The Way The Unchurched Percieve The Church: A Story About a Friend's Unchurched Friend

So today I went to a my son Ian's soccer game and some friends from our small group came out to cheer him on. [We have a great small group that does life together--very biblical but that's another post.] Anyway, we went to McDonald's for our kids to play in the playland. While we were eating and watching the kids, my friend Chris began to relate to me an experience he he had with one of his unchurched friends.

He began the story by sharing how he was helping this friend, we will call him A. J. pull and winterize some boats from the area lakes. As they were driving from job to job AJ began to tell him a story about church people.

As it goes AJ rented some space for his business from a "Christian". This space was in a shop where this Christian businessman worked and AJ rented a certain # of square feet in this shop. As the story goes AJ never received the full number of square feet. Many times AJ would clean the section he was supposed to have and remove equipment and materials this businessman owned that were not suppose to be in his area. Every time he moved this material--it would end up back in his space the very next day. Eventually AJ decided he would only pay have the rent--since he wasn't receiving the full space. This business man cursed him out and yelled at him at the top of his lungs.

AJ commented that it is a shame that Christians--this business man--can live one way at the shop, but at church be a totally different person. He recounted how he had visited this man's church to see him in a suit and tie acting totally different. He then lamented at the fact that Christians think they can go to church and be one way so they can live the rest of their life another way. He also lamented at the fact that he had made some mistakes in his life (had a child out of wedlock) but that nobody AT CHURCH would accept him or give him a chance--even though for the past few years he had been turning his life around.

He then talked about a small group he had attended that wasn't like that. He said looking back--this was his church and this is they way he wished the church would be.

If the church would only realize that non-Christians perceive the institutional church a certain way and that the perceptions they work hard to keep people from having (having "bad" people in the church--one might say "real" people) actually contribute to the negative perception the unchurched have.

When will we learn that we need to be real and authentic. I don't know how many times I have been told that I need to wear a Jacket and Tie because that is what respectable pastor wear. That isn't me, and for me to do this would contribute to the negative perceptions that many of the unchurched have.

The Need for a Missional Ecclesiology Part 1

Once again Dr. Brisco has an excellent post on the missional church. It explains why the leaders of so many churches are afraid to make hard decisions and think only of making the congregants happy.

In this post he quotes Hunsberger who suggests 3 views of church in the US and the West that have contributed to a consumer church. The first view he mentions is called the "Reformed Heritage" view, and it naturally developed into the second view which he call the "Contemporary Variation". Our Church falls into view 1 and because of our consumer driven culture have morphed somewhat into view 2. However, we are not alone--most churches in the West have developed form this reformed heritage. This is why I believe the church in the West needs to recognize and lament what it has become--see my Tears, Persecution, and Connection with god blog--so we can envision a new tomorrow and be the church God wants us to be: view 3 which Hunsburger calls "Missionary vision".

Here is Brisco's Blog:
http://missionalchurchnetwork.com/the-need-for-a-missional-ecclesiology-part-i/

Here is my Tears, Persecution, and Connecting with God blog:
http://davesmcmusings.blogspot.com/2009/06/tears-persecution-connecting-with-god.html

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From Market Driven to Mission Oriented

Here is a link to an interesting blog. The posting is called From Market Driven to Mission Oriented. This is definitely a shift the church needs to make. Further, I agree we don't have enough pastors trained in missiology to help us make that shift. Even more many of the "conservative" or "fundamentalist" missionaries the West has sent have no real missiological training--there form of missionary activity was to impose Western values on the churches they were serving.

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Steve Addison Quote on Apostolic Leadership

The apostolic role within established churches and denominations requires the reinterpreting of the denomination [or church's] foundational values in light of the demands of its mission today. The ultimate goal of these apostolic leaders is to call the denomination [or church] away from maintenance, back to mission. The apostolic leader needs to be a visionary, who can outlast significant opposition from within the denominational [or church] structures and can build alliances with those who desire change. Further more, the strategy of the apostolic leader could involve casting vision and winning approval for a shift from maintenance to mission. In addition the leader has to encourage signs of life within the existing structures and raise up a new generation of leaders and churches from the old. The apostolic leader needs to ensure the new generation in not "frozen out" by those who resist change. Finally, such a leader must restructure the denomination [or church's] institutions so that they serve mission and purpose.

