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A Model for Discernment in the Missional Church Context, Part 3

bob —  April 26, 2012

Guiding Theological Themes

As we attempt to live out this life in the Spirit communally, here are some of the theological themes and principles we hope will guide us.

1. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our Community-

The Apostles placed great emphasis on the role of the Spirit in the life of the Church in general, and in the place of discernment in particular. (1 John 2:20-27, 1 John 4:1-6). We acknowledge not only the place of the Spirit in our community, but our radical dependence on Him to point us to Jesus, and to lead us into those places where He is bringing healing and wholeness in the world.

2. The Love of Jesus for our Community outweighs our love for our Community-

As much as we love and want the best for our community, and as much as we may feel we have metaphorically bled for our church, we strive to keep in mind that Christ has literally bled, and died, for it. His love for and investment in our community is much greater than ours will ever be. Remaining mindful of that fact brings a certain freedom in the face of tough decisions-we can rest them in the hands of the God who went to such great lengths to make our community possible. It’s His church, He will build it… we merely join in the process and cooperate as best we can.

3. The Bible is Authoritative-

Without getting into the debate over words like “infallible” or inerrant, the very least we want to affirm is that Scripture is authoritative for the Church today. That is, if the person of Jesus is the primary revelation of God to mankind, then Scripture becomes indispensable in that it is there where we find not only the narrative of  God’s redemption (the OT) culminating in the person of Christ (The Gospels), but the outworking of Christ’s work in the new Community of the Church (The Epistles). Where the Bible speaks, we listen and weigh carefully for our context what it says. (Acts 2:42, 2 Tim 3:14-16)

4. Leadership is biblical, as is the priesthood of the believer

Though it’s a controversial statement in many circles today, the concept of leadership in the Church is biblical. Hebrews 13:17 encourages us all to “Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God.”  I Thess 5:12-13 says “Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work.”

And yet we recognize the priesthood of all those in our community who are truly “in Christ” (1 Peter 5:2-9). God speaks not only to and through leaders, and so those to whom leadership is entrusted have a responsibility to be good listeners for the voice of God through the mouths and lives of others in the community.

5. Leadership ought to seek consensus, and not lead in a heavy-handed manner

Jesus enjoined to lead in a manner different than the leadership we see all around us where leaders “lord it over” those they lead. (Mark 10:45-45) He said it ought not be so among His community. In that we seek first to be servants of one another, we not only seek for consensus and for opposing/alternative voices to be heard, but we seek to do so in a humble and Christ-like way, with gentleness. (2 Cor 10:1, Col 3:12, 1 Tim 6:11)

In community, Ecclesiology, evergreen, leadership, Pastoral
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A Model for Discernment in the Missional Church Context, Part 2

bob —  April 25, 2012

Personal Context

One of the earliest decisions we made as a community was that we would not have “formal” membership. In those early days, many believed that the desire to be a place where people could belong before they believed superseded the need for formal membership. This meant, though, that we were for all intents and purposes, an elder-led community. Though we would try to lead by consensus and involve the community as much as possible, we couldn’t do “congregational government” in the traditional sense without formal membership. Everyone understood that and has (with a couple of notable exceptions) agreed with and supported the decisions the elders have made.

In leading and making decisions, we work under the rubric that a particular decision is one of three kinds: 1. Communal- that is, something we will put before the community and leave it up to them to decide 2. Elder recommendations- things which the elders have prayed, thought and discussed over and believe to be in the best interests of the community, but still want to build consensus around and won’t move on until that consensus is built and 3. Elder decisions- things which the elders through prayer and discussion have decided and implement, informing the community as necessary and as appropriate.

Examples 

#1 Communal-type decisions are often related to issues where the entire community is a stake-holder and many potential good decisions or directions exist. When initially making the decision to remain in pub spaces or occupy a church-type building, this decision was left to the community. Also, at one point, we had to make a decision whether to keep a Sunday evening gathering in SW Portland going. This decision was put before and left to those who were a part of that gathering.

