This wraps-up my mini-series on "Planting is not easy, but still excellent." Of course, nothing is ever really wrapped-up...and that's the point. We live in a broken world with broken pieces of people and places always flying around--- that's why the mission to share God's Good News will always be a challenge. Yet, we always have His power as we seek first His kingdom! Planters: We take heart in Jesus who says, "Take heart...I have over-come the world!"
Story-4: "Changing the Spiritual Climate"
After standing with it's majestic stone facing since 1873, Holy Cross Episcopalian Church closed it's doors in 2009. Why? It's members had slowly died off--- a classic case of what happens when you stop making disciples that make more disciples. My church plant, Rejoice!, then purchased the land and facility and made plans to develop a parking lot and add-on a 9,000 square foot facility--- functional for contemporary worship.
Planting is not easy, but still excellent....
We invited the surrounding neighborhoods to come and see our plans for improving the property and blessing the whole city. We shared grace with all, but grace was not received by all. A small, but very angry group of atheist started a city-wide petition against Rejoice!'s vision to add-on to the facility. They argued we were wrecking history. We argued the building's history was as a church facility--- and we were going to keep it's history by moving forward to make more history!
None-the-less, the atheists sued us. They posted signs around the city to defame us. They wrote to the newspaper and attacked us through a popular city blog. The campaign against Rejoice! (or, more likely, against evangelical Christianity) seemed to be working. The city had a dark cloud over it.
I must admit that my initial "flesh response" was to fight back with clever words. The Holy Spirit, however, broke me from that thinking. I was not to wage a war of flesh-and-blood against flesh-and- blood, but to follow the Father's fight--- a fight in the heavenlies. Therefore, our congregation stayed away from responding to the blogs and we didn't write letters to the editor. Instead, we pray-walked the neighborhoods of the city! We blessed and spoke peace over our enemies. Our responses were positive--- blessing and loving.
Planting is not easy, but still excellent...
What happened? Long story, short: in about one-year's time we not only won the case to build, but even more powerful is that we won the people of the city. There is no doubt prayers of peace broke the spiritual climate of hate. In it's place, the Spirit created an atmosphere of blessing that ignited a renewed hope that Jesus is real and relevant.
How do I know this? Here's one example: Rejoice! began serving the city--- helping to clean up the river/park areas, helping families in crisis, supporting the local government with individual prayer and opening up the new facility to city-wide needs. Members of Rejoice! volunteered to serve on the annual city celebration team--- giving, giving, giving as a blessing in the name of Jesus. Even the mayor's atheist wife dropped her mistrust of Bible-believing Christians and began to welcome the vision of Rejoice!. Wow...all because we battled against principalities of darkness instead of battling flesh and blood!
Friends: preparing for the launch, launching, then developing a new ministry for sustainability is never easy...and the work will never be completed (see blogs 1-2-3 on this topic for more details)...but it is excellent when we develop a church to be effective in bringing the heart of Jesus to the people, instead of developing a church that only brings Christians to the programs.
Start a new ministry and you will automatically have a bulls-eye painted on your back. That's because Satan is afraid of any Christian movement that is missional. Mission in Christ always defeats the work of the enemy. New church plants will continue to come under attack and I say GOOD! That means you're on to something important--- changing the spiritual climate of your city! After all, we plant not because it's easy...but because it's purpose is excellent!
2 Chronicles 20:17, "You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf."
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Part-3: Planting is not easy, but still excellent
Here is part-3 of a mini-series on over-coming false thinking that planting a new church gets easier after the launch and a few years of developing. Please consider reading blogs 1-and-2 on this topic to pick-up the momentum from some of my own stories of how planting is not easy, but still excellent!
Story-3: Be-trayed, yet Be-loved.
A key bit of advice from my own planting coach was to not officially name anyone to a leadership title before year-3. That way, people could prove in good time they were participating as a "it's all about the kingdom cause" and not as a "it's all about the them cause." My coach's advice was godly.
Right from the start we had one family that seemed to be stellar in faith, but the father was always asking when we were going to have a "council" because he would like to serve on it. At year-3, I named him to the first "vision team." A mere one month later, he pulled his first power play, gathering-up a couple other families and insisting that we change our course of planting action--- including for me to fire a key staff person whom I loved having on board.
