DISCIPLESHIP (Part 3 - Final)

Change is difficult. Ain’t that the truth!! At our recent staff retreat, Al Forsman pointed out that in any group or organization facing new vision and change, only 2.5% of the people are “innovators,” meaning those who grasp the necessity of change and eagerly and immediately embrace new means and modes to make the necessary changes in order to move ahead. 2.5%! That’s all! And then only another 13.5% of the people are “early adaptors,” meaning those who are willing to move ahead once they understand what’s happening. That’s a total of 16% of a group that is on the edge of early change; who seem to quickly grasp the reality of their situation as it is and are able to both realize and accept the changes that are required in order for the group to move ahead, be transformed, and survive.

But how can any organization change with such a small minority of willing participants?

This is the situation facing most established churches in the West today--not just America, but England, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. It is a consistent fact that churches like ours are in decline. Some congregations have made attempts to change, to revitalize, to restructure, but the overall track record is very poor. Why is this? Referencing Alan Hirsch from his book “The Forgotten Ways,” it is because churches don’t restructure the basic, most essential systems that are intrinsic to them. Just restructuring the organization, or the programs, or how a group wants to be perceived, while leaving the systems in place, will not bring lasting change to the organization. When it comes to the Church’s mission today, and how that mission is carried out, what is called for is “a radical re-think about the actual mode of the Church’s engagement.”

This, I think, is what the seminar at the conference annual meeting was addressing: the radical “re-think” that the Church today must embrace in order to be the Church for the next generation. The need for a crucial restructuring of the systems that are the essence of any church or organization. Without proactively and willingly doing so, we might tinker with surface issues like programs, outreach strategies, or how we want to be perceived by the community--but as Hirsch points out, this will not bring about the lasting change that is required. And most likely, we will default to “status quo;” to simply continue doing more of what we’ve been doing all along. In the words of Alan Hirsch, “Our organizations need to be re-evangelized!” Quoting another reference, Hirsch adds: “Following Jesus into the mission field is either impossible or extremely difficult for the vast majority of congregations in the Western world because of one thing: They have a systems story that will not allow them to take the first step out of the institution (remember this word!) into the mission field, even though the mission field is just outside the door of the organization.” To me, the truth of this statement is obvious because of the reality of the facts facing us: Western churches are in decline, and it is fair to say that this is because we have misplaced our priorities, neglected our discipleship-making responsibilities, and lost the focus of our mission as Christ’s body on earth.

But the good news in all of this is that there is hope! The Church can be revitalized! People can change! Glimpses of this reality are appearing all across the world, through the house church movement, new church planting, mulitcultural congregations, fresh and relevant understandings and approaches to evangelism and mission and “good news,” a renewed and stronger commitment to live out our faith in action--not divorcing faith from works any longer--through acts of compassion, mercy, and justice, to recover what the early evangelicals always held: that conversion to Jesus Christ is about much more than going to heaven, but about making a difference in the world! Being God’s agents in bringing His Kingdom to our communities (“on earth as it is in heaven”).

During a recent worship service, we went into small groups and discussed the verses in Acts 2 that describe the early Church as a “fellowship of believers.” Perhaps it is the attitudes and actions described here that can help us get deep down into the systems--the ecclesial modes--that everything else we do is built upon. For example, look at the first three descriptions in verse 42: devoted to teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Can we say that these are essential parts of our congregation? Yes, we practice them to some degree, but are they essential to us; to our very lives? How much a part do these play in the overall fabric of Hilmar Covenant Church? How intentional are we together in practicing these three descriptions, and in allowing them to form us into committed disciples of Jesus? (Not just individually--for of course there are individuals in our church who are focused on these realities!) Or is our church such that most of what we are and do is a function of the institution (there it is!) of “Church,” which itself is based on the larger system scheme that existed for centuries: Christendom? Far from streamlining and simplifying how a group functions and is organized, institutionalization creates layers of bureaucracy, responibilities, and maintenance procedures that detract from the main reason and purpose that a group exists. In the case of the Church, mission is our purpose! Continually pursuing Christ’s priorities in the world! Throughout Scripture, warnings and critiques abound about the institutionalizing of religion that so easily develops over time, especially against the ritualization of the relationship between God and His people and the expression of that relationship in everyday life. God is always about renewal, reform, and continuing conversion. He is never about “status quo,” being settled, comfortable--all of the atrophying, calcifyng, enfeebling elements that mark our individualistic culture (including the Christian culture in the West) and rob us of the vigor and delight, the amazement and adventure that God wants for our lives each and every day!