#2 Elder recommendations are things which the elders have prayed through and feel strongly enough that we want to make a proposal to the community. Some of these take the form of “we won’t move unless we feel there’s consensus on this” (such as a recent proposal for a community covenant) , others are more of a “unless there’s a significant community issue with this, we will go ahead” (this is how we bring new elders to the community). Some personnel issues also fit this category, as in new hires.

And last, #3 Elder decisions tend to be either high level directional issues regarding doctrine (even then, the community is involved, as when we decided to be a community affirming of women in all levels of leadership), or personnel (firing and salaries, mostly).

Even with this rubric, we often find ourselves attempting to discern just which category a particular situation or decision falls under. And as with all things, we try to do this through prayer, discussion and consensus as leaders.

But surely it’s not all that easy? Of course not. Craig Van Gelder highlights some of the issues of communal discernment in a postmodern context:

“In light of the hermeneutical turn that has developed over the past century, there is no going back to a world that can be framed in seemingly black-and-white categories. The diversity of interpretations of reality, which are manifest both in the multiperspectival character of biblical studies and the different methods used by the social sciences, makes this impossible. This means that part of the challenge facing Christian leaders today is learning to engage diverse perceptions of reality by drawing on a variety of methods that can inform the discernment and decision-making process. Relying primarily on one method, whether it is in relation to biblical teaching or scientific explanation, is no longer viable, if it ever was. Diverse perspectives, rooted in different methods and the particulars of social location, bring a multiperspectival dynamic into any discussion. Rather than playing out these differences around power dynamics related to personalities, roles, or the vote of the majority, which is so often the case in congregations, a more redemptive approach is to engage such differences through a process of mutual discernment. This requires leadership. This requires time. This requires a mutual commitment among those who are around the table. And this requires being Spirit-led. Reflected in this approach is the important theoretical insight that we need to develop a practice of “communicative reason” within diverse communities in order to come to shared conclusions. “(5)

Practically Speaking…

In practice, our seasons of discernment have ranged from 3 months to a year. They often start and end with prayer meetings. As a community, we have generally eschewed anything like a “business meeting” but have always incorporated prayer, silence/reflection and listening into our times of discernment. In that way, we are somewhat Quakeresque (6), in that we desire these times to be a meeting for worship in which business is conducted and decisions discerned.

Around this structure of times of prayer come online and in-person discussions, both formal and informal. We use the online discussions and formal discussions to attempt to answer questions and objections, and to make sure that all viewpoints are heard. We have one elder in particular, Sarah, who is skilled in getting to the place where everyone feels, whether we go in their desired direction or not, that they have been heard and understood. The less-formal conversations generally take place in home communities, around tables and among small groups or individuals. We use these to get a sense of where the community is at as we seek for consensus and the answer to the question “What are WE hearing from God.”

Often, at the end of one of these seasons, we have reached that place where we can say “It seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us” and we are able to move ahead. In cases where that is not true, we generally forgo moving ahead in favor of further process.

 To be continued…

5 Craig Van Gelder, Ministry of the Missional Church, The: A Community Led By The Spirit, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2007. (Loc 1521, e-edition)

6 Paul Anderson, “The Meeting for Worship in which Business is Conducted.” Quaker Religious Thought 106-107 (November 2006): 26-47

In church planting, community, Ecclesiology, leadership, Pastoral
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A Model for Discernment in the Missional Church Context, Part 1

bob —  April 24, 2012

Introduction

When I look back on the beginning of our church plant eight years ago, the things which stand out to me in terms of significant turning points for The Evergreen Community all have to do with discernment. As we set out to start a new church community, without benefit of sending church or denomination, we knew that in many ways we were alone. And in that, our dependence on the Holy Spirit to guide and direct our conversations as a community, particularly about where we were going and what we were becoming became increasingly important.

Early questions of who would do what and what principles would lie at the core of our community stretched us all to listen not only to the Scriptures and to the Holy Spirit, but to one another. And because more often than not, those stretching moments drove us to do that kind of deep listening to God and one another, I began to see my role as pastor and elder as one, not of solving problems, but rather of pointing to them, raising the tension around them and allowing the process to work. I can say that in looking back, we have re-invented many wheels, and are better off for done so in almost every case.

