Kathryn's Sitting Up and Crawling!

The Forgotten Ways - Part Five

The chapter called "Communitas, not Community" is my favorite of the book. It explores why the focus on mission is so important.

He begins by stating that "community" is not the real test for success in a missional church, but "communitas". When referring to community, we often mean "the community for me." Our impulses are grounded in a mostly middle-class value of safety and security. When coupled with consumerism's obsession with comfort and convenience, we create a church that loses her missional edge. A missional view of community is "me for the community and the community for the world."

Connected to this idea is the concept of liminality, a term coined to describe the various rites of passage of an African community. "Liminality therefore applies to that situation where people find themselves in an in-between, marginal state in relations to the surrounding society, a place that could involve significant danger and disorientation, but not necessarily so." During this shared experience, a bond of comradeship and community is forged. "Communitas happens in situations where individuals are driven to find each other through a common experience of ordeal, humbling, transition, and marginalization."

"So the related ideas of liminality and communitas describe the dynamics of the Christian community inspired to overcome their instincts to "huddle and cuddle" and to instead form themselves around a common mission that calls them onto a dangerous journey to unknown places - a mission tha tcalls the church to shake off its collective securities and to plunge into the world of action, where its members will experience disorientation and marginalization but also where they encounter God and one another in a new way. Communitas is therefore always linked with the experience of liminality. It involves adventure and movement, and it describes that unique experience of togetherness that only really happens among a group of people inspired by the vision of a better world who actually attempt to do something about it."

Hirsch believes that this should be the normative condition of the people of God, not just a cultural transition or, better yet, an annual emphasis for a church's new member drive.

The stories of Scripture that inspire us, even the stories from Hollywood that inspire us, are all about adventure, risk, journey, and comradeship. One of my favorite films is the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Hirsch confirms the elements of communitas within the series.



The church, for too long, has created an artificial environment for believers to grow and develop. Hirsch compares us to fish in an aquarium, where all of our needs are taken care of, only to develop the fish to be sensitive to any changes in the environment. Most go belly up with the slightest change. But, out in the ocean, we find life, adventure, danger, but also the ability to sustain ourselves when the going gets tough.

We should be "placing ourselves in the new future and then taking a series of steps, not in order to get there someday, but as if you are there, or almost there, now. This is exactly the perspective of the kingdom of God in the New Testament. In saying that the future (eschatological) kingdom of God is already present in our midst, we are called to act in the knowledge that it is already here now and yet will be completed then. And so we are drawn up into God's future for the world. This "now" and "not yet" tension of the kingdom defines our reality and keeps us moving, growing, and adapting."

When we conceive that God is at work both in the church and in the world (unlike most expressions which only concludes God's activity in the world through the church), "our worship of God is always done in the context of our engagement with the world, and because of this it is forced to be culturally meaningful to outsiders....Church is not something tha tis done in abstract from the world. Our evangelism and social action are communal, we join with God in redeeming the world (he's already there), and our spirituality is of the all-of-life variety."

Tomorrow, I'll have some concluding thoughts on the subject.

The Forgotten Ways - Part Four

Organic systems are the natural elements that form as an organism grows more complex. The opposite of these systems are the institutional systems (I wrote about that here). "The church in its most phenomenal from (when it genuinely manifests Apostolic Genius) organizes itself as a living organism that reflects more how God has structured life itself, as opposed to a machine, which is the artificial, inorganic alternative to a living system." The kingdom and church is portrayed in Scripture using organic images such as a body, field, yeast, seeds, trees, vines, etc. So, could we look at the doctrine of creation (cosmology) to guide us into a deeper understanding of ourselves and our function in the world? Hirsch thinks so.