I can’t say that I have all the answers--at least not any simplistic, “5 Easy Steps” solutions that will make all of this happen quickly and effortlessly for us at HCC. I can say that I am wrestling with many ideas, observations, and insights that are coming from a variety of sources and individuals regarding what the Church must become if it is going to be at all viable in the next 20 years. In the upcoming “Veritas” seminar on September 6th (mark the date on your calendars!), you will hear that what is needed are “healthy missional churches.” “Healthy” means pursuing Christ. “Missional” means pursuing Christ’s priorities in the world. Sounds simple--but it is the manner in which this definition is fleshed out that is challenging, difficult (for older, established churches like ours), even painful. I believe, though, that this is what the Holy Spirit is calling us to embrace and to become.

It excites me more than I can say!

And it makes me want to hang around Hilmar Covenant for years to come and be a part of the transformation of our congregation!

DISCIPLESHIP (Part 2)

I want to follow up my previous blogpost with some further ideas and reflections on discipleship that come from a six hour symposium Pastor Bruce and I took at the Pacific Southwest Conference annual meeting last month. (Bruce already preached a powerful sermon using some of this material--remember the applause?!) The symposium was entitled: “Ministry To/By/With the Next Generation” and included five presenters--all young church planters and ministers in our conference--and a moderator, Doug Stevens. The central question it asked (which was also the central question and challenge of Bruce’s sermon) was this: are we going to be a church for the next generation, or a church that only wants to live long enough to bury its present members? We all laughed at that, didn’t we? And I’m sure we all answered “yes” to the first proposal. However, the critical issue for us is whether we are willing to follow through and take the challenging, uncomfortable, even painful steps necessary to be a church that is responsive to and inclusive of the next generation we say we want to reach. In reality, older churches tend to avoid and resist the enormous and difficult work it takes to become a congregation that embodies the priorities and perspectives, values and views of young people today. This generation comes at almost everything in such hugely different ways than we who are older, so it’s hard to even grasp a lot of what they are about! When it comes to discipleship, and the components of evangelism, mission, and “the gospel” which are all formative parts of becoming a disciple of Jesus, the understanding and approach is very different from what we older folks grew up believing and proposing. Here are some things that the symposium leaders shared regarding the “big picture” of outreach and discipleship, in no particular order:
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Conversation is a requirement in communicating anything to this generation. They want to share themselves--and to be heard! We must try to hear their story. Criticism and judgement will cut off communication in an instant. Vulnerability is a strength. Authenticity is required.

There is skepticism over truth. Moral relativism and religious pluralism are the norm for this generation. It is difficult for them to claim the exclusivity of Christ, and if they are pushed too hard and fast about this, they find it very offensive.

Belonging has priority over believing; this generation’s beliefs are based on where they belong (to the group they are a part of). “Boomers” and those of us who are older grew up with the perspective: behave - believe - belong. This thinking and approach must be reversed to reach young people today. Relationship is essential, above everything else. These young people are desperately seeking authentic community, where “people on the fringes” are included. There is a thirst for intimacy and a craving for purpose.

Evangelism is a process, not a moment or event. Spirituality is seen as a journey. Same with conversion (ex. John 1:36-2:11 - “Come and see!” Follow and experience... a. the disciples meet Jesus, not religion b. they live together as they follow Jesus c. their belief increases as they see his glory). We tend to want the “Amen!” in evangelism! To get results (conversions) immediately. We have equated this with being real disciples.

