When the Internet gained popularity, I bit the bullet, plugged into my phone line, and began accessing the World Wide Web. After a click of the mouse, the dial tone sounded, followed by loud series of buzzes and electronic chatter. You might remember that distinctive sound. Then came the magic: a connection to the new electronic frontier.
Fast forward to 2012. If I had a dial-up connection today, you’d call me crazy. I’d be Internet impaired. The narrow bandwidth of dial-up would paralyze my ability to access the vast selection offered at the current online buffet. The bandwidth of high-speed technology has expanded connection possibilities.
Reggie McNeal talks about the bandwidth of the church. It’s something worth thinking about. Sometimes the church’s bandwidth narrows as it seeks to involve church people in church events. There’s a constant effort to get church members to sign up for, volunteer for, and join activities tailored for church people.
Statistics show, however, that 80% of the population is not church people. How can the bandwidth of the church be increased to reach the 80%?
This requires a paradigm shift. Instead of planning the church’s activities around church people, what if the church planned every action and formed every reason for invitation around the goal of engaging the non-churched?
People are craving relationships and purpose. What friend, co-worker, neighbor, or family member wouldn’t respond “yes” when you ask:
“Will you join me in helping to serve kids in need?”
“We’re going to hang out with and love on some elderly folks in a nursing home. Want to come along?”
“I need a partner for English as a Second Language instruction. Will you give me a hand?”
“A group is coming to my house to write encouragement cards to some people in need. Can you join us?”
“We’re going to make a meal for the blind in our community. Can you and your family help us?”
You get the idea. What can you do to grow your invitation pool beyond the church directory? How can you include the disconnected before you invite the already very busy church crowd? How can you help increase the bandwidth of the church so the 80% can experience the love of Jesus, too?
Monday, February 27, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
A New Neighborhood
Relationships are no longer centered on geography. When I was a kid, all the moms on the block knew each other, knew each other’s kids, and had the right to discipline any of the kids on the block. Families typically had one car--a car dad used to go to and from work. Neighbors talked over the backyard fence, got together to play cards, and combined efforts to form the winning bowling team at the local bowling alley.
Geography and neighborhood went hand in hand. But not anymore.
Sure, there are some neighborhoods that are cohesive and neighborly, but new “neighborhoods” have sprung up as people have become more mobile, more networked, and more selective about who their “neighbors” are.
“Anthropography” has replaced geography. People are choosing the people they hang with--and people are being thrown together in ways they never expected.
Unfortunately, the church may still get hung up on geography. True, geographical neighbors are important, but if Christians are told that their neighborhood is limited to the homes or apartment units that surround where they live, new neighborhoods and new opportunities to share the Gospel will be overlooked.
Some people spend more time with co-workers than with people from their subdivision. You may spend more time with people in school, or online, or at the remote main office, or at your kids’ soccer games, or in the dialysis lab than you do with people who live just a front yard away.
How is the church preparing itself to reach these new neighborhoods? How are believers reaching beyond geography? What’s your neighborhood and how will you bring Jesus to it?
Geography and neighborhood went hand in hand. But not anymore.
Sure, there are some neighborhoods that are cohesive and neighborly, but new “neighborhoods” have sprung up as people have become more mobile, more networked, and more selective about who their “neighbors” are.
“Anthropography” has replaced geography. People are choosing the people they hang with--and people are being thrown together in ways they never expected.
Unfortunately, the church may still get hung up on geography. True, geographical neighbors are important, but if Christians are told that their neighborhood is limited to the homes or apartment units that surround where they live, new neighborhoods and new opportunities to share the Gospel will be overlooked.
Some people spend more time with co-workers than with people from their subdivision. You may spend more time with people in school, or online, or at the remote main office, or at your kids’ soccer games, or in the dialysis lab than you do with people who live just a front yard away.
How is the church preparing itself to reach these new neighborhoods? How are believers reaching beyond geography? What’s your neighborhood and how will you bring Jesus to it?
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Fad Resistance
My daughter was telling me the other day how she was sick of Tim Tebow. It wasn’t him, so much, but the constant media blitz about him. For a while he was counter-cultural, the hope of the grass roots and the outsider. Now he was mainstream, overplayed, imitated, the spokesperson for companies trying to make a profit.
This is what happens when something becomes too common, too hyped, too much a part of the established cultural flow. People start to resist. New and alternative movements cause a buzz of excitement. A mainstream fad causes resistance.
