Category Archives: Missional Church

How To Kill a Movement Series…

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If you want to kill a movement, get spooked by supernatural phenomena outside your paradigm…

I grew up in a fairly normal evangelical environment. The most charismatic thing that I saw were people holding up their hands in worship…and this was even pushing it for some. So, it’s safe to say that when my best friend from college started going to a church that practiced spiritual gifts outside of the raising of the hands, I thought it he had gone off of the deep end. Seriously, I thought he was in a cult or something and I thought I had to get him out of there.

In my past, the Holy Spirit for me was pretty much a retired author and I found it easy to pick and choose from scripture what ways His working was still applicable to Church…those days are long gone.

Here’s my theory…’Being Spooked’ (not my words) basically means being surprised…or not being in the know…And most leaders don’t like not being in the know. In fact, we like the opposite. We like being in control. So the ways that the Holy Spirit works can be contradictory to the way we want to work.

In my experience, the reality that the Holy Spirit would trust me with being surprised is evidence that He is getting ready to do something new in me. But on a movement level I think that we have to ask the hard questions: Do we even want the Holy Spirit to speak into plans? Are our plans so set in stone that we couldn’t follow even if we wanted to? If God showed up in a new way in our movement would we act like healed lepers, or blind Pharisees?

The truth is that we need to be careful not to too greatly define our Holy Spirit paradigm. We run the risk of idolatry when we allow our view of the Spirit to be tamed and captured by our paradigm. After all…Jesus is the head of the Church and He clearly left us a Helper to guide us as we manage and steward what is His…Imagine if Peter and the rest of the disciples had not allowed the Spirit to speak outside of their paradigm. Would we even be having this conversation? It seems to be pretty effective when the Spirit leads as he did in Acts 2. If you had told the disciples a few days before Pentecost what was getting ready to go down, they may had not even shown up for prayer meeting that morning! Being surprised by the Spirit is great, because it makes us into the empty and willing people we need to be in order for big, movement type, things to happen! My prayer is that we would allow the Helper to define our paradigm and not our comfort, plans, or strategies. A willingness to obey in this type of way reflects the kind of leadership God would trust to initiate a movement. 

Is There Just Too Much on the Jesus Sandwich?

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Yesterday I went over to my buddy Jeremy’s place to help put in a fence…I got in a conversation with one of his neighbor’s friends who had recently started going back to a church because of his kids. As the conversation went on we started talking about the Church. I was asking his thoughts about his new church experience and stuff. He was saying he grew up Methodist, so the new rock music at church was quite different. His wife still did not attend as she ‘didn’t have any experience with the Church as a kid’…i.e. there was nothing to return to, because she had never been. He asked me my thoughts on ‘contemporary’ church…this is where is gets a little tricky. Because on one hand, I didn’t want in the least bit to discourage him from going to his new church, yet on the other hand, I wanted to be honest. 

So, I told him that I thought that church’s efforts to be more relevant to culture via music and style were great. However, my fear is that we as church leadership are only creating a tastier religious culture for the churched to consume. I have this creepy feeling that we are replicating the sickness of consumerism from our culture in the Church. ‘I’m not being fed. The teaching isn’t my style. The kids ministry doesn’t do enough. The music is to loud. The room is too dark. The room is too big. I don’t like the color of the pastor’s shirts. I have to park so far away.’ … and even…’I am so fed at my church. I love the pastor’s wardrobe. I am only asked to give 10% of my income at my church. I love the dark and more spiritual feel of the auditorium.’ … these are the cries of people who have become connoisseurs of the Bride of Jesus. And sometimes all we do as leaders is refine their palates. But don’t worry…I didn’t go into that detail with this guy…I instead tried to offer the positive (and less prophet sounding) answer…

I told him, that I think that all of the new things that we are trying are good and express a good heart and good intentions, but I felt like so often we add too much ‘mustard and mayonnaise’ to a simple Jesus sandwich…and never taste the real meat. Call me crazy, but I told this guy that Jesus teachings were very simple, but would take a lifetime of devotion: Love God with your heart, mind, and soul…And love your neighbor as yourself. Trust that Jesus was who He said he was and follow Him. It’s that simple. 

