Jack’s Blog Buzz

Don't Do Nothing in 2009

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:14:04 -0600

2009 should be the year of things not to do. Everywhere I look, people are giving me stuff to do. Lose weight, go to bed early, eat more veg, watch less TV, file your paperwork, blah, blah, blah. Honestly, I’m sick of it.

Still, if I do nothing, well, nothing gets done. I can’t do nothing. Then I feel worse than I did doing too many things--even if they were the wrong things. Maybe I need to do different things? Maybe Jesus has ideas.

John 13
Stop taking yourself so seriously. Let go of your independence, and let him fill you to the point that you can wash someone’s stinky feet. This will be hard to do.
Wash your enemy’s feet too. This will be really hard to do. I’ll have to completely abandon myself; let Christ work through me literally. I cannot be nice to a jerk without... well, I cannot be nice to a jerk, period. Christ will have to do that for me.
Start loving people NOT as I want to be loved (I’m so subjective), but as Christ loved me. He raised the bar. I can’t do it. See #1-2.
If you’re a preacher, let people ask questions. Jesus did. Most of us who listen to you week in, week out, are really getting tired of you doing all the talking. See #1.

John 14
Remember that JESUS is the way, the truth, the life. Not our sermons, programs, teaching, seminaries, or clean bathrooms. Jesus. That’s it. See #1.
Pray in Jesus’ name not as a magic incantation, but as his representative. Know what he wants to do before asking ANYTHING in his name. Most of our prayers are terribly presumptuous. See #1 again.
Remember that the Holy Spirit talks to all the believers--we’re all priests of God. We seem to be losing that idea. Recapture it. See #1 (OK, all of these start and end with #1, don’t they?).
Stop being afraid. Stop being afraid of anything.

John 15
Get into this abiding thing. This may just be a restatement of #1. Whatever. He is trying to live through you and me. All of us at the same time. Let him. The results will change the world and amaze the Executive Committee (who seem to be able to do...nothing).
Be happy. The world hates you; so what? Be a happy witness. See #1.

Ten is enough. Read the Bible and you might find some more, but they all come back to being happy and filled with Jesus Christ.
Happy, happy 2009.

This is my last post via iWeb. Wordpress is easier and I can post from my phone. After today, catch me at jacksbuzz.wordpress.com.

Pagan Christianity?

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 09:30:31 -0600

Frank Viola (not the pitcher) wrote a book attempting to trace the roots of Western Christian practices. No one noticed until George Barna co-authored a revised version. Bang! This book hits like body blows from a middle-weight contender. Oof! Another and another.

When I first told my parents I was reading this book they looked at me with mild curiosity. It reminded me of the time at 15 when I told them I’d wrecked the car. I explained Viola’s idea and their eyes widened. It was one of those moments when one tells his parents something for which they have absolutely no categories. They can neither confirm nor deny. They cannot react other than, “Uh, that’s interesting, son?” Kids live for those moments.

Reading Pagan, I found myself reacting as the parent. “Uh, what Frank? Where did you get that?” Fortunately, Frank (and George) have done some homework and given us a footnoted text. Their research is not PhD level (it does not include opposing views), but it’s not chopped liver either. I’d like the book better if Frank lowered his voice (odd how some books give you the feeling that the author is yelling angrily), and included thoughts from the other side of the aisle.

I’m going to skim over the book. For the sake of space, you only get a few of the topics that ran up and sniffed me like a dog at junkyard.

Thesis
Viola and Barna tell us that most church traditions cannot be found in the Bible, but have Pagan Greek or Roman origins, and are, therefore contributing to the death of Western Christianity. They are right about Western Christianity’s need for life, and they make a good case for their cause. Still, I am not completely convinced that the problems they site cause the cancers they find. Like House, we know this pathology has an origin, but we need some more work to make an accurate diagnosis.

My conclusion
Read the book. Buy it, read it, mark it up. Read it before Christmas if you can. You will be the hit of every party that you attend. Check the authors’ sources and write a review. Give the book to your friends (or enemies) for Christmas--lovely gift, yes? Ask your small group to go through it when things turn grey in late January and February. You will have lively, toasty discussions, I guarantee!

A few nibbles
The big deal, according to the authors, is that non-Christian philosophy currently rules the Christian church. As evidence, the authors repeatedly site the passivity that marks most church members’ lives. They strike at the roots of passivity, naming those roots abandonment of Scripture, hierarchical structure, and anonymity among others.

Of course, anyone might shoot a hole or two in their argument by testifying that his or her church gatherings are not anonymous, man-centered, or extra-biblical, but the authors stand on their experience and research. George Barna is, after all, synonymous with first-rate Christian research. He and Frank Viola paint with broad strokes, but how could they do otherwise? In the end, the book reveals much in the Western churches that needs to change.

As for Scripture, Viola and Barna point out many instances where Christian practices link to the Old Testament law, cultural convenience, or pagan practices. They are right to caution believers to look carefully at their church’s practices and decide for themselves if they align with the Lord’s will. In that sense, one must appreciate their slight humility that encourages the brothers and sisters to decide matters for themselves. Despite the allegations of a few of their critics, Viola and Barna make a point not to demand conformity.

Still, the book is so forceful and direct in its language and conclusions that Viola and Barna cannot hep but sound a bit angry. Of course, if they’re right, we should all be angry! Their tone cannot help but suggest that their way is the right way, which is exactly the criticism they level at legacy churches. This has, no doubt, turned many readers off. It might be wise for the authors to adjust their tone even lower in a third edition, and I hope a third is in the works.

Clerical hierarchy
Viola and Barna direct their harshest voice at the clergy/laity distinction and clerical hierarchy. They believe that the Christian clergy base their supremacist acts on pagan philosophical grounds. Where Jesus and Paul specifically told Christians not to lord over one another, most Pastors do precisely that. The authors’ reasoning is sound. No less a theologian than Karl Barth wanted to banish the word “laity” from the Christian vocabulary.

