July 2004 Archives

By Brian McLaren, found through Jordon Cooper:

Could it be that the church is as it is in so many places not because of a lack of effort or a lack of sincerity or a lack of spirituality (or even a lack of money, commitment, or prayer), but rather because our sincere efforts, passionate prayers, and material resources are all aimed in the wrong direction - the direction of self-preservation, self-aggrandizement, self-improvement?

What if saving the church is a self-defeating mission?...

It has been said that the greatest obstacle to the coming of the kingdom of God is the church, preoccupied with her own existence. Could our preoccupation with making better churches rather than better blessing the world be the heart disease that plagues us? And could our Clause-A theological systems be the high-fat cause of that heart disease?

From Bruderhof, found through pomomusings:

This is why I stopped “going to church.” For the church is not an institution, or an event, and least of all a building. Rather it is distinguished by the kind of relationships its members have with one another. It’s not about suits and ties, or about sermons and singing, but about a radical realignment of relationships governed by Christ’s lordship. It is, in Bonhoeffer’s words, life together in Christ.

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Too much of how we lead the church is based on trying to please everyone but the One who matters. (Leonard Sweet, Summoned to Lead)

Found via backyard missionaries:

What happened to radical Christianity, the un-nice brand of Christianity that turned the world upside down? What happened to the category smashing, life threatening anti-institutional gospel that spread through the first century like wildfire and was considered (by those in power) dangerous? What happened to the kind of Christians whose hearts were on fire, who had no fear, who spoke the truth no matter the consequence, who made the world uncomfortable, who were willing to follow Jesus wherever he went? What happened to the kind of Christians who were filled with passion and gratitude who everyday were unable to get over the grace of God?

I'm ready for a Christianity that ruins my life that captures my heart and makes me uncomfortable. I want to be filled with an astonishment that is so captivating that I am considered wild and unpredictable and... well... dangerous! Yes I want to be dangerous to a dull and boring religion. I want a faith that is considered dangerous by our predictable and monotonous culture. (Mike Yaconelli, Dangerous Wonder)

Pastoring takes a lot of energy. I can put up with a lot if I believe in the mission of the church.

The mission we're living, though, is not always the mission Jesus gave us: to make disciples. It's easy to lose sight of that mission and to think that the mission of a church is to keep its members happy, and to look successful. Spence Burke talks about how it's easy to move from being a minister to an ad-minister.

I'm asking a lot of questions which make it harder to find that energy. I believe that other people - pastors and church members alike - are asking similar questions.

A question isn't an answer. But here are some questions I'm asking:

Are Sunday mornings really accomplishing what we think they are? Why do they take such a disproportionate amount of the church's energy?

Is anyone else noticing the number of godly people who are not backsliding, but are finding it increasingly harder to function within the evangelical church as it is?

How much tweaking will it take to get back to mission? How do we move beyond tweaking to deep change and repentance?

Is anyone else wrestling with these questions? Is it safe?

Update: LT posts similar questions.

It is not our responsibility "to make people 'Christians'" and get them baptized into a particular denomination, but rather to help people decide to follow Jesus and his radical message. Maybe this is why the New Testament writers only use "Christian" three times but "disciple" on 269 occasions! (Tom Getman, World Vision International)

But, in the last five years I’ve seen large churches, some of whom had been very prosperous as mega-churches, say, "This is all wrong. We must do discipleship." That kind of repentance is what is needed to start the tidal wave. (Dallas Willard, RELEVANT magazine)

In the past week, I've met with a ministry leader who no longer thinks going to church on Sunday is useful. I've seen a couple of former pastors who look better than ever since they've left the pastorate. And I have resonated with the description of Dallas Willard as someone who got down to business by "stepping down from a pastorate involved in trying to attract people to his church, and immersing himself into the culture around him armed only with a Bible and a desire to make his faith more real."

God is doing something new, and I think he's either going to do it outside our churches, or he's going to do it in churches that say, "This has all been wrong."

Scott Williams writes:

last night a group of us pondered the ramifications of the 'power of weakness'. we talked about how god consistantly uses the least, the youngest, the cripple to impact the world. in a culture where the first born was elevated and blessed, god consistantly chose the younger brother, the prostitute, the blessing stealer, the adolescent. if you are familiar with the sacred writings in the bible, especially the old testament, it is apparent that jehovah seemed to have a sardonic habit of elevating those who were inadequate. he called gideon "mighty warrior" when gideon knew full well he was not. he trimmed gideon's army from 35,000 to 300 to prove to everyone that he did not need our superstar abilities, he did not require talent, he only needed passion and a willingness to step outside of our comfort zone.

lately i have pondered the paradox almost daily, even written about it, with regard to our fascination, our need for, spiritual superstars. the bible talks about "when i am weak then i am at my strongest" yet we still insist that we are not worthy, not capable, not talented enough to be a change agent. we read that "we boast in our weakness" yet flock to stand at the alter of the talented and the seemingly strong. it is a lesson that we all struggle to learn. we live in a culture that elevates strength, talent, looks and ability. we live in a spiritual kingdom the honors weakness, willingness, humility and dependence. no wonder the ways of the spirit seem to be stupid to the average outsider. as campolo once said, the price tags have been switched.

Over the past couple of months, I've been debating what to do with this site. It's been sitting dormant, and I almost let it die. But it's back, and (apart from an upcoming camping vacation) we're back in business.

The short story is that I've wanted to write a book the subject of a church dying to itself, and I'm nowhere where I hoped to be. This past week, I had lunch with a new friend. As we talked, some of the thoughts that led to the creation of this site were reawakened. I need to get busy working on how this will look in my life, and I need to commit some of this to the computer screen as I resume my writing. It was enough to get me over the hump of figuring out some technical questions and paying enough bills to get this blog going again.

I'm looking forward to continuing the conversation.