imagining how the church can reorient around mission

Lesslie Newbigin talks about how early churches were identified by their belonging to God and their location, and that Paul got on churches for identifying themselves by any other distinctive factor, such as by the church’s founder (1 Corinthians) (“On Being the Church for the World,” 1988). Instead, churches were identified with names such as “the church in Philippi” or “the church in Laodicea” instead of being identified by their founders, such as “the church of Paul” or “the church started by Apollos.” The result of this was a unity among the churches: there was one church, the church of Christ, which was just located in different places.

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Let’s say you love soccer.  It’s your thing.  You can’t get enough of it.  Some people like the kind games when you’re sure to win, but you think an comfortable game is boring.  Others like when teams are evenly matched so that each team has to work hard and you’re never sure who’s going to win, but you know of an even better kind of game…  that perfect game is that one you’re always waiting for.  It’s that one you never forget; the one you shouldn’t have won because you were by far the underdog.  It’s the one you gave all of yourself for and then some.  You ran harder than you thought your body could ever handle.  You took risks and took them boldly.  And you won what no one thought you could. read more

 

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While listening to Walter Brueggemann’s commentary on the first chapter of the book of Acts (http://castroller.com/podcasts/CenterForExcellence/1296175-Sermon%20The%20Risk%20of%20Truth-Telling%20(Acts%201)%20-%20Walter%20Brueggemann) I was struck by his thoughts on the rejected disciple candidate Justus.  Whether or not Brueggemann’s speculations on Justus are accurate or not I do not think makes much difference, they are still realistic speculations we can learn from.  Brueggemann says he imagines Justus might be disappointed at not being chosen and may have thought about it for a while but in the end had to go back and live out his testimony regardless of being a disciple or not.  Justus may be a good example for many of us.  Not being called as a disciple must have left Justus in a very confused state, not knowing what to do or where to go, but even so he still had to return and serve God in any other way he found.  Many of us similarly may find that we do not know what God’s will is for our lives or how we can serve him, simple as we are.  However just because there is no bright shining light and clear voice directing our actions does not mean we are off the hook from a life of service.  We may not be called to perform healing miracles or travel to distant lands to preach and teach a forgotten civilization speaking an unknown language but we still have a purpose.  Wherever we are, whatever we are doing we must live lives that are consistent with our faith so we might be a light to the world and an example of Jesus’ love to those around us.  Nobody who is a part of the kingdom of God is free from this responsibility. Tim R  

               The missional church sounds great. This church will take the initiative and go and reach all peoples as commanded by God. The video by Michael Frost even called Christians to make sure they
were reaching the model car racers. When I heard that, I got excited. I was pumped that somebody was telling Christians to reach out to even the smaller groups to whom they feel called to proclaim Jesus. I was ready to get a specific calling from God for a specific people group to whom I could begin to minister. Now I know that this may seem like a romanticized response but this is where my heart is at anyways. I think the most important calling for Christians is to go to all people and proclaim the word. And here was Michael Frost saying that even model car racers are a people group that needs to hear the word. Then I could surely find a people group right now to whom I could start proclaiming. read more

seem to live in a world of “post-” everything.  The term “post-modernism” isn’t new for anyone in our twenty-first century, American culture (though that doesn’t necessitate our full understanding of it).  And though the idea of “post-Christendom” may well be new for many people, it doesn’t negate the concept as a reality.  Apparently the majority of us Christians simply need to either catch up on the times or forego our state of denial.  The problem with the term “post”, however, is that it only tells us of the state that we’re leaving.  It says nothing about what we’re moving into.  Soon I’ll be living in another “post”:  post-college.  Graduation day looms on the horizon, and I’m both eagerly anticipating and inwardly dreading it.  It represents freedom, but also the “unknown”.  It makes me envy those who have a plan.  But as far as I can tell, my situation and the church’s are much alike.  What we’ve known and done up until this point has seemed to work for us, but won’t anymore.  We’re both in that state of liminality, or flux, where there’s a lot of fear, but so much potential.  I was encouraged and challenged by Alan Hirsch when he talked about how the decisions we make now, as Christians, have the power to determine the course of the 21^st century for the church and society.  It’s daunting, but empowering.  We have a history, but we’re not determined by it.  We have buildings, but we’re not contained within them.  We seem to by “dying” from a cultural standpoint, but we can be renewed by dying to ourselves and living in Christ, choosing to be missional and embracing His kingdom.  It takes the fear out of it.  They tell us what we’re moving from, but we get to choose where to go from here.

