imagining how the church can reorient around mission

                On Tuesday, our class had the privilege of being able to visit different neighborhoods throughout Spokane with the intention of observing the neighborhoods as best as we could in about an hour and a half. The group that I was in went to the East Central neighborhood. I try to get out into Spokane somewhat, but I had never been to East Central. It was really a great experience. It was definitely different than the neighborhoods I’m in most often. There were very evident signs of poverty and neglect throughout the majority of the neighborhood, with the exception of a few houses and a couple of businesses.

                And that is probably what interested me the most. There was a huge Fred Meyers that stood in stark contrast to the rest of the community. There was also a very nice park that looked fairly new and in any case was well maintained. Yet the houses around the area were mostly old and somewhat neglected. Also there was the coffee shop we went into; the only local coffee shop within walking distance as we were informed by the woman at the laundry mat. It was really nice as well. Very new, with a good atmosphere and plenty of room. Definitely a place that I could see myself spending time at. But here’s the thing: there were no locals in the place. Other than our group there were two people: one had taken the bus to go to Fred Meyers and the other had a traveling suitcase. Granted this was around 10:30 am on a Tuesday, but talking to the barista it didn’t sound like this coffee shop got much business. As I said it was a great shop, but obviously they weren’t effectively catering to the people of this neighborhood. read more

On Tuesday for class our group walked around part of the South Hill, near Manito Park and St. John’s Cathedral.  So many other groups were experiencing the impoverished neighborhoods of Spokane—West Central, Browne’s, East Central, etc.—and here we were in the upper middle-class realm.  The houses were old, but well-off.  The neighborhood was safe and clean.  They had the beautiful and infamous park, the ornate church, and trendy new commercial areas.  I started wondering why Rob sent us here instead of someplace like Hillyard.  Then we walked through St. John’s Cathedral.  I wasn’t even sure I was in Spokane anymore—it felt more like the old Catholic churches I’d seen in Mexico, or in pictures of Europe.  We had a chance to talk to the receptionist and one of the priests who explained that it was a very congregational church, where many programs were put on for its members, but not much was done outside the church.  We also had an insight from the server at a local café who said he attended the church every now and then, but not devotedly.  Other churches were more slightly more difficult to find, though some did exist. 

I started thinking:  there are wonderful ministries working in the lower-end neighborhoods right now.  They’re doing what they can to meet many different needs in those communities.  Obviously, there is always need for more help, but various churches and organizations have bravely taken initiative and followed the missional calling of Jesus.  Yet usually such small groups of people have limited resources, and we were standing in the midst of wealth.  What would it look like to seek out, empower, and equip those on the South Hill, who have much to give, to work with those ministries to the impoverished, who have much need?  Anyone who could do that may have just as fulfilling (and challenging) a ministry as the others.      

Going into East Central with my group the other day, we saw some home run businesses. I started wondering, “What’s the best way to reach these people?” Whether these businesses are successful is not my main concern, but the people running them are. These people are either tired of the bump and grind of a typical career choice (non-conformists), or they have fallen into a trap (gullible), or this is a last resort (desperate), among many other reasons. The struggle is, you can look so deeply into what something looks like from the outside, but until you actually go inside, you will never know for certain what‘s going on. Assumptions are terrible to make, because they are not based on facts. In mission, we have to base our knowledge of the people we are connecting with on facts. If you go into a situation making judgments based off of someone’s appearance, or what have you, you will either; scare yourself away from the situation or not come off as the friendly person you should be striving to be.

Say that you successfully build a relationship with someone, this opens up a whole new bag of candy. So many options present themselves pertaining to the “how to…” and “what way to…” present the Gospel, but maybe the main focus should be on the who. In class today we talked about 1 Corinth. 9:19-23 and Paul’s reaction to this dilemma. Paul embedded himself in specific culture identities to better proclaim the Gospel to each specific group. In verse 23 he says, “I do all this for the sake of the Gospel…” He wasn’t changing it to help convey his own agenda or to try to trick people into believing. He humbled himself and let the Gospel do the work. I feel like this way of doing mission gets lost, people are too afraid to practice boldness for the sake of the truth. We can’t come off as posers, but we have to be able to relate to those struggling. The do-gooder mentality and the candy-coating of the Gospel has to stop!

Your relics are

Leaves of brown on wet ground read more

    At the very heart of nearly every denominational statement of doctrine is the notion that other such doctrinal view points are incorrect. Before jumping to the conclusion that the only way out of the denomination-filled mess that the church has found itself in is to resort to pluralism, it is worth examining the causes. 

    Often times as Guder points out in his book Missional Church, denominations are put in place for their organizational benefits, which can certainly be a positive outcome of denominations. Other times, they can create distinction between what one person calls true Christianity and some sort of inaccurate gospel, which again can have its benefits. Key to understanding what to make of the divisiveness that springs from denominations, however, is recognizing that both of these lines of thought are distinctly human-focused. Although trying have the most accurate beliefs possible is a worth goal, it seems that denominational lines are almost never drawn over salvific issues, and more often over some variety of adiaphoric discrepancy. As Guder points out, denominations are not justifiable from a biblical-theological viewpoint. Recognizing the limitations of human knowledge about the intimate workings of Christian faith is the first step required toward greater unity in the Church. 

A wise woman — I think it was the Millionaire Matchmaker (or maybe it was my sister) — once said that men hide their insecurities behind facial hair. Well, that's just one theory. Other men see beards as an outlet for creativity. Every few years, such men from around the world congregate and compete at the World Beard and Mustache Contest.

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 Paul was an absolute super soldier for Christ.  He met Christ on the road to Damascus and then went straight into ministry and never left it.  He laid the foundations for almost all the churches in the Mediterranean world because God chose him and he was willing to bust his butt for Christ and His Kingdom.  Along Paul's many, many travels he met a young man by the name of Timothy who Paul started to take with him as he crossed the Roman world spreading the Good News.  Paul poured himself out for the benefit of all he met hoping to lead a few of them to Christ, but with Timothy, Paul really spent time and energy to build up Timothy so that he could take the reins from Paul after he passed.  Paul wrote about the weakness of our mortal bodies and how we all long to be with Christ in Heaven, but we have a race to run first.  We have a mission to accomplish and part of that mission is to reach out to those around us, and also part of that job is creating permanent results.  I do not mean to say that church buildings need to be permanent, but churches as the gathered believers need to be permanent and independent from the "Paul".  They often times need "Timothy(s)" to carry on the leadership and to take the Church to new places that "Paul" could never have taken it.  America is graying, sort of.  There are so many young people who do not know Christ.  These young men and women lost in a broken world are probably more likely to relate to Timothy rather than Paul.  Paul needs to ALWAYS be raising up Timothys.

Zach W