The tendency to bash the church is moving into fad territory. I watched the popular YouTube video “Jesus>Religion.” While it reflects today’s prevalent anti-institutionalism and this generation’s movement toward deconstruction of established systems, its slick and commercial appearance, along with a its faux alternative tone, show that church/religion-bashing has gone mainstream. In other words, the church is trying to lure people in by bashing itself. This has become a fad. And people see through fads. They don’t like them. They resist them.
So, as the church resists itself so people who really resist it will be attracted, the resistors of the church will resist the resisting. Got that?
What’s the answer? Ephesians 3:10 says that God’s intent was that “now, through the church, [His] manifold wisdom should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.” The answer is for the church to be the church. Not to resist itself or bash itself or destroy itself, but to BE itself. That, because of the very nature of the church, IS alternative. The answer is to go back to the Savior Jesus who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but shakes every generation from sin and complacency with His counter-cultural Word.
A church that has strayed from being the church need not jump on the bandwagon of bashing the church. There is no need to try to find self-righteousness in self-flagellation. On the other hand, a church that has strayed from being the church can’t sit tight in complacent inaction. Self-righteousness through self-satisfaction is off the mark, too. The church needs only to hear His call back to its first love, back to the Savior, back to being Christ’s church. The church is the always-new movement created by God to transform the world. It never was and never will be a fad.
This is what happens when something becomes too common, too hyped, too much a part of the established cultural flow. People start to resist. New and alternative movements cause a buzz of excitement. A mainstream fad causes resistance.
The tendency to bash the church is moving into fad territory. I watched the popular YouTube video “Jesus>Religion.” While it reflects today’s prevalent anti-institutionalism and this generation’s movement toward deconstruction of established systems, its slick and commercial appearance, along with a its faux alternative tone, show that church/religion-bashing has gone mainstream. In other words, the church is trying to lure people in by bashing itself. This has become a fad. And people see through fads. They don’t like them. They resist them.
So, as the church resists itself so people who really resist it will be attracted, the resistors of the church will resist the resisting. Got that?
What’s the answer? Ephesians 3:10 says that God’s intent was that “now, through the church, [His] manifold wisdom should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.” The answer is for the church to be the church. Not to resist itself or bash itself or destroy itself, but to BE itself. That, because of the very nature of the church, IS alternative. The answer is to go back to the Savior Jesus who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but shakes every generation from sin and complacency with His counter-cultural Word.
A church that has strayed from being the church need not jump on the bandwagon of bashing the church. There is no need to try to find self-righteousness in self-flagellation. On the other hand, a church that has strayed from being the church can’t sit tight in complacent inaction. Self-righteousness through self-satisfaction is off the mark, too. The church needs only to hear His call back to its first love, back to the Savior, back to being Christ’s church. The church is the always-new movement created by God to transform the world. It never was and never will be a fad.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
The Stones Cry Out
Are you noticing that the Gospel of Jesus Christ seems to be coming from sources that you would never expect?
Justin Bieber, American Idol, Survivor, Tim Tebow, The X-Factor, and even the Queen of England’s annual Christmas address. In his blog, Steve Addison commented that the Queen’s words voiced a more profound understanding of Jesus than the messages from England’s clerics (read it here: http://www.movements.net/2011/12/26/the-queens-christmas-message.html).
What’s going on?
I wonder if the stones are starting to cry out. Remember in Luke 19, as Jesus entered Jerusalem to the praise-filled shouts of the people, the church leaders tried to quiet the people down. Jesus replied to these representatives of chosen Israel, these holders of the keys to the Kingdom, these shepherds of the flock, these keepers of the Word: “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (vs. 40).
What happens when the church starts to suppress the Gospel? What happens when the actions of God’s people do a disservice to the sacred message? What happens when those who are appointed to represent Christ focus more on representing themselves? What happens when the church turns inward, removes itself from its role of being a city set on a hill, and busies itself with survival and control instead of sacrifice and outreach?
The stones cry out.
I get a little scared about this. God sent Israel into exile because they squelched the message and mission. He had people like Nebuchadnezzar and Darius proclaim the Savior to the world. The “stones” cried out when the church forsook its first love.
So, back to Justin Bieber, Survivor, and Tim Tebow. As the stones begin to cry out, shouldn’t we in the church be shaken enough to remember our first love, repent, and get back to risking it all for God’s mission? What will that look like for you?