This generation has a deep attraction to Jesus, but not to religion and institutionalized forms of faith. “The Church” is seen as heavy and oppressive, yet there is a hunger for awe and fear of God. We need to be deeply theological to get Jesus--and the Scriptures--into this generation. These young people are open and ready. Theology can be freeing!

We must approach this generation as a “missiologist” would, trying to understand their culture in all its multi-faceted dimensions. For the gospel is never devoid of cultural context. We need to think as missionaries! To contextualize the gospel and present it in relevant cultural garb. To speak in the language of this generation. Art and media are important (non-cognitive). The gospel penetrates all barriers (ex. John 3 and 4: the learned Nicodemus and the regular woman at the well...) There are huge implications involved in doing this. Most people--and churches--prefer to just say and do everything the way we have always done it and said it, and hope for the best (for the results we desire). No; we need to act and speak in the manner and language of the culture we want to reach.

Three shifts in disciple-making: a. from event to process b. from impersonal to personal c. from rational to embodied apologetics. Event-oriented evangelism is not effective anymore, because Christendom is gone. 20th century models of evangelism were impersonal; now friendship is indispensible. “Hit and Run” or “Bait and Switch” presentations of the gospel do more damage and create intense anger in people today. We need the “Taste and See” approach; the way Jesus paired his actions with what he declared. This is an embodied approach to evangelism: the gospel proclaimed and lived out.

Rational apologetics are no longer the first foot forward in making the faith real. In the past, the question has been: Is Christianity true? The credibility question... Today there is a prior question: Might Christianity be true? The plausibility question... We need to stop the incessant talk about objective truth! Christianity is about embodied witness--and an embodied witness/apologetic only works if people begin to look like Jesus. Enacted faith (salt and light, care of widows, right and good behavior, etc.). There needs to be a difference in content and in tone in how we go about sharing faith today.

An Embodied Apologetic addresses a Longing through a specific Ministry Structure

An Embodied Apologetic is:
experiential - communal - enacted

Meeting the Longing for:
transcendence - community - purpose

Through specific Ministry Structures:
worship gathering (experiential apologetic) - small groups, hospitality - compassion/justice - in groups!

There is a critical need for spiritual formation today, not just “evangelism.” In reality, discipleship and evangelism are inseparable! Because evangelism is not just about a “ticket to heaven.” We need a wholistic approach to the gospel today, always relating it to mission. This will connect with today’s generation. Also, as we lead people into deeper spiritual formation, it is imperative that we build in supernatural power too (prayer, Holy Spirit, direction and leading). We also must be excited about how God is leading in new ways! This doesn’t mean that the old ways were bad or wrong or no good either.
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That’s a lot, isn’t it? And isn’t it interesting? Challenging? Maybe a bit intimidating--but also extremely exciting? What do you hear in what the presenters shared with Bruce and me? Does anything new come to mind? Do you see any kind of difference in the dynamics and perspective that are necessary for us to reach this generation--to be a church for the next generation--compared to how we “are” as Hilmar Covenant Church today? Do you agree with the presenters? Remember, these are Covenant pastors and leaders “in the trenches!” They are ministering specifically to this “next generation” in various places in our conference. They are dealing with all of these issues and realities in very practical, day-to-day, ways. Do you think we are exempt from these dynamics and influences in Hilmar? Do you agree that some pretty radical re-thinking and approaches are going to have to be forthcoming here in our church if we are going to be a church for the next generation?

Next week: what I think the implications of this information might be for the future of the Church, and for our church, Hilmar Covenant...

DISCIPLESHIP (The first of several reflections...)

I’ve been thinking about discipleship a lot lately. This topic has come up in a number of books and articles, conversations and seminars, as well as in my devotional readings. The general perspective of all these writings and discussions is that we have not been doing well “making disciples” in American churches--for some time--and instead, we’ve tended to rely on emotional feelings of spiritual well-being as the mark of our Christian life and faith.

