RT @PetersonDaily: Church leaders frequently warn against the drugs and the sex, but, at least in America, almost never against the crowds.
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Repackaging is something that many companies do with an old product. When you have a product that has been popular but is declining, you give it a new outside and hope that kick starts a surge in purchasing. One of the more recent repackaging efforts has been that of Miller Lite. Last summer it was repackaged with it’s original styling. People liked it and bought more.
While repackaging may be something useful in the beer industry it’s pretty silly when it comes to being the Church in the world. Yet, many local congregations are doing just that.
Everyone I know agrees that we are quickly moving into a post-Christendom culture here in the US. Intellectual ascent to reality is a good thing. The problem arises when we begin discussing how to enter into a society and culture that is becoming increasingly post-Christian. Buzzwords get thrown around like “missional”. Congregations decide to change “strategy” to become more “missional”.
In reality they’re not really doing anything different than they were before, they’re simply using different words to describe the same thing. They are repackaging. They are attempting to change without changing.
Bible studies become “discipleship groups” or “community groups”. But, they’re still Bible studies. Programs are called something different, but they’re still programs. People’s lives are still filled to overflowing with church activities. They are still cloistered away, living out their daily lives in holy huddles.
We need to actually change. Repackaging is not the solution.
When I first became a missionary to the college campus I read a little book about the life of Hudson Taylor. One of the things that struck me was how he was disowned by his missionary agency because he chose to fully enter into Chinese culture. He adapted to the Chinese dress, facial hair, haircut, he assimilated into the culture as a missionary. He refused to bring English culture with him, he believed that the gospel was enough. He didn’t seek to convert the Chinese to English-ism. As a result, he was cut off by his agency.
Today we consider that approach normal when people head overseas as missionaries. Most missions agencies now train their would-be missionaries in becoming cross-cultural and try to help them assimilate into their new culture. Why? Because they know that this is the best way to incarnate the gospel mission. As Derek Webb sings, “You must become what you want to save.”
Yet, here we are in the US and we are living in a new culture where the Church must recognize that it is on the mission field. We think by repackaging the same programs and paradigms that we will be able to reach those far from Jesus. We won’t. We must take our cues from the missionary world and begin to ask the hard questions about what needs to really change so that we can truly incarnate the gospel in this culture.
Change is necessary. Changing without changing isn’t going to cut it any longer. We can continue competing with one another for the same flock or we can go about the hard work of disassembling the current institutions and creating something new for a new culture.
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RT @BaseballQuotes1: Close don’t count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades. -Frank Robinson http://t.co/j5uIT32kVv
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RT @authorjryan: Still one of my favorite quotes of all time. And should be the motto of social media… http://ift.tt/1dyA6Pt
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There’s an old saying, “That’s like moving deck chairs on the Titanic.” The idea behind the saying is simple. Rearranging deck chairs is cosmetic, it doesn’t meet the real need, avoiding a giant iceberg.
I continue to see pieces written about “worshiptainment”. They decry the state of the church and the worship wars. They ask questions like, “Is the word of God enough?” They talk about taking away all the comforts of the Western/modern church. The articles usually point to a pastor whose church decided to do a teaching time throughout the year that focuses only on teaching from 6 pm to midnight. No band, no fog machines, no screens. Just “The Word”. This is held up as moving away from the worshiptainment that occurs most Sundays in many church buildings.
Those Friday nights are great. They really are a welcome addition to the landscape. Teaching Scripture and theology to the Church is important, dare I say, critical.
The dirty little secret in all of this is that we’re simply moving deck chairs.
In many of our “tall steeple” churches there’s a lot of talk about the need to change and the need to become something different as we enter into a post-christendom culture. So new programs are created, which are really the same programs with different names. Pastors talk about discipleship from the pulpit. We say we are all about entering into the world in a new way, no longer content with the status quo.
There’s an iceberg coming and we know it.
The ship is just too big.
So, we rearrange the deck chairs and try to hold on to what we have.
We consolidate power, we consolidate people, and we consolidate money.
I weep over the lip service.
Christendom is going to die here in the same that it has died in various places over the last 1500 years. In most of US Christianity we are still trying to speak into modernism. That ship has sailed, we are living in a postmodern land where Christendom is in its twilight. We can no longer trust in the Field of Dreams, even if we build it they won’t come any more.
We must learn from the Church in the developing world. We must see how they are practically multiplying their lives. They are faithfully passing the faith on from one generation to the next. They live the gospel in the marketplace and in the neighborhoods. They invite those far from Jesus into their lives and show them Jesus through their words and deeds.
And they do it without fog machines.
And they do it without cool worship leaders with tats and silk screened t-shirts.
And they do it without tax incentives.
And they do it without huge buildings.
And they do it without pulling people out of their spheres of influence.
But…
They do it with Jesus.
They do it with the Holy Spirit.
They do it with the Father.
They do it with faithfulness.
They do it with discomfort.
They do it with fear.
They do it because the love of Jesus compels them.
They do it without excuse.
We need to stop rearranging deck chairs. It’s time to release the life boats, and jump ship. We have to change. Talk is cheap. It’s time to act.
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That moment you wish you were still in Seminary because you may have just had a relatively original thought about a passage of Scripture.
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Hanging with the family at the legit DQ in a long line… (at @DairyQueen in Ypsilanti, MI) http://ift.tt/1PIYEWI
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That’s not even fair. http://twitter.com/CoachLisle/sta…
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I am consistently shocked by the graceless hearts of many Christians. If there is one thing we can’t be, it’s that.
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Casting that vision for The Antioch Movement! Love doing this. I can’t think of anything that I would rather… http://ift.tt/1S3zEIn
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Instagram filter used: Juno
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The post Perfect.
#Repost @baseballism
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Wanna play catch? Photo credit to Aaron Schoolcraft, taken in Anchorage, Alaska #ThisisBeautiful #AmericasBrand www.baseballism.com appeared first on The Journal by Daniel M. Rose. It was written by Daniel M. Rose.
RT @PetersonDaily: We don’t become more spiritual by becoming less human.
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Ladys and gentleman this is dinger. appeared first on The Journal by Daniel M. Rose. It was written by Daniel M. Rose.
RT @MLBGIFs: .@Giancarlo818 just hit one out of Dodger Stadium … Maybe even Chavez Ravine. #StantonSmash http://t.co/MZxVS7Akm8
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RT @BBTN: That was the #StantonSmash to end all Stanton Smashes. WOW! http://t.co/dQXbESVSgx
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If we would embrace the reality that we are owners of the kingdom of God, it changes everything. #sundaythought #kairos
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I keep learning that honesty and truth telling are not common traits. It seems that someone is always lying.
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RT @drlangley1: Don’t emphasize the gifts of a leader over his character. Many people have a tendency to see and reward the gift more than the character!
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This week, well you live with faith like a child? #sundayquestionmonday #fb
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RT @PetersonDaily: Wonder can’t be packaged, and it can’t be worked up. It requires some sense of being there and some sense of engagement.
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National Junior Honor Society induction. Way to go E! Proud of you bud. (@ Lincoln Middle School in Ypsilanti, MI) http://ift.tt/1Ei8frV
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RT @PetersonDaily: That’s the whole spiritual life. It’s learning how to die.
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RT @JasonCarrFox2: Report: Michigan to have three sunny days in a row; residents panic, flee from angry hot light in sky.
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