Passivity among disciples results from the hierarchical structure that stretches even to the architecture of Christian buildings. People sit back to front instead of facing one another as in one’s living room, so real interaction rarely occurs. Moreover, the Pastor usually acts as chief (only?) spokesman, and often seems to be de facto mediator between the Christian and God. To have one speaker (preacher) week in and week out is a pagan practice. In fact, the sermon, as we know it, is based more on Greek rhetoric than any biblical model. (My professor of preaching colleagues will enjoy dismembering that argument, or its messengers.)

New Testament churches allowed, encouraged, even commanded, all Christians to bring a psalm, hymn, or word from the Lord to the ecclesia (gathering). The Christian practice in the early church included far more activity and responsibility from individuals. By elevating preaching (or the Eucharist) above Jesus as the central point of Protestant, Baptist, or liturgical worship, the churches created believers that are void of personal responsibility with God’s word. (I told you Barna and Viola were rough.)

Tithing
The authors find the standard practice of tithing to be biblical but not Christian. They believe the tithe is more attached to a pragmatic need to pay for buildings and staff salaries than Christian practices of caring for the poor and widows, and giving out of a joyful heart.

Costumes
Sunday morning costumes--suits, dresses, and clerical robes--also have their roots in paganism. The criticism is not so much that dark magic happens when one wears his or her “Sunday best,” but that it creates a sense of pridefulness where one Christian tries to outdo another. The authors give a wink to contemporary churches’ casual styles, but barely.

Education
Christian education does not escape their gaze. Nothing in the New Testament or early church history (before Constantine, 330 AD) can be found to advocate seminaries or Bible colleges. Moreover, the Sunday Schools that started out simply to get impoverished children off the streets have now become programs that teach in way more akin to Plato and the Enlightenment than Jesus or Paul.

The New Testament teaches believers to educate one another as we walk through life: character is education’s goal. Character leads to good decisions and a life abiding in Christ. The Bible was taught as a whole--a holistic collection of narratives, history, experiences, poetry, visions, and reflections on how God works and how people tick. The fully formed, first century disciple seems better equipped than today’s version to know how to pray, how to be a witness, and to make a disciple.

Contemporary Christian education seems to believe that knowledge is the goal that leads to right decisions. The Bible is taught in broken pieces rather than holistically. Proof-texting and eisegesis (reading meaning into the text) are common. Few disciples are fully formed. Many, perhaps the majority, of Western church members spend 40 or 50 years in “Bible studies,” but have no clue how to make spiritually mature decisions or other disciples.

New Testament education focuses on steady, long-term growth toward Christlikeness. It aims to present people to Christ as fully formed disciples. Contemporary education interests itself in efficiency. It aims to fit as many people as possible in a room to teach them the some material. The former offers no prize but Christ and maybe some suffering along the way. The latter offers prizes for completing tasks (certificates and diplomas). The former builds character, the latter builds pride. Ouch!

The authors’ goal
In the end, Barna and Viola want Christians to restructure their churches. They see the churches’ waning influence and losing ground to a godless culture day by day. They believe the problem is not that God has grown silent or that he no longer works through his people. Christians have wandered off Christ’s path, steadily going astray for the last 1800 years. The church can find its way by returning to simple New Testament practices.

It seems that Barna and Viola want us all to dress down, read our Bibles, and meet in house churches prepared to say something that indicates we’ve been with God that week. All the Pastors and church staff should find secular jobs, and we should sell all the buildings. The extra money should be used to send apostolic church planters out into the harvest fields, and to care for the poor, the sick, the widows, and prisoners. It’s an intriguing proposal, I admit.

Wow, but they are going to make a lot of enemies with that message, aren’t they? What do you think? Please do not make ad hominem arguments (look it up). Tell me why church practices are OK, or not OK. Back up your claims with your stories, or (better) Scripture. What are your experiences? What will you do the same or differently and why?

I told you this book would make you think--unless, of course, you don’t want to think. Last week, I contacted Frank Viola. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t the guy who pitched for the Twins in the 80s. He’s not, but he is a man who deeply wants to follow Christ. In many ways, his work puts mine to shame. I hope he will weigh in on my review, but more than that, I hope we can all work to make our lives pleasing to Jesus. He is Lord of every church and we Western Christians might want to act like it.

Calvin & Hobbes & snowpeople

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:58:15 -0600

Boone found this:
http://biessman.com/calvinAndHobbes.html

Make this the Best Christmas Ever!

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:25:22 -0600

Someone on your list hard to buy for? Go to www.amazon.com and search “action figure” or look up any of my favs listed below.
Some need no explanation. Others, well, you have to wonder.

Crazy Cat Lady (not kidding, includes cats)
Miracle Jesus (incl. 5 loaves and a coupe fish, perfect for this economy)
Barack Obama (“Hope and Change”)
John McCain (big head, says nothing)
Obsessive Compulsive (encourages you to wash your hands ... again)
Librarian (let your mind wander)
Vincent Van Gogh (complete with bandaged ear)
Johnny Cash (June Carter not incl)
Kurt Cobain (Courtney Love not incl)
Lunch Lady (heavy food incl, not sure if her arms have that excess flesh you see hanging down when she extends them to drop a load of tater tots on your plate)
Carl Jung (what?)
Horrified B-Movie Victims Set (too good to pass up)
Christmas Story Set (includes kid with tongue stuck to pole!)
Kill Bill Bride (Uma Thurman’s character with sword!)

And, of course, almost all the Jacks:
Jack Sparrow (and Jack the Monkey)
Jack Bauer
Jack Shepherd
Samurai Jack

There is simply no better way to spend time at work between those end-of-year tasks than online shopping. Bon Shopping!

Santa?

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:15:32 -0600

There is quite a bit of buzz on the Christian web sites regarding Santa Clause. Surprisingly, emergent sites are questioning the Clause because of his link to rampant materialism as much as fundamentalist sites question his tendency to make us think of things other than Jesus on the Lord’s annual “birthday.” Not to mention the sites that remind us “Santa” is just a rearrangement of “Satan”! Mercy! (Google for examples.)