This crisis in discipleship-making has been publicly acknowledged by the original seeker sensitive megachurch, Willow Creek, whose influence and philosophy of ministry has impacted almost every evangelical church in our country for the past 30 years. Willow’s assumption has always been that high levels of participation in the programs and activities of their church would help people mature spiritually and produce disciples of Christ. Instead, in their massive multi-year study, “Reveal,” Willow found that people’s involvement and participation in these sets of activities does not predict whether someone is becoming more of a disciple of Christ. Spiritual growth does not happen best through people becoming dependent on church programs and ministries, but through the age-old spiritual practices of prayer, Bible reading, and relationships.

This is very interesting and provocative to me. It causes me to wonder what other evangelical assumptions we might hold that are not necessarily absolute or true either. One of these is the strong individualistic focus we have put on conversion/salvation, along with our reductionist understanding of “the gospel” and reductionist methods we’ve settled on to inform others about what it takes to become a Christian. All around the world, people are beginning to realize how all of this is very much tied to Western culture and values, and to recent evangelical history. I first discovered this in the “Perspectives” class on missions: that a key philosophy and component of mission practice today is to get conversions of people groups, not individuals! I was shocked, because this seemed so at odds with the assumed, conventional understanding of conversion that I had always been taught and ascribed to.

How does this relate to discipleship? Simply that throughout the past 100 years of evangelical history, our priority has not been on making disciples (which includes repentence, conversion, and to “accept Christ”) but on getting people saved. However, discipleship is about more than salvation! We have been good at holding people accountable to this initial, first step in being a disciple, but not to the life-long process of becoming increasingly like the One we follow: Jesus Christ. We have been good at teaching theology and doctrine, the Bible and morality, but not so good in the practical living-out of the “good news” (i.e. making disciples). We have gotten people to believe certain things, but not so good in getting them involved in acts of compassion, mercy, and justice and in Jesus’ very obvious preference for the poor and outcast.

As Oswald Chambers put it: “Jesus said, ’Go and make disciples,’ not ‘Go out and save souls’ or ‘Make converts to your own opinions.’ The nature of spiritual life is gracious uncertainty. If we are only certain in our beliefs, we get dignified and severe and have the ban of finality about our views; but when we are rightly related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy.”

Perhaps the low view and negative feelings that many in our culture have toward the Church and Christianity is that they don’t see disciples of Jesus in real life but, instead, people converted to various opinions and certainties. This seems to be the perspective of many of our own 20’s/30’s here at Hilmar Covenant. I have been meeting with a number of these young people recently to get their honest opinions about our church, and one of the things that every one of them has said about our congregation is how disconnected and out of touch we are from the needs and realities of the world. They see us being too caught up with church issues, agendas, and opinions and they are not interested in being part of any of this. They want to see Christians out in the community, interacting with people, engaged in the needs and issues facing us today (sounds just like Wainer Guimaraes in Rio!). Maybe our rhetoric, methodologies, and emphases have just gotten a bit out of balance and distorted. Perhaps the ways that we’ve intellectualized and reduced the huge, exciting realities of “good news,” salvation, eternal life, and a relationship with Jesus down to simplistic formulas (“Four Spiritual Laws,” “Steps To Peace With God”) and statements (“The Sinner’s Prayer”) have caused people to miss the beautiful, supernatural richness of what it means to be “saved”--saved to follow Jesus in every aspect of one’s life. In other words, to be a disciple. Discipleship-making is much more wholistic in approach than what we have made it out to be.

In his book, “The Forgotten Ways,” Alan Hirsch confesses that the crisis his Melbourne Australia congregation faced was similar to Willow Creek: the fact that they had not been successful at the task of making disciples--and therefore they were not fruitful in mission. Could this be the reason why the American Church is also in crisis today? That indeed, we have not done well “making disciples” for a long time and, consequently, our mission--which is pursuing Christ’s priorities in the world, sharing “good news” with our communities and culture--has been weak and ineffective?

Earlier I made the observation that in Western/American Christianity, we tend to rely on emotional feelings of spiritual well-being as the mark of our Christian life and faith. This is connected to the “consumerist” model that has been prevalent in the life of our churches: that the church exists to “meet my needs,” to offer a variety of goods and services (called “ministries”) for me to pick and choose from, to provide me with a degree of comfort, stability, and well-being, and to protect me from the evils of the world.