The new vision team member got quite angry when I said, "Sorry, but that's not the best course of action for anyone," so he and his wife began spreading some simple lies to deceive enough folks to leave our church plant--- right at the very time our 3-year financial covenant with our mother church was wrapping-up! Over 60 people left our plant with their thousands of dollars of offerings. It was like watching a bunch of Ben Franklin's with wings attached, all flying-out the window at the same time!
Spiritual warfare? Of course. You can expect such with a new church plant. Why do you suppose Satan had babies 2-years and under killed around baby Moses and then again around baby Jesus? Because both babies would be great threats to darkness if allowed to grow up! It's the same with baby church plants that are Bible-based and Holy Spirit led to transform cities! Satan wants them out of the picture because they are a direct threat to his plans.
Planting a church is not easy, but still excellent!
By God's instructions (literally, God told me to hold tight before man the vision HE gave me) our fledgling church plant over-came the above adversity. Our leaders went deeper into prayer and the Word. We repented and re-focused on God's vision for us to be a church of the city. In less than 3-months, our growing worship numbers not only made up for the loss of the departed, but surpassed our previous attendance. Likewise, our financial giving not only made up for the earlier loss, but surpassed as well. Surpassed! Through it all, our congregation witnessed our collective obedience of trusting in the Lord and how He would guide our path. We lived and witnessed Proverbs 3:5-6.
Indeed, planting a church is not easy, but still excellent!
Next week, I'll wrap-up this mini-series with a couple more stories of God's goodness in the mist of a church plant seeking to be transformational for the city--- even when things get tough. My hope is that my experiences will inspire you to keep the faith and keeping planting.
Story-3: Be-trayed, yet Be-loved.
A key bit of advice from my own planting coach was to not officially name anyone to a leadership title before year-3. That way, people could prove in good time they were participating as a "it's all about the kingdom cause" and not as a "it's all about the them cause." My coach's advice was godly.
Right from the start we had one family that seemed to be stellar in faith, but the father was always asking when we were going to have a "council" because he would like to serve on it. At year-3, I named him to the first "vision team." A mere one month later, he pulled his first power play, gathering-up a couple other families and insisting that we change our course of planting action--- including for me to fire a key staff person whom I loved having on board.
The new vision team member got quite angry when I said, "Sorry, but that's not the best course of action for anyone," so he and his wife began spreading some simple lies to deceive enough folks to leave our church plant--- right at the very time our 3-year financial covenant with our mother church was wrapping-up! Over 60 people left our plant with their thousands of dollars of offerings. It was like watching a bunch of Ben Franklin's with wings attached, all flying-out the window at the same time!
Spiritual warfare? Of course. You can expect such with a new church plant. Why do you suppose Satan had babies 2-years and under killed around baby Moses and then again around baby Jesus? Because both babies would be great threats to darkness if allowed to grow up! It's the same with baby church plants that are Bible-based and Holy Spirit led to transform cities! Satan wants them out of the picture because they are a direct threat to his plans.
Planting a church is not easy, but still excellent!
By God's instructions (literally, God told me to hold tight before man the vision HE gave me) our fledgling church plant over-came the above adversity. Our leaders went deeper into prayer and the Word. We repented and re-focused on God's vision for us to be a church of the city. In less than 3-months, our growing worship numbers not only made up for the loss of the departed, but surpassed our previous attendance. Likewise, our financial giving not only made up for the earlier loss, but surpassed as well. Surpassed! Through it all, our congregation witnessed our collective obedience of trusting in the Lord and how He would guide our path. We lived and witnessed Proverbs 3:5-6.
Indeed, planting a church is not easy, but still excellent!
Next week, I'll wrap-up this mini-series with a couple more stories of God's goodness in the mist of a church plant seeking to be transformational for the city--- even when things get tough. My hope is that my experiences will inspire you to keep the faith and keeping planting.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Part-2: Planting is not easy, but still excellent!
