A Christian in India said to Francis Chan: “How can you be casual about something you’ll lose everything for?”
This Christian was asked why his faith in Christ spilled over into every area of his life and conversation.
In China, Chan described a uniquely Western phenomenon: “Where I come from people go to services in buildings and switch if they want a better speaker or better childcare or better music.”
The underground church participants laughed hysterically. Impossible, they thought.
In our Western bubble, we sometimes believe that the United States’ expression of the Christian Church is the norm around the world. We think that because of the freedom of Christian development, we represent what the world should conform and aspire to. Organization, education, strategy, you name it: we can begin to believe that we’re doing everything the way it should be done.
But the facts are much different. The United States comprises only 4% of the world’s population. The way “we” do it is, in fact, a minority expression of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Of course, Biblical principles are to remain consistent in the body of Christ. But a number of non-biblical attitudes and practices have taken hold in the cultural development of Western Christianity. These attitudes and practices are not necessarily all bad, but they may skew Western Christianity’s congruence with what the Scriptures show the Church is to be.
One skewed reality is casual and compartmentalized Christianity. As one Asian believer stated: “To have people come into a room who do not want to be disciple-makers doesn't make sense.”
Will we as Western believers defend all we’re doing and vehemently declare that in the area of Church we have no sin? Or will we humbly and repentantly consider the question we started with: “How can you be casual about something you’ll lose everything for?”
Showing posts with label The Purpose of the Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Purpose of the Church. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Monday, August 23, 2010
The Pretty-Ugly Factor
Honda and Toyota came out with some redesigned vehicles recently. These Japanese automakers used to be lithe and nimble in design, production, and sales. Vehicles were inexpensive and reliable. In fact, they were beautiful. They were pretty automobiles. But since the car companies have grown and expanded, some quality glitches have surfaced. And some of their designs are downright ugly.
The same thing happened to GM, Ford, and Chrysler in the course of their history. For a while, the American automakers churned out some ugly vehicles. Bloated versions of the Ford Thunderbird and Chevy Impala appeared in the '70's and 80's. Cadillacs looked like boats on wheels. Remember the Pontiac Aztek? Yikes!
American automakers seem to be coming back with some sleek designs these days, but what gets into a company to become ugly? Can the church learn anything from this swinging pendulum? Let's try:
First, the car companies took the easy road of tweaking what exists instead of inventing something new. The result can be very ugly. In the church, tweaking routines and old ways can happen for a while, but keeping the old around for too long will result in something that people view as irrelevant and meaningless. Car companies will always make cars, and the church should always reach people with the unchanging Gospel of Jesus Christ. But never inventing new ways to reach out with the Good News of Jesus adds up to laziness. Never creating innovative ways to communicate the Gospel will hurt the work of the church. It's ugly.
Second, the car companies became out of touch with people. They lived in denial. Instead of considering people's genuine needs and feedback, they plowed ahead as institutions with blinders on. They were big ships that resisted the blowing winds of change. The church must listen to people. True, it can't be blown around by the winds of untruth and relativism, but it has to hear what people are saying. The church must know how people are hurting and where the world is sending them. If the church really listens, it can bring God's truth to peoples lives in a vibrant and powerful way. That's a beautiful thing.
Third, the car companies drifted into valuing survival over service. They let the bottom line of profits erode their focus on people. Once a local church is born, the tendency to focus on survival becomes an enticing false god. Staying in "business" can replace the risk-oriented, life-sacrificing spirit of laying it all on the line for Jesus and His Kingdom. A survival spirit will take the heart and purpose out of an organization. If the church forgets that it is here not to be served, but to serve and give its live as a ransom for many, it will become an ugly, bloated, beast.
Fourth, the car companies lost the joy in their work. They cranked out products. They kept the lines running. But they let the joyful art of automobile design and creation slip from their grasp. All over the Bible, the church is described as the Bride of Christ beautifully adorned. God bestows a crown of beauty on His redeemed. The feet of the one who brings good news are beautiful. God's work is not a joyless grind. Lives are being changed for eternity. If the people of the church lose their joy so the "assembly line" can keep running, something may need to change. Purpose may need to be revisited. The living Word may need to be inwardly digested. Reaching out may need to be rekindled. Why? Because God's Church is a beautiful thing!
(Church Planting Series, Part forty-three)
The same thing happened to GM, Ford, and Chrysler in the course of their history. For a while, the American automakers churned out some ugly vehicles. Bloated versions of the Ford Thunderbird and Chevy Impala appeared in the '70's and 80's. Cadillacs looked like boats on wheels. Remember the Pontiac Aztek? Yikes!
American automakers seem to be coming back with some sleek designs these days, but what gets into a company to become ugly? Can the church learn anything from this swinging pendulum? Let's try:
First, the car companies took the easy road of tweaking what exists instead of inventing something new. The result can be very ugly. In the church, tweaking routines and old ways can happen for a while, but keeping the old around for too long will result in something that people view as irrelevant and meaningless. Car companies will always make cars, and the church should always reach people with the unchanging Gospel of Jesus Christ. But never inventing new ways to reach out with the Good News of Jesus adds up to laziness. Never creating innovative ways to communicate the Gospel will hurt the work of the church. It's ugly.