I grew up with Santa, and an image of Jesus that was not altogether different from the Clause character. Jesus gave you stuff, Santa gave you stuff. Jesus’ stuff was not quite as good as Santa’s, but Mema claimed that Jesus’ stuff would not break nor would the batteries conk out mid-afternoon.

Santa was like an older Jesus who came around every year and made Jesus' birthday a lot more exciting. Once I was nearly old enough to know the truth I learned that Santa was really my parents idea of a joke.

That put Jesus into question, but not really. After all, my parents still pointed to Jesus as special and Santa became a sort of kind-hearted prank--one on which I was in while my younger sister was naively out. Victory in Santa!

Now grown, I hold all the values that Jesus Christ talked about, and I wish Santa would give me a magic stick to make me better at keeping them. Santa can’t--he’s not real. Jesus, on the other, is more real than ever. All things considered, if Jesus was able to et through my muddled upbringing and draw me in, I think he can reach anyone. I can't see how Santa hurts.

Principles: Models (10)

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:27:40 -0600

See previous posts

The benefits and problem with models
I am not saying that models are useless—quite the contrary. Models help one sort out whom he or she best reaches for Christ. If you cringe whenever you hear drums, it affects your ability to reach drummers or people groups for whom drumming is an essential cultural practice. Think about a few models that you see in the US, and put your mind around which one you like best. The models of Christian churches are all around. Try a few and pick them apart. Think though what works and what does not. Test every practice against Scriptural principles.
Love everyone who points to Jesus as the way to God. You will not like some models, and some other people will not like yours. Stay humble and realize that many times it’s just a matter of style. Every weekend event church, cowboy church, house church, legacy church, neo-liturgical church, and a host of others has its place in the kingdom.
Most of the time, the ones different from yours reach people your church cannot reach. We really do need lots of different churches for lots of different people, but all churches need a foundation on principles that are culturally wise and biblically informed.

Principles: Same for Every Church? (9)

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:24:50 -0600

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Church planting principles are the same as those for any church
Have I made my point? Do you see that church planting principles are the same as those for any church? Why would we expect something different? God has not made this hard for us—he gave us his word and told us to work it out. Then he gave us his Spirit to help us work it out. At the end of the day, what grows First Baptist will grow Sojourn.
We can easily think of several more thoughts that might be principles. Here are a few you might consider.
Attraction events help church people meet looking-for-church people. Some of the looking-for-church people will be believers and some will not, but all of them are demonstrating their interest in finding God. This seems to be what Rick Warren tells us in Purpose Driven Church.
People need something more than a small group to become a complete disciple. One needs a broader community of mind (congregation) to expand vision. This may be a function of American culture, but house churches or small, discipleship groups are not enough.
People function out of their perspective and values. Whoever shapes a person’s perspective and values is the one who guides his or her life. Godless media shape today’s Western values and make it harder for the church to penetrate and engage the culture. It may be wise, therefore, to help teenagers learn to understand what drives their culture rather than to try to scare them away from it.
The Pastor’s preaching sets direction as the lead teacher and expositor of the Scriptures. A solid preaching ministry can help shift perspectives as long as it does not come off as aloof, condescending, unrealistic, or too obvious. A Pastor must maintain a sense of godliness and the prophetic Word of God for his preaching to have an effect on people.
A church is a spiritual organism wearing organizational clothes. It does not appear in public without clothes. For this reason, leaders need to understand how people work together in organizations.
Churches move forward when leaders agree on the group’s purpose, mission, values, and tactics. Division at the point of direction stops a church in its tracks. Therefore, church members and leaders cannot tolerate division when it is the result of immaturity.
The church carries the task of invading and transforming its culture. It may fall under a cultural spell, be confused over how to handle the culture, or it may try to create its own subculture, but its job it to transform godless culture into godly culture. H. Richard Niebuhr describes the church that transforms its culture (and four other models) in Christ and Culture.
The Holy Spirit and Satan are real. Even though God is fully capable to end the spiritual warfare at any moment, and he will end it at the time he chooses, it goes on all around us. For this reason, wise church planters ground themselves in the Bible, genuinely seek humility, and remain teachable, faithful, perseverant, and dependent on the Lord. Ed Murphy’s Handbook for Spiritual Warfare, and Francis Frangipane’s The Three Battlegrounds are helpful to understand the subject of spiritual warfare in depth. The principle may be to give no opportunity to the devil (Eph 4:27).
Relational evangelism produces the most consistent fruit. Many times, however, one also finds fruit with a confrontational approach. How will you know the best approach if you only try one? The crucial factor in conversion, from the human side, is not the delivery of the gospel, but the unsaved person’s ability to understand the gospel and its implications for his life (Acts 8:30-31). George Hunter’s book, Celtic Way of Evangelism is very helpful at this point.
(More to follow in this series.)

Principles: Planting, Prayer, Love... (8)