"A living systems approach seeks to structure the common life of an organization around the rhythms and structures that mirror life itself." An organic approach includes the tasks of:

• "unleash[ing] the mDNA that is dormant in the system and help guide it to its God-intended purpose,"
• "bring[ing] the various elements in the system into meaningful interrelationship" - much like how Paul describes the body of Christ,
• "mov[ing] the system toward the edge of chaos;" that is, forcing the church to adapt and to become responsive to the community we find ourselves in, and finally,
• "help[ing] select the flow of information and focus the community around it."

Hirsch concludes, "Planting a new church in this approach isn't primarily about buildings, worship services, size of congregations, and pastoral care, but rather about gearing the whole community around natural discipling friendships, worship as lifestyle, and mission in the context of everyday life. As a living network "in Christ" it can meet anywhere, anytime and still be a viable expression of church."

On the other hand, churches often set up mechanical approaches to substitute for the natural systems that emerge. "Religious institutionalism happens when, in the name of convenience, we set up a system to do what we must do ourselves so that over time the structures we create take on a life of their own."

The dangers of institutionalism includes the transitions where

"mission becomes strategy
roles become tasks
teams become structure
networks become organization
recognition becomes compensation"

How do we stave off this decline? "It is the heart of the prophetic ministry to constantly call us to unadorned covenantal faithfulness; this is summed up in Micah 6:8, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.""

"In catering to the religious needs of some (largely the insiders) it has as a consequence failed to respond to the wider spiritual hunger of not-yet-Christians....Liquid church is essential because it takes the present culture seriously and seeks to express the fullness of the Christian gospel within that culture. The defining element of this is church as a living, adaptive network highly responsive to the deep spiritual needs and hunger expressed in the surrounding society."

In order to understand how we can successfully multiply (natural in the course of living systems) we ask the question, "What is the irreducible minimum of the faith? What can be done away with? What is too complex and heavy to carry into a new missional situation and an adaptive challenge?" The problems with the complexity of the megachurch being the only viable option is that "the net effect will be to marginalize most people from ministry and church planting, and it will effectively put a contraceptive on the reproductive mechanism of the church. It will certainly stifle genuine people movements, because it necessitates a professional concept of ministry with massive buildings and resources."

Egg Hunting

Resurrection Morning

There's something powerful about the resurrection. Two of the stories that get me the most are of the travelers on the road to Emmaus, and Peter's rediscovery of his Master.

We spent this morning with some of our friends at Resonate, just hanging out and enjoying the kids and our company. I shared these two stories, and how the resurrection has the ability to set our hearts on fire, and reunite us with the One who loved us first.

Peter's story is the most meaningful to me. (I don't think anyone noticed, but I got a little choked up reading it today). Jesus didn't have to remind Peter he was alive and cared for him. Peter was already a believer. His eternity was secure. And yet, the Messiah still revisits Peter in the same way he first met him, on the shore after a night of unsuccessful fishing.

When Jesus asked, "Peter, do you love me more than these?", he's not asking if Peter loves Jesus more than John or James or Thomas does. The "these" he's referring to are the fish. His question is, "Peter, do you love me more than you loved the comfort and security of your former life?"

I likened it to the red pill/blue pill moment from The Matrix. Peter had a chance to go back. But I think, in that moment, his heart was burning with knowing there was something ahead of him that was bigger than he ever could be, pulling him forward.

The resurrection can do that. The hope of Christ, the life he gives, can make us invincible to the powers that seek to kill, steal, and destroy.

"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

The Forgotten Ways - Part Three

"The missional-incarnational impules is, in effect, the practical outworking of the mission of God (the missio Dei) and of the Incarnation. It is thus rooted in the very way that God has redeemed the world, and in how God revealed himself to us."

Hirsch contrasts this approach with the more traditional "evangelistic-attrational" model of growing the church. It's hard to critique it, because the motives are sincere, but nevertheless "it is keeping us from experience that authentic impulse that reverberates through authentic apostolic movements."