The ‘good church-leader’ in me balked. Inside I heard a voice say, “But be sure and add in all the stuff about going to church!…oh and tithing…oh and doing a quiet time…oh and serving in the kids ministry…gotta get that in too! Quick, make sure he knows right away everything that he’s supposed to do or you’re not doing your job!” But I stopped with Jesus. I stopped where He stopped. I believe that Jesus is THE message and that in Him we are guided by the Spirit in God’s timing to maturity. I wanted this guy to hear clearly my belief in the simple message of Jesus, the most simple/dangerous/costly/attainable message in history. 

I could have talked all about being missional, being incarnational, being relevant, being worshipful…but instead I walked away from the conversation certain that I had done my Lord right, by putting Him at the forefront, in the center of all things, and as the most important thing. My prayer is that we as followers of the Way would come to believe that Jesus is the way, He is our salvation, and we can trust Him for guidance. I believe that as we live as Jesus lived, a light, an offering, one poured out, touching the ugly, restoring the shamed…He will orchestrate koinonia…true ‘fellowship’…around us…and that is the Church. The earthly manifestation of God’s good intentions for the world. 

Trip to Barcelona

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Number of Metro Trips: 11

Number Cafe con Leches: 8

Number of Gaudi Buildings seen: 1

Number of people who most likely don’t follow in Jesus: 1,400,000

Number of steps taken while praying through this city: My feet say close to 1.4 million!

Number of pictures taken: 175

Number of facial piercings seen : ???

Number of tattoos seen: ???

Number of reasons why this would be a great place to live: At least 30!!!

Number of reasons why this would be a great place to begin a new church: 1,400,000

 

More thoughts coming when I have time to write…gotta catch a plane!

 

 

How to Kill a Movement Part 2

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How to Kill a Movement Part 2:  Demand Conformity in Methodology

When driving in your car, have you ever thought how many different ways there are to get to the place you are going? Sometimes I sit in my car nearly paralyzed because I’m strategizing the best way to get from point A to B. Sometimes I take off in the direction I think will be the fastest just to get stuck in traffic. Or other times it’ll end up taking way longer than I thought. But if I just keep on driving, I get there eventually.

Movement thinking is a lot like this…and so is the art of church planting. There are many ways to get to the same place. There are many ways to make a difference in the Kingdom. When we begin to believe that there is only one right way, we fool ourselves, especially when we are the author of THE way. There may be the fastest way under certain given circumstances, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only way for all of time. 

 

So, if you want to kill a movement, here are some ideas to building conformity that will help you on your way to nowhere:

1. Control the big box.

Trusting other leaders is the last thing you want to do. This will show them that you believe that God speaks to them…meaning not only you. So, if you start letting some people think outside of the big box you run the risk of losing all control. You don’t want that. You want to give people smaller boxes to think outside of, while you control the big box. He who controls the big box wins the battle of conformity. 

 

2. Make sure everybody knows the right way 

Forget the idea of values. Values schmalues. Rules are what you want. You want people to know clearly there is a right way and wrong way. And you want people to look to your rules to know what the difference is. You need to know what the right way is…but don’t be clear what that is because it’s fun to watch people squirm trying to figure it out. They just need to know that you know. And you are watching. Period.

 

3. Lastly, and most importantly, never admit failure.

In order for people to continue to trust your ways, you can never admit anything remotely close to failure. People can not lose faith in the system. There should be no room ever given to doubt the Master Plan. Even if you feel like the world is falling down around you…smile, use lots of Christian sounding words, and stick to the Master Plan. (I even recommend calling this the ‘Master’s Plan’ as that makes it sound cleverly spiritual.) Never, ever, ever do anything to make somebody think that there needs to be a solution, because, of course, there was never a problem with the Master Plan. Remember, smile…a lot. If somebody is not really looking, it can go a long way.

 

Ugh…Even though I laughed out loud typing this, I now feel sick as this goes against every fiber in my being. I really, really hope nobody read this and thought I was serious! 