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:09:48 -0600

See previous posts

Other principles to consider
Let’s consider some other examples of principles for church planting. Some of these may come across to you as values or standards of Christian conduct. Some may seem so obvious that you assume we need not state them. Some will spark new thoughts in your mind, and others may cause you to bristle, but all of them have a biblical basis.
The normality of church planting. In the New Testament, normal Christians tell lost people about Jesus and gather interested people in groups called churches. I do not know if church plants increase new Christians or if evangelism of the lost creates new churches. Perhaps such details do not matter.
Even a cursory reading of Acts and Paul’s letters demonstrate evangelism and church planting. Anyone trying to say otherwise is foolish. Moreover, we know from experience that people in different cultures, whether postmodern elitists or blue-collar Bubbas, respond to new churches. Whenever we plant a new church that bases its style on principles, we see people come to Christ and get involved in his church who avoided other churches for years.
A recent study of SBC churches reveals that 89% sit at plateau or slide toward death. Trends suggest that the problem is getting worse quickly. Reid’s research found that Southern Baptist decline coincides with a leveling of our zeal to plant new churches. Farmer’s study provides evidence that all legacy churches that sponsor new churches grow financial and numerically, yet only 3-5% percent of SBC churches sponsor new work. It almost seems that we could say old churches need new churches, but I am not ready to make that a principle just yet despite the example of the new Asian church helping the old Jerusalem church during a famine.
Prayer. God commands his children to listen to him and to talk to him. Prayer is the conversation with the Father that he knows we need, and we can spend time enjoying. We may think that pray is a good idea because when we pray we can get what we want from God. How shallow. Prayer is good because talking to God is good because God is good. God wants us to know him and there’s no other way that prayer—that alone ought to get us praying! God wants you to know him.
People who pray cannot imagine starting a church on any foundation other than prayer. Prayer er opens our eyes to things we cannot otherwise see. Prayer defeats enemies against whom we stand powerless alone. Prayer brings healing and opens doors closed to the Gospel. Prayer allows God to inform our strategy, our delegation of tasks, and our selection of leaders. It seems important, yes?
Evangelistic growth. The only reason for a church to exist is to advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth. Church growth that depends on transferring members from one church to another cannot please God. Of course, sometimes, the churches in a town may be spreading false teaching or just be generally dysfunctional. The people get a breath of the Holy Spirit in a new church and they have to transfer—that’s not what I am talking about. Church growth that depends on transfer members does not please God—evangelism pleases God.
Churches—real churches—worship Christ and work hard to fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples. Churches may grow by many means, but evangelism is clearly the best. Churches educate people in biblical doctrine. Churches love people. Churches help the sick, poor, orphans, prisoners, and widows. Churches point to Christ as the model of sacrifice and manhood. Churches encourage people to try something for God and to be lead in ways that honor and glorify God. Man, you do not need chapters and verses; that’s all through the New Testament.
Small group discipleship. Large groups are great for singing, but not for learning. People commit to a church where they find relationships and meaning. Church life can exist without members learning to walk with the Lord, but it goes much better if they do. Adults learn best when they can offer their opinions on important issues. No truths outweigh the Bible’s importance. Discipleship groups, therefore, make disciples best when they are small enough so that everyone feels comfortable to talk through their questions and problems, and the group is biblically informed. When groups grow larger than about twelve people the introverts begin to hide and the extroverts begin to take over. That stunts everyone’s spiritual growth.
Love. Jesus gave us a new commandment, “to love one another” (John 13:34). He also gave us a reason that sounds to me like a church growth principle: “so that everyone will know that you are my disciples” (John 13:35). It’s as though Jesus is telling his followers that the outsiders—lost people—are watching others to find out whose god is worth following. When we love each other, we show the world that our God is bigger than all our differences. That God offers peace in the chaos of life apart from him. That God is worth following. The god whose followers fuss and fight over nonessentials, commit adultery and divorce for pleasure, consume everything the world offers, demand their way at every turn—who needs that god? In fact, isn’t that the god to whom they already belong?
Humble, yet strong leadership. James 3 explains that anywhere we find selfish ambition we also find disorder and demonic practices. If a guy starts a church to fulfill his need to to run the show, selfish ambition has him running. He will make poor decisions, cutting corners to make his show the coolest on in town. He will say things that set up false competition between himself and other church leaders. Eventually, he will invite God’s discipline.
Humility does not make a leader a doormat. On the contrary, humble leaders demonstrate the kind of strength people want to follow. Moreover, God gives insight to humble leaders. They carry a supernatural boldness that gives them great confidence to stand for the right things and to help correct wrongs. Biblical leaders are the only ones that stand a chance of directing a church forward in Christ’s power.
The most important factor in church planting is the character of the Pastor and his wife. If they are genuinely spiritual, likable, and make good decisions, the church is very likely to grow. Paul’s first letter to Timothy (chapter 3) speaks of the character of church Pastors and Deacons, and 1Tim 3:11 talks about their wives. The second most important factor in leadership is the willingness of the Pastor and his wife to work hard at the right things: prayer, evangelism, discipleship of the flock.
You get what you reward. Sometimes churches get star-crossed. After all, nice, smart, and wise people do not fill Christian churches. God fills churches with people who are mean as hell, dumb as mules, foolish as thieves, drunk on selfishness, but saved by the blood of the only man in history who really was nice, smart, and wise. Because people are imperfect, we often reward the very things we do not want to reproduce.
Sometimes the best looking or wealthiest man is elected a chief servant even though he is known as a cheat around town. Sometimes the best singer gets status even though she looks down on others. Many churches invite visitors to join their churches because their children’s or youth program is “the best in the city” instead of letting God move the hearts of people through worship and service. Maybe you have been to a church who seemed to be selling soap at a special price (almost like Wal-Mart) rather than offering the Good News of Jesus Christ that cannot be bought for any price.
Friend, that church rewards consumers, and it will get droves of them. Then one day another church will get a hipper singer, a prettier face, a slicker salesman, and the people will leave for whatever’s on sale down the street. By no means do I advocate that we make church boring—to do so insults the Creator of creativity and delight. You will get whatever you reward, including boring people!

(More to follow in this series.)

Rick Warren on Modeling

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:34:12 -0600

Just watch (it’s about 2 mins.) and comment as you please. Original is on USA Today website.

Principles: make Disciples (7)

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:30:56 -0600

See previous posts

A church planter must focus his time on evangelism and discipleship
This one seems as obvious as the previous one, but I have not seen much done to help guys on the field develop good habits. Few planters have coaches that meet with them more often than monthly—what would a sports team look like if the coach met with his players once a month? (OK, Notre Dame football and the Texas Rangers might play better, but most teams would make more mistakes.)
The thing planters complain about most often is not a lack of coaching, but a lack of effective coaching. After a year on the field, many of them realize that their coach (the person responsible for helping them continue their training) knows little about the culture and less about strategy. Worst, planters find themselves communicating their needs through monthly report that no one reads.
Instead of having a planter fill out paper reports, someone needs to take the guy to lunch and see how he’s doing. A person coaches in person by setting reasonable goals for the things that make a church grow: evangelism and discipleship. Not much else matters until a planter can lead people to Christ, gather converts in discipleship groups, and teach them to reproduce.
(More to follow in this series.)