Hirsch relates mission to a spreading of seeds, or how a viral outbreak happens when someone sneezes. However, when the attractional mode is used, "the net effect is to unwittingly block the outward-bound movement that is built into the gospel. Instead of being sown in the wind, seeds are put into ecclesial storehouses, thus effectively extinguishing the purpose they were made for. Or, to go back to the sneeze metaphor, we suppress the "sneeze" by holding back the impulse to sneeze in the first place. And because of this, the attractional model quite simply can never hope to impact the broader culture as Jesus movements are able to."

So, now we know that the mission of God is to take the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth, to scatter and seed the good news to whatever culture, group, and time that it can be placed. But what do we do once we arrive in that time and place? "In our mission to those outside of the faith we will need to exercise a genuine identification and affinity with those we are attempting to reach." In a word, incarnation.

Hirsch shows us four ways this incarnation is displayed, both by Christ and through us. It's too good to summarize, so I'm just going to quote the whole thing:

• Presence - The fact that God was in the Nazarene neighborhood for thirty years and no one noticed should be profoundly disturbing to our normal ways of engaging mission. Not only does it have implications for our affirmation of normal human living, it says something about the timing as well as the relative anonymity of incarnational ways to engaging in mission. There is a time for "in your face" approaches to mission, but there is also a time to simple become part of the very fabric of a community and to engage in the humanity of it all. Furthermore, the idea of presence highlights the role of relationships in mission. If relationship is the key means in the transfer of the gospel, then it simply means we are going to have to be directly present to the people in our circle. Our very lives are our messages, and we cannot take ourselves out of the equation of mission. But one of the profound implications of our presence as representatives of Jesus is that Jesus actually likes to hang out with the people we hang out with. They get the implied message that God actually likes them.
• Proximity - Jesus mixed with people from every level of society. He ate with Pharisees as well as tax collectors and prostitutes. If we are to follow in his footsteps, his people will need to be directly and actively involved in the lives of the people we are seeking to reach. This assumes not only presence, but genuine availability, which will involve spontaneity as well as regularity in the friendships and communities we inhabit.
• Powerlessness - In seeking to act in a Christlike way, we cannot rely on normal forms of power to communicate the gospel, but have to take Jesus' model with absolute seriousness. This commits us to servanthood and humility in our relationships with each other and the world. Sadly, much of church history shows how little we have assimilated this aspect of incarnational Christlikeness into our understanding of church, leadership, and mission.
• Proclamation - The gospel invitation initiated in the ministry of Jesus remains alive and active to this very day. A genuine incarnational approach will require that we be always willing to share the gospel story with those within our world. We simply cannot take this aspect out of the equation of mission and remain faithful to our calling in the world. We are essentially a "message tribe," and that means we must ensure the faithful transmission of the message we carry through proclamation.

We are all called to "give birth" so to speak, to reproduce. But, statistically, over 90% of churches will never seed a new church. Can you imagine if over 90% of our population never had children? This world would change in a generation. I encourage you to watch "Children of Men," a film about just such a scenario. I think it's a great parallel to the hope the church provides in this world, but that hope diminishes when we fail to live out the missional-incarnational impulse.

When we stay focused on Christ, our understanding of him and how we engaged in the mission of God, we derive our own approach. He teaches us how to connect to a culture without being "churchy." But doing so changes the "scorecard", how we measure and define success.

Next, we'll look at organic systems.

The Forgotten Ways - Part Two

The chapter on disciple making begins with a great quote:

"The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief." - T. S. Eliot

Hirsch begins by illustrating how "easy" the modern church has made discipleship, yet how complex we've made "church". It should really be the other way around. Discipleship is the destiny we all have a followers of Christ. There is no "arrival" point at which we get all there is to get. But, most of the time, discipleship is seen as a classroom-based session for new converts.