Steve Addison as Quoted by Alan Hirsh in the book The Forgotten Ways p. 156.

Key thoughts:

1. Reinterpetation of denominational or church's foundational values in light of the demands of mission today. Reinterpretation is hard to do. What is harder--people don't like the founational values of their "institution" messed with--let alone reinterpreted. How many times have I heard. You can't be negative.

2. Vision is key! How many times do churches and denominations squelch God given vision by committee? It is interesting to note that most appointees to a vision committe are not apostolic leaders, many are not leaders at all. In my experience, when committe develops vision, the usually end of restating the same tired cliches and never think out of the box enough to reinterpret the church's foundational values for mission today.

3. The apostolic leader needs to be a visionary that can outlast significant opposition from the church denomination [church] structures and who can build alliances with those who desire change. It is hard to outlast entrenched structures that exist to preserve power and the status quo. Many times there are so few people that desire lasting change that it could take a lifetime to outlast significant opposition.

4. The apostolic leader needs to ensure the new generation is not "frozen out" by those that resist change. The church's structures generally are set up to freeze out the new generation. This is why the house church movement is growing by leaps and bounds and church planting is taking off--many postmoderns (generally those under 40) are so fed up with the institutional church that they are choosing not to be part of existing churches.

5. Such a leader must restructure the denomination's [or church's] instituations so that they serve mission purposes. But this type of questioning is not allowed in existing churches and denominations. Those that question or challenge are told they cannot negative and must be positive. How can you change structures without questioning or being negative?

Just some thoughts. I welcome other thoughts and questions!

Hannah's Song

So I was listening to this pastor preach on Hannah's Song in 1 Samuel 2. His premise was: Hannah could give her son Samuel away because of what she knew about God. He then proceeded to systematically expound the theology proper (theology about God) of the song in an abstract sort of way). I was bored. His contention was what we know determines what is in our heart and then determines what we do. I believe this pastor's message was soo boring because he emphasized the knowledge of God divorced from God's personal nature. It was all abstract theology. Hannah's knowledge of God was not abstract, however. She knew God, because of God's relationship with her and her relationship with him. Notice all the MY's in the begining of this song. The way to know God is thru relationship not knowledge. The quickest way to correct actions is thru a deep, and personal knowledge of God. Most of the time this type of knowledge is not systamatic. How often do we systematize the knowleged of our spouse? I could verbalize it in a systamatic expressin--but I prefer to know her and vervalize my knowledge of her in a much more relational sort of way.

The Church's Demise

Alan Hirsch, in his book The Forgotten Ways, attributes the decline of the church in the West to the following three forces at work in society:

1. The rise of capitalism and of the free market as the mediator of value
2. The rise of the nation-state as the mediator of protection and provision
3. The rise of science as the mediator of truth and understanding

What do you think about this explanation?
Hirsch goes on to say:
On could hardly now doubt the almost total hegemonic power fo the economy, the state, and science in our lives. And the upshot is that these are precisely the places where the vast majority of people find their direction and meaning. And as we engage the twenty-first century, the most dominant force of all three --the one that pervades our lives totally--is that of global economy and the market...It has often been noted that in the postmodern condition we can consume new identities like new clothes...In this cultural situation everything, even personal identiy adn religious meaning, becomes a comodity that we can now trade in, depending on the latest fads, and by consuming the latest products--The Forgotten Ways p. 109.
If this is true, how should Christians regard "Capitalism" and "Free Market Economies"? Is there such a thing as "Benevolent Capitalism"? Can we have a "benevolent capitalism" with the belief in total depravity? Can the church begin to influence people for a "benevolent capitalism" or will it always sucomb to the darker-side of free markets and consumerism?
Just a few questions to chew on.

Benefits but No Commitment

As a youth pastor I tell students that the benefits of a sexual relationship must come in a committed relationship or elese the benefits are really not benefits at all. This is truly a counter-cultural message. It seems everywhere you look people want the benefits without commitment, and this phenominom is not just relegated to the world of dating relationships, it happens in all relationships, even relationships in the church. No wander it so hard for our students these days!

Imagining a Superior, More Compelling Better Church

What do you do when your system fall apart, because the new thing God is
doing is better, beyond, superior, more compelling.--Rob Bell in Jesus Wants
to Save Christians p. 101.