Justin Bieber, American Idol, Survivor, Tim Tebow, The X-Factor, and even the Queen of England’s annual Christmas address. In his blog, Steve Addison commented that the Queen’s words voiced a more profound understanding of Jesus than the messages from England’s clerics (read it here: http://www.movements.net/2011/12/26/the-queens-christmas-message.html).
What’s going on?
I wonder if the stones are starting to cry out. Remember in Luke 19, as Jesus entered Jerusalem to the praise-filled shouts of the people, the church leaders tried to quiet the people down. Jesus replied to these representatives of chosen Israel, these holders of the keys to the Kingdom, these shepherds of the flock, these keepers of the Word: “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (vs. 40).
What happens when the church starts to suppress the Gospel? What happens when the actions of God’s people do a disservice to the sacred message? What happens when those who are appointed to represent Christ focus more on representing themselves? What happens when the church turns inward, removes itself from its role of being a city set on a hill, and busies itself with survival and control instead of sacrifice and outreach?
The stones cry out.
I get a little scared about this. God sent Israel into exile because they squelched the message and mission. He had people like Nebuchadnezzar and Darius proclaim the Savior to the world. The “stones” cried out when the church forsook its first love.
So, back to Justin Bieber, Survivor, and Tim Tebow. As the stones begin to cry out, shouldn’t we in the church be shaken enough to remember our first love, repent, and get back to risking it all for God’s mission? What will that look like for you?
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
You Do Make A Difference
On the Friday night before Thanksgiving week, a friend of mine, his wife, and his mother were killed in a fiery crash when a semi tractor and trailer plowed into their car on the interstate. They were traveling home from his daughter’s wedding. He just walked her down the aisle and whispered “I love you” in her ear. The highway patrol had to find where the young couple was honeymooning in a mountain cabin to break the tragic news to the new bride and groom at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday.
These are the kinds of events that take your breath away and cause you to look up to the heavens and ask God, “What are you doing?” and “Where are you?”
My friend’s brother suddenly went from planning Thanksgiving dinner for the family to helping to plan three funerals. After I sent him a message of sympathy in which I could barely find the words to express my sorrow to him, he replied with steady words of faith and hope. He said:
“On Friday night, God said ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.’ Jesus sacrificed everything so that we could have the promise of eternal life with our Heavenly Father. I KNOW that my redeemer lives!”
Then he went on to say that the main reason his faith is so strong is because of the pastor he had throughout his childhood and young adult years. He said that his pastor never wavered in his faith. This faithful pastor was a rock for him as he grew up. Through some of the toughest times, this pastor helped him. In fact, he said that he asks himself even today: “What would pastor think of this?” Besides his parents, his pastor continues to be one of the most influential people in his life--even though his pastor retired years ago and lives far away.
What does all this mean? Pastors, servants of Jesus, you who invest yourselves in the lives of others for the sake of Jesus Christ: YOU DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. During this season of reflection, don’t give up. Keep going. Trust the Lord of the church. You do make a difference!
These are the kinds of events that take your breath away and cause you to look up to the heavens and ask God, “What are you doing?” and “Where are you?”
My friend’s brother suddenly went from planning Thanksgiving dinner for the family to helping to plan three funerals. After I sent him a message of sympathy in which I could barely find the words to express my sorrow to him, he replied with steady words of faith and hope. He said:
“On Friday night, God said ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.’ Jesus sacrificed everything so that we could have the promise of eternal life with our Heavenly Father. I KNOW that my redeemer lives!”
Then he went on to say that the main reason his faith is so strong is because of the pastor he had throughout his childhood and young adult years. He said that his pastor never wavered in his faith. This faithful pastor was a rock for him as he grew up. Through some of the toughest times, this pastor helped him. In fact, he said that he asks himself even today: “What would pastor think of this?” Besides his parents, his pastor continues to be one of the most influential people in his life--even though his pastor retired years ago and lives far away.
What does all this mean? Pastors, servants of Jesus, you who invest yourselves in the lives of others for the sake of Jesus Christ: YOU DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. During this season of reflection, don’t give up. Keep going. Trust the Lord of the church. You do make a difference!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Reformation Rumblings
Not long ago, I heard Felicity Dale, co-author of “The Rabbit and the Elephant,” make this comment: “During the Reformation God put the Bible into the hands of ordinary people. Today, God is putting the church into the hands of ordinary people.”