Our Church Context

Our church, The Evergreen Community, sits firmly in the “missional” stream of churches which have “emerged” from the Emerging Church movement of the late 1990s and early 2000s. As the Emerging church movement matured (or some would say failed to mature), many saw the need to retain the contextualization of the Gospel that was at the core, to keep asking the same kinds of “couldn’t we do it differently than we always have?” questions, and to sustain an outward focus contra the country-club mentality that had seemed to infect so many churches, while at the same time not descending into the kind of Mainline theological liberalism that had already proven impotent earlier in the previous century. In contrast to the Universalism and generally low view of Scripture held by many Emergent churches, the Missional church movement tends to be Gospel-centered, theologically centrist and evangelistically oriented. They see themselves as existing not for the sake of themselves, but for the sake of the Gospel and the cities in which they are planted. However, they tend to share the same kinds of creative methodologies and spirit as well as a concern for justice that characterize Emergent churches.

Gailyn Van Rheenan says missional churches seek foundationally to be “theologically formed, Christ-centered, Spirit-led fellowships that seek faithfully to incarnate the purposes of Christ.”1

In that Evergreen is a missional community, that aspect of being Spirit-led has been and is important to us.

A central question for us both individually and as a community is this: What do I (we) hear God saying, and what would it look like to respond appropriately. We attempt to end every Sunday with dialoguing this question together as we ask ourselves and each other what we have heard the Spirit say thru the Word, the discussion, the prayers and songs and coming to the Table.

In times of tension, or in times when we sense the Spirit leading us to change, our practice is to call the community to a season of discernment, punctuated by communal times of prayer (which are meant to work hand-in-hand with individual prayer), discussions and consensus-building.

Theological Rationale

Our goal in these times of discernment is to get to a sense of “it seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us.”2

Much of what Scripture says about discernment has to do with individuals discerning truth from falsehood, but in terms of communal decision-making processes, we can hardly find a better description of the process or the outcome than that of the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15. When faced with a difficult and already divisive issue, the apostles went back to Scripture, to reasoned discussion, to prayer and the role of the Spirit in their midst as they attempted to recognize what God was already doing in their midst and join Him in it.

In the same way, our goal as a community is not to come to the most expedient decision or the one which will cause the least amount of controversy. Rather, our desire is to prayerfully walk the community through a dialogue which, leaning heavily on the Spirit and the Word, looks for what God is doing, listens for what God is saying, and does our best to formulate an appropriate response.3

As we do so, we often find ourselves being able to say, like the apostles, this course seems like not only the best idea, but where God Himself is leading us.

And, of course, as Sweet and Viola suggest, we want our community, especially in times of discernment/decision-making to be “discovering and displaying – that is, discovering and displaying Christ.”4

 

To Be Continued…

 

Footnotes:

1. Gailyn Van Rheenan “Contrasting Missional and Church Growth Perspectives,” in Restoration Quarterly 48.1 (2006), 225-232.

2 Acts 15:28

3 “Leaders are so focused on the outcome that they neglect the process – the process of searching God’s will.” Larry Julian, God is My Coach: A Business Leader’s Guide to Finding Clarity in an Uncertain World, (New York: Center Street, 2009),  xviii.

4 Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola, Jesus Manifesto (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010), 144.

 

In church planting, community, Ecclesiology, missional
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But how amazing is it that we get to help?

bob —  December 5, 2011

This Advent we are looking at the Christmas story through the lens of the Mission of God. So, this last Sunday we got to walk through parts of Isaiah asking, “What will this Kingdom God is bringing thru Jesus look like?” We want to know, if God is about the rescue and renewal of the world, what will that encompass? And more, what’s OUR part in the story?

Words like peace, justice, fairness, wholeness and flourishing (shalom)… This is what we are promised God is bringing about even now- starting with the Resurrection of Jesus and culminating when He finally sets all things right. “The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s armies will accomplish this,” Isaiah promises us.

