TILL HE COMES Blog

Today I was reading a discussion over at Bob Robert’s blog about how getting conversions should not be the primary goal of church planting. Instead, we should aim for what Jesus tells us to aim for, which is making disciples.

The issue, of course, is “How best do you make disciples?”

For now, the comments by Bob Roberts reminded me of something very similar I read in Exiles by Michael Frost. He writes that after they started their church in Australia, some older Christians started coming “to take quick look at how we were doing and if it was working.” He says that he “discovered that most of these older people were survivors of similar community-building experiments from the 1970s” and had become jaded and cynical. They told Frost that his new community “wouldn’t last” (p. 108).

He goes on to say that after studying the transitional nature of the early church in Acts, he realized that aiming for community is not a goal in itself, but is instead a by-product that is gained through aiming for a better goal - that of mission (p. 109).

And this brings us back to the question of discipleship and reasons for church planting. How does a person become transformed? How best can we make disciples? I’ll take a quick stab those questions tomorrow.

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In Part 1 and Part 2 of this short series on the Future of the Church, I wrote about how the church needs to escape the attractional, church-growth model of the church, and become more missional. Doing so will enable us to prepare for the world-wide reawakening of the church that is coming.

In this post, I want to focus on a process by which you personally can prepare for this reawakening.

1. You must reimagine the church as the body of Christ. Forget everything, and I mean everything, you know or think you know about the church, what it is supposed to be, do, and look like. Then, start reading the Gospels with the understanding that Jesus is showing by example and teaching with words and works how His followers are to live and act. I believe that Jesus’ life is God’s dream for the church. If we are the body of Christ, then we must be the body of Christ now as He was 2000 years ago. When people say they want to get back to the early church the way it was in Acts, I believe they have not gone far enough back. They need to get back to the way Jesus lived and acted. He is our church model.

2. Follow up this study by reliving the life of Christ. In other words, try to live like Jesus lived. But here’s the key: You can’t do this by yourself, because you are not Christ, and you are not the Body of Christ. It is only “we” who believe in Him and follow Him who are His body, and so we can only live as He lived, and do what He did, in concert with other members of the body. So, find some other like-minded people, and together, start trying to be Jesus to the world. As the body, you can help the poor, set captives free, help the blind to see, heal the sick, feed the hungry, and show people the way back to God. And I don’t mean with miracles, though I don’t rule miracles out. It is amazing what a few people can do together who share a common desire to help others.

3. Don’t revert! When people start to join with you, and your numbers begin to grow, and people start coming to faith in Christ, resist the urge to protect what you have gained by reverting to more safe and common ways of doing church. Trying to become safe and protected is the beginning of decline and ineffectiveness. I’ll let you decide what this looks like in your context.

When you embark upon this process, you’ll notice that once you are able to discard everything you think you know about church, and begin the adventure of reimagining church (step 1), your life begins to spiral upward in some new and interesting ways (step 2), which then causes you to both seek more from Scripture (step 1) but also desire to run from risk and return to what is safe and known (step 3). So this is a constant process of going back and forth between reimagining (step 1) and reliving (step 2), while warding off the temptation of reverting (step 3).

I know because I’m right there. It’s a terrifying and thrilling place to be.

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In the book Back To Jerusalem three Chinese church leaders tell about their vision that God is going to use the Chinese church to finish the Great Commission. They note that in general, the church started in Jerusalem and moved Westward into Northern Africa and Europe. While there, it experienced several cycles of awakening and decline for about 1500 years.

Then it jumped the Atlantic and for about 500 years, the church has experienced several cycles of awakening and decline in North and South America. During the time, the church in North Africa and Europe has been in steady and steep decline.

In the last few decades, we have seen the decline of the church in North and South America while the westward moving “church wave” seemed to move into Asia. These Chinese leaders have recognized this, and are making plans to send out thousands upon thousands of missionaries into the Middle East to “finish circling the globe” and so get back to Jerusalem.

I believe these Chinese are exactly right and have seen what God is doing. I have also read that the Chinese Christians are not only sending missionaries to the Middle East, but also to Africa, Europe, Australia, and North and South America.

I am not sure if there is more to their vision than just getting back to Jerusalem, but it seems to me as I watch and learn and pray about what is happening worldwide, I am beginning to see signs of renewal and reawakening in all the places that the church has been previously. I am seeing exciting things happen in Europe, Australia, North and South America.

I believe that at about the same time the church “gets back to Jerusalem” there will simultaneously be a worldwide reawakening of the church. The world will explode one last time with the message of Jesus. And then, the end will come (Matt 24:14). The return of the church to the place it started will spark a worldwide renewal of the church.

What can we do to prepare for this? Live as missionaries right now, wherever we are, and whatever we are doing. More on that tomorrow.

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Thanks to a comment by Brad on yesterday’s post, I found the Missional Church Network blog. (See? Posting comments on someone else’s blog does work! If you make comments on the blogs of others, it helps people find your blog.)

