TILL HE COMES Blog

One of the books I read this week was Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger. Though I was excited to read it, and agree in principle with the “Simple Church” concept, that every church needs to drastically simplify what it is doing so that it can do a better job of making disciples, I was a tiny bit disappointed with some of the approach used by the authors.

The book is based on a survey of hundreds of growing churches across the country which experienced at least 5% growth each year for at least three years. They surveyed these churches on what they were doing and how they were doing it. Here are my complaints:

First, it does not appear that they asked the growing churches they surveyed where their “growth” was coming from. Much of it could have been transfer growth. I don’t mind “transfer growth” if Christians are leaving sick churches to attend healthy ones, but that is not the reason most Christians transfer. Most just want to go where the best show is.

Second, it seems they only surveyed larger churches (of 300 or more) and churches with buildings. This is odd since about 90% of the 485,000 US churches are under 80 people. Also, the most “simple” churches in the country are house churches (of 30 or less). It would be interesting to see if his stats fit with house churches.

Finally, it seems that there is a real break down in the ability of the churches that were surveyed to get their people into community service (mission). Though the people may be progressing through the simplified discipleship track, few make it to the goal of mission involvement. I wonder if this isn’t because Mission should be placed first, as suggested by other books on the market (e.g. The Forgotten Ways).

Of course, despite these “complaints” of mine, I do think it is a really good book since most churches desperately need simplification.

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I almost submitted the following for the Blogging Tournament at PlantingSpace.com (You can see what I actually submitted by going there and voting.) I learned all of the following the hard way. At one point or another, I allowed people to be leaders based on one or more of the following characteristics, and lived to regret it.

“How to Pick a Leader You’ll Live to Regret”

1. Pick a leader based on how much money they give to the church.
2. Pick someone who has lots of influence in the city or in the church. (Note: Though leadership is influence, Godly leadership requires Godly influence.)
3. Pick a leader simply based on who wants to be one. (Note: Yes, it’s okay to desire leadership (1 Tim 3:1), but it seems that most who desire it are power hungry.)
4. Pick leaders based on who is initially very supportive of you. (Note: If they show up in church one day, and are supportive and encouraging…and want to be a leader, watch out!)
5. Pick a leader based on how talented they are at something you desperately need in church (like music, or children’s ministry).
6. Pick a leader because they talk a lot about their leadership skills. (Note: Leaders listen more than they talk, and are not proud or boastful.)

Now, after weeding out leaders with these seven “disqualifiers” if there is anybody left in our “potential leadership pool” Congratulations! You’ve found your leader!

And always remember…it’s okay to be “leaderless.” After all, if we have no leaders, it forces us to look to Jesus as our leader. And He does okay.

P.S.  If you are looking for leaders, the best place to look is in the silent servants of the church. Who shows up and just serves, not looking for recognition or glory? These may make you best leaders. We have ”Servant Leadership” backwards. We think that ”servant leadership” means that leaders should serve. Actually, when we look at what Jesus teaches about “servant leadership” He is saying that servants should lead and that leaders should be taken from the servants. So you want to find leaders? Look to the servants.

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I made it to round 3 at the PlantingSpace Blogging Tournament! Thank you to everyone who voted for me. Below is my submission for Round 3, in which we were to address some aspect of leadership selection and training. I chose to focus on how to find leaders. If you want to vote for me or someone else, click here. Thanks!

If you want to find the leaders in your church, you need to look for marshmallows. No, not people who are puffed up and white. We have enough of those already. Instead, look for six other good marshmallow leadership qualities.

First, marshmallows are tasty. They can make bad things taste good (Marshmallow Yams) and good things better (Fluffer Nutter). Similarly, leaders are enjoyable to be around. They will be people of grace, kindness, tenderness, and compassion.

Second, they bind together and are sticky. Rice Crispy Treats would be just a bowl of cereal without the marshmallows. And have you ever tried to get melted marshmallow out of your hair? Leaders bring people together and bind them around a common purpose or goal.

Third, they always rise to the top. Ever try to sink a marshmallow? It can’t be done. People naturally follow leaders and leaders naturally lead. In your church, who do people look to for solutions? Who do they go to for answers and advice? Who do they turn to for comfort and safety?