In thinking thru our part, we used the illustration of some of our children, who see certain things not as an “I have to”, but as an “I get to.” My kids love to help momma make cookies- they dig their hands deep into the dough, mix the ingredients, get covered in flour and goo along the way. Would it be easier and quicker for momma just to make the cookies herself? Sure- but think about what would be lost along the way.

Or my co-pastor Dustin- His son Gram loves to follow behind daddy as he mows the lawn. Gram even has his own little lawn mower that he pushes. It’s a beautiful picture of learning. Of discipleship. It would be easier and faster for Dustin to just get out there and power through the yardwork. But think about what would be lost…

Last Sunday night our community had a prayer gathering. We thanked God for our shared life together and prayed for wisdom and discernment for the next season. And we prayed for Jeremy who is battling a rare form of cancer.

And I got to see something that did my heart good. I got to see my 7 year old son Jack and his friend Ben join the circle of people laying hands on Jeremy and praying for God’s intervention. Jack even prayed aloud asking God to do the miraculous and heal.

My son is learning to pray and so to care by doing, right alongside and behind those in our community, including mom and dad.

Could God simply set the world right, right now? Yes, He could. But some very important things would be lost along the way.

God loves fairness and justice, and He loves peace. He loves it when what is broken is made whole.

And He wants us to love it too. He wants us to love peace so much that we start praying for it and working hard for it- laying aside petty grievances (whether in families or between nations) and start loving each other more than we love being in the right. He wants us to love fairness and justice so much that we will actually do something about it.

God is not waiting for us to bring the Kingdom. That’s something only HE can do. But as He moves slowly (at least by our reckoning), He does so not without reason. And the reason is nothing less than an invitation to you and me to dig our hands in and join Him. To walk in His footsteps and learn the unhurried rhythms of grace. He doesn’t need our help.

But how amazing is it that we get to help?


 

Bob and his beard.

bob hyatt

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In community, evergreen, missional
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Dispatches: Women in Leadership

bob —  November 11, 2011

Got this encouraging note the other day:
“I passed one of your posts on women in leadership to a co-worker who was really struggling with the idea. She’s new to faith and her church is developing an elder board that is men only. She asked why and said she’d like to do more study on the subject. They gave her a book by Mark Driscoll, which totally upset her.

I just wanted to let you know that your article totally helped her. Thanks.”

I’m grateful to be serving in a community that has processed and struggled through this issue- that values the biblical text enough to believe what it says matters and values women enough that accepting “how we’ve always done it” wasn’t going to cut it.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- trying to understand the New Testament texts on women without rooting that understanding in the 1st century culture and the desire of the NT writers to have the Gospel seen as attractive and while challenging to culture not completely destructive of 1st century households will land you, hermeneutically speaking, in a place of raising what was necessary then to something mandatory now. And of making a universal (no women in leadership) out of something that clearly, biblically, wasn’t (Deborah, Huldah, Anna, etc).

And trying to present that same Gospel as attractive today, while packaging it with an understanding that 1st century mores must be re-imposed today is increasingly becoming difficult.

In other words- women in leadership was a hinderance to the Gospel in the 1st century. NOT having women in leadership is a hinderance to the Gospel in the 21st. 

In community, Uncategorized, women
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What Does Community Look Like? The Biblical Answer is…

bob —  November 8, 2011

What does community look like?——
John 13:14 “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 15:12-13 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
Acts 1:14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
Acts 2:46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
Acts 4:32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.
Romans 12:5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
Romans 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.
Romans 13:8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
Romans 14:1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.
Romans 14:3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.
Romans 14:7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself;
Romans 14:13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this — not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.
Romans 14:19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.
Romans 15:5-7 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
Romans 15:14 And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.
Romans 16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss.
1 Corinthians 4:6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant on behalf of one against the other.
1 Corinthians 5:11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler — not even to eat with such a one.
1 Corinthians 6:1 Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints?
1 Corinthians 10:17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.
1 Corinthians 10:24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.
1 Corinthians 12:7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
1 Corinthians 12:11-14 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. 12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many.
1 Corinthians 12:26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
1 Corinthians 14:26 Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.
2 Corinthians 9:7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 5:13 -15 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
Galatians 5:26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
Galatians 6:1-2 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
Ephesians 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
Ephesians 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE OF YOU WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.
Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Ephesians 5:19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
Ephesians 5:21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
Philippians 2:2-3 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,
Colossians 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
Colossians 3:15-16 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
1 Thessalonians 5:13 Live in peace with one another.
1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.
Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Hebrews 10:24-25 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Hebrews 12:15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
James 4:11 Do not speak against one another, brethren.
James 5:9 Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:9 Be hospitable to one another without complaint.
1 Peter 4:10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
1 Peter 5:5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.
1 John 3:23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
1 John 4:20-21 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

