Mark Driscoll puts his finger on some questions I had about the emerging "Emergent" church and how we should think of church as we enter the next decade.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Paul Tripp: Speaking the Truth in Love
Clear communication: This has been one of the biggest challenges on the teams that I have been a part of. It seems as we get into the middle of a battle, Satan can use our communication as one of his most effective weapons. Paul Tripp has some great thoughts....
Did Jesus promote "clicks?" Enter the idea of an OPEN CLICK.
One of the besetting problems in many churches is the formation of clicks. These problems are especially pronounced most times in youth groups but I believe they pervade the older echelons of the church as well but perhaps the evidences are a bit more masked. Why do we so naturally long to be a part of a click? Why does it feel so good to be on the inside? Why does it hurt to be on the outside? How has God designed us and how is God calling us to live in the area of friend groups and clicks?
First: Why do clicks form? I feel that one of the primary reason for the formation of clicks is that people want to be part of a group. For some reason, hard wired in our DNA is a longing for commoonity (I mean community). I believe that part of us being made in the image of God is the design for community. We are not designed to be islands. The degree to which people desire to be with others varies a great deal, but very few normal people have no desire for community. The real problem with clicks, however, is not so much that we have a longing to be with others, but more that we don't want to be with certain others. (i.e. If the party could always get bigger clicks wouldn't be a problem.) Most times in a group there comes a time when some or all of the people inside the group do not want more people to be inside the group. Most times this is where the problems start.
Is the desire to have a certain group stay at a particular size wrong? I feel this depends on why the group is wanting to stay small? Many times in our longing for community we are looking for people to meet certain needs that we have rather than finding these needs met in God. We may look to a group of people to give us affirmation or security. Inviting other people to be a part of "our" group could threaten security or other things that we look for in a group. When James (in the Bible) spoke out against being a respecter of persons this was one of the primary things he was talking about.
I feel the desire for a group to stay a particular size can be an okay feeling if the desire is to keep the group more personal and focused. I think one of the downfalls of many churches is that they allow anyone and everyone to come to their church without making sure the person is called to be at the new church. Sometimes these churches can grow very rapidly, but then suddenly crash because everyone was just seeking what the group could give them rather than finding their place because they were called to be there.
If you are a part of a click that you really enjoy and you are wondering about whether it is okay for you to be exclusive consider one of my favorite quotes by Shane Claiborne, "The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away." How can we give a click away? Consider a small church where everything is going great: revival is happening, worship is real, and community within the church is caring and committed. It's hard to imagine a small church like this because these types of churches never stay small. Most times the only small churches are the ones with problems. But consider that if as this church grows the people would decide that every time the church reaches a certain size it starts a new church. This new body would be formed by people called to leave (assuming there are some). I'm not sure what happens if nobody ever feels called to start the new group, but please stick with my theory. When the new body forms it could again grow until it becomes a certain size and then split apart. Splitting this way is much better rather than after the church has become large in number and nobody knows each other that well so as soon as something comes up everyone starts judging each other's motives and the whole things falls apart. (Okay that might be a little extreme, but these types of things can happen in small ways.)
I know small churches and groups of friends can have problems too but I think if people can know each other in a really deep personal ways there is a lot less chance that there will be misunderstandings and judging of motives. If there are problems it is often much easier to work through them if there are fewer people.
The big difference between a bad click and a good click is that a bad click is all about what I can get out of this group of friends. A good click is formed because it is what is best for the group and the rest of the people in the group, and even the people outside the group. How do we decide whether we are part of a bad click or a good click? (I don't know. I'm the one that asked the question?) No, more seriously, it is hard to make sweeping statements that allow us always to know whether a click is good or bad but here are some thoughts.
I think there is inside every person a longing for a tight group of friends who know us very well and who we know very well: people with whom we can be ourselves and not have to impress but still hold the deepest respect for us. I think it is important for a Christian to be surrounded by a group of people who can support them through the battle of life and correct them when they go astray.
