? Why would God want an internal struggle to divide his church? Are all people under Christ not one? How is it that we find the smallest differences and decide it time to leave? I’m not saying that differences in theology need to be overlooked, but I am saying we need to look at other denominations as part of the body of Christ. It should not be an “or” approach but an “and” approach to the body of Christ.

            Picking a place to live is like picking a wedding dress. It has to fit just right, we want it to be beautiful, we want others to see us in it and it has to be the right price point. Those rules still apply when choosing a neighborhood for missional pursuits.

            When deciding on a place to live there has to be a reason to move there, just like you buy a wedding dress for your wedding day. It has a specific purpose. Hopefully, you will see a need in a community that God has called you to fill, so that is your specific purpose for moving into that neighborhood. read more

I think this is absolutely brilliant by Keller (HT – Brian Newman).  

He talks about the slippery slope of religion – here are his steps: read more

    I recently had a conversation with a friend about the difficulties that arise from having a particularly charismatic pastor. We’ve talked about this in class, we’ve read about it in books, but nonetheless it’s rather alarming to think about what happens if, well, something happens to this charismatic pastor. In my friend’s situation, the church fractured after the pastor left because, in his words, the pastor was “guarding their faith.” Once he was gone, many the church members felt as though the burden of their faith pressing upon them much more heavily. In Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch mentions that true apostolic leadership creates the environment for other ministries to develop. When there is a highly charismatic and people-pleasing pastor, other ministries may exist but it is likely that their impact will be quite secondary to the main event: the pastor’s sermon. In apostolic leadership, there is still defined leadership, but the individual and the smaller group are given much more weight. The environment created discourages consumeristic faith rather than encourages it. 
    If we only encourage one type of leader to be a pastor, we are likely to perpetuate the situation that many churches find themselves in: a body of Christians dependent on the faith of another to live fully as followers of Christ. By encouraging and recognizing other forms of leadership, we are much more likely to create an environment where real discipleship and formation can occur.

It seems like in this post-modern generation everybody is always looking for change. Not very many people like things to stay the same. Routine can be somewhat boring and repetitive. It was really great to hear Russ talk about how the church is continuing to grow by changing up the normal rhythm of the services. My old home church back in Portland was a Lutheran church and they are a perfect example of how a church failed to respond to change. Over the past few years there were pastors who left and there became fewer and fewer members attending. It wasn’t until the church took a vote whether to stay in the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) or not that things started to get real messy. The vote ended up tearing the church apart. They had to move out of the building because of the low attendance and move into a much smaller building with only a handful of members. I really appreciated Russ’s words about how change in the church is like moving houses. If you get all situated in your new house and move the furniture around where you like it, then it will be very hard to change the order of things. However, if you spend the night in a tent outside with a couple pieces of furniture, then it will feel much more temporary and it will be easier to get up and move. The church needs to be more vision oriented and willing to get out of the normal routines. If we do not enforce this idea of change, how are we going to raise up committed followers of Christ?

In my last rant blog post I vented my frustration on feeling stuck between wanting to attempt incarnational ministry and the obligations of my busy student life. In the second to last paragraph I noted that our class was about to take a trip in which we would be encouraged to put our new enthusiasm into practice. read more

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     "If the pain of your story is not transformed, it will be transmitted"
     
         -Richard Rohr

   Nobody is without a story. As human beings, we are all a part of the tremendous story of God's redemptive plan for mankind, but we are also all owners of our own individual story. With our own story, however, inevitably comes the pain associated with being part of a world marked by sin. When concerned with ecclesial issues, this pain is often made especially apparent in situations where a person is forced by some circumstances to change churches. Although sometimes this pain can be caused by the sadness of leaving a positive situation, often times it can be associated with a painful previous church experience. 
   The book AND directly addresses the need for a careful response in these situations. I can personally attest to the need for healing that is present after a confusing church-switch. After switching, I did not have the energy to invest in a new church, but that was what I was encouraged to do. Though we are called to push one another toward greater devotion, there is also a very real need for sensitivity in many church related situations.