Principles: Spouses (6)

Mon, 8 Dec 2008 07:15:20 -0600

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God calls husbands and wives as a team
Whenever this one comes up, everyone agrees that it is true. Everyone also agrees that we (Southern Baptists) do little to assess, equip, or encourage the wives of church planting Pastors. Women have spiritual gifts too. Let’s help them find out where to serve, train them how, and release them to do whatever they need to do for the kingdom. My wife is part of an excellent Facebook group—search “church planting wives” if you are interested.
Moreover, I have not found a Missions Director who does not have a story about a church planter who left the field because his wife did not sense God calling her to plant the church. She (and we know of dozens of shes) grew homesick, never bought into the need for a new church, misunderstood her husband’s calling, or just did not want to sacrifice that much. He left too soon, and his church plant died as a result. Most of the men I asked told me that they think it would have turned out better had the planter’s wife been assessed more carefully and equipped more fully as a key part of the new church’s leadership team.

(See the next post in the series.)

Principles: Context (5)

Sat, 6 Dec 2008 07:08:53 -0600

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The strategy of a church plant must make sense in its context
Imagine creating the perfect flavor of Kool Aid. You love it. Cannot get enough. You drink so much that you nearly wet the bed. Your mother is hiding the sugar, threatening your father unless he gets your flavored sugar jones under control. You--being smarter than the average fifth grader--think you can make MILLIONS selling your new flavor.
You steal sugar from your neighbor’s mom. You mix your concoction. You open your stand on a perfect day. People stop. People buy! PEOPLE DRINK!! People gag. People spit Kool Aid on the sidewalk, in the grass, on the front of your stand. Kids are making fun of you. PARENTS are making fun of you. Your best friend’s grandmother spray paints nasty graffiti on your Kool Aid stand. NOBODY IS BUYING WHAT YOU ARE SELLING. This is a disaster.
This is the church planter who delivers the Gospel in a language that people do not understand. He moves in, prays like crazy, works his tail off, and nobody buys his product because it tastes so bad that they cannot keep it down. How can this be?
I once watched a classmate try to tell a guy about Jesus. I was standing about thirty feet away, and my colleague kept talking louder and slower, but repeating the same words, “If you died today, would you go to heaven?” “IF. YOU. DIED. TODAY. WOULD. YOU. GO. TO. HEAVEN?” Being smarter than the average fifth grader, I soon realized, the man did not speak English. My colleague’s increased volume and decreased rate had no effect—neither he nor his victim received the gift of tongues.
I knew just enough Spanish to help the poor guy understand what we were berating him about: “Jesus es tu amigo, si o no?” (Jesus is your friend, yes or no?) I know that seems a little weak, but give me a break, anything further and I might have accidentally cussed him out.
He looked at me and nodded. Slowly. He pointed at the other student and rattled off several words very fast. I caught two: “amigo” and “diablo.” I think he was telling me that the other guy was possessed by Satan.
He may have had a point, but I think not. I think he avoided our Kool Aid because he did not understand what we were saying.
If your church plant strategy (for that matter, if your church strategy) does not align with the language that your community speaks, they will spit out the message. It does not matter how much you like your Kool Aid. It matters how much your customer likes it. It does not matter how much you like your program, canned presentation, event, sermon, or music. It matters how much of your message your audience gets.
Want a simple solution to the problem? Learn to listen. If the person to whom you talk is at all interested in finding God, he or she will tell you how to present the Gospel if you will listen to him or her. Base your presentation on the language he or she speaks--most often, it is the language of pain. When you hear the pain story, you will know what Christ wants to heal. People always respond to the Master’s healing touch.
(See the next post in the series.)

Principles: Mission (4)

Fri, 5 Dec 2008 17:31:55 -0600

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The mission of the church plant is the Great Commission
What is God’s mission? Is it not to fill the earth with news of his accessibility through the atoning death of his son? Is God not on mission to bring to himself? By writing the kind of words I just wrote, our little group told of things God is not doing. God is not in business to bring us prosperity, equality, clean air, or lower taxes. God is not bringing us victory over other religions, machines, capitalism, communism, fascism, militarism, liberalism, or the emergent churches. He is not a trite god waiting on our opinions or a capricious god trying to kick us around. He is God Almighty and he has a plan to make himself known. He may accomplish a few of the things listed as nots, but they will be incidental accomplishments and evidence of his great power and love. His purpose is to glorify himself by making himself known to his creation--he is, in that sense, on mission.
We, therefore, might want to shut up all our pointless programmatic wandering, hand-wringing, and politicized scheming. Trust God, spread the Gospel, and equip the saints; it’s about that simple. Go and make disciples (period).
Why then do we overcomplicate things with grand shows and programs that encourage religious consumerism and anxiety in church staff? In my group, one man asked if we do all the churchy stuff because we really think that we need to build God’s church, meaning that he will not build a good church without all our Wal-Marting of his bride.
That is, the brother wondered, do we not really trust God to build his church? The guys in my group—about 20—admitted that most of their time is spent in administrative tasks and doing things they do not like to do, do not feel equipped to do, and that have very little to do with advancing the Kingdom. Things they think, or are told, will build the church, but do not do much building. Things that are not well connected to evangelism or equipping the saints to do ministry.
The consensus of our group was: If your mission is doing much of anything other than spreading the Gospel and equipping the saints in the simplest way but no simpler, you are fighting against God. God will win by killing you or your church. (I think they meant that last part metaphorically.)
Together, we worked on some thoughts to put into practice. We decided that ones calling—his ability to fill in the blanks: “God called me to ___ ___” is critical. We should all be able to explain what God called us to do, and it should look very closely like something that directly advances the kingdom of God.
Second, we agreed that God is interested in His agenda, and not so much mine or yours. So we will be very smart to get over ourselves and get back to finding him at work and joining his work (thank you Henry Blackaby). In that sense, what other mission could a church possibly have than the Great Co-mission?
Third, we are under the judgment of God’s word. It is not his word that needs our judgment, it is our (my) life that needs changing to be more like Jesus’. That means we are right when we love people and wrong when we do not. We are right when we are teachable and wrong when we are not. We are right to ponder and discuss God’s mission and wrong when we assume we have it all nailed down.
I asked them to explain what God’s mission might look like when we encounter it in action. What they described sounds a lot like what we might call a movement of the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit wants to be in charge and he wants to move through your town reclaiming souls as his kingdom advances. He wants us to pray and tell everyone who will listen that there is good news today: God is accessible! Jesus paid the price of admission to God’s throne room—he can be found. So get with it. Go make disciples.