Also, we are a culture that is saturated with stimulation, so feelings have come to mean everything to us. However, as we so often proclaim: our relationship with God is NOT about feelings! But do we really believe this? Do our actions prove this proclamation? Again, Oswald Chambers has much to say about this:

“The proof that we are rightly related to God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not. We must never make our moments of inspiration our standard; our duty is our standard. We are not built for mountains and dawns and artistic affinities; they are for moments of inspiration, that is all. We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff of life, and this is where we have to prove our mettle. A false Christianity takes us up on the mount--and we want to stay there! The mountains are meant for inspiration, but one is taken there only to go down afterwards in the demon-possessed valley, where we are meant to live and lift up those who are down. If we cannot live in the demon-possessed valley, our Christianity is only an abstraction. Drudgery is the touchstone of character. The great hindrance in spiritual life is that we look for big things to do. But ‘Jesus took a towel...and began to wash his disciples’ feet.’ Do not expect God always to give you His thrilling moments, but learn to live in the domain of the drudgery by the power of God. The height of the mountain is measured by the drab drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God. We cannot stay on the Mount of Transfiguration, but we must obey the light we received there and must act it out. Jesus says, ‘If you would be my disciple, deny yourself, take up that cross daily and follow Me.’ It has nothing to do with eternal salvation; it has everything to do with our temporal value to God--and most of us do not care anything about our temporal worth to God. All we are concerned about is being saved from hell and put right for heaven. There is something infinitely grander than that, and Jesus Christ gives us a marvelous chance of giving up our right to ourselves to Him in order that we might become the devoted bondslaves of the one who saves us so supernaturally.”

How has our discipleship, and our discipleship-making, been compromised because we’ve depended on emotional feelings, “mountain top” experiences, constantly new stimulations, programs, and human techniques rather than on the historic, solid, more mundane disciplines of prayer, Scripture, and relationships? What would it look like if we, together as a congregation, went back to these quite simple--yet powerful--resources for spiritual growth? If we did away with gimmicks, busy programs, distracting activities and meetings and opened our lives to one another regularly through prayer and Bible reading together, and outward service together? Sound dull? Too boring? Uncreative? Like drudgery? My hunch is that we would be amazed at what the Holy Spirit would do in our midst if we committed to this kind of focus.

Finally, one last point about discipleship, and about acting out daily our commitment to not just believe in Jesus, but to follow Him. Some of the hesitancy I feel in evangelical circles when we talk about the necessity of doing faith springs from an unhealthy, unbiblical, untheological understanding and dichotomizing of “faith and works.” I think that, in our Protestant reactionary zeal to make justification by faith the absolute cornerstone and crux of our salvation theology, we have wrongly severed action (or works) from faith, when biblically and theologically they are intertwined and totally connected. You cannot talk about one without the other--yet that is what we so often do! As soon as someone begins to press the required responsibility of living out our faith in Christ (works), most of us immediately jump in and push aside this vital necessity of action with a stern warning: “Your works will never save you!” Which effectively diverts people’s attention from the requirement of action and restrains them from freely and boundlessly doing all the things that Jesus says we must do in Matthew 25 (feed, water, house, clothe, care for, visit) if we are to “go to eternal life.”