Fourth, marshmallows are multifunctional. Marshmallows are not only good for eating, they can also be used to generate laughs (Chubby Bunny anyone?) and for endless holiday crafts. Similarly, leaders are flexible enough to work in a variety of situations and flow effortlessly from one role to another.

Fifth, they’re often singed because they’re frequently near fire. A good church leader storms the gates of hell. They make friends at the fringes and take risks where they might get burned or come home smelling like smoke.

Sixth, when they get in the fire, they actually get bigger. Leaders learn best in the forge. If they can stand the heat, they will increase their leadership skills, expand their sphere of influence, and become great leaders.

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I love my new job. It pays me beans, but I basically get paid to read while I work. Last week, I read three books. So far (it’s Tuesday), I’ve read two more.

I’m realizing that while I’ve been in seminary, my mind went into reverse. There is something about my rebellious flesh that cannot enjoy a book if I am required to read it. Though, if truth be told, most of the assigned reading at seminary is mind-numbingly boring. Not all, but most.

Anyway, since I got this new job, I’ve been reading about two books a week, and I can feel my mind starting to reawaken with creativity and life. I love it. I don’t want to sleep or eat. I just want to read, think, and write. My mind is on fire with ideas. It’s my resurrection from the land of the dead.

I’m not sure what job I will get next (this job ends in mid May), but whatever it is, I need to keep reading (even if it’s not at work). I also don’t think I’ll go on for a Ph.D.  I’d get Permanent Head Damage, and I’m not sure I’d pull out of that kind of tailspin.

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I had a good long talk with Lance again on Saturday, and he may be one of the most refreshing people I have ever met. I want to know more people like him. He is open, honest, and genuine. He says what he thinks, but in a way that is unoffensive.

And wow, does he know his stuff! I’m not sure exactly how he would classify himself religiously, but he knows the Bible better than most of us at Seminary, myself included. He told me that he learned under Col. R.B. Thieme in Houston (for those of you who are “Thiemers”). As I talked with Lance, he was using Greek, talking about the Bema, and quoting Scripture, all while performing amazing tricks with his devil sticks.

At one point, Wendy invited him and his family over for dinner. He declined, and the reason was one I have never heard before in my entire life, and probably will never hear again. He thought we would be offended, but Wendy and I both laughed out loud when he explained why he didn’t want to come to dinner. I’m not going to repeat what he said here on a public blog, but let me just say that it was genuine, honest, kind, and authentic.

The bottom line is that I like Lance. He is someone I would love to hang out with, and someone we Christians could learn a lot from. However, most of the time, when we interact with people like Lance, we either get offensive or defensive, and simply try to win arguments. That wasn’t my goal. Though Lance and I disagree on many things right now, I didn’t want to argue, let alone win an argument. I simply wanted to win the opportunity for another conversation.

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We’ve all heard of Joel Osteen and Lakewood Church which I hear averages over 30,000 people on a weekend. I think this is the largest church in the United States. His sermons are on television and his book, Your Best Life Now has sold 3 million copies.

But Joel does not have the largest church in the world. Most give this “honor” to David Cho and his Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul Korea with about 830,000 members.

Of course, when it comes to buildings, nobody can top the most expensive church, The Basilica of our Lady of Peace in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). It cost $300 million to build. It also is recognized as being the largest by floor area (30,000 sq. meters!). I hear that it has it’s own airport. Top that one Joel!

But has anybody heard about “Uncle L”? He has no formal seminary education and no advanced degrees. You won’t find his sermons online, on the radio. or on television. He hasn’t written any books. He doesn’t have a website, or even a blog. He didn’t raise funds to help plant his church, in fact, his church doesn’t even have a central building. There isn’t even a church budget. He doesn’t have dozens of staff members. He is is not a “Type A” personality, with great leadership abilitites. He would fail most “church planter assessments.” No big deal, right? That’s true of a lot of pastors around the world.

True, but Uncle L is the “lead pastor” of a church of 3 million people. Yes, 3,000,000. (See Alan Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways, p. 150).

Uncle L is a soft-spoken, unassuming, older man, who has been to prison several times, and is quietly leading the greatest movement of Christians the world has ever seen.

