Figuring It Out...

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For the last few years I have been on a journey.  It's a journey that has cost me friendships.  It's a journey that has caused me to look pretty deep and it has caused me to evaluate my understanding of "church".  This week I had an epiphany.  It's both/and and not either/or.

You're thinking ,"That's pretty cryptic."

You're right.  Let me clarify.

The journey that I have been on has been the journey from thinking of church as primarily a "come and see" to that of "go and tell."  As per usual I have taken the pendulum of my life and swung it from one end of the spectrum to the other.

I didn't even notice.

Passion does that.

This week I met with a group of pastors from the area for a planning time.  We were meeting to plan what our churches would do together as we participate in "E.A.C.H.", a city-wide movement of churches that are seeking to give "everyone a chance to hear" during the first forty days after Easter.  We prayed and it was amazing.

Then we started talking.

Fairly quickly the debate began: proclamation OR service. The battle lines were drawn. The combatants were unwilling to budge. Then an image I used for many years with Campus Crusade for Christ (and I had used in a recent worship service) popped into my mind:

Now, what struck me was that I had forgotten something that had been drilled into me for ten years on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. A simple truth that brought clarity to my journey:

There are three relational modes: Ministry, Body, Natural.

I want to quote Keith Davy at length here:

As God works through believers in seeking to save the lost, there are three different types of relationships, or relational modes. These modes of witness are delineated by the nature of the relationship between the believer(s) and the unbelievers. God always seeks to work through our witness as a body, through our natural relationships, and through the relationships that result from intentional ministry outreach. A ministry’s evangelistic impact is increased as it expands the influence of each relational mode. Evangelistic momentum is achieved as synergy is generated between all three modes. Understanding these modes will enable us to align our methods with God’s work more effectively and expand the impact of each mode more fully.

We must have all three.  I am not suggesting that we go back to a model of church that is driven by programs and that everything is done within the four spiritual walls of the building.  What I am saying is that there must be strategic placement of all three modes in the life of any congregation and in the life of the church as a whole.

It's coming together.  The journey is still long and I am sure there will be many twists and turns along the way, but this is a significant piece that has come together.

Maybe I should take another look at some of those other models that I used to make fun of? I suppose I should.

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The Rest of the Story

[podcast]http://danielmrose.com/wp-content/uploads/Grace-101024-reduced-64kbps.mp3[/podcast]

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Psalm 136:1-9 - Creation, Worship, Mission

[podcast]http://danielmrose.com/wp-content/uploads/Grace-101017-reduced.mp3[/podcast]

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Why Weren't They There?

"You keep saying you've got something for me.
something you call love, but confess.
You've been messin' where you shouldn't have been a messin'
and now someone else is gettin' all your best.

These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
one of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you."

In the 1920s the Christians walked away from education. In the 1930s and 40s we walked away from science and academia. In the 1960s we walked away from culture.  In 2010 it appears we have, by and large, we are in danger walking away from our communities.

Today I spent the day at a local hospital which was hosting an international taste festival and a world impact expo.  The organizer sought to provide opportunity for ten congregations or organizations from each of the world's three dominant faiths: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam to highlight their mission efforts around the world.  Only four Christian churches committed to participating.  One backed out and one was a no show the day of the event.

The Jewish communities and Islamic communities had their full compliment and then some because the Christians were no shows.

The Christians were no shows.

Over the last few years I have read and heard a lot of rhetoric and polemic about Islam and its negative influence in the world. Christians have felt threatened.  There has been a renewed zeal "evangelize" the "Muslim world". There is great concern about Muslim extremists blowing things up.

But, in their own backyard the Christians were no shows.

We have to show up.  When I worked with Campus Crusade for Christ we talked about how 90% of movement building was showing up.

Boots on the ground.

Being there.

I love that I am part of a church community that showed up.  A movement is building. God is at work. We got to see it because we showed up.

I hope that our boots are made for walking and that we won't walk out but we will walk in and show up.

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A Minute to Win It, or, How YouTube Changed Media

A little over a week ago a group of high school students gathered at Grace Chapel, EPC in Farmington Hills, MI.  They were there to play "A Minute to Win It".  They played a ton of different games, laughing, and trying to win, and then laughing some more. One of the volunteers in the crowd were recording the mayhem and a few of the videos were uploaded to YouTube.

Then it happened.  An email from an exec at NBC requesting the videos for use on an upcoming episode of A Minute to Win It!  The media is now trolling the web to find media for itself to show to us as media.

In this new world of HD cameras and YouTube one thing is now certain:

The media creators have become the media consumers.

Think about it.  NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, etc...need us.  They need us to keep themselves relevant, hip, and in the know. They need us to create for them.  They are consuming our self-made media as much as we are consuming theirs.

Ironic.

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To Think or Not to Think

What does it mean for a Christian to think? I don't mean the kind of thinking where one tries to figure out a problem. I am talking about the kind of thinking where one struggles with their core beliefs and tries to determine what is real and true.

We as Christians believe that the Bible is special revelation which shows us truth and points us to what is real. We believe that it is authoritative, that means we believe that we have a book that gives us real answers by which we ought to live.

I believe that this is true.

I repeat: I believe that this is true.

However we must not take our faith and use it as a replacement for critical thought. The Apostle Paul commended the Berean believers because they searched the Scriptures for truth. If we are going to be like them then we must take our cues from them.

I am coming to the thought that for the follower of Jesus to be a real and true thinker then he or she must truly believe that the Scriptures really do have authority. But that is not all. The belief must also extend to the necessity of a diligent study of the Scriptures. We must allow them to change our presuppositions and allow them to change what we believe about the core of our worldviews.

This is what happened with the Bereans. They were a community that believed one way about God until they took a fresh look at their authoritative text and allowed it to change them and change the core foundations of their entire worldview.

So, will we think? It takes work. It takes effort. It takes a willingness to hear the authoritative texts of our community, which are the very words of God, himself.

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Activity or Experience?

Rick Devos asked a simple question during his presentation at TEDxDetroit: When you plan an event are you thinking about activity or experience?  This is a profound question.  One that I think those of who are in the church need to think deeply about.  We must ask ourselves what we are calling one another too.

I think that often times we are asking and calling people to activities.

"Come and do..."

"Bring your friend to..."

What if this became...

"Hey I am a part of..."

"Do you want to join me in..."

One set of phrases represents activities, the other an experience.  Jesus is not something we do.  Church is not something we do.  Recently I have found myself saying, "We do church..." or "How do you do church..." These kinds of statements are meaningless.  We can't "do" church any more than I can "do" human being.

It's interesting this kind of language is typically reserved for those who are impersonators, like this:







Man, Hartman "does" a good Sinatra!  But, he' not the real thing.  He's an impersonator.  He's faking it.  He's doing his best but it's not real.

I think that when we try to "do" church we are the same, simple impersonators who are doing best but not the real thing.

We need to think about the experience.  How can we invite people into an experience where they come face to face with the body of Christ and its head, Jesus?  This question is imperative for us to answer.  Is it through fog machines and video?  Is it done through a high church liturgy? Maybe on both.  Maybe not on both.

It seems to me that it might be in the people.  When we gather for worship are we looking at ourselves and our needs or are we looking to interact and engage with the God of the universe? Are we inviting people into his presence or to our building?

I would love to know what you think it means to think about experience versus activity in this context.  Comment like crazy and let's discuss...

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