While Jesus lived on the earth he surrounded himself with a tight group of friends. Within this group Jesus had an especially tight group of three men: Peter, James, and John. The special relationship that Jesus had with these three men even led to disagreements on several occasions with the other disciples. Jesus even seemed exclusive at times to people he met along the way. When Jesus was confronted by the Syro-Phoenician woman he only helped her after she persistently begged for his help. But, the real interesting thing to note is who Jesus allowed to be a part of his "click." Jesus inner core included down to earth men. I don't believe Jesus picked people that would make him look good or were necessarily the most fun to hang out with. Note that he picked a man who he knew would betray him someday. Imagine that for a click partner.
In summary, I think clicks are great. However, my struggle lies in choosing the people I am going to click with. I find it so easy to do exactly what we are commanded not to do in James. I am extra nice to the people that make me feel good and can get me where I want to go, but I ignore the people who really need me. I believe God is asking us to form clicks with the people around us who are down and out, the ones who need a friend and just aren't that cool at first glance, and build small communities (churches) that can support the individuals in the click through the battles of life.
God, please help us build God honoring clicks. God, please turn our clicks into God honoring churches.
First: Why do clicks form? I feel that one of the primary reason for the formation of clicks is that people want to be part of a group. For some reason, hard wired in our DNA is a longing for commoonity (I mean community). I believe that part of us being made in the image of God is the design for community. We are not designed to be islands. The degree to which people desire to be with others varies a great deal, but very few normal people have no desire for community. The real problem with clicks, however, is not so much that we have a longing to be with others, but more that we don't want to be with certain others. (i.e. If the party could always get bigger clicks wouldn't be a problem.) Most times in a group there comes a time when some or all of the people inside the group do not want more people to be inside the group. Most times this is where the problems start.
Is the desire to have a certain group stay at a particular size wrong? I feel this depends on why the group is wanting to stay small? Many times in our longing for community we are looking for people to meet certain needs that we have rather than finding these needs met in God. We may look to a group of people to give us affirmation or security. Inviting other people to be a part of "our" group could threaten security or other things that we look for in a group. When James (in the Bible) spoke out against being a respecter of persons this was one of the primary things he was talking about.
I feel the desire for a group to stay a particular size can be an okay feeling if the desire is to keep the group more personal and focused. I think one of the downfalls of many churches is that they allow anyone and everyone to come to their church without making sure the person is called to be at the new church. Sometimes these churches can grow very rapidly, but then suddenly crash because everyone was just seeking what the group could give them rather than finding their place because they were called to be there.
If you are a part of a click that you really enjoy and you are wondering about whether it is okay for you to be exclusive consider one of my favorite quotes by Shane Claiborne, "The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away." How can we give a click away? Consider a small church where everything is going great: revival is happening, worship is real, and community within the church is caring and committed. It's hard to imagine a small church like this because these types of churches never stay small. Most times the only small churches are the ones with problems. But consider that if as this church grows the people would decide that every time the church reaches a certain size it starts a new church. This new body would be formed by people called to leave (assuming there are some). I'm not sure what happens if nobody ever feels called to start the new group, but please stick with my theory. When the new body forms it could again grow until it becomes a certain size and then split apart. Splitting this way is much better rather than after the church has become large in number and nobody knows each other that well so as soon as something comes up everyone starts judging each other's motives and the whole things falls apart. (Okay that might be a little extreme, but these types of things can happen in small ways.)
I know small churches and groups of friends can have problems too but I think if people can know each other in a really deep personal ways there is a lot less chance that there will be misunderstandings and judging of motives. If there are problems it is often much easier to work through them if there are fewer people.
The big difference between a bad click and a good click is that a bad click is all about what I can get out of this group of friends. A good click is formed because it is what is best for the group and the rest of the people in the group, and even the people outside the group. How do we decide whether we are part of a bad click or a good click? (I don't know. I'm the one that asked the question?) No, more seriously, it is hard to make sweeping statements that allow us always to know whether a click is good or bad but here are some thoughts.