The content of the comment struck me as thought provoking. But the fact that she brought up the Reformation also struck me as very interesting. I’m hearing a lot of talk about the Reformation these days.
As a Lutheran, I observe that we tend to claim the Reformation as “our thing.” Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress,” “Here I stand, I can do no other,”--we celebrate, remember, and treasure the Reformation.
More and more, however, I am hearing Reformation talk from broader Christian circles. They’re making it more “their thing” too.
Why? What’s happening?
Let’s answer the question by looking at five key phenomena happening then and now:
1. Technological Innovation: 75 years after the invention of the printing press, the dissemination of information was at a new level. Today, immediate digital communication is in the palm of people’s hands. Something new is happening and the church is wondering how this might impact the mission of God.
2. Institutional Fatigue: As the Roman Catholic Church battled corruption and financial desperation for in-house projects, today’s mainline denominations continue to hurt financially and disintegrate theologically. The church is wondering what this might mean for a post-denominational and post-congregational mindset.
3. Personal Conviction: Luther was gripped by the Gospel. The message of salvation by grace through faith drove him to be a voice for God’s true Word. Today, many are being gripped by mission, the sentness of God’s people into a lost world. New voices are being raised to advocate outreach action and sentness versus inreach complacency and isolation.
4. A New Location: Rome was the epicenter of the church during the pre-Reformation era. Germany was on the fringe of where “it was happening.” But change happened from outside the institutional safe-zone. Today, Asia, Africa, and South America are demonstrating rapid movements of Kingdom expansion while the church in the west is, at best, trying to figure out the key to church multiplication and, at worst, distracted by its own inward thinking.
5. Transitional Times: The Reformation was a messy time of new communication modes, new ways of life, new thoughts, and re-developing theology. We live in a similar time--in-between conventional and new methods of communication, in-between the old analog and new digital, in-between store and online shopping, in-between church the way it was and church reinvented. It’s a messy time of transition, and we don’t know how it will end up.
The times are very similar to Reformation times. Do we realize it? Are we engaging in asking questions, lifting up our prayers to the Head of the Church, and listening for His guidance? Are we willing to be courageous as the ways of man are cast aside and the ways of God break through into our lives?
During these Reformation days, are we willing to be a part of it or will we resist it to preserve our comfort levels and control?
The content of the comment struck me as thought provoking. But the fact that she brought up the Reformation also struck me as very interesting. I’m hearing a lot of talk about the Reformation these days.
As a Lutheran, I observe that we tend to claim the Reformation as “our thing.” Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress,” “Here I stand, I can do no other,”--we celebrate, remember, and treasure the Reformation.
More and more, however, I am hearing Reformation talk from broader Christian circles. They’re making it more “their thing” too.
Why? What’s happening?
Let’s answer the question by looking at five key phenomena happening then and now:
1. Technological Innovation: 75 years after the invention of the printing press, the dissemination of information was at a new level. Today, immediate digital communication is in the palm of people’s hands. Something new is happening and the church is wondering how this might impact the mission of God.
2. Institutional Fatigue: As the Roman Catholic Church battled corruption and financial desperation for in-house projects, today’s mainline denominations continue to hurt financially and disintegrate theologically. The church is wondering what this might mean for a post-denominational and post-congregational mindset.
3. Personal Conviction: Luther was gripped by the Gospel. The message of salvation by grace through faith drove him to be a voice for God’s true Word. Today, many are being gripped by mission, the sentness of God’s people into a lost world. New voices are being raised to advocate outreach action and sentness versus inreach complacency and isolation.
4. A New Location: Rome was the epicenter of the church during the pre-Reformation era. Germany was on the fringe of where “it was happening.” But change happened from outside the institutional safe-zone. Today, Asia, Africa, and South America are demonstrating rapid movements of Kingdom expansion while the church in the west is, at best, trying to figure out the key to church multiplication and, at worst, distracted by its own inward thinking.
5. Transitional Times: The Reformation was a messy time of new communication modes, new ways of life, new thoughts, and re-developing theology. We live in a similar time--in-between conventional and new methods of communication, in-between the old analog and new digital, in-between store and online shopping, in-between church the way it was and church reinvented. It’s a messy time of transition, and we don’t know how it will end up.
The times are very similar to Reformation times. Do we realize it? Are we engaging in asking questions, lifting up our prayers to the Head of the Church, and listening for His guidance? Are we willing to be courageous as the ways of man are cast aside and the ways of God break through into our lives?