He then explains how the major challenge to the viability of Christianity in the Western world is not Buddhism, or Islam, or New Age practices, but something we've all become accustomed to: consumerism. In fact, most advertising is no longer centered around the merits of the product, but the religious experiences of having said product (belonging, identity, meaning, purpose, etc.). There is a great, unfulfilled void in our lives, and marketers are tapping into that void using religious and spiritual language.

After almost a century of this consumeristic focus, the church has begun to mirror the marketplace. We offer religious goods and services, and whoever has the best "product" is the one that dominates the marketplace. "In this [church growth proponents] were sincere and well intentioned, but they must have been also totally ignorant of the ramifications of their counsel - because in the end the medium has so easily overwhelmed the message."

I had a conversation last night about this with a friend, who is the director of operations for a group of restaurants. If the missional church is so engaging and fulfilling, why is not the biggest thing in town? Why do people eat at McDonald's, after they know there's healthy alternatives? If I opened up an authentic Italian restaurant that only served the freshest ingredients, and I was next door to Chili's, how would I do? I would inevitably fail.

Our culture's religious palate has been conditioned to want the easy, passive, convenient God. The one where I can show up on Sunday, manage to stay awake for an hour, and feel that I've done my part. And the problem is, many pastors are doing little to change their palates! How do you do it? How do you change the palate of a community? Free samples, one by one. And you'll have to expect that some people will still prefer McDonald's.

The idea of discipleship is wrapped up in Paul's theology of being "in Christ." Jesus shares in John 15 that we are to abide in Christ. So, "all the spiritual disciplines aim us toward one thing - Christlikeness....To be a follower of Christ does not mean to imitate him literally by mimicking him, but to express him through the medium of one's own life." Hirsch concludes, "In the final analysis, the medium is the message, and the phenomenal movements of God seemed to be able to express the message authentically through the media of both their personal and common lives together."

Linked to this idea is the concept of embodiment, of becoming. Check out what Paul has to say:

"You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." - 1 Thessalonians 1:6-9

"Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you." - Philippians 3:17

"We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow." - 2 Thessalonians 3:9

"In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us." - Titus 2:7-8

"Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." - 1 Corinthians 11:1

When we embody the mind of Christ, we develop significant influence in the community around us. That influence is what develops us into leaders. This leadership, however, is not like the leadership we are used to. Jesus modeled a discipling leadership with a "life-on-life" approach, not merely dispensing information, but working along side his learners, allowing them to experience what it means to be a follower.

Next, we'll look at the missional-incarnational impulse.

The Forgotten Ways - Part One

The heart of a movement of God begins with the most simple understanding of Scripture: "Jesus is Lord." And this understanding began first in the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4. But to best understand the radical nature of a monotheistic view, let's first understand the life as a polytheist:

"Life as a polytheist is not only complex (each deity has to be encountered with the appropriate decorum) but it is thoroughly superstitious (minor actions have massive spiritual consequences), and also dangerous (not all the gods are good; in fact, some are outright evil). This was the overwhelming religious context of Israel.

And into this context come the Shema...

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:4-9

The implications of this statement is that Yahweh is the Lord over every aspect of life. "It is a call for covenant loyalty, rather than a statement of theological ontology (nature of being)." The significance is that we can know that Jesus is concerned with all of our lives, not just the so-called "spiritual" stuff. Because of the Shema, everything is spiritual.

"To say this more explicitly, there is no such thing as sacred and secular in biblical worldview. It can conceive of no part of the world that does not come under the claim of Yahweh's lordship. All of life belongs to God, and true holiness means bringing all the spheres of our life under God. This is what it means to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength."

In the New Testament, we see the lordship of God is found in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus himself confirms the significance of the Shema:

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28-31

Paul later confirms the central focus of Christ as Lord:

"[God] raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." Ephesians 1:20-23

Our culture has shifted from this true expression of spirituality to a dualistic expression. "Dualism distorts our experience of God, his people, and his world." This impact is felt most in the disconnect between Sunday and Monday. And at a "church", which has come to mean a location and event rather than a people and mission.