I think there is inside every person a longing for a tight group of friends who know us very well and who we know very well: people with whom we can be ourselves and not have to impress but still hold the deepest respect for us. I think it is important for a Christian to be surrounded by a group of people who can support them through the battle of life and correct them when they go astray.
While Jesus lived on the earth he surrounded himself with a tight group of friends. Within this group Jesus had an especially tight group of three men: Peter, James, and John. The special relationship that Jesus had with these three men even led to disagreements on several occasions with the other disciples. Jesus even seemed exclusive at times to people he met along the way. When Jesus was confronted by the Syro-Phoenician woman he only helped her after she persistently begged for his help. But, the real interesting thing to note is who Jesus allowed to be a part of his "click." Jesus inner core included down to earth men. I don't believe Jesus picked people that would make him look good or were necessarily the most fun to hang out with. Note that he picked a man who he knew would betray him someday. Imagine that for a click partner.
In summary, I think clicks are great. However, my struggle lies in choosing the people I am going to click with. I find it so easy to do exactly what we are commanded not to do in James. I am extra nice to the people that make me feel good and can get me where I want to go, but I ignore the people who really need me. I believe God is asking us to form clicks with the people around us who are down and out, the ones who need a friend and just aren't that cool at first glance, and build small communities (churches) that can support the individuals in the click through the battles of life.
God, please help us build God honoring clicks. God, please turn our clicks into God honoring churches.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
John Piper - Are You a Church or a Club?
Here John Piper reminds us that the church is about caring for the needs of the people around us. The church is not about a program but about caring for people. If programs help us care for people they are great. If programs bog us down they are evil. Questions: How can I serve the people around me today? How am I going to build the church today?
New Monastic Shane Claiborne Questions The American Dream (and Christopher Beiler adds his two sense).
I think one of our greatest adversaries in the American church is the American dream. The kingdom of God is what we are fighting for, not America. I am thankful for America, but God has given the freedoms we have as a tool to advance his kingdom, not a blessing to hoard for ourselves.
Some of our struggle with living the American dream comes from the concept that America is a Christian nation. So many people seem to think that America is God's nation of Israel in today's world. These people think that Americans are God's special chosen ones..... The church in America has no rights to freedoms in America beyond using them to build God's kingdom.
To those struggling with Christian patriotism let me ask how you justify the American Revolution based on Christ's teaching in the New Testament. How can you "submit yourselves to every authority," and rebel against the king. So often we have taken for granted that American Revolution was performed by great men of God, but I feel this is mistaken. The church's call is to build the kingdom of God by serving the people around us and meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the people God calls us to walk alongside each day. We are not called to build a physical nation but a spiritual one.
As Shane says, "The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away."
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Chapter 5: Dysfunctions of a Team
Overview of chapters 2-4: (Chapters 2-4 deal with how the individual should be in the church. I have included an excerpt from the first few lines of chapter two).
Individual: A church can never be stronger or more on fire than the people that make up the church. So what are a couple of the most important things that need to be present in an individual's life in order for them to be a pillar in the church.
1) Unadulterated love for God: If the people in the churches in America were 1/4 as excited about God as they are about sports, work, and just plain stuff our churches would be entirely changed. Somehow it seems like we've decided that God is okay with having just the corners of our lives when he really wants everything.....
I would much rather discuss the church than the individual and so I am jumping all the way to chapter 5.
Chapter 5: (Summary of key concepts from chapter 5)
Below is a summary of some ideas presented by the author of a book entitled, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team." I recommend this book to anyone wrestling with how to make their church be more effective. Although the author is not a Christian, the viewpoints in this book hold very true to human nature and the applications are endless in our churches. For more information about the book see http://www.tablegroup.com/books/dysfunctions/, hich is where I found the excerpt I am using below.
Dysfunction #1: Absence of Trust
This occurs when team members are reluctant to be vulnerable with one another and are unwilling to
admit their mistakes, weaknesses or needs for help. Without a certain comfort level among team
members, a foundation of trust is impossible.