In my last blog post of July 27, 2014, I spoke to the myth that after the launch and the first couple years of getting established, church planting starts getting easier. Not true. The difficulties simply change. After all, if you're doing real front-line ministry, training disciples that multiply and impact a city, then it's never going to be easy...but will still be excellent...as you move forward in obedience of faith!
Over the next couple weeks, allow me to share a few stories of how I experienced first-hand some not easy, but still excellent moments of church planting.
Story-1: Bumping into Bill
After moving to my plant site in 2003, I began looking for a space to call a "ministry center" for offices and general meeting space. After searching for weeks, I caught a new "For Lease" sign in a window of a small strip mall. I went in and found the owner in the midst of a clean-up. The space had been a pet grooming store and it smelled like 70x70 wet dogs. Still, it was the perfect size in a great location. Trouble is, after I shared my new church vision, the owner told me I couldn't afford his space. I left to look some more. The very next day, however, the owner of the strip mall called me and invited me to lease his open space--- at a discount!
The Lord had led me to my "person of peace." Bill Clifford liked me, enjoyed Jesus, and was intrigued by the vision of the new church start. He wanted to bless me. Eventually, Bill started worshipping at Rejoice!...so did his daughter and her family. For the next 7-years before his death, Bill was always looking to assist me in his own unique ways. He was an influential voice in the community and always spoke well of our church plant in such a manner that it opened up doors of influence. My bumping into Bill was God ordained.
Indeed, searching for a worship center space was not easy, but it was still excellent...
Story-2: Hannah the not so Horrible.
After I found a worship ministry facility, I also needed to find a Sunday morning worship site and a space in the community big enough to host 150 people for Alpha gatherings. I approached the School District only to be given a list of 100 Do's and mostly Don'ts for rental of the 300 seat high school auditorium and connecting lunch room. The person I had to work with was Hannah. She was a toughie and I'm being nice. I could tell that allowing us into the high school on Sundays was seemingly more of hassle than a benefit for Hannah. Still, after the first 3-years of always paying our bills on time, cleaning-up after ourselves (and even better than how we found it) and treating the custodians with great respect, Hannah began to bend her own iron-rod rules. Grace begets grace. The next thing we know, we're getting two large closets on the theater stage to store all our worship and childcare equipment. From then on, every time I walked into Hannah's office to book something new, the doors of welcome flew open for me. By the time our church left the high school for our own building in our 9th year, the school had such high regard for church plants that it allowed another plant to move in right after us!
Indeed, searching for a worship space was not easy, but it was still excellent....
Next week...even more stories of miracles and turn-arounds....
Over the next couple weeks, allow me to share a few stories of how I experienced first-hand some not easy, but still excellent moments of church planting.
Story-1: Bumping into Bill
After moving to my plant site in 2003, I began looking for a space to call a "ministry center" for offices and general meeting space. After searching for weeks, I caught a new "For Lease" sign in a window of a small strip mall. I went in and found the owner in the midst of a clean-up. The space had been a pet grooming store and it smelled like 70x70 wet dogs. Still, it was the perfect size in a great location. Trouble is, after I shared my new church vision, the owner told me I couldn't afford his space. I left to look some more. The very next day, however, the owner of the strip mall called me and invited me to lease his open space--- at a discount!
The Lord had led me to my "person of peace." Bill Clifford liked me, enjoyed Jesus, and was intrigued by the vision of the new church start. He wanted to bless me. Eventually, Bill started worshipping at Rejoice!...so did his daughter and her family. For the next 7-years before his death, Bill was always looking to assist me in his own unique ways. He was an influential voice in the community and always spoke well of our church plant in such a manner that it opened up doors of influence. My bumping into Bill was God ordained.
Indeed, searching for a worship center space was not easy, but it was still excellent...
Story-2: Hannah the not so Horrible.
After I found a worship ministry facility, I also needed to find a Sunday morning worship site and a space in the community big enough to host 150 people for Alpha gatherings. I approached the School District only to be given a list of 100 Do's and mostly Don'ts for rental of the 300 seat high school auditorium and connecting lunch room. The person I had to work with was Hannah. She was a toughie and I'm being nice. I could tell that allowing us into the high school on Sundays was seemingly more of hassle than a benefit for Hannah. Still, after the first 3-years of always paying our bills on time, cleaning-up after ourselves (and even better than how we found it) and treating the custodians with great respect, Hannah began to bend her own iron-rod rules. Grace begets grace. The next thing we know, we're getting two large closets on the theater stage to store all our worship and childcare equipment. From then on, every time I walked into Hannah's office to book something new, the doors of welcome flew open for me. By the time our church left the high school for our own building in our 9th year, the school had such high regard for church plants that it allowed another plant to move in right after us!