(See the next post in the series.)

Principles In Problems? (3)

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 17:27:35 -0600

See previous posts

Perhaps the answers are in the problems
Perhaps a counterintuitive approach will help. What if the principles for church planting success are masked as answers to problems that cause failure?
I recently led a teaching session at a gathering of church planters in Louisiana. I asked the audience to list the primary causes of church plant failures, and I listed theirs and mine on a whiteboard. We used the list to spur conversations on how to solve those problems, and came up with some interesting principles.
We concluded that two problems result in a supermajority of failures. For the purpose of this chapter, we will look at those two, but we will not stop there. I will follow with two other briefly stated, but nonetheless important, problems and their underlying principles, and a final list of several principles that readers may want to consider. Sorry to be so complicated—this subject lends itself to complexity.
The two biggies: (1) the church’s mission does not align with God’s mission, and (2) the church’s strategy does not align with the people they’re trying to reach, may be restated as principles. First, the mission of the church plant is the Great Commission. Second, the strategy of a church plant must make sense in its context. The lesser problems may be similarly restated: (3) the planter’s spouse does not sense God’s call to plant a church, comes out as: God calls husbands and wives as a team. Fourth, the planter spends an inordinate amount of time on trivial or administrative duties, may restated as: a church planter must focus his time on evangelism and discipleship.
(See the next post in the series.)

Make Christmas Special Again

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 14:58:36 -0600

In light of the heartbreaking pain in the world--from Mumbai terrorists to greeter trampling Wal-Mart consumers--Christmas needs to be about hope and love. God is accessible friends.
Worship fully
Spend less
Give more
Love all

Principles: Nothing New (2)

Wed, 3 Dec 2008 14:52:36 -0600

See previous post here

I will not bore you with sappy, bumper sticker slogans on why principles count. You’re too smart for that. I will simply remind you that Jesus taught timeless principles by using examples that made sense to his listeners. He talked about fishing, shepherding, farming, and nature—things people encountered every day. He illustrated God’s principles that transcend time and culture. Why did he teach that way? Because Jesus is the smartest man in the world. We are wise to follow his words and his method, don’t you agree?

Principle-based church growth is not new
I recently heard about a man who started a church several years ago. The church grew large fast. The man hired staff members who agreed with his vision and ideas on how the church should function. He hired young men and women with energy and zeal for God’s work. Most of his staff were newlywed and childless. The church played great music and he preached excellent sermons downloaded from the Internet.

After a few years, the church began to have a hard time paying their bills. Staff members began to leave for better paying positions. When the Worship Pastor left, the church began to resemble a wagon without a wheel. When the Discipleship Pastor left, well, we all know how hard it is to move a four-wheel wagon with two wheels missing.

A friend told me that the church is just about dead today. How could that happen? Simple, I think they ignored principles. They attracted people to an excellent, free weekly concert. Fearing that they might offend the crowd, they rarely took an offering or challenged people to live for Christ. The messages, though solidly biblical, lacked heart. The staff were zealous and fun, but terribly naïve about how hard it would be to survive on pennies and seventy hour weeks once the babies came.

As you read down the list of principles, think back to this brief story. One does not ignore principles long without paying a heavy toll.

Many books offer principles by which one may discern the how to organize God’s work. One of the best is Gene Mims’s classic Kingdom Principles for Church Growth. Mims believes that the key principle guiding the growth of Christ’s church is the Kingdom of God, which is also central to Christ’s preaching. Every other principle stems from the root of the Kingdom. Another classic volume to consider is Donald McGavran’s Understanding Church Growth. McGavran, one of the fathers of the Church Growth Movement (to which many contemporary church planters owe their appreciation), states that the working out of God’s will drives the engine of the church. Who in his right mind would argue with these two giants of modern Christianity? Not me, but what about church planting principles? Are there certain principles that apply only to church planting or do the same principles that apply to all churches?

It is my feeling that there are not certain principles that work in church plants. Principles based on biblical truth work in any church, and any principle that grows a legacy church will grow a new church.

I stake my claim on the premise that a principle is rather like a law—it is not subject to the whims of culture, but is trans-cultural. A principle is timeless. Why, then, if principles stand the test of time, do the majority of books on church planting focus on one or two popular models? I cannot say with any certainty, but speculatively, we like what’s hot. Principles lack the sizzle of trendy practices. We all know that success takes time, but we really want to get rich quick! We buy books written by guys who have made a big splash in a short amount of time. Book publishers like to publish books that sell—do you see the cycle? We find ourselves with stacks of books on models that worked for a season but cannot stand up to the whims of society.

Are the church planting books of our day the equivalent of the books on how to build a great Sunday School of our fathers’ day? Are they merely helpful and popular in their time, but relics for the back shelf tomorrow? And what about tomorrow—will something new come along that causes as much confusion as postmodernism has caused legacy churches? It would seem likely, would it not? The world is changing faster than ever; a wise person can expect the next decade to offer some new cultural expression before which current church models stand mute.

Principles, on the other hand, offer us a way to see through the fog of changing times. Principles help us translate the Gospel into the next language and the next after that just as they have for two millennia. The same principles that started the churches that grew in Antioch will start the churches that grow two generations from now in your town.