Dysfunction #2: Fear of Conflict
Teams that are lacking on trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered, passionate debate about key
issues, causing situations where team conflict can easily turn into veiled discussions and back
channel comments.
Dysfunction #3: Lack of Commitment
Without conflict, it is difficult for team members to commit to decisions, creating an environment
where ambiguity prevails. Chris's comment....Let me also say that I think the commitment to a team may actually be the most important aspect of a functional team, because in order for most people to be vulnerable in trusting others and be willing to engage in conflict they must have the assurance that the rest of the team will not walk out on them when things get messy or just plain hard. I think many Pastors are afraid to open hard issues in their church because they know that the lack of commitment in their church means that at any given time half of the congregation could walk out if things don't go right.
Dysfunction #4: Avoidance of Accountability
When teams don't commit to a clear plan of action, even the most focused and driven individuals
hesitate to call their peers on actions and behaviors that may seem counterproductive to the overall
good of the team.
Dysfunction #5: Inattention to Results
Team members naturally tend to put their own needs (ego, career development, recognition, etc.)
ahead of the collective goals of the team when individuals aren't held accountable. Chris's comment....A team has to know where it is going in order to be effective. If the only reason a church exists is to exist the church will go nowhere and will soon become lifeless and boring. A church needs to know why it exists and what the specific call is for that group of believers.
The five dysfunctions build upon each other like a pyramid. Until the first dysfunction is addressed and removed it is very difficult to remove the next dysfunction.
Individual: A church can never be stronger or more on fire than the people that make up the church. So what are a couple of the most important things that need to be present in an individual's life in order for them to be a pillar in the church.
1) Unadulterated love for God: If the people in the churches in America were 1/4 as excited about God as they are about sports, work, and just plain stuff our churches would be entirely changed. Somehow it seems like we've decided that God is okay with having just the corners of our lives when he really wants everything.....
I would much rather discuss the church than the individual and so I am jumping all the way to chapter 5.
Chapter 5: (Summary of key concepts from chapter 5)
Below is a summary of some ideas presented by the author of a book entitled, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team." I recommend this book to anyone wrestling with how to make their church be more effective. Although the author is not a Christian, the viewpoints in this book hold very true to human nature and the applications are endless in our churches. For more information about the book see http://www.tablegroup.com/books/dysfunctions/, hich is where I found the excerpt I am using below.
Dysfunction #1: Absence of Trust
This occurs when team members are reluctant to be vulnerable with one another and are unwilling to
admit their mistakes, weaknesses or needs for help. Without a certain comfort level among team
members, a foundation of trust is impossible.
Dysfunction #2: Fear of Conflict
Teams that are lacking on trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered, passionate debate about key
issues, causing situations where team conflict can easily turn into veiled discussions and back
channel comments.
Dysfunction #3: Lack of Commitment
Without conflict, it is difficult for team members to commit to decisions, creating an environment
where ambiguity prevails. Chris's comment....Let me also say that I think the commitment to a team may actually be the most important aspect of a functional team, because in order for most people to be vulnerable in trusting others and be willing to engage in conflict they must have the assurance that the rest of the team will not walk out on them when things get messy or just plain hard. I think many Pastors are afraid to open hard issues in their church because they know that the lack of commitment in their church means that at any given time half of the congregation could walk out if things don't go right.
Dysfunction #4: Avoidance of Accountability
When teams don't commit to a clear plan of action, even the most focused and driven individuals
hesitate to call their peers on actions and behaviors that may seem counterproductive to the overall
good of the team.
Dysfunction #5: Inattention to Results
Team members naturally tend to put their own needs (ego, career development, recognition, etc.)
ahead of the collective goals of the team when individuals aren't held accountable. Chris's comment....A team has to know where it is going in order to be effective. If the only reason a church exists is to exist the church will go nowhere and will soon become lifeless and boring. A church needs to know why it exists and what the specific call is for that group of believers.