Indeed, searching for a worship space was not easy, but it was still excellent....
Next week...even more stories of miracles and turn-arounds....
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Part-1: A missional life is not easy, but it is excellent
In the midst of planting a new congregation, with all it's initial ups-and-downs and attention to detail, I recall thinking early on that, "SOME DAY, when we have a building of our own, a full staff, more money and a (fill in your own blank), THEN life will be easier. THEN we'll be able to put the ministry machine into motion and simply maintain it. THEN, life will be easier for the sake of real ministry...."
Oh how wrong I was...but in a good way.
Just like a school kid who says he can't wait to be a grown-up so he won't have to deal with tests anymore, a planter can exhibit that same kind of thinking. Certainly a start-up from scratch is packed with tests to get off the ground--- like a rocketSHIP--- but even in space, astronauts are still encountering situations. Likewise, when Jesus says to pick up our cross and follow him into a life of discipleSHIP, he is inviting us into a missional life, not a maintenance one. A missional life is not easy, but it is excellent. Those missional tests will lead to missional testimonies of God's missional goodness...and the presence of God's goodness always brings a redeeming A++ to all situations!
In other words, as a church plant matures, the tests simply shift from one challenge to another. Tests change, but they don't go away. That's ok, because it means the plant is moving in a relationSHIP--- it's God to the people and the people to God, then God's people to others. This, instead of just establishing a religious institution where the tests are often more mechanical than missional.
Here are some examples...
1). As your ministry plant grows in "people presence," it creates the need for complexities. For instance, going to two or more worship services means more childcare help is needed, more band member time is required, more prayer teams should be trained and even more coffee must be brewed! Establishing two or more services can create two or more different congregations when it comes to fellowship. A disconnection can start, but that's a test that can be passed well. When people say, "I don't know everyone like I use to," you can remind them the most important person that everyone needs to know at your church is--- Jesus. It's not easy, but it is excellent.
2). Over-prepare and do not ignore on-going coaching advice. After the launch and the excitement of the first few months are behind you, coaching is still needed to prepare for the next challenges. For example, many churches get stuck and will stay stuck at 100 people, or 200 people, UNTIL you change your leadership course. The more folks in worship, the more/better leadership is needed to be trained and deployed for the sake of training and deploying others. Don't first see yourself as a chaplain, but as an apostle who breaks new ground and multiplies impact. If chaplains are needed, recruit and train them from the spiritual gifts that are present in your leadership. Great planters are great at investing in people to make them great! It's not easy, but it is excellent.
3). God inspires great ideas...but He also empowers us by His Holy Spirit to implement good ideas into God action. What's a good idea? Usually one that haunts us from our lack of our implementation! As your new ministry starts growing and time passes, be sure to continue creating fresh opportunities for missional movement. What worked last year may not work this year. Our world/culture is changing that fast! With that in mind, don't throw people into ministry like coal into a furnace to run the machine, but train and encourage them over-and-over. Again, it's relationship over religion. It takes longer, but in the long-run, it blesses deeper and wider because it's God's idea of church. So, empower people to pursue great things. Don't hoard the glory, share the glory. After all, that's what God is doing all the time--- sharing His glory with us as we participate in His mission! It's not easy, but it is excellent.
4). Ask yourself over and over, "What can I pursue today if I wasn't afraid of failure?" Don't be one of those pastors who are just trying to survive. Fear of failure or fear of man is always cancelled when we follow Jesus, who consistently reminds us to "Not be afraid, for I am with you always." No matter how discouraging church planting can be at times--- do not lose the faith. The goal of life is not to arrive at death safely, but to show others how to be the kind of Jesus-disciple that rips down dark curtains for His light to shine through. Hey, when was the last time you heard that kind of talk from a pastor!!? YOU are to be the one to declare such truth! Sometimes short-term losses will gain long-term successes. In my up-coming blogs, I will share a few examples of how the Lord imparted into me "bold faith" for the sake of my planting experience.