During these Reformation days, are we willing to be a part of it or will we resist it to preserve our comfort levels and control?
Monday, November 14, 2011
Accidental Pharisee, Part 2
As we become weary with a culture that drifts farther away from Christ's ways, our own souls can become sour. At a recent conference, Larry Osborne gave a talk about becoming an “Accidental Pharisee,” stumbling into a critical and bitter life that becomes angry at unbelievers instead of showing compassion.
In part one of this article, I mentioned the trap of arrogance. Osborne highlighted five additional pitfalls for Kingdom workers:
1. You trust in your own righteousness, your work performance, your knowledge of doctrine, and your “give-it-all” attitude as you grow bitter at people who don’t perform like you. You may even take credit for God’s successes. The answer? Remember who you really are: a broken sinner who has received the precious gift of God’s grace in Jesus. This levels the playing field in a big way.
2. You raise the bar that Jesus came to lower. It’s so easy to become frustrated when people don’t take the church as seriously as you do. In fact, you can become downright angry, coercive, and rude. You may even start to despise “carnal Christians,” nominal believers on the fringes who don’t perform for the church. The answer? Jesus didn’t come to enhance our spiritual performance. He went to the cross to lower the bar! His yoke is easy and burden is light. It’s time to reflect that grace to the world and to bless the world, not curse it.
3. You demand from others what you fail to do yourself. This is the curse of hypocrisy. We can’t pretend to be what we aren't and teach people to do what we don't. The answer? Not perfection. Not expertise in every area of life. The answer is simple authenticity, acknowledging that you are a fellow struggler sitting at the feet of your Savior.
4. You idolize the past. This will cripple your ministry. The Pharisees loved everything the way it was. But God put us here right now. He wants us to live right now. The answer? Give God thanks for the past, but ask Him to give you wisdom and grace for this time and this generation.
5. You put sacrifice and rules above mercy. The Pharisees turned the gift of the Sabbath into a set of regulations. As we become more passionate about God’s gifts, we may also get more black and white about living out the Gospel. The answer? Remember what God requires: To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Mercy, not sacrifice. The Bible is not a rulebook. It is written that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, we may have life in His name.
As the culture becomes less church-like and as you get more passionate about God’s work, be careful that you don’t wake up as an accidental Pharisee. If you find yourself getting angry about Kingdom work, you may need a good dose of the Living Word--leading you to repentance and the refreshing grace of God for us sinners.
In part one of this article, I mentioned the trap of arrogance. Osborne highlighted five additional pitfalls for Kingdom workers:
1. You trust in your own righteousness, your work performance, your knowledge of doctrine, and your “give-it-all” attitude as you grow bitter at people who don’t perform like you. You may even take credit for God’s successes. The answer? Remember who you really are: a broken sinner who has received the precious gift of God’s grace in Jesus. This levels the playing field in a big way.
2. You raise the bar that Jesus came to lower. It’s so easy to become frustrated when people don’t take the church as seriously as you do. In fact, you can become downright angry, coercive, and rude. You may even start to despise “carnal Christians,” nominal believers on the fringes who don’t perform for the church. The answer? Jesus didn’t come to enhance our spiritual performance. He went to the cross to lower the bar! His yoke is easy and burden is light. It’s time to reflect that grace to the world and to bless the world, not curse it.
3. You demand from others what you fail to do yourself. This is the curse of hypocrisy. We can’t pretend to be what we aren't and teach people to do what we don't. The answer? Not perfection. Not expertise in every area of life. The answer is simple authenticity, acknowledging that you are a fellow struggler sitting at the feet of your Savior.
4. You idolize the past. This will cripple your ministry. The Pharisees loved everything the way it was. But God put us here right now. He wants us to live right now. The answer? Give God thanks for the past, but ask Him to give you wisdom and grace for this time and this generation.
5. You put sacrifice and rules above mercy. The Pharisees turned the gift of the Sabbath into a set of regulations. As we become more passionate about God’s gifts, we may also get more black and white about living out the Gospel. The answer? Remember what God requires: To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Mercy, not sacrifice. The Bible is not a rulebook. It is written that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, we may have life in His name.
As the culture becomes less church-like and as you get more passionate about God’s work, be careful that you don’t wake up as an accidental Pharisee. If you find yourself getting angry about Kingdom work, you may need a good dose of the Living Word--leading you to repentance and the refreshing grace of God for us sinners.
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