Second, the car companies became out of touch with people. They lived in denial. Instead of considering people's genuine needs and feedback, they plowed ahead as institutions with blinders on. They were big ships that resisted the blowing winds of change. The church must listen to people. True, it can't be blown around by the winds of untruth and relativism, but it has to hear what people are saying. The church must know how people are hurting and where the world is sending them. If the church really listens, it can bring God's truth to peoples lives in a vibrant and powerful way. That's a beautiful thing.
Third, the car companies drifted into valuing survival over service. They let the bottom line of profits erode their focus on people. Once a local church is born, the tendency to focus on survival becomes an enticing false god. Staying in "business" can replace the risk-oriented, life-sacrificing spirit of laying it all on the line for Jesus and His Kingdom. A survival spirit will take the heart and purpose out of an organization. If the church forgets that it is here not to be served, but to serve and give its live as a ransom for many, it will become an ugly, bloated, beast.
Fourth, the car companies lost the joy in their work. They cranked out products. They kept the lines running. But they let the joyful art of automobile design and creation slip from their grasp. All over the Bible, the church is described as the Bride of Christ beautifully adorned. God bestows a crown of beauty on His redeemed. The feet of the one who brings good news are beautiful. God's work is not a joyless grind. Lives are being changed for eternity. If the people of the church lose their joy so the "assembly line" can keep running, something may need to change. Purpose may need to be revisited. The living Word may need to be inwardly digested. Reaching out may need to be rekindled. Why? Because God's Church is a beautiful thing!
(Church Planting Series, Part forty-three)
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Mercury and Missions
The Ford Motor Company recently announced it was shutting down the Mercury line. For over 70 years, Mercury provided a mildly upscale automobile between the Ford and Lincoln brands. Was anyone surprised Mercury was phased out? I don’t think so.
Everybody could see that Mercury had become meaningless. It duplicated Ford models. It offered nothing unique to the public. Buyers of Mercury came from an insider pool—people who would have bought Fords. No vigorous product identity existed. When the announcement of the shutdown was made public, no one expressed shock. I don’t even know if anyone objected.
Can the church learn anything from Mercury? Let's try.
First, a vigorous and unique product identity offered in a vibrant way is essential. Who has a better "product" than the church? The true God, the living Word, the forgiveness of sins, eternal salvation, the presence of the Almighty, deep purpose and meaning for life--is there anything better? Can we not help speak of what we've seen and heard (Acts 4:20) or are we bored, listless, and distracted?
Second, appealing only to insiders will destroy you. A dear older lady said to me recently, "I know what I prefer to experience in church, but the church doesn't have to worry about me. I believe in Jesus already. They need to appeal to the people who don't believe!" A focus on preserving the organization, the institution, or the already convinced will slowly destroy the church. In business, that inside focus may be a chosen strategy. In the church, it's a sin. Jesus said to the church leaders of the day, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former" (Matthew 23:23). Maintaining an inside emphasis while neglecting the mission is wrong, hypocritical, and deadly.
Third, a meaningless organization is never mourned. There may be some sentimental farewells to Mercury. We'll probably see photos of the last Mercury as it rolls off the assembly line in the fall. There will be a few people who buy one of the final autos for their car collections. But because losing Mercury is not a loss to many people, not many people will care. Is the church like Mercury? Eighty percent of the population in Texas does not consider faith important and does not attend church with any regularity. More churches are shrinking and closing than are opening and growing. More and more, the culture considers the church irrelevant, hypocritical, snooty, weird, and meaningless. Its decline is not being mourned.
Can we learn from Mercury? Will we become moved and compelled by the miraculous Gospel to lift it up as the light of life in a dying, darkened world? Will you, without shame and with great boldness, bring Jesus to the lost? Will we break the bonds of insider comfortableness and get outside the walls of the church to form relationships and take risks? Will you sacrifice your comfort levels so people of this generation can meet their Savior? Will we serve Christ in such a way that people crave the impact and influence of the church? Will you represent Jesus so clearly that people urge you to stick around--not to go because they need you?
It's happened before. The Samaritans from Sychar urged Jesus to stay with them after they heard what happened to the sinful woman at the well. Jesus hung around for two days. John 4:41 says that "because of his words many more become believers." God's mission plan is much better than Mercury's marketing plan. Which will you follow?
(Church Planting Series, Part thirty-seven)
Everybody could see that Mercury had become meaningless. It duplicated Ford models. It offered nothing unique to the public. Buyers of Mercury came from an insider pool—people who would have bought Fords. No vigorous product identity existed. When the announcement of the shutdown was made public, no one expressed shock. I don’t even know if anyone objected.
Can the church learn anything from Mercury? Let's try.