The five dysfunctions build upon each other like a pyramid. Until the first dysfunction is addressed and removed it is very difficult to remove the next dysfunction.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Chapter 1: The three phases of Christian focus
I believe that every Christian needs to have a balance of his focus in three areas: Personal Relationship with God, Community within the Church Body, and Intentional Testimony to those without the Church Body. Whether an individual Christian or a church we need to fight becoming overly focused in one of these areas and allow this to cut down on the effectiveness of the church team or our personal life.
1) Personal Relationship with God: No Christian can be truly saved unless they have a relationship with God. Jesus said that in the last days people will come to him and say I never knew you even though these people thought they were Christians. We need to constantly be pushing ourselves do a deeper walk with God. Begging God to place his desires in our hearts and asking God to woo us back to himself when we feel ourselves fall into apostacy. As God becomes real in our lives we are able to live the Christian life as God intended in holiness, purity, integrity and so much more all while bearing the fruit of the spirit.
2) Community within the Church Body: Although at times I think most of us our envious of the monks who get to spend their whole lives in solitude without the continual stress that other people invariably bring into our lives, God has not designed humans to live in solitude but in community. We can often get the idea that most of the problems around us are a result of the people around us. We forget that God has designed that most of his work on earth gets done through people. Many times rather than changing us directly, God uses the people around us to change us. When we react to the people around (i.e. walk out on church because of people we can't get along with) we are really running from the tools that God wants to use to bring change into our lives. As Christians I believe we are called to live in intimate relationship with God but in a community where God not only speaks directly too us but also through the lives of the people around us.
God has designed that the spiritual force of humanity here on earth in the current age be the church. In ages past it was the nation of Israel, but this was changed as a part of the new covenant and with this change many of the rules of following God changed as well. Under the Old Covenant people's sinful natures were held in check by government which used force and even death to cause people to follow God's plan for their lives. In the New Covenant God has offered to give us a new heart so we can live above the sinful nature without needing external physical punishments go keep our evil hearts in check. However, just because the role of the community around us may have changed since the Old Covenant we are still in desperate need of a community around us to "keep us in check," not through external punishments but by motivating each other through love and good works, confessing our faults to each other and praying for each other, etc... It is this body that keeps us strong through spiritual battles and calls us back when we wonder astray. This is the team that builds us up when we are discouraged and gives us a place to serve with our spiritual gifts and thus feel fulfilled.
3) Intentional Testimony to those outside the Church: This team has a much greater purpose than to simply make each other feel good though. The fault that some Christians have fallen in to is that the church is all about making a group of people feel great and upbeat and to enable them to live life to the fullest (i.e. living the American Dream). I strongly believe that any person and any team without a purpose bigger than itself will eventually fall apart. We need an external focus in our personal lives and we need and external focus in our churches.
Any Christian who is going to live a Biblically balanced life must be looking for ways to serve those who have not yet developed a relationship with God. Although man's primary purpose is to be in relationship with God, part of this relationship means sharing God's heart for the rest of humanity. God has designed life on this earth that his primary way of reaching lost people is through people. He could have chosen other ways but he chose to use people. God placed structure to equip people to fight the spiritual battle for people's souls but in the end the purpose of the church is to expand the kingdom of God.
Conclusion: Many churches along the way have fallen into one of three ruts because the Christians in the church put too much focus on one of these areas. In some churches Christians find it easy to be very individualistic where everything is done on an individual level (i.e. I live what God has called me too and you live what God has called you too. Not that we shouldn't each live out our own calls, but I believe the things God calls us too will not be offensive to the other believers serving beside us if we are also respecting community the way God intended.) In some churches there is too much focus put on the body. These are the party churches. "The church that plays together stays together." It's a real tragedy that these teams that get along so well totally forget that there are people heading into an eternity in hell every day. In some churches there is too much focus put on the task of reaching out to lost people around us. These churches develop programs and put people in places of serving who do not have the call or the personal relationship with God to fight the battle at this level. The Christians in these churches can live lives of duty rather than joy and eventually become burned out.