 

How to Kill a Movement Series: Require education for the leadership

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A while ago (a really long while ago), I talked about doing a series of posts on a list that I had found on another blog. Honestly, I’ve not had the extra brain energy to put into this, and I am finally back to thinking on this level again. Well, we’ll see after this post! 

Over the next few weeks I’m going to be unpacking my thoughts on the list called How to Kill a Movement. Here’s the list if you want to look at it the whole thing. 

If you want to kill a movement the first thing you should do is require education for the leadership. 

Leadership is one of the most crucial issues when thinking on a movement level. I’m not one of those guys who thinks that everything rises and falls on leaders, but I do think that leaders play a significant role in developing a movement’s culture, ideals, values, and vision. Having the right people in the right places is absolutely critical in maintaining a movement dynamic. 

I believe that leadership habits can be learned and that one can be taught how to lead. But ultimately, leadership (meaning influence) is a gift from God that we are called to be stewards of. The way I see it, if somebody has been given Kingdom influence it is a gift from God, there is no need for them to have to have a certificate or a degree to validate their influence. I do believe that education is good…I believe that it reveals commitment, it can challenge thinking, and it can provide good mentoring. I just don’t think that it is the stamp of approval for a leader. I have observed that there is a clear difference between true spiritual authority and simple hierarchy. Education does not produce spiritual authority, wisdom, or influence; only God does. And this in only revealed by the fruit it produces. It’s not revealed in strategy. Nor organized teaching. Nor the appearance of ministry…only by it’s fruit. Requiring a leader to go through formal education runs the risk of burning out their passion by weighing it down with specialized vocabulary, methods, and strategies that may even detract from them being truly incarnational leaders. This could be compared to making a Masai leader go to seminary just to return to the bush wearing a suit, making people sit in pews, and sing hymns.

Here are some thoughts about what I think movement leadership needs to be…since formal education is not one of them.

Movement leadership needs to be held with open hands

Life always comes with change. And with every change in seasons comes new challenges and needs. Leadership within a movement needs to be seen as a gift that God temporarily lets us borrow to be used as He sees fit. We must hold onto this gift loosely knowing that it is not ours…and that we are ultimately valuable to God because of Jesus, not because of our giftedness. Our identify comes from within, not from without. I get a picture of golf clubs in my head…on some shots God may need a driver, yet on others, a pitching wedge. Just because God can crush His driver 7,000 yards doesn’t mean He has to do it every shot! There is a time and a season for every leader…our job is to be as faithful as possible for the places and seasons God has put us in…all the while knowing that the season we are in could just be prep for the next thing God has around the bend! 

Movement leadership needs to be empowering

The best leaders understand that their true ministry is to equip those around them. This is especially true when wanting to start a movement. People from within the movement need to know that they are believed in. That they are gifted. Basically, they need to know that they have what it takes. The fundamental role of a leader is to provoke people into seeing themselves the way God does. The best type of movement leadership is birthed from the inside out. Yes, recruiting leaders is good too, but I would take a leader who is developed from the inside over a ‘top recruit’ any day…even if the recruit looked better on paper! But in order for leaders to emerge and see themselves as influencers they must be empowered. This won’t look the same way in every situation (it shouldn’t be a cookie cutter thing anyway), but the value of empowering developing leaders is must for any movement to succeed. 

Movement leadership needs to pass on core transferable values and get rid of the other nonsense

The big picture of movement thinking is long-term reproduction and sustainability. It’s worth noting that it is extremely important to pass on the right things and not treat unnecessary, or overly specified things, as fundamental. I think that that key is to reduce what we want to see multiplied to the core values and allow the values to multiply (not mimic) themselves into new expressions. These new traits and practices will become incarnational expressions of the new environment, not simply carbon copies of the original.

Movement leadership ultimately needs to trust that God is in control

If we’re being honest…we prefer predictability to trust. At least I do most of the time! But when it comes to movements, we have to be willing to risk…risk failure, risk resources, and even risk people with people. We are never never going to survive unless we get a little crazy…wait, that sounds like Seal doesn’t it? But we have to trust that God is going to meet crazy with provision and/or grace! Following the Spirit is an unpredictable journey that leads us into danger and even chaos. But this is the space where faith is born. 

