Tag Archives: Missional Church

Missional SyncroBlog

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A Portland blogger whose blog is called The Blind Beggar has proposed to those of us in the blog world (I hate the term blog-o-sphere…it’s just lame) to on this day write about the topic of ‘What is Missional?’ You can read his article on this here. 

So here’s my take…(I just ran my hand over my balding head in an effort to warm up my brain on this chilly Oregon summer evening)

Whether or not someone or something is missional, is not an exterior performance issue. Being missional is a core heart issue. It will affect everything and anything that a person sees or does. At the core of being missional is deep desire/calling/burden to know the heart of God. When we really take in the meaning of Jesus’ life on earth we can’t help but have our view of God be changed and formed by His decision to come to where we are/were. The true miracle of Christmas is not that God came as a baby, but that God came at all…the baby thing is God’s way of making a point to show the extent to which He would become like us! We must come to grips with the reality that in Jesus we see that God chooses to come to us. He chose skin and bones to show us the extent to which He could have communion with us, even in our broken form. He knew in advance that He was ultimately going to be betrayed, abandon, dismissed, and killed…yet He still chose to come. Not only did His life have meaning in the present, but it also gives meaning to all of eternity.

Our chief aim as Christians is to model Jesus…to be learners of His ways…to become “mini-Jesus” in our worlds, as one author puts it. And if we are bold enough, just crazy enough, to make a true effort at being like Jesus then we are going to have to at some point realize that being like Him is choosing ‘to go’ as He did. I say ‘as He did’ on purpose because the way in which Jesus came should be most disturbing to us! Jesus intentionally went to the irreligious, but honest. To sinners, who were seeking…to the people that should never have been a part of the Kingdom according to the rules. Jesus intentionally chose the hurting over the religious. At the cost of His own reputation he ate with, partied with, drank with, talked with, the people that a prophet/rabbi/teacher/Messiah should not be doing these things with…or should he? 

Becoming missional is beyond a simple filter change…it’s not just looking at the world with new glasses. Becoming missional is a re-identification process/event that will forever change the very eyes we see with. With these new eyes we see the world the way that Jesus saw it…We see people’s lives as life in process of redemption and we join them there because that’s where Jesus is at work. When our eyes are changed we can no longer sit back and wait for life to come to us…we become addicted to the discovery of redemption at work. We long for it…we go to it like it’s a magnet. We sacrifice comfort, popularity, convenience, and our former priorities…just like our Lord Jesus did when He came to earth and lived as He did…because we’ve come to see how when we pursue the agenda of blessing others we are what God calls us to be. 

There is no way to program ‘being missional’…it is not a piece of the puzzle, it is the picture of our lives on the puzzle. Becoming a mission oriented person is not about the external practices only, it is about our hearts getting in tune with the heart of our God expressed in Jesus Christ. This will radically alter our desires, the questions we ask, the way we view the world, and ultimately, the way we love the world that we are here to steward. It is this transformation that Jesus has called and lead us to…to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, to freely give, to think outside of our individualistic concerns, and to join Jesus in the process of transformation. I guarantee that once we taste and see this goodness, we’ll settle for nothing less. 

 

 

I want to be a worship rock star

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I’m in one of those moods. So, forgive me if this is too much pessimism…and if this resonates with you…let’s move from beyond complaining to figuring out some real answers and some real ways to frame worship…enough disclaimer. 

So, my brother-in-law and I were watching some worship stuff on tv by a really well known group of churches. I really like this groups music…I’ve lead worship playing some of the songs I was hearing…I want to be a worship rock star just like them! But there was something really weird about what I was seeing. It felt like I was watching a rock concert. People’s eyes were closed, packed up close to the stage, raising their hands, jumping around…It just looked like a middle class rock concert. The funny thing about ‘worship music’ and the worship phenomena in the Church today is that sometimes we come off as our own version of rock stars. We have our own celebrity worship leaders that charge royalties like in the real world. We have our own worship CD’s with trendy graphics and trendy recording (yes recording can be trendy…listen to how similar all ‘cutting edge’ worship albums sounded 5 years ago…and listen to how they have all ‘progressed’ the same today). Worship has become an industry. It has become another thing to consume. And we do a dang good job of it. And nobody seems to complain…our Jesus music gets better and better, the ‘worship experience’ becomes bigger, the fun factor for musicians goes up, and everybody wins…or do we? I want to be a worship rock star. 

But I have to wonder, was Jesus’ vision of His Church’s worship rock and roll? For me, and many others, Church is no longer defined by gatherings on the weekend, music, teaching, and programs. Church for me is the people of God living out redeemed life together in this world. Talk of being in the presence of Jesus is still there, but it comes through clothing Him, “when we see him naked.” Or by giving Him food, “when we see him hungry.” Or talking with Him, “when we see Him lonely.” I want to be a worship rock star…but not when I’m holding a guitar. 

I am a wanna be worship rock star. In all of my critique of this scene, the irony is that I am a worship leader for Church gatherings. I led worship at a church a few weeks ago. I played guitar in a band at a church in Portland for a while too. And I love good worship music…I connect with God when I sing along with music that I like and when I play guitar to music that is fun. Singing, playing instruments, and worshiping God through song are all found in the Bible as expression of praise…and it is a good thing. But it is not another thing for us to consume…worship in song is only true worship when we expect to get nothing out of it…only to bring focus to our hearts desire to give something back to God. I’ve expressed on my blog before that my fear with some of the trends in Christianity today are that we are just reproducing a young generation of consumer Christians whose palates are more refined than ever to critique every Church experience that we come across. I just get this gross feeling in my gut when I think about all of the times I’ve heard people say, “I didn’t get a lot out of worship today.” *pause while I run to bathroom and lose my dinner* 

I just wonder…How would our world more accurately reflect the Kingdom of God if we spent as much effort, money, and time on missional expressions of worship as we do with music? I think that’s a fair question. Worship through music is generally for those of us who are already believers. Some people will experience God for the first time through our music, but honestly, worship can be polarizing as well. I wonder how the Church would be a more effective agent of global change if we were to serve as wholeheartedly as we sang. I know that if practiced serving as much as I do the guitar I would be changed! The one thing that went through my mind as I was watching this production was, “For all of the emotion, power, and experience that these people were having, how many left truly transformed by the presence of God?” If we really touch the living God in our times of singing, why do we still get caught up in the worries of the world week after week. I mean, if God is who we believe that He is and we spend 35 minutes a week in an atmosphere where His presence is that intense…why aren’t more of us being transformed? Why am I not more transformed when I am the one leading these songs?!? Is it me? God…help me to be changed when you are near. 

I want to be a worship rock star…but I don’t care about experiences where I (and others) are left unchanged…I want to offer God worship that expects nothing in return. That simply desires to reveal God for who He is. That stretches my life…not just my vocal chords. 

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!