Great question in my book, because our "Church System" is falling apart. The church as we know it today was built during the dawn of the modern era out of the ash heap of the Dark Ages. The church made that transition because it imagined a new tomorrow--where it could be more of what God wanted it to be (more compelling, superior, beyond). This is why we had the Protestant Reformation--and the Catholic Counter-reformation.

Today we stand at the dawn of a new era that is rising out of the ashes of the failed promises of the modern era and the enlightenment project. People are imagining a new tomorrow and are out to transform the institutions of our society because they did not deliver what they promised. The church as an institution is no exception. It will either find itself increasingly irrelevant and continue to operate in a "modern" mode, or it will begin to realize that God has something better, beyond, superior, and more compelling and re-imagine a new way of doing and being the church.

What are your thoughts on church? Are you frustrated with it? Do you wonder why it just doesn't seem to get it? Do you want it to be much more than it is? Do you think it is falling apart? What do you do if you think it is falling apart? Do you think God has something better for the church than what it is today?

Which "Son of David" Does the Church Represent

"When the suffering, the sick, and the blind call out "Son of David," its as
much a question as it is a cry. Which kind of Son fo David are you,
Jesus?" The kind who maintains jsutice and righteousness, or the kind who
builds military bases?"--Rob Bell in Jesus Wants to Save Christians p.
79.

So my friend Chris copied a portion of Charle's Murray's In Pursuit of Happiness, which makes the case that the Govt. took over the churches responsibility to help the poor and needy and as a result, the church doesn't get or spend the money it once did to to help. See the following link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/note.php?note_id=214903110157&ref=mf

My questions are these:

1. Was the church too much a part of the state and the state too much a part of the church, so govt. and church activities were combined?

2. Is the religous right too much (or has been too much) a part of the state--so the church is seen as "building military bases"--Being a Solomon instead of Jesus?

3.  Is the religous left too much (or has been too much) a part of the state?

4. Is the church seen as worthless in the world's eyes because when it was a "part of the state" it gave its responsibility to the state--so the state gets credit for helping the poor and needy, doesn't do it well, but is at least seen as doing something and the church is seen as doing nothing?

5. Is the church seen as worthless in the world's eyes because it is percieved as building and supporting the building of "military bases"?

6. How can the church lament it percieved condition and envision a new and better tomorrow--where it makes a difference for Christ? See my blog on Hannah.

Tears, Persecution, Connecting with God

Yesterday, I went to Sr. Worship at Warsaw Community High School and the last speaker reminded me of something I read for my Journey (small) Group from Rob Bell's Jesus Wants to Save Christians. The speaker cried out in exile. He was living a barren life at IU for 4months, exiled from God's way. He cries out to God and begins to realize the fruitfulness of living God's way. His cry then goes from being personal to universal. He prays for and imagines more people living God's way--and begins to work with a college ministry at a local church in Warsaw, IN while on summer break. Here is what I was reminded of from Bell's book:

Crying out reminds us of our dependence. Weeping leads us to
reconnect with God. Our tears are sacred. They water the ground around our
feet so new things can grow--p. 53.

Because it's when we're fully present in our pain, when we're willing to sit in our tears, that we are ready to imagine a different kind of tomorrow--p.54.

It also reminded me of some reading I have been doing in 1 Samuel in preparation for a sermon on June 14. Hannah, who is barren, cries so hard in pray at the temple in Shiloh that the priest think she is drunk. The book starts with the contrast of the lush fruitful hill country of Ephraim and the barrenness of Hannah. Hannah in a real sense is in exile. She is socially/economically ostracized because she does not give her husband offspring, especially a son. She is exiled from her family in a sense, as her husband takes another wife Penninah to give him the children he needs. She is emotionally exiled as Penninah constantly makes fun of her barren condition and she cannot fully accept the tender love her husband shows her.

Hannah cries out and laments to God. In Hannah's barren exiled condition she imagines something new, a new life for herself with a son, from the God who orders chaos, creates life from nothing (barrenness), a God who leads and has lead his people out of exile and bondage. God hears her cry and remembers her--just like he did for the Israelites in their bondage in Egypt. Here we see a New Exodus to New Life!