Hirsch concludes his exploration with some practical questions:

"What does all this practically mean for those seeking to recover Apostolic Genius in the life of the community of God? For one, it will involve (re)engaging directly the central confession of "Jesus is Lord" and attempting to reorient the church around this life-orienting claim. It will also mean simplifying our core messages, uncluttering our overly complex theologies, and thoroughly evaluating the traditional templates that so shape our behaviors and dominate our consciousness."

Everything else we examine is viewed through this lens. Next, we'll look at disciple making.

The Forgotten Ways - Introduction

I'm going to skip all of the introductory stuff that's in the book (backgrounds and the like). There is a great quote early on:

"If you want to build a ship, don't summon people to buy wood, prepare tools, distribute jobs, and organize the work, rather teach people the yearning for the wide, boundless ocean." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

So much of church is about how you (yes, YOU) can serve the church. Very few people are inspired by that (not very long at least). "The Forgotten Ways" by Alan Hirsch takes the components of building the church around mission - that wide, boundless ocean - and makes them practical. The six components are:

1. Jesus is Lord
2. Disciple Making
3. Missional-Incarnational Impulse
4. Apostolic Environment
5. Organic Systems
6. Communitas, not Community

Before we jump into these components, I'd like to familiarize you with some of the terms Hirsch uses.

mDNA - missional DNA (the "m" helps to distinguish it from its biological counterpart). In biology, DNA is found in every living cell, it codes genetic information for the transmission of inherited traits beyond that of the initiating organism, it is self-replicating, and it carries vital information for healthy reproduction. All followers of Christ have the full coding of mDNA in them.

Apostolic Genius - the formation of mDNA into a powerful, spiritual current that transforms our experience of Jesus, community, and mission.

Missional and Missional Church - a community of God's people that defines itself, and organizes its life around, its real purpose of being an agent of God's mission to the world. The expression of the Kingdom of God; we are both the product of the mission and dispensers of it.

Next, we'll look at the heart of the missional church - Jesus Christ.

Done and Done

Well, I didn't think we'd finish, but we did! Thanks to everyone who helped. Kylie stayed on the swings for over 30 minutes after we were finished.

The Nazarene Carpenter

After spending 9 hours in the backyard building a playground (it's still not finished), I appreciate Jesus even more. He was a carpenter for most of his life, and yet remained sinless.

I can't go more than 10 minutes without thinking (or saying) something inappropriate.

Finally Working

So, after two years of working outside the home, I'm finally back. I'm full-time with the church now, and although I still have some outside jobs helping to make ends meet, the vast majority of my time is spent doing what I love.

The past month or so has been a time of focus for me. I've been fasting for the past three days, and I think I've gained some real clarity on what matters most to me. My scorecard has changed. I've always been plagued by the way I want to see "church" done, and the way I was always taught it should be. But I've finally made the transition to stop trying to measure myself by any other standard than what Christ would have me do.

There can be some liabilities in this, mostly on the financial front. But I'm not really worrying about it. Over just the past month, I feel that our team has crystallized on the vision and values. We've started some coaching/discipleship stuff that I think is going to be dynamic, and it seems that those we've been connecting with are getting it.

I'm working on letting go of the need to control every variable. I know that Christ is Lord, and that alone should be enough for me to stop worrying about every little thing.

Over the next few posts, I hope to share some thoughts from "The Forgotten Ways" by Alan Hirsch. It takes the thoughts from "This Present Future" that I walked through, and makes them bloom.

Garfield Minus Garfield

If you've not seen this yet, I encourage you to check it out. It shows how unstable Jon Arbuckle really is without his pet cat.

City Council

So, I'm running for city council. You can track my progress and comment on issues over at my new blog. Wish me luck!

www.kylesearsforhutto.com

Kylie's First Soccer Game

She followed the ball, kicked it a few times, and didn't cry when she got knocked down. It was a great first game!