I love everything written by Alan Hirsch, and so when I saw a post containing a YouTube Video by Alan from the Exponential Conference, I had to watch it. I have embedded it below, but here is what Brad wrote about the video:

When asked about church planting in America as compared to planting efforts in the UK or his own Australian context he states that church planting in the United States is ”too bonded to the church growth movement.” He goes on to say that the church in the West has not yet adequately considered the missionary nature of the church. 

In other words we in the West are too centered on how to get our individual churches to grow, primarily through attractional means, rather than seriously considering how to think as a cross-cultural missionary focused on reaching those who have no interest in attending our church functions.

I can’t agree more. As we embrace a more missional stance to our culture, we will start to see some staggering results (more on that tomorrow). Thanks Brad (and Alan)! Here is the video:

Tomorrow I will share a vision of where I think the North American church (and the worldwide church) is going, and how you can play a part.

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Over the past year, I have experienced a huge paradigm shift in my thinking about life and ministry. As a result, I have watched with interest how this shift has affected my theology and my ministry practice. Below is a brief explanation of the shift that has occurred, and a few of the resultant ramifications.

The SHIFT: 
I no longer view myself as pastor, or church planter, but as a missionary…and not just any missionary, but a missionary to a cross-cultural, unreached people group. In plain English, I view myself as a person who wants to introduce Jesus to a group of people who don’t know much (if anything) about Him, and as far as they are concerned, don’t really care to know Him.

The Ramifications:
There are many changes I’ve gone through, but here are four examples:

1. Use of “ministry” time. While a pastor primarily does ministry among the people of his church, a missionary focuses on the people who are not yet part of a church. He immerses himself among them and learns their culture, their language, their issues, their needs, and their concerns. He lives life with them and among them. Practically, while in the past, I have spent most of my pastoral time in the church office and with church people, in the future, I want to spend most of my time out of the church office, and with the people of the community.

2. Vocation. A pastor wants to get paid by the people of the church so he can free himself up to do “ministry.” This is not bad, but a missionary will often get a job in the community so he or she can live and work among the people, and be seen as one of them. I don’t yet know what I’m going to do, and maybe some of my income will come from the “church budget” but ideally, I want to be living and working among the community. This also has the added benefit of freeing up as much money as possible to actually serve the community. (Many churches are handcuffed by pastoral salaries and building mortgages. Imagine what the church could do in the community and around the world if it didn’t have to pay for pastors or buildings!)

3. Bible translation. (This one I can hardly believe.) As a pastor who focused primarily on preaching and teaching believers, I wanted a Bible-translation that was as close to the Greek and Hebrew as possible. Now, I want to use a Bible that is as close as possible to the language of the people I am working among. When Wycliffe goes into a community to translate the Bible, they don’t try to make a translation that is hard to read but instead, while trying to maintain accuracy, try to get a translation that is as close as possible to the vernacular. So, while I used the NASB and the NKJV, I now think I’m going to switch to the NLT.

4. Truth meets life. I used to be a professional theologian-pastor. All I did was read, write, think, talk, and teach about the Bible and theology. I now believe that while doing so is valuable and important, if it does not result in loving and serving others (especially those who are not followers of Jesus), then I don’t really know the truth I talk so much about. While some pastors can afford to live and work in an ivory tower, missionaries must get down and dirty. Theology must come to grips with life. I have discovered that as I try to live with and love other people (especially those who are not like me and don’t believe the way I do), a lot of what I thought and taught becomes much less important. Knowing the various views of the rapture are not that important when you are talking to a drug addict who is facing divorce. Truth, I believe, is both tested and forged on the anvil of relationships.

If you are undergoing similar shifts, please let me know in the comments below. Maybe I will add more as I think of them.

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I was able to get my hands on a free copy of The Tangible Kingdom last week, which thrilled me because I was going to buy it anyway. It’s the newest book from The Leadership Network, and so far, I haven’t read a book from them that I don’t like. The Tangible Kingdom was no exception, and it is going on my “Missional Must-Read” Book list.

This book really hit me hard, partly because the story of Hugh Walter (one of the authors) mirrors so closely my own story. He was well situated in the established church, but didn’t feel quite at peace with himself, or with God, in such a position. So he left it all behind to see if he could find (or create) something that was still true to Scripture, but was also more effective in engaging and redeeming our culture. Doing so created lots of tension. Here is what he wrote, which is exactly what I am feeling:

You can’t go back, but forward doesn’t feel much better, because forward may not pay the bills or make it any easier to live the Christian life you’ve always wanted to live (p. 18).

He made it through this time of uncertainty (so there’s hope for me!) and ended up in Denver planting a community of faith called Adullam with some friends. As people wanted to learn more about what they were doing and why, they also developed a Web-based practicum for pastors and church planters to help them innovate new ways of effectively being the church.