And from this new life (Samuel) Hannah receives from God--God is magnified, praised and glorified-and her rescue from exile/barrenness is widened as all who are oppressed and in exile are envisioned as being rescued by the God who has rescued her-1 Samuel 2--Hannah's Song/Prayer. If you interested, you can read my comments on 1 Samuel 2 below to see who I arrive at this conclusion, but here are some questions to think about.

1. What are you going thru that makes you want to cry out to God for help?
2. Are you willing to be present in your pain/to dwell in it long enough to God to cry out to him, or do you try to cover up your pain with business, pleasure,...etc.
3. How do you mask or try to cover up your pain?
4. What is the connection between the Resurrection of the individual to a new life Christ and the pain of this world?
5. Do you long for the institutions of this world (politics, economy, family, church...etc.) care about the things God cares about? Give some examples.
6. Is the church in exile--not respected as it once was by the world?
7. If the church is in exile--what should its response be?
8. If the church is in exile--how does this passage demonstrate how it should envision a new future?

Vs. 1--My heart, My horn, My mouth, My Deliverance--Hannah has experienced God personally as God hears, remembers, ans answers her prayer.

Vs. 2--There is no one holy like the Lord...etc.--Hannah personal experience is immediately turned to praise/worship/recognition of the God that brings life from barrenness, orders chaos, liberates from bondage, and returns people from exile.

Vs. 3--Don't talk proudly...etc.--Hannah recognizes who she really amidst her new recognition of God

Vss. 4-5--Bows of warriors broken, those who stumble given strength; full become hungry, hungry full; others who are barren become fruitful...etc.--Hannah's prayer has moved from particular/personal/individual rescue from exile/bondage to universal.

Vss. 6-9--The highpoint of the song/prayer--mentions Resurrection (raises up, raises, lifts). Hannah has been resurrected (given life)because she recognizes who she is and her need for who God is. Additionally she prays that all humanity that is in exile/bondage/barren /oppressed will be resurrected to a full life while the oppressors will be humiliated at God's hand. A new exodus is envisioned here. An exodus from the oppression of fallen humanity and its institutions. Here we see not just the restoration of Hannah but the restoration/resurrection of all humanity and its institutions (politics, economy, family...etc.) thru the Lord who will reveal himself in the New Testament as the resurrected Christ.

Vs. 8b--The foundations of the earth are the Lord's--Creation provides the structure upon which the work of salvation (that will be accomplished in the resurrected Christ) is worked out. It is not just the individual who is redeemed and resurrected to new life but all creation!

Vss. 9b-10--It is not by strength that one prevails--Here the writer is foreshadowing the King Saul. God was to be the King for Israel. Saul is pictured as having it altogether--looks, strength, power...etc. But King Saul will not rely on God. Instead, he relies on himself. King Saul never really cries out to God. Then King David, although a man after God's own heart, doesn't fully rely on God as well. Although David is really the hero of 1 and 2 Samuel, he is the hero--not because of his strength; rather, it is because he recognizes his weakness. He cries out to God when he is exiled from him in his sin. Israel's King David recognizes his need for another King, a king that will not rely on his tremendous strength, rather on God's. That King is Jesus.

Vs. 10a--Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. King Saul--shattered. David--shattered then resurrected to new life as he recognizes his need. His kingdom is exalted--the low (a shepherd boy) has been raised up. But David's sin eventually shatters this Kingdom. His offspring King Solomon starts in recognition of his lowly position compared to God, recognizes the need for God. But eventually relies on self, doesn't follow God's way, oppresses the people, and the kingdom is shattered and divided. Hannah's prayer isn't realized in King Saul, King David, or King Solomon. It looks forward to another Son of David--Jesus Christ. It
is only in this King individuals, humanity, and humanities institutions can be resurrected to new life.

Sex and Spirituality

Elkanah knew his wife and the LORD remembered her--1 Samuel 1;19

As I was reading this passage in preparation for a sermon I will be preaching on 1 Samuel 16 and was struc, with the help of the commentator Eugene Peterson, that "Sexuality ans Spirituality are intricately intertwined." He goes on to say: "Either seperated from the other soon goes bad, but together, as here, they enact heaven on earth and generate life." I wander what the implications of this statement are. How do you see this truth worked out in the real world--especially the last half of the statement about enacting heaven on earth and generating life. I'd love your comments.