I think that’s enough on this one…but two last thoughts:

1. Jesus never went to any formal training that we know of…he was a carpenter from a hick town.

-and-

2. “Your mom goes to college” – Kip Dynamite 


CAI Changes

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We just got an email update about some restructuring that is happening within CA…I have to be honest, I am so proud of our organization and how they are actually trying to do things that we talk about. They are allowing our values and scripture to form how our organization is structured and saying goodbye to old models of leadership that prove over and over to be outside of the bounds of God’s intentions…good models, but not great models…from good to great…that should be a book.

Anyway, I’m stoked to see how these things will better our organization and equip more and more people to lead in the ways God intended for them.

How To Kill a Movement

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Thanks to Jay at OnMovements for posting this list from Sam Metcalf. I think that many (if not all!) of these things are certainly worth thinking about if you are in any way a steward of ministry…

How to Kill a Movement »

By Jay Lorenzen on Jan 19, 2008

Sam Metcalf at UnderTheIceberg posted the following list on How To Kill a Movement:

1. Require education for the leadership

2. Demand conformity of methodology

3. Refuse to provide administrative help and let it suffocate under it’s own weight

4. Get spooked by supernatural phenomena outside your paradigm

5. Make no room for younger, less experienced leadership

6. Be obsessed by theological purity

7. Put the safety of the people involved as a higher priority than sacrifice

8. Centralize the funding

9. Punish out-of-the box thinking

10. Manage it by goals and strategic plans

11. Reward faithfulness rather than entrepreneurial ability

12. Get tied to property and buildings

13. Let your critics define you

14. Be threatened by giftedness that’s not like you

15. Create an endowment

16. Treat creativity as heresy

17. Refuse to exercise discipline for the right things

18. Make sure you are related to existing institutions for credibility

19. Promote on the basis of seniority and longevity

20. Insist that decisions be based on policy instead of values

21. Make nurture and conservation of gains a focus

22. Don’t be intentional about leadership selection

23. Be risk adverse under the guise of stewarding your people

24. Justify your reluctance to raise money

25. Have a big need for approval and affirmation

Above all else, control it if, God forbid, he actually shows up!

From A-Z

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Yesterday I was helping my brother-in-law Jason sand his deck with a big stand up power sander. I’ve never used a thing like this…I have to admit, it was pretty fun. As one who normally avoids physical labor (or has very little opportunity for it, which compounds my avoidance), I really enjoyed wrestling this around the deck. It gave me time to think.

I was thinking about my life and my journey as a follower of Christ…specifically about how my thinking about the mission of the Church has changed and evolved. Over the past few years I have been thinking more and more as a ‘missionary.’ Asking questions like, “What does the Church look like to people who aren’t a part of it? How can we communicate the message of freedom in Christ to people who don’t care?” In essence, I am trying to see the world, the Church, and the message of the Church about Jesus through the eyes of people who have had no experience, or negative experiences with the Church.

One thing that I have realized is that once I began this journey, there is no ‘unseeing’ what I have seen…Or unlearning what I have learned. I have discovered that this journey is an A-Z journey, and I am only at the beginning.

While I was sanding I was thinking about how little kids’ first associations with the alphabet are the three letters A, B, and C. But as they get older they learn more about A, B, and C’s friends DEFGHIJK…you get the idea. But once kids learn the whole alphabet it is impossible to only think of it as ABC. I feel in many ways that my recent experience has revealed the many ways that my mind, heart, and soul have been challenged to expand and think. I see the world different now. I see the Church different now. And I see the message of the Church different now.

My prayer is that as I continue to add letters to my knowledge of the alphabet that my passion for people, cultures, the Church, and Jesus will grow and grow. I am so thankful for how we (Jen is a part of this process too!) have been gifted with life and I hope that we will be given more and more opportunity to live into the experiences that God has given us…unless there is hard manual labor involved of course.