In community, Ecclesiology, Uncategorized
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Anne Rice and the Not-Yet-As-Beautiful-As-She-Will-Be-Bride

bob —  August 2, 2010

A number of years ago, Anne Rice, author of Interview with The Vampire and other books, became a Christian. For her it was a rediscovery of a childhood faith. The writer of numerous books of erotica and dark, occult fiction had found a home again in the Catholic church. But, apparently a short-lived home.
She’s now renouncing Christianity.

She said on Facebook recently:
“For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”

When I read this, I knew that

a. A lot of “anti-institutional”, free-range Christians would applaud
and
b. Anne was missing the same point many of them do.

In one sense, I’m glad Anne can distinguish between Religion and Jesus. Those two things need to be disconnected. But in another sense, I’m saddened that she’s trying to disconnect Jesus from His Body, because those two things never are.

I want to have grace for Anne and I certainly wish her well. I hope she does remain committed to Jesus. But, in thinking about this, I can’t help but think that yes- It would be wonderful if all of our families, groups, networks never had disagreements or problems- if all the folks in them were just as we wished them… but then how would we grow? Where would be the opportunity to grow in patience, forgiveness, love? To opt out on account of the difficulty in a community is to miss both the point of the difficulty AND the community- especially in a redemptive community.

What is Jesus trying to do in the world? Get individual butts through the goal posts of heaven? Or create a redeemed community to live in a renewed creation in relationship with the One who saved them? The point of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus isn’t so much “me” as it is WE. And WE are a people in process.
Of course there are hypocrites and hostile people in the church… because there are people in the church. People on a long journey towards Christlikeness.

In some ways, when I read Anne’s statement I think about someone looking at an elementary school and saying “I can’t have anything to do with you people because you don’t know astrophysics and advanced calculus.”
Jesus calls sinners into the community He’s creating, and all who hear and answer that call are in varying states of growth and character-change. To expect maturity the moment everyone walks in the door is both unreasonable and lacking in the very grace Anne seems to want the church to show to others.

“Quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious”… Well, what else could anyone expect? Did we not hear Jesus when He said, “I come to call sinners, not the righteous?” Did we think He was kidding?

Our job is to follow Him along side and as a part of the Community He is creating. And being thankful for the grace He daily shows us in our “in-processness” means showing that grace to others as well. Even others “in” the church. Because to love Jesus is to love the people He loves- both the “lost sheep” and the “found Bride” that He is in the process of making beautiful.

Grace on our part looks like trying not to be upset that He’s still got a ways to go.

In community, Current Affairs, Ecclesiology
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Be Careful Little Ears…

bob —  July 20, 2010

This post by Ernest Goodman over at Missions Misunderstood captures pretty well both how we at Evergreen want to view Scripture and how we DON’T want to teach it to our children…

Bible Stories

Growing up in church, kids always got special treatment. At my church, for example, there was some unwritten rule giving all adults in church “special” permission to “discipline” us as though we were their own kids. Doyle Braden was an arm-grabber, as I recall. Mr. Lettow would flick the backs of our heads. Sean’s dad pinched ears. Hard.

I digress.

Church kids didn’t have to listen to sermons. We were allowed to draw on the backs of bulletins and take naps. The sermon was for “grownups.” The kids, well, we were told “Bible stories.”