God help us as we individually try to balance the Christian life as God intended us too and as we encourage our churches to become balanced in their focus as well.
Note: These thoughts are not my own but were stimulated by hours of LiMiT training at Beaver Lake Camp.
1) Personal Relationship with God: No Christian can be truly saved unless they have a relationship with God. Jesus said that in the last days people will come to him and say I never knew you even though these people thought they were Christians. We need to constantly be pushing ourselves do a deeper walk with God. Begging God to place his desires in our hearts and asking God to woo us back to himself when we feel ourselves fall into apostacy. As God becomes real in our lives we are able to live the Christian life as God intended in holiness, purity, integrity and so much more all while bearing the fruit of the spirit.
2) Community within the Church Body: Although at times I think most of us our envious of the monks who get to spend their whole lives in solitude without the continual stress that other people invariably bring into our lives, God has not designed humans to live in solitude but in community. We can often get the idea that most of the problems around us are a result of the people around us. We forget that God has designed that most of his work on earth gets done through people. Many times rather than changing us directly, God uses the people around us to change us. When we react to the people around (i.e. walk out on church because of people we can't get along with) we are really running from the tools that God wants to use to bring change into our lives. As Christians I believe we are called to live in intimate relationship with God but in a community where God not only speaks directly too us but also through the lives of the people around us.
God has designed that the spiritual force of humanity here on earth in the current age be the church. In ages past it was the nation of Israel, but this was changed as a part of the new covenant and with this change many of the rules of following God changed as well. Under the Old Covenant people's sinful natures were held in check by government which used force and even death to cause people to follow God's plan for their lives. In the New Covenant God has offered to give us a new heart so we can live above the sinful nature without needing external physical punishments go keep our evil hearts in check. However, just because the role of the community around us may have changed since the Old Covenant we are still in desperate need of a community around us to "keep us in check," not through external punishments but by motivating each other through love and good works, confessing our faults to each other and praying for each other, etc... It is this body that keeps us strong through spiritual battles and calls us back when we wonder astray. This is the team that builds us up when we are discouraged and gives us a place to serve with our spiritual gifts and thus feel fulfilled.
3) Intentional Testimony to those outside the Church: This team has a much greater purpose than to simply make each other feel good though. The fault that some Christians have fallen in to is that the church is all about making a group of people feel great and upbeat and to enable them to live life to the fullest (i.e. living the American Dream). I strongly believe that any person and any team without a purpose bigger than itself will eventually fall apart. We need an external focus in our personal lives and we need and external focus in our churches.
Any Christian who is going to live a Biblically balanced life must be looking for ways to serve those who have not yet developed a relationship with God. Although man's primary purpose is to be in relationship with God, part of this relationship means sharing God's heart for the rest of humanity. God has designed life on this earth that his primary way of reaching lost people is through people. He could have chosen other ways but he chose to use people. God placed structure to equip people to fight the spiritual battle for people's souls but in the end the purpose of the church is to expand the kingdom of God.
Conclusion: Many churches along the way have fallen into one of three ruts because the Christians in the church put too much focus on one of these areas. In some churches Christians find it easy to be very individualistic where everything is done on an individual level (i.e. I live what God has called me too and you live what God has called you too. Not that we shouldn't each live out our own calls, but I believe the things God calls us too will not be offensive to the other believers serving beside us if we are also respecting community the way God intended.) In some churches there is too much focus put on the body. These are the party churches. "The church that plays together stays together." It's a real tragedy that these teams that get along so well totally forget that there are people heading into an eternity in hell every day. In some churches there is too much focus put on the task of reaching out to lost people around us. These churches develop programs and put people in places of serving who do not have the call or the personal relationship with God to fight the battle at this level. The Christians in these churches can live lives of duty rather than joy and eventually become burned out.
God help us as we individually try to balance the Christian life as God intended us too and as we encourage our churches to become balanced in their focus as well.
Note: These thoughts are not my own but were stimulated by hours of LiMiT training at Beaver Lake Camp.
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