A missional life is not easy...but it is excellent.
Oh how wrong I was...but in a good way.
Just like a school kid who says he can't wait to be a grown-up so he won't have to deal with tests anymore, a planter can exhibit that same kind of thinking. Certainly a start-up from scratch is packed with tests to get off the ground--- like a rocketSHIP--- but even in space, astronauts are still encountering situations. Likewise, when Jesus says to pick up our cross and follow him into a life of discipleSHIP, he is inviting us into a missional life, not a maintenance one. A missional life is not easy, but it is excellent. Those missional tests will lead to missional testimonies of God's missional goodness...and the presence of God's goodness always brings a redeeming A++ to all situations!
In other words, as a church plant matures, the tests simply shift from one challenge to another. Tests change, but they don't go away. That's ok, because it means the plant is moving in a relationSHIP--- it's God to the people and the people to God, then God's people to others. This, instead of just establishing a religious institution where the tests are often more mechanical than missional.
Here are some examples...
1). As your ministry plant grows in "people presence," it creates the need for complexities. For instance, going to two or more worship services means more childcare help is needed, more band member time is required, more prayer teams should be trained and even more coffee must be brewed! Establishing two or more services can create two or more different congregations when it comes to fellowship. A disconnection can start, but that's a test that can be passed well. When people say, "I don't know everyone like I use to," you can remind them the most important person that everyone needs to know at your church is--- Jesus. It's not easy, but it is excellent.
2). Over-prepare and do not ignore on-going coaching advice. After the launch and the excitement of the first few months are behind you, coaching is still needed to prepare for the next challenges. For example, many churches get stuck and will stay stuck at 100 people, or 200 people, UNTIL you change your leadership course. The more folks in worship, the more/better leadership is needed to be trained and deployed for the sake of training and deploying others. Don't first see yourself as a chaplain, but as an apostle who breaks new ground and multiplies impact. If chaplains are needed, recruit and train them from the spiritual gifts that are present in your leadership. Great planters are great at investing in people to make them great! It's not easy, but it is excellent.
3). God inspires great ideas...but He also empowers us by His Holy Spirit to implement good ideas into God action. What's a good idea? Usually one that haunts us from our lack of our implementation! As your new ministry starts growing and time passes, be sure to continue creating fresh opportunities for missional movement. What worked last year may not work this year. Our world/culture is changing that fast! With that in mind, don't throw people into ministry like coal into a furnace to run the machine, but train and encourage them over-and-over. Again, it's relationship over religion. It takes longer, but in the long-run, it blesses deeper and wider because it's God's idea of church. So, empower people to pursue great things. Don't hoard the glory, share the glory. After all, that's what God is doing all the time--- sharing His glory with us as we participate in His mission! It's not easy, but it is excellent.
4). Ask yourself over and over, "What can I pursue today if I wasn't afraid of failure?" Don't be one of those pastors who are just trying to survive. Fear of failure or fear of man is always cancelled when we follow Jesus, who consistently reminds us to "Not be afraid, for I am with you always." No matter how discouraging church planting can be at times--- do not lose the faith. The goal of life is not to arrive at death safely, but to show others how to be the kind of Jesus-disciple that rips down dark curtains for His light to shine through. Hey, when was the last time you heard that kind of talk from a pastor!!? YOU are to be the one to declare such truth! Sometimes short-term losses will gain long-term successes. In my up-coming blogs, I will share a few examples of how the Lord imparted into me "bold faith" for the sake of my planting experience.
A missional life is not easy...but it is excellent.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
lcMC...is more than a name, but a lifestyle
This week I'll be at Hosanna Lutheran Church in St. Charles, Illinois, for a gathering of LCMC district coordinators. Every three-years the districts gather together for vision casting. The goal is to strengthen the faith and the collective mission of the 700+ churches within our nation-wide districts.