I remember my Sunday School teacher pulling out the flannelgraph and using felt-cutouts of camels, caves, and men with beards retell (okay- summarize) the stories of the Bible. Noah and the Ark. The Fiery Furnace. The Good Samaritan. Great stories, all told in kid-friendly ways. You know, like on Sesame Street.

And that was the problem. Our little kid brains had a hard time telling the difference between Bible stories (which, I presume our teachers believed to have really happened or, in the case of the Samaritan, to have really been told by Jesus) and every other story we had been told. After all, David and Goliath had a giant, but so did Jack and the Beanstalk. Jesus was resurrected by the power of God, Sleeping Beauty was revivified by the Kiss of a Prince. To us, it was all kind of the same.

To make matters worse, our teachers often oversimplified the stories, diluting them into moralistic tales that they were never meant to be. Adam and Eve, Jacob and Esau, and Achan, taught us that is was bad to tell a lie. David and Jonathan showed us that sharing made us a good friend. Jonah was a lesson in obedience. Sunday morning Bible stories were like lo-tech Saturday morning cartoons. Only boring.

Looking back, I recognize that each “story” was an opportunity to share the gospel; to demonstrate our need for a savior and to recognize God’s provision in Christ. But instead, we learned that sharing and using good manners made Jesus happy. As we grew up, those stories were left behind for more practical topical Bible studies and the abstract “meat” of Pauline theology.

Of course, we eventually learned that The Three Little Pigs, The Seven Dwarfs, and all the other protagonists in our childhood stories weren’t real. How were we to know that their Bible story counterparts were?

I suppose what I’m getting at is that we need to be careful how we communicate things. The Bible isn’t God’s Cautionary Tales. Sure, there are lots of examples in the history of the Creator’s interaction with creation, but there’s more to it than that. Everything recorded in the text points to humanity’s relationship to God, made right only through the life, death, and real resurrection of Jesus. The way we talk about that history will affect how it is understood by those we tell.

In community, Pastoral, the Gospel
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The Vital Question I haven’t been asking…

bob —  July 13, 2010

Woke up at 2:30 this morning (of course) realizing that it's been awhile since I asked anyone that most vital of questions…

"So, what's your story?"

We have "history" as a core value in our community- partly to help us remember that we're not new- that though we started our church 6 years ago, we're really a part (and certainly not the latest/greatest part) of something that's been going on for 2,000 years. 

But we also want that value to remind us of something else- and that's people's individual history, their story, and its importance. 

Too often I find myself trying to connect with new acquaintances by asking a few ice-breaker questions, and then falling back on old reliable: Telling them about me. Or my iPhone. Usually my iPhone… But I digress. 

On Sundays. as I try to connect with people who are visiting our community, the same dynamic often happens- though instead of telling them about myself, I'm trying to tell them about Evergreen, ask if they have any questions… and totally missing the most important way I could connect with them. 

I knew a guy once that really struggle to build relationships and friendships. He was a nice enough guy, but no one seemed very interested in talking with him. And there was a simple reason- he was a one-trick pony, conversationally. Anything you said would trigger a story he had about something that at one time had happened to him. They were often funny enough stories- but in lieu of anything else, any other personal interest in the other person, they were a conversation (and so a relationship) killer.

So last night, I realized… I've been becoming a version of that. Eager to tell people about me and mine, less eager to ask them about them and theirs (so to speak…)

I need to remember- there are a number of things that people want to know about me or about my community. But the thing they want to know first, and above everything else is: Do you care about who I am? 

In community, Pastoral, personal
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Should the Church Meet My Needs?

bob —  July 9, 2010

“In a recent survey of 1,000 church attenders, respondents were asked, ‘Why does the church exist?’ According to 89 percent, the church’s purpose was ‘to take care of my family’s and my spiritual needs.’ Only 11 percent said the purpose of the church is ‘to win the world for Jesus Christ.’” РGreg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California.