And as Covenant “people of the Book,” whose banner cry is “Where is it written?”, what do we do with James 2:24? “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” Yikes! How did this get in there? The unnatural separation we have made in evangelical Christianity between faith and works has, I think, also contributed significantly to the crisis of discipleship in the Church. Belief-Action/Faith-Works/Confession-Expression...there is never one without the other! It’s as simple as that. And as much as we evangelicals demand personal acceptance of Jesus as Savior in order to be saved, we must also demand the obligation that is ours to reach out and act with love and justice to people and situations every day, out in that demon-possessed world that we also live in. I think the Church is beginning to recover this reality--which is very exciting! The number of congregations reaching out in practical ways to serve their communities--as we are doing together one Sunday each month--is growing all the time. It’s a start. We just need to be re-trained and “re-faithed” in these very practical ways until our DNA as followers of Jesus has been re-programmed and is once again the same as our Lord’s. Then we will indeed feed-water-house-clothe-care for-and visit without even thinking that these actions are separate or different from belief. Correct discipleship-making will clearly teach and model this truth as people grow deeper in their walk with Christ. This is what discipleship is all about. This is what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Two Sundays ago I gave an introduction to worship that seems to have touched deep into the hearts of a number of people in our congregation. I have been asked for copies of what I shared, as well as for the Annie Dillard book that I referenced in my introduction. I thought this might make for a good posting on my blog, so here it is:

Sunday, April 27: As we begin our service of worship today, I want to draw our attention to something that I don’t think we’re often conscious of when we come to church on Sunday. Because when we enter this place, it is so familiar, so comfortable, so “regular” and routine that it’s hard to imagine or remember what incredible, powerful, supernatural realities are occurring right here in our midst!  Do you realize this?  Do you remember that God Himself, the Eternal Creator of all that is, is present--here--and ready to display His glory, if we will only open ourselves to Him and realize what is transpiring in our midst?  

Week after week we witness the same miracle: that God is so mighty He can speak galaxies into existence--and yet He deigns to meet with us here on earth, in our town, in our church building, among us!  Are we truly cognizant of this?  Do we realize what is happening here, in this place, each week when we gather  to worship God?  Or have we so trivialized this time, and tamed the God of the universe with our belief systems and rationalizations, that the incredible possibility and power of what can transpire here has been eliminated?

In her book, “Teaching A Stone to Talk,”  Annie Dillard provides a humorous and rather shocking description of the potential that worship has, if we truly realized what is actually going on.  Dillard writes:  “On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.” 

That observation, that we have no idea what power we so blithely invoke, resonates deeply with me. We sit and stand and sing our songs and give our offerings and listen to the sermon. We come away with a few things to ponder during the week. But since we do it every single week, it can be easy to miss the greatness of it all. That when we pray, things change! And that we can invoke this power at any time, day or night. Suddenly TNT doesn’t sound so far off!

Perhaps most of us are more afraid of being drawn out to where we can never return than we are willing to admit.   We all have problems, yes, but they are familiar.  We’re used to them.  We live with them quite comfortably. If these problems were taken them away from us--if we had to let go and grow beyond them--we might not be so comfortable. Which sounds ridiculous, right? But it’s true. We might not be happy with how things are, but neither do we really want them to change.

So we continue blithely on, standing and sitting and passing the plate, because admitting to ourselves what all this means might mean we’d actually have to face what’s wrong and do something about it. That would be letting TNT loose in our lives!  TNT that we can’t control. And that sounds way too scary.

The idea that God is untamed, uncontrollable, no matter how much we think we have a handle on God, is so very true, and so hard to get across to people. If we knew what we were doing when we worship, it would be truly awesome. We would be dying to come to worship. Churches, synagogues, and other holy places would be packed and overflowing. 

So today, for just a moment, let’s pause to remember and to realize Who it is that is present right here in our midst and remember what it is that our Lord Almighty really wants from us.  Let’s remember again that worship is ALL for God!  It’s not about us; about having our needs met, getting fed spiritually, being comfortable, surrounding ourselves with what’s familiar, or getting pumped up emotionally.  Here is how the writer of the book of Hebrews puts it:  

“What you have come to is nothing known to the senses.  No, what you have come to is Mount Zion, the City of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem!  Where millions of angels have gathered in joyful assembly with the whole Church of the firstborn citizens of heaven!  You have drawn near to God, the judge of all, to the souls of good men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, whose blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.  We have been given posssesion of an unshakable kingdom.  Let us therefore be thankful to God, and offer acceptable worship to Him with reverence and awe.  For our God is a consuming fire.” 

Let us worship, with true reverence and awe, this God today: our God Who is a consuming fire!