I'll have one key word to share with the group: missional. The L and the C of LCMC are important in identifying ourselves--- we are, after all, Lutheran Congregations. The M and the C, however, are even more important. Yes, I said it...even more important! First and foremost, we are Missionaries for Christ that make-up Lutheran Congregations.
The 700-plus congregations that currently make-up the LCMC are not going away anytime soon, but our influence in the world will disappear...very soon...if we don't start living-out the M for C. When our cultural influence is gone, the church will be nothing more than a religious activity, rather than the powerful presence of God that transforms. Lutherans talk church and theology very well, but now it is time to live it...every day in every place of daily life. Missional for Christ!
I believe the best way for our association to birth 1,000 NEW and healthy congregations that reach the entire culture, is for our CURRENT congregations to practice a missional mindset of multiplication in their respective communities. The best way for that to happen, is for congregational leadership to train, equip and encourage every member to be a minister of the mission of Jesus Christ. It's more than just dispensing more knowledge, or gathering for fun fellowship, it's showing people HOW to literally follow Jesus outside the church building. It is "there" where the incarnational Jesus meets people and awakens them to their need for the gospel.
Two quick ideas for districts: to challenge every congregation to explore the following....
1). Train leaders to form "Transformational Communities" from our existing congregations in order to better serve the city (see my blog from March 3, 2014).
2). Put monies aside every month to help launch a conventional church start in the district--- either as a single congregation, or in teaming-up with other district congregations. Create a "family tree" of church plants.
Friends, please join me in prayer for the LCMC District Coordinator's gathering, July 15-16, that it will be more than just a time of sharing good information, but a breakthrough in great transformation.
I'll have one key word to share with the group: missional. The L and the C of LCMC are important in identifying ourselves--- we are, after all, Lutheran Congregations. The M and the C, however, are even more important. Yes, I said it...even more important! First and foremost, we are Missionaries for Christ that make-up Lutheran Congregations.
The 700-plus congregations that currently make-up the LCMC are not going away anytime soon, but our influence in the world will disappear...very soon...if we don't start living-out the M for C. When our cultural influence is gone, the church will be nothing more than a religious activity, rather than the powerful presence of God that transforms. Lutherans talk church and theology very well, but now it is time to live it...every day in every place of daily life. Missional for Christ!
I believe the best way for our association to birth 1,000 NEW and healthy congregations that reach the entire culture, is for our CURRENT congregations to practice a missional mindset of multiplication in their respective communities. The best way for that to happen, is for congregational leadership to train, equip and encourage every member to be a minister of the mission of Jesus Christ. It's more than just dispensing more knowledge, or gathering for fun fellowship, it's showing people HOW to literally follow Jesus outside the church building. It is "there" where the incarnational Jesus meets people and awakens them to their need for the gospel.
Two quick ideas for districts: to challenge every congregation to explore the following....
1). Train leaders to form "Transformational Communities" from our existing congregations in order to better serve the city (see my blog from March 3, 2014).
2). Put monies aside every month to help launch a conventional church start in the district--- either as a single congregation, or in teaming-up with other district congregations. Create a "family tree" of church plants.
Friends, please join me in prayer for the LCMC District Coordinator's gathering, July 15-16, that it will be more than just a time of sharing good information, but a breakthrough in great transformation.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Be light in darkness, or just add more light to light?
I recently shared in an interesting discussion about cutting-edge mission. It was with a pastor that I believe is more comfortable living in membership maintenance than in dangerous discipleship.
I asked, "What if a bartender and a stripper, who both worked in the same "den of darkness," were to come to faith in Jesus because one of their customers lovingly and boldly saw the "bad bar" as their sphere of influence to share the "good news?"
In other words, should we be the light of Christ in order to break the blindness of darkness, or only stay with other Christians, thus adding more light to light?
Here's a possibility: How about the bartender keep his job while now working as a "minister of Jesus" to the folks who belly-up to his counter? His labor is now his act of worship! After all, if he leaves the bar and just works inside the church, who is going to be the light of Christ in that particular den of darkness?
What if the stripper comes to faith? Should she leave her job and with it her new influence over her colleagues?
My pastor friend struggled with this question. I see it, however, as a good struggle, for it jabs at the desire for church to only serve as a comfortable place, away from such tough stuff of life.