What are the principles? Where does one fund them?
(See the next post in the series.)

Principles or Practices? (1)

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 15:51:17 -0600

Does a successful church plant depend more on a set of foundational principles or contemporary practices? Is this argument even worth our time? Don’t we have better things to do than to read some highbrow theological argument written by some out-of-touch seminary professor? Principles, practices, who cares?

Well, you do. You care, and I will tell you why. You care because you do not want to fail, and I care because I do not want you to fail. You have gone to all the trouble to dig through your calling on this church planting thing. You’ve bought some books and read them. You’ve tried to explain why you cannot see yourself leading a legacy church, and your parents are beginning to understand what you’re talking about (for that, you may deserve a medal). You’ve prayed so hard that your in-laws are even beginning to get it. Wow! You’re on a roll. You have 300 people on your prayer list. You took a class online, and you wrote a pretty decent proposal for your new church. You know where to locate, and you have a few sponsors and an Association Director who all think you’re the guy they want. Even with all that, you will fail if you base your new church on your favorite, trendy practices instead of God’s principles.

Don’t believe me? You will. In three or four, maybe seven years from now, your model will grow old and unable to adapt to the people you need to reach. You will look around and wonder what happened. Why is your church no longer reaching people? What do you need to do to be cool again? You will feel more like a restaurateur than a man of God. You may get mad, you may quit, and you may remember the principles that should have been foundational stones for your rocking new church. The principles always win in the end.

Open the Gates

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 08:56:39 -0600

I’m sitting in a Mark Weible seminar on how to use the Internet to expand Christ’s kingdom. Mark unloads volumes of solid content in a short time. He facilitates a great meeting--nothing boring in this room--at least not from the speaker ;^]’

Mark just made a provocative statement, “Get rid of the gatekeeper who is preventing interactive content on your website.” The thought of a church publishing content rather than an outdated, online brochure is, of course, an idea in itself. Most church (and church agency) web sites publish one old message and have no interactive content at all. If they do have a blog or forum, there’s a person in charge of holding back the masses from posting anything without permission. The owner of one site that I oversee allow NO interactive content for fear of what might be posted. I never use that site--wonder why? Mark says we need to open the gates and let the forum be as open as Paul’s conversations on Mars Hill.

He has a point. Here’s a story from my morning that shows some of the problem.

My company Visa card was denied when I took Mark to dinner last night. Since the company pays the bill on time, I knew it was probably a fraud alert. What I could not figure out was why Visa had not called me. So this morning, I called them.

Turns out that a phisher sent in a request for $1, which is how a phisher verifies a credit card’s availability for online theft. If the $1 charge goes through, they hit you again for whatever they can get. Hooray for Visa for stopping that charge because it look like odd. They caught it because they know my habits (SIDEBAR lesson for Christ-followers: We can get a fairly good idea of God’s will by knowing his habits too. God is consistent.)

OK, so I told them to cancel that $1 charge. They told me they would cancel my card(!) and send me another one in the mail immediately. I will get it in a few days.

This is a bit frustrating because I need my company card today--it’s convenient. Fraud, however, is REALLY inconvenient, so I let Visa do their fraud-prevention thing.

At the end of the conversation, I asked the Visa lady why they did not call me. They had an old phone number. How could this be? Because that particular Visa card does not allow me to access my account online, so when I changed my phone number (18 months ago) they only way to update that account would be for me to remember to call them or send them a letter both of which I forgot to do. All my other accounts were updated online in a few minutes.

That one account is not online because four years ago a gatekeeper at my company denied me from online access because “it’s a security risk.” Evidently he or she was misinformed. In this case, being offline is actually more risky. Welcome to the brave new world.

It os more risky to the health of your church to stay offline, and if you have a web presence, it is more risky to have a gatekeeper. What? No way!

Sorry, but my opinion is right on this one. If you want your church web site to create hundreds of new hits that lead to new conversations about Christ and visitors--open the gates. Here’s how:
Post content. Sermons, blogs, updates, videos, podcasts, twits, events, updates, prayer requests (careful about posting peoples’ dirty laundry)--post anything that’s helpful. Please do not post a bunch of junk like, “I just ate breakfast,” “I took a breath,” “I exist,” or anything that is so trivial we get tired of seeing your name. Basic rule may be that more than three or four tweets/status updates a day is one too many.

On blogs: I stop reading ones that look like advertising. Really, we are not all that impressed that you are speaking to yet another group. We MAY, however, be interested in what you are saying. Too many Christian guys today are more interested in selling their products than they are in advancing the kingdom.

Setting a good example, Alan Hirsch just gave away the first two chapters of his new book ReJesus. The chapters are excellent, and I pre-ordered five copies because I want to reward Alan for adding value. Add value and eventually, maybe 5-6 years down the line, people will reward you.

Allow people to comment on every page. This is new for me--Mark’s suggestion, and I think he’s right. I am trying to carve out time to reform my web site so everything has a place for community development; i.e., commentary. I want the conversations, criticisms, jokes--all of it. I am here to help people get free in Jesus. They can’t do that if they can’t talk--communication goes both ways.

Open the gate. Stop screening comments. What? Someone might cuss me out. Someone might post a heretical thought. Someone might post nonsense. True. Just like in real life, someone probably will post something you do not like, and you will have to deal with it (or delete it). You can always delete. Someone might post spam--for that make sure your site has a spam blocker that requires a real person to post content. Not hard.

Here’s a prediction: open the gates and your influence will increase faster than if you keep the gate closed. When your church opens the gates, you will engage more people who need Good News; you will make more disciples faster--or do you do church for some other reason?

Additionally, the first mission-sending agency or seminary that reforms its web site to allow open source content and commentary will capture the generation they seek. Moreover, the ones reached will advance the kingdom in ways that we cannot now predict or imagine.

Join the conversation. Rock the world. Let the barbarians in and invite them to know Jesus. What on earth are you afraid of?

Is Organic a Movement?