What I found most refreshing about the book is that the authors are not trying to criticize, judge, or condemn the way the typical church functions today. Instead, they just explained what they are doing and why, and how it is effectively bringing people into the Kingdom of God. His bottom line premise is that the church is supposed to be living out the Kingdom of God in our communities and with our friends. As we do this, the aroma of the Gospel simply attracts people to us. They put it this way:

Church should be what ends up happening as a natural response to people wanting to follow us, be with us, and be like us as we are following the way of Christ (p. 30).

Do you find that other people are strangely attracted to you, your life, your family, and the way you “do church”? If not, it may help to read this book.

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I just got back from the Exposed Church Planting conference put on by Square1 Church Planting. It was incredible! I cannot say enough good about it. It was unlike any conference I have ever been to before. I met a group of the most incredible church planters ever, and really got to know several of them. I hope we can maintain contact with them.

There will probably be another Square1 conference next October, so begin to think about attending now.

I wish I could say more, but I’m soooo tired right now. Some of what I learned and am thinking will come out on future blog posts.

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Yesterday I mentioned that for the final round of the blogging tournament at PlantingSpace.com, I wrote two articles and then submitted the one that I thought was best. That’s not actually true.

I only wrote one, which is the one you find below. I showed it to my wife for her input. She liked it, made some suggestions, and then said that it didn’t sound quite right. It seemed too…aggressive. Too bloody. So she and I talked about a few other ideas. She came up with an idea I thought was so good, I invited her to write it. So she did. That is the post I submitted yesterday. So, if I “win,” it is actually my wife, Wendy, who wrote the “winning” post. But hey, since we’re married, the two have become one, right?

Anyway, here is what I was going to submit until she came up with something better. If you still want to go vote for me (Wendy, actually), you can do so here.

When Jesus says He will build His church (Matt 16:18), He also implies where He will build it. He says that as He builds His church, the “gates of Hell will not overcome it.” Since gates are defensive, apparently Jesus and His church are camped right outside.

Jesus has Hell under siege!

And church planters are the ones who are advancing the kingdom. They look around their communities, find the most hellish places, and armed with weapons of grace, kindness, compassion, mercy, faith, hope, and love, hurl themselves headlong at the gates. With full abandon, in blinding bloodlust and with cries of holy rage, they swing fiercely with their swords, cry out desperately for aid, risking all, …just so that one more might be saved. And one more. And one more.

Now is not the time for fatigue. Now is not the time for rest. Now is not the time to pursue happiness. We must swing, and swing again, until our biceps burn and our breath comes in ragged gasps. And if our sword breaks and we are left with nothing but our bloody fists, we must continue swinging.

Those gates must come down. Those people must be freed.

There’s the trumpet call! “Forward! Forward!” is the cry.

And when the battle is done, and the gates of Hell have fallen, Jesus, the Victorious King, will rise above the cheering throng, and with tears in His eyes, raise His sword in salute, and shout for all to hear, “Well done, My Mighty Men of Valor! Together, we have built My church.”

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I made it to the final round of the blogging tournament over at PlantingSpace.com. Thank you voting for me in the previous rounds. I also want to thank Mark Doebler who has also made it to the final round. His posts have been excellent. He pastors The Grove in Peoria, IL, so if you are near his church, go check him out.

In this final round, we were supposed to encourage church planters to keep planting churches. Just like last week, I came up with two possible submissions, and then submitted the one that I thought was best. I will give you the other one tomorrow. I chose this one for a very special reason, which I will also share with you tomorrow. (I hope it doesn’t disqualify me!) If you want to vote for Mark or me, you can do so here.

Faces. We see them everywhere and every day. Some faces are recognizable and incite feelings of love, passion, tenderness, and happiness. Other faces give rise to feelings of anger, wrath, jealousy, or fear. It’s these faces that must push us forward, these faces that must motivate us to reach out with the love of Jesus.

You know the faces you need to reach. We all have them in our lives. They are the faces of God’s children, many of whom are far away from Him. Others don’t even know His name except in a curse. A handful of these faces knew God once, but no longer believe He cares about them any more. Still others feel that God couldn’t possibly love them after what they’ve done.

They are the faces of divorce, lust, abortion, drugs, abuse, violence, death, heartache, heartbreak, loneliness, fatigue, rejection, and pride.

They are the faces of your grocery clerk, your mailman, your boss, your neighbor, the homeless person you’ve walked by for years on your way to work, the pregnant teen whom you believe is just reaping what she’s sown, the bitter widow, the ex-con.

The list goes on and on, and it includes you and me.

Yet somehow, we think we don’t belong on this list. We know the truth. We are different.

But if that is so, it’s only because someone in your life answered God’s call to reach out to you, and help you out of the muck you were dwelling in.

God is calling again for people to go out and be His hands in the world; hands of love, grace, kindness, friendship, and truth.

Are you going to see the faces in your life for what they are, or for who they can be? It’s your move.

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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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