So why haven’t you heard about him? He’s a church planter in China, and is only one of scores upon scores of such “successful” planters in that country. If they could read our “church planting books” and attend our “church planting conferences” and see that most of our planters want to spend several million dollars to have a church of 10,000, they would probably be amazed at how low we’ve set our sights, and how little we accomplish with so many resources and such amazing structures.

Maybe our resources and structures are part of the problem.

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Last week I told you of my encounter with Lance, the Devil-stick expert, and Merril, his Mayan-guru babysitter. I met both at the Scarborough Renaissance Faire and we talked some about Jesus and hope for the future. To understand where he was coming from, he told me to watch Zeitgeist the Movie. (Zeitgeist is German for “Time Spirit” or “Spirit of the Age.”) Having watched it, I am a bit perplexed. It essentially is two movies (or documentaries), which I will talk about in a bit.

However, as part of the introduction to the movie, there was a quote which reveals the way a lot of people view Christianity. This quotes is both funny and so very sad. This quote comes from George Carlin (at around 11:30 of the movie):

I gotta tell you the truth folks. I gotta tell you the truth. When it comes to bullsh*t, big time, major league bullsh*t, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims — religion.

Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man, living in the sky, who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire, and smoke, and burning, and torture, and anguish, where he will send you to live, and suffer, and burn, and choke, and scream, and cry forever and ever until the end of time.

But he loves you!

He loves you, and he needs money! He always needs money. He’s all powerful, all perfect, all knowing, and all wise, but somehow, just can’t handle money. Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more.

Now, you talk about a good bullsh*t story, holy sh*t!

This is, of course, a caricature, which is why it’s funny. However, it’s sad, because when you boil “religion” down, George Carlin isn’t too far from the truth. Frequently, religion uses God to scare people into giving away their money. Much of Christendom operates in the same way.

What I hope to impress upon Lance is that Jesus is not this way at all. Jesus is just as upset and angry about this kind of religion as George Carlin is. Maybe angrier. When Jesus saw this sort of thing going on in the temple, He made a whip and nearly started a riot (Matt. 21:12).

However, that was all just part of the intro. The real movie was divided into two parts, and I frankly am not sure how they fit together, so I will deal with them separately.

Part 1: Jesus is a Myth

The first forty minutes is designed to make you think that religion in general, and specifically the stories about Jesus, are all a myth based on Egyptian astrology. I found parts of this section very disturbing, especially since, in all my “religious training” I have never heard any mention of what this movie states. Here is a website which summarizes some of the things the movie reveals: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5.htm

Has anyone done any research in these things? What solution/answer can you provide? All the parallels between Jesus and Horus are incredible, especially when you consider that the stories of Horus predate Jesus by thousands of years.

Part 2: US Politicians and Bankers are Robbing the World Blind

Part 2 was a conspiracy-theory smorgasbord. It attributed both World Wars, plus Vietnam, 9/11 and the war we are in now, as well as the Great Depression upon dirty public officials and rich bankers. The ultimate goal, the narrator says, is a one world government with a one world bank.

He may be right about this…I don’t know. But I guess if it turns out to be true, I wouldn’t be too surprised. The funny thing is that some of the sections of this part of the movie fit very well into prophecy about the End Times, the Mark of the Beast, and the coming Antichrist, especially the parts at the end about the RFID chip and the National Identification Card (which he said will be required of all US citizens in May 2008). Various Christian “Prophecy Buffs” love this sort of thing.

Conclusion

So watch the movie at your own risk. I watched it so that I can continue to the conversation with Lance. He seems to be a very intelligent person, with a love for life and people. I think Jesus would hang out with Lance and learn how to use devil sticks. So maybe I will to.

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I was reading the Gospel of Matthew today and came to the sobering realization that if I were alive at the time of Jesus Christ, I probably would not have been one of his disciples. All Christians today like to think that if we were alive when Jesus walked the earth, we would be the thirteenth disciple. I think most of us are delusional. I know I am.

In Matthew 8:19, a man comes to Jesus and says, “I’ll follow you!” It’s so easy to say. Isn’t it?

How does Jesus respond? He basically says, “If you follow me, you won’t have a home, an income, a bed to sleep in, or regular meals to eat. Still want to sign up?” (Matthew 8:20).

Take a real, good, hard, honest look at your life. Are you really willing to give up your house, your job, your bed, your income, and your meals to follow Jesus?