First, a vigorous and unique product identity offered in a vibrant way is essential. Who has a better "product" than the church? The true God, the living Word, the forgiveness of sins, eternal salvation, the presence of the Almighty, deep purpose and meaning for life--is there anything better? Can we not help speak of what we've seen and heard (Acts 4:20) or are we bored, listless, and distracted?
Second, appealing only to insiders will destroy you. A dear older lady said to me recently, "I know what I prefer to experience in church, but the church doesn't have to worry about me. I believe in Jesus already. They need to appeal to the people who don't believe!" A focus on preserving the organization, the institution, or the already convinced will slowly destroy the church. In business, that inside focus may be a chosen strategy. In the church, it's a sin. Jesus said to the church leaders of the day, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former" (Matthew 23:23). Maintaining an inside emphasis while neglecting the mission is wrong, hypocritical, and deadly.
Third, a meaningless organization is never mourned. There may be some sentimental farewells to Mercury. We'll probably see photos of the last Mercury as it rolls off the assembly line in the fall. There will be a few people who buy one of the final autos for their car collections. But because losing Mercury is not a loss to many people, not many people will care. Is the church like Mercury? Eighty percent of the population in Texas does not consider faith important and does not attend church with any regularity. More churches are shrinking and closing than are opening and growing. More and more, the culture considers the church irrelevant, hypocritical, snooty, weird, and meaningless. Its decline is not being mourned.
Can we learn from Mercury? Will we become moved and compelled by the miraculous Gospel to lift it up as the light of life in a dying, darkened world? Will you, without shame and with great boldness, bring Jesus to the lost? Will we break the bonds of insider comfortableness and get outside the walls of the church to form relationships and take risks? Will you sacrifice your comfort levels so people of this generation can meet their Savior? Will we serve Christ in such a way that people crave the impact and influence of the church? Will you represent Jesus so clearly that people urge you to stick around--not to go because they need you?
It's happened before. The Samaritans from Sychar urged Jesus to stay with them after they heard what happened to the sinful woman at the well. Jesus hung around for two days. John 4:41 says that "because of his words many more become believers." God's mission plan is much better than Mercury's marketing plan. Which will you follow?
(Church Planting Series, Part thirty-seven)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
When the Earth Shakes
Church Planting Series, Part twenty-six
The earth shook. 7.0 on the Richter scale. Haiti is in crisis. What is the response? Walls of self-centeredness have crumbled. People are scrambling to help. People want to help. People are hungry to make a difference.
When the earth shakes, people take notice. People look away from themselves and reach out to help those in need. It’s refreshing, isn’t it? Suddenly we are moved from a culture of consumption to a culture clamoring to care.
Even churches are awakened to the greater need, to think about the reason for their existence, to awake from slumber and move forward with ears that hear, eyes that see, and hearts that are softened by the call of the Holy Spirit.
When the earth shakes, people take notice.
It happened before. As Jesus breathed His last breath on the cross, Matthew 27 tells us, “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, ‘Surely he was the Son of God!’” (vss. 51-54)
The walls of unbelief crumbled. The curtain of separation was removed. The centurion confessed the truth of what he saw. And the world changed forever.
What shakes your world? What shakes your church’s world? What reawakens you to the mission, the core, the purpose of your life in Christ?
People are hungry to make a difference. This is a deep need for unbelievers. It is also a Holy Spirit fueled desire in believers. It is the intersection of all humanity as people yearn for significance. As a church, you can give people real purpose. You can lead people to making an eternal difference in the lives of others. It’s Biblical. It’s God’s deep desire. It’s the reason we are here.
Haiti may help remind you of that. It may help you re-prioritize what’s happening in your church. It may be a reality check. The earth has shaken. Will you and your church take notice?
The earth shook. 7.0 on the Richter scale. Haiti is in crisis. What is the response? Walls of self-centeredness have crumbled. People are scrambling to help. People want to help. People are hungry to make a difference.
When the earth shakes, people take notice. People look away from themselves and reach out to help those in need. It’s refreshing, isn’t it? Suddenly we are moved from a culture of consumption to a culture clamoring to care.
Even churches are awakened to the greater need, to think about the reason for their existence, to awake from slumber and move forward with ears that hear, eyes that see, and hearts that are softened by the call of the Holy Spirit.
When the earth shakes, people take notice.
It happened before. As Jesus breathed His last breath on the cross, Matthew 27 tells us, “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, ‘Surely he was the Son of God!’” (vss. 51-54)
The walls of unbelief crumbled. The curtain of separation was removed. The centurion confessed the truth of what he saw. And the world changed forever.
What shakes your world? What shakes your church’s world? What reawakens you to the mission, the core, the purpose of your life in Christ?
People are hungry to make a difference. This is a deep need for unbelievers. It is also a Holy Spirit fueled desire in believers. It is the intersection of all humanity as people yearn for significance. As a church, you can give people real purpose. You can lead people to making an eternal difference in the lives of others. It’s Biblical. It’s God’s deep desire. It’s the reason we are here.
Haiti may help remind you of that. It may help you re-prioritize what’s happening in your church. It may be a reality check. The earth has shaken. Will you and your church take notice?
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