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:07:57 -0500

One of my former students (Joe) moved to Ft. Worth to finish his education and get a bit more on-the-job church planter training. His experience has not been as we had originally expected or hoped. He did, however, meet up with one of my old friends from my New Mexico days: Gibby Espinoza.

Gibby, and his wife Paige, are two of the most genuine Christ-followers I know. Several years ago, Gibby started an organic church called Echo Project. Joe and Gibby connected recently, and Joe was impressed with the organic nature of Gibby’s church. (Gibby went organic a few years before the rest of us even knew how to spell it.)

I told Joe that I am interested in hearing more about Gibby’s group. I’m curious about how the organic movement (if it is a movement) reduces the pressure of "being in the ministry." If these guys can reform Christian leadership into less performance focused and more God focused, they’ll get my vote.

Another friend who is deeply involved in coaching organic style planters in the US says that average lifespan for their groups is only 18 months. Doesn't sound too encouraging, but maybe there are factors about which I am unaware (wouldn’t be the first time). For instance, regarding the 18 month window, I wonder if the groups break up because key members move to another city, or because of internal dysfunction. If they move, do members plant a new group in their new city? People I asked do not know.

One expert thinks that if the groups develop a network structure that holds the leaders accountable to a set of doctrinal specifics and moral values, the groups will last longer. To me, his suggestion sounds denominational, so I imagine the organic crowd will push back. The hope, of course, is that the organic church is a movement of the Holy Spirit, but the jury is out, if indeed we can even have a jury on the Holy Spirit’s work, and I suspect that we cannot.

If the organic church is a Spirit driven movement, only God can stop it. If it’s anthropocentric, it will fold and fairly soon, I imagine. I hope it’s a movement.

Let me know if you have any experiences that you want to share. Do you think the organic church is a movement of the Spirit? Why so?

The Great Goddess Numbers

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 07:51:37 -0500

If we want a Christian to be a different kind of person than a secularist, we will need to reward differently than the world. The world rewards and punishes based on financial profit, which is often tied to entertainment measured by attendance.

The title of this piece is a quote from A. W. Tozer, a man whose devotional writings I read daily (along with Oswald Chambers’s) and who, though he is dead, still speaks as loudly as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. Tozer has shaped some of me and convicted all of me for many years. I owe my thanks to Ron Eggert for compiling Tozer on Christian Leadership: A 366-Day Devotional.

Today’s entry is one I find particularly haunting.
The emphasis today in Christian circles appears to be on quantity, with corresponding lack of emphasis on quality. Numbers, size and amount seem to be very nearly all that matters even among evangelicals. . . . The church that can show an impressive quantitative growth is frankly envied and imitated by other ambitious churches.
This is the age of the Laodiceans. The great goddess Numbers is worshiped with fervent devotion and all things religious are brought before her for examination. Her Old Testament is the financial report and her New Testament is the membership roll. To these she appeals as arbiters of all questions, the test of spiritual growth and the proof of success or failure in every Christian endeavor.
A little acquaintance with the Bible should show this up for the heresy it is. To judge anything spiritual by statistics is to judge by other than scriptural judgment. It is to admit the validity of externalism and to deny the value our Lord places upon the soul as over against the body. . . . Yet it is being done every day by ministers, church boards and denominational leaders. And hardly anyone notices the deep and dangerous error.

No wonder our Pastors, their wives, and staff confess such fatigue. Are we victims of our age or have we created this punishing trend? (Tozer, Schaeffer, Henry, and a few others predicted a crisis in Christianity about 50 years ago.) Many financial analysts as diverse as McCain and Buffet predicted the financial meltdown we see around us.

Is the ministry of our day much different from the banking industry of the last decade? Are we not making loan guarantees based on unsound principles--loans that s no person can repay? Do we not measure the wrong things and ignore the right ones? Do you agree that we too often give status to men who have little clue how to bring us to God’s throne?

Is the ministry not hard enough without adding worldly pressure? It would seem that a just and righteous God would do something to gain the attention of his servants if, indeed, said servants mishandled his work. If God wants us interested in souls (focusing on evangelism and discipleship), but we insist on committing adultery with the business end of the church, why does God not discipline us somehow? After all, he is GOD. He could simply stop drawing people to our churches. He could slowly tighten the money belt, cut off the flow of funds, empty the chairs or fill them with vapid, selfish consumers. He could stop our churches from growing or cause them to shrink. That would show us, wouldn’t it?

What’s that you say? He has done all that but we seem merely to arch our backs under his paddle? We seem to have lined our jeans with cardboard? My but you are harsh this morning.

Perhaps we--our at least a few of us--should clock out of the Christian rat race. Is it possible for us, do we have the faith required to just stop all this antichristian nonsense before the Lord spanks us all soundly and puts us all to bed sans supper? How do we get off? Do we get jobs outside the church to do the work of the church without the necessary bow to the goddess? Do we just stop counting things? Do we unseat the men of machinery now leading things and demand that our Pastors be men of prayer, soul winners who speak truth? Do we walk out on worldly preaching and obvious sermonizing and bring our friends to the one who speaks forth from God’s word as though God had spoken with him that week? Can we become courageous persons whose work reflects faith?

Perhaps you disagree. Or perhaps you, like me, find churchianity a dead-end. I’m hunting answers and I have a trail, but it’s taking me a very long time to follow it down. One does not untangle oneself as easily as he might think. One does not give away the location of a prize until he or she knows that it is, in fact, the prize. I’m looking at things under a different set of lights these days. Listening to different voices than the ones I found mesmerizing a decade ago. My serious thought is to consider the crisis that very few people in the US or Canada allow themselves to be made disciples these days as something on which to focus. I wonder how I can get out from under the massive pile of administrative duty to do the things that lead to evangelism/discipleship of others. I may stop counting attendance, put the money in other hands, encourage our church to give away what we might otherwise save for rainy days. I’ve already stopped training or rewarding slick, professional ministers who market the Gospel like a fake Rolex, then demand a handout.

What about you? What’s your quest look like?