Here are some missional thoughts for church planters...and anyone else. Yes, sometimes it is best to simply leave the past behind and follow Jesus out of hell, period. Leave the bar and never go back for a variety of good reasons. Sometimes, however, it is best to follow Jesus back into hell and bust its locked gates with kingdom keys. Could the stripper leave her job but seek to keep a friendship with the other gals in order to speak peace into them? Perhaps. Those friends, after all, are more likely to listen to her share in her living room about Jesus than listen to me from the church stage! How about the bartender? Can he keep his employment and still be a Christian? Of course.
Scripture says Jesus ate with tax collectors and prostitutes and the religious types mocked and hated him for it. Why? They didn't understand that Jesus came to the world not to wipe-it-out, but to win- it-into his kingdom reign. Thus, the cross and the resurrection--- light conquering darkness. The way I see it with a "missional mindset," is if we are following Jesus (and that is the definition of discipleship) then we are naturally becoming more supernatural like him as well. We can then do what he does with his power and his authority to cast out demons and give hope to the hopeless. We may, or may not, seek to intensionally be in dark places all the time so that God's light can shine brightest, but let's AT LEAST be ready at all times to share the hope we have in Jesus!
As I have shared before, a missional life is better than just doing missional stuff. That's because your life IS the mission!
I asked, "What if a bartender and a stripper, who both worked in the same "den of darkness," were to come to faith in Jesus because one of their customers lovingly and boldly saw the "bad bar" as their sphere of influence to share the "good news?"
In other words, should we be the light of Christ in order to break the blindness of darkness, or only stay with other Christians, thus adding more light to light?
Here's a possibility: How about the bartender keep his job while now working as a "minister of Jesus" to the folks who belly-up to his counter? His labor is now his act of worship! After all, if he leaves the bar and just works inside the church, who is going to be the light of Christ in that particular den of darkness?
What if the stripper comes to faith? Should she leave her job and with it her new influence over her colleagues?
My pastor friend struggled with this question. I see it, however, as a good struggle, for it jabs at the desire for church to only serve as a comfortable place, away from such tough stuff of life.
Here are some missional thoughts for church planters...and anyone else. Yes, sometimes it is best to simply leave the past behind and follow Jesus out of hell, period. Leave the bar and never go back for a variety of good reasons. Sometimes, however, it is best to follow Jesus back into hell and bust its locked gates with kingdom keys. Could the stripper leave her job but seek to keep a friendship with the other gals in order to speak peace into them? Perhaps. Those friends, after all, are more likely to listen to her share in her living room about Jesus than listen to me from the church stage! How about the bartender? Can he keep his employment and still be a Christian? Of course.
Scripture says Jesus ate with tax collectors and prostitutes and the religious types mocked and hated him for it. Why? They didn't understand that Jesus came to the world not to wipe-it-out, but to win- it-into his kingdom reign. Thus, the cross and the resurrection--- light conquering darkness. The way I see it with a "missional mindset," is if we are following Jesus (and that is the definition of discipleship) then we are naturally becoming more supernatural like him as well. We can then do what he does with his power and his authority to cast out demons and give hope to the hopeless. We may, or may not, seek to intensionally be in dark places all the time so that God's light can shine brightest, but let's AT LEAST be ready at all times to share the hope we have in Jesus!
As I have shared before, a missional life is better than just doing missional stuff. That's because your life IS the mission!
Monday, June 23, 2014
Part-3: If you want to see a church that equips...you may have to start it yourself!
As I have shared with you before, since moving to a new residence in Prior Lake, MN, my family and I have been looking for a new church home. At first, we thought it would be lots of fun to visit a variety of churches--- something we never got to do when starting and then leading a church plant in Northfield, MN.
Fun at first...but not so much now. Why? Because our family has experienced a disciple-shift over the course of this past year. Here's what I mean:
When we first started looking for a church to connect into, we were still trapped by "Christendom thinking," leading us to ask the following questions....