It is fair to say that our generation likes things to be quick, easy, and to the point. Just take a look around your household or room and tell me there isn’t one product that has made your life a heck of a lot easier. I will give you a hint – you are staring at one! What is it that entices us to live this way? I have come to the conclusion that we are a society that is drawn to comfort and success. To know that a person can do something fast, efficient, and successfully would put anyone in a great mood. read more

I do not know how to blog. This blog is not one of intellectual prowess, I find it perplexing that you should take the time to read it, but here I am, honest and open with my struggles, knowing that through wrestling with these issues, God will transform my heart.  I am consistently finding myself in desperation.  The Kingdom of God is at hand.  Yahweh is in control, yet I am subject to a nearly continuous feeling of urgency.  I want God. Now.  We live between Jesus’ two comings and have been commissioned to be lights to His world, dull as we may shine. How do I, a 20 year old child with close to no knowledge of my Creator and his ways, not only accept this mission, but enter into it with faith?  Is the answer found in words?  And furthermore, who is able to articulate this answer? Search your soul and answer me this, how do we, as servants of the Most High, bear witness to the world of the reality of the Kingdom and the good news therein?  I feel wholly inept, but in my immense feeling of inadequacy, I find a crucial dependence upon the Lord. You and I are called to respond to His word, and I find myself stymied. If my soul had a face, surely the expression would be one of wide eyed, restless confusion.  I long to venture further into this journey set before me, but am overcome by a feeling that I will only blunder about, hoping that I may somehow bump into God.  To depart from our threshold of comfort devoid of God would be foolish, yet it is necessary to find the balance between knowing God will come through for us, and operating under a false justification that we are acting in the will of God, for his Kingdom.  read more

Every day as I have the honor and privilege of driving past Liberty Baptist Church on my way to class. LBC is a small church located on the corner of Graves and Ivanhoe not to far from my house. Here is their website (and in case you were wondering…you need to look at the website to understand my point. Look closely…) :

http://www.lbcspokane.com/ Did you see it? Can you already tell why I'm upset? Do you understand why I want to take the long road to and from school sometimes? Well in case you missed it I will let you know. Liberty Baptist Church has the phrase "Come As You Are, Leave Better" attached to their website. To make it even better, they have a GIGANTIC sign on the outside of their church (right underneath the cross) with that phrase blaring across the front in huge letters. Oh and I forgot to mention…the background of the sign is an American flag. Thank you LBC for reminding us all that the Church is an American thing and should not be confused with some other "foreign" religion. After all, Jesus was born on the South Hill, right? So that is why I am upset. I have to look at this sign everyday on my way to school. As we sat and talked about the implications of the incarnation, the theological truths of the Bible, and the actual Gospel message that needs to be shared with the world, I couldn't help but think about LBC. In all honesty, just makes me sad. True, it is fun to sit around and complain about how "they are wrong" or how "we should go steal that sign and burn it", but the truth is that they are trying their best to communicate the Gospel to outsiders. However, the way they are doing it is unhealthy and not missional.  I'm not sure I need to say much about the American flag background of the sign. That is a no no. God is everywhere, not just in the states, and His Church extends to all peoples and countries. "Come As You Are"? Sure, great, awesome. But what about that is missional? What about that statement makes it sound like the people in that congregation are leaving their building to try and share the message of Jesus Christ? To me it sounds as though they expect passers by to walk in, take a seat, and start giving 15% right off the bat. "Leave Better"? Don't get me started. This is Prosperity-Gospel at its finest. But hey, if it was my church I would probably have done the same. Who wants a huge sign that says, "Come As You Are, Leave with the really difficult, challenging, important, self-denying task of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ"? Not this guy (too much text to pay for…not enough money left for a new gym). I understand where the sign is coming from. Yes, we can come to church as we are. Yes, we will leave better people because of the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. But no, we should not expect people to simply walk in from the street without us making the effort to go to them and engage in their life and culture, not the other way around. And no, we should not set people up to think that life is going to be better as a result of going to church. Life is going to be hard. You will have to give up things that you do not want to give up. But eventually, the love and grace of Jesus Christ will allow us to live the life we are truly meant to have. That is the message that we should put on our signs. Sean

 

The call of the Holy Spirit is unique. The Spirit empowers and leads people according to God’s will. For me I have wondered how we are supposed to decipher the call of the Holy Spirit. I would like to focus on the
individual call from the Spirit and how we as followers of Christ are to determine a true call of the Spirit from mere intuition. What does a call from the Spirit look like? How do we know that this is God? Is it wrong to question and wrestle with God’s will? These are the types of questions I have been struggling with. With regard to missions I believe that the call of the Spirit is difficult to interpret. How do we know what’s real? The call of the Spirit works differently to different people, but one thing is constant; the Spirit calls us to do something we were not doing before. For me this call can be personified in this saying “get up and go out”. As followers of Christ we are called to be in an actively growing relationship. The embodiment of this call is to go and be actively involved in not only Christ but his Church as well. The Body of Christ his Church is complied of sent people. The Church which is made up of these sent people are commissioned to constantly proclaim the Gospel. Truly living your life for Christ alleviates fear and doubt. It takes absolute faith grounded in Christ to accept the call of the Spirit. The call of the Spirit acts to move people toward God’s will. It calls people to truly serve God and do his will. I believe that in one way or another the Spirit is calling us to “get up and go out”.