I know my own heart. I think I would have said, “Oh. Well…in that case…let me go home and ‘pray’ about it.” (Which is Christian lingo for “No.”)

And then I read this in Alan Hirsh’s book The Forgotten Ways:

I have come to the conclusion that for we who live in the Western world, the major challenge to the viability of Christianity is not Buddhism, with all its philosophical appeal to the Western mind, nor is it Islam, with all the challenge that it poses to Western culture. It is not the New Age that poses such a threat; in fact, because that is a genuine search going on in new religious movements, it can actually be an asset to we who are willing to share the faith amidst the search. All these are challenges to us, no doubt, but I have come to believe that the major threat to the viability of our faith is that of consumerism (p. 106).

Consumerism has actually become the driving idealogy of the church’s ministry (p. 110).

[Consumerism teaches us] that the thing that will complete us in a new kitchen or a house extension, whereas in fact these only add more stress to our mortgages and our families. … Offered “heaven now,” we give up the ultimate quest in pursuit of that which can be immediately consumed, be it a service, product, or pseudo-religious experience (p. 111).

What are your thoughts on all this? I want to follow Jesus, but I also want to provide a nice home, good food, warm clothing, and a soft bed for my wife and three girls. How can that be incompatible with following Jesus? I don’t see how it can be, but maybe I’m just drunk on consumerism and am in denial. Any suggestions?

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I made it to round 2 in the Exponential Blogging Tournament over at ChurchPlanters.com. Thank you for voting for me!

Now, go vote for me again! Ha ha. But only if you think my post is best.  The issue we were supposed to address was ”What is your best marketing and/or outreach idea for under $500?” Here was the answer I submitted:

What is the best way for a church to spend $500? Give Presence. (No, not Presents… though that might be part of giving presence.)

People today are tired of commercials (TV and radio), door hangers, junk mail, email spam, surveys, and telemarketers. Most people only get annoyed by such things, and this is especially true when they come from the church. They think, “If that church has nothing better to do with its money then send me junk mail, I’m sure not going to attend there and give them my money!”

The best thing we can do with our “Marketing/Outreach” budget is to give presence. Just join the people in your town and city where they already are, and do what they are already doing. Typically, with such a strategy, a church planter doesn’t need to worry about how to gather a crowd or get the word out about a big event, because the city (or whoever is organizing the event) is already doing such things.

So go to your local Chamber of Commerce or city website and get a community calendar, as well as a list of civic organizations and community service events. Then be present at as many of these events and projects as possible. Be the most active, joyful, service-minded citizens your city has ever seen.

For the Fourth of July Festival, join whatever the city is doing.

Serve free hot chocolate at the New Year’s Parade.

Build homes with Habitat for Humanity.

Volunteer at the homeless shelter.

Give out free beads at Mardi Gras. (Ok, maybe not that one.)

To effectively reach our culture, we need to stop trying to do our own thing. Instead, go to where the crowds are already gathering. It’s easier, cheaper, and frequently, a lot more fun.

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I recently read John Burke’s book No Perfect People Allowed. This is another book that every Christian should read. In the book, he makes the statement that we no longer live in a postmodern era, we now live in a post-Christian era (p. 15). Apparently, Christianity has already lost the war against postmodernism. (I personally don’t think it was a war that ever should have been waged in the first place. Christians are to engage, embrace, and redeem culture, not fight against it.) In his book, John Burke explains how the church can operate and function in a culture that is “post-Christian.” I think he is exactly right on.

Ironically, as I was reading this book about how to live as Christians in a post-Christian era, I ran across an exchange between atheist Christopher Hitchens (who wrote the best-selling book God is Not Great) and Suchin Pak (correspondent for MTV news). She announced to him that our culture was becoming increasingly Christian. She said, “Our audience is more religious and conservative than we assume.” Hitchens replied, “I really hate to hear that the young are becoming more Christian. If that’s true, that’s the worst news of the night!”

So here we have two leaders, neither one being Christian, both coming to different conclusions about our culture. One says we are post-Christian, the other is alarmed that we are becoming increasingly Christian. I guess it’s like the debate over global warming. Some say the polar ice caps are melting while others, who note that this it the coldest year in a century, are predicting a new ice age.

So what do you think? What have you observed in your community and with your friends?

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