1. Is this church the best place for us to get fed by the Word?
2. Is this church a place where our souls will be taken care of?
3. Is this church a place for meaningful fellowship?
4. Is this church a place where we can serve God's people and use our gifts?
Every one of those line items sound holy, but did you notice that each question calls church "a place"? In other words, do some people still pick a church as a "place" to go to and receive certain religious goods? Yes they do. Is a church a "place" where many are currently relying only on the ministry of shepherds and teachers? Yes it is. Is a church a "place" primarily focused on the benefits of its membership? Often times, yep.
Still, church as place is NOT working for most people and stats prove that true....
Church Planters! God is calling you to create more than a church in place, but a church in space! In other words, it's great to gather in a place, but a place has to be for space. Place has to be for the sake of impacting the rest of the space of every day life.
Christendom is dying, maybe even already dead. Many churches and their leadership act, however, like all they have to do is work harder at developing those 4 key place questions and they can over-come a decline in nation-wide church participation and impact...when the REAL biblical effort needs to focus on developing disciples--- dedicated followers of Jesus who impact the daily market-space with Jesus!
Friends: Let's start developing apostolic movements that train and equip people to feed themselves on God's word...to train and equip people to care for other people's souls...to train and equip people to be in fellowship with co-workers, neighbors, family and friends, even complete strangers where-ever they might be. Let's train and equip mature believers to better serve new believers inside the church place, ONLY SO they are now trained and equipped themselves to serve the lost and disconnected on the outside space--- the people they work with, know and love every day.
Let's start churches that are more than just "a place" to go into and thus away from the world. Instead, let's start churches where believers gather to be coached-up and then sent into the "every day spaces" with the transforming power of Jesus. That's the kind of church my family is looking to be a part of! BOTTOM LINE: if we're not currently finding a church that wants to be training and equipping, we may just have to start something ourselves---- perhaps a missional community!
After all, as I have lifted-up in my previous two blogs, "If you want to see something you've never seen before, then do something you've never done before!"
So...how's this thought striking your soul today? For those who are church planters, it's encouraging, isn't it?
Fun at first...but not so much now. Why? Because our family has experienced a disciple-shift over the course of this past year. Here's what I mean:
When we first started looking for a church to connect into, we were still trapped by "Christendom thinking," leading us to ask the following questions....
1. Is this church the best place for us to get fed by the Word?
2. Is this church a place where our souls will be taken care of?
3. Is this church a place for meaningful fellowship?
4. Is this church a place where we can serve God's people and use our gifts?
Every one of those line items sound holy, but did you notice that each question calls church "a place"? In other words, do some people still pick a church as a "place" to go to and receive certain religious goods? Yes they do. Is a church a "place" where many are currently relying only on the ministry of shepherds and teachers? Yes it is. Is a church a "place" primarily focused on the benefits of its membership? Often times, yep.
Still, church as place is NOT working for most people and stats prove that true....
Church Planters! God is calling you to create more than a church in place, but a church in space! In other words, it's great to gather in a place, but a place has to be for space. Place has to be for the sake of impacting the rest of the space of every day life.
Christendom is dying, maybe even already dead. Many churches and their leadership act, however, like all they have to do is work harder at developing those 4 key place questions and they can over-come a decline in nation-wide church participation and impact...when the REAL biblical effort needs to focus on developing disciples--- dedicated followers of Jesus who impact the daily market-space with Jesus!
Friends: Let's start developing apostolic movements that train and equip people to feed themselves on God's word...to train and equip people to care for other people's souls...to train and equip people to be in fellowship with co-workers, neighbors, family and friends, even complete strangers where-ever they might be. Let's train and equip mature believers to better serve new believers inside the church place, ONLY SO they are now trained and equipped themselves to serve the lost and disconnected on the outside space--- the people they work with, know and love every day.
Let's start churches that are more than just "a place" to go into and thus away from the world. Instead, let's start churches where believers gather to be coached-up and then sent into the "every day spaces" with the transforming power of Jesus. That's the kind of church my family is looking to be a part of! BOTTOM LINE: if we're not currently finding a church that wants to be training and equipping, we may just have to start something ourselves---- perhaps a missional community!
After all, as I have lifted-up in my previous two blogs, "If you want to see something you've never seen before, then do something you've never done before!"
So...how's this thought striking your soul today? For those who are church planters, it's encouraging, isn't it?
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