For the past few years, there’s been a substantial push back to the idea of the church as a meeter of needs. This generally takes the form of deriding the idea of the church as a “provider of religious goods and services” (to quote my friend Doug Pagitt, the first I heard of many, including myself, who have used this phrase).
And as far as that goes, I’m in total agreement. When the Church is seen primarily as an institution which caters to the felt needs of myself and my family, something vital gets lost as communities get sucked into an attractional cycle of tweaking programs and message to fit fads and tastes.
But more and more, I’m beginning to see the opposite end of the spectrum as just as much an overstatement and disservice to the true meaning and mission of the church.

I think of it this way: if the Church’s mission is to be a sign and foretaste of the present and coming (already and not yet) Kingdom of God, then it’s imperative that needs be met- that’s part of the artwork, the essence of being a sign and foretaste.

In other words, one of the reasons we feed the poor, aside from the fact that people are simply hungry, is to point to what God ultimately does and will do in Jesus. We care for the environment for the same way- not just because it’s good stewardship, but also because we are drawing a picture for people of the redemption and renewal of all things that began to come to fruition on Easter morning with the Resurrection of Jesus and will culminate someday in the Reign of Jesus.

So if all that is true, I think it’s imperative that the church be meeting needs for people not just “outside” but inside as well. Not as a church growth strategy (“Get the kids and you get the parents!”) but rather as a means of showing the mutual love and concern we are commanded to show (Gal 6:10) AND a means of being the sign and foretaste of Jesus’ work we are meant to be. In the Kingdom, needs are meant- financial, emotional, whatever. So then, that same reality should be reflected in our communities.

The difference, I think, lies in the “how” as well as in the attitudes we cultivate as members of a community.

First, the how. If our primary strategy of meeting needs is one of professionals being paid to make things happen, things may indeed happen, but two unintended side-effects are likely to ensue. In the professional-driven church where nothing “official” happens that didn’t originate in a staff meeting, where nothing is considered “real ministry” unless a paid staff-member is present, consumerism WILL become the driving factor. Why? Because what we personally have a hand in creating and sustaining we love and nurture. What we merely purchase, we consume. The quickest way to make consumers (not that people don’t already have a pretty good head start)is to make ministry the domain and provence of people getting paid to do it. This disempowers people in the community who feel like they have to run everything by somebody “official”- and as we all know, putting someone in the back seat doesn’t make a passenger- it makes a back seat driver- someone who grasps for whatever control they can get by judging and complaining about every turn, missed signal, speed-up or slow-down… The quickest way to stop back-seat driving type complaining is to hand someone the wheel.
Of course- there’s still a role for people who are paid to free up the majority of their time to serve the community. There are pieces of ministry that take inordinate amounts of time (coordination of large numbers of volunteers, for example) or specialized training (counseling those in crisis is one) that mean if we want to have those things present in our communities, we make room in our budget for them. There’s a pretty good argument from Scripture for paying people as well. This isn’t an apologia for paid staff, but I think it’s important to remember- that often when no one is being tasked with the primary duty to make sure that things are happening in a community, you get the same result as when it’s a professional-only atmosphere: nothing much happens.
In when pastors and elders begin to grab a hold of their true main purpose in ministry- as equippers of others to do the work of ministry (Eph 4) that things begin to click.

In terms of attitude, though- it’s not enough to think about what attitude to warn against- we have to point people to the positive alternative, and that probably looks like saying early and often: “We as a church are here to meet needs- not from the “top down”, but from person to person, as a community.” We point people towards the idea that when they see a problem or need, their first instinct shouldn’t be complaining or criticizing, but asking if THEY themselves can meet or fix the need/problem. And if they feel unable, the next step is not to pass off to the paid professionals, but to spur conversation in the community about equipping people to do this task that is now becoming apparent as a pressing need.

To sum up:

My overall fear with the idea that the church is not here to meet needs is that while we may be effectively fighting consumerism with language like that, we’re probably unintentionally signaling to people that needs that they see WITHIN the community are not a priority or even important. The real solution is to move elders and pastors from being the paid professionals back to the more biblical model of equippers, and to instill in people an attitude that community IS there to meet needs, and they are not just an essential, but THE main part of that.

In community, Ecclesiology, Pastoral
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