Uncommon

For the past several decades, churches have believed that if they could simply emulate the activities of the early church they could somehow produce the same results. For example, in the early 1970's, a Californian named John Wimber believed that if the modern church could replicate the same miracles that were reported in Acts, evangelism would naturally result. His conviction led to the establishment of the Vineyard Church movement.

Others have looked to the 30 sermons of Acts and believed that if modern pulpits could recapture the persuasive power of oration that people would come to hear the gospel. We have witnessed all kinds of attempts, from the homogenous models of the church growth movement to the purpose driven model to emphasis on church health. But are we foolish to attempt these things? Could it be something deeper?

There are seven summary statements in Acts, the second of which concludes Acts 4. By this time in their early history, the number of disciples is clealy in the thousands. There was something magnetic about this emerging assembly. But was it really due to their actions? I think it was a matter of the heart.

Whether they knew it or not, they were forming a new society that was counter-culture to the status quo of everything else that was occuring in time. The early church was different than anything people had witnessed in government, culture, society, and even religion. These believers were uncommon...not like anything else in their very vanilla existence.

For example, these believers shared an uncommon unity. Acts 4:32 says that the believers were all "of one heart and one mind." In their fragmented world, unity would have been an uncommon dimension of life, as is ours. In fact, I think the only place we seen unity and belonging today is in the world of athletics.

College football season began this past weekend. People love sports, partly because of the sense it gives people of belonging to something greater than themselves. If you talk to a football fan on Sunday and asked them how "their team" did the day before, it is not uncommon for them to reply "we won" or "we lost." Really? Did they play? Probably not, but you get what I'm talking about.

These early believers were part of a magnetic movement that provided opportunity for new additions to belong to a common cause and to others with similar commitments and interests.

This week I want to break down some of the attitudes and values that marked the early church. I think its a grave mistake to assume that if we do what they did in Acts that we'll get what they had. Our focus and study has to be on internal stuff, not the externals.

The Strategically Small Church

It’s about time! That was my first reaction to picking up The Strategically Small Church. Written by small church pastor and Leadership Journal editor Brandon O’Brien, this book was a breath of fresh air in an era that is replete with “how to” books written by big guys about their big places. O’Brien vicariously pushes back against the conventional wisdom of the church growth movement and shares a very encouraging word to those who faithfully plod along.

O’Brien introduces his monograph with some helpful explanation behind the book’s title. A strategically small church isn’t necessarily an intentionally small church, but rather a church that is comfortable in its smallness because it has recognized some of the unique advantages that smallness offers to both congregation and community. Utilizing the strengths of its size, the small church can leverage what it brings to the table and make a significant impact. O’Brien quotes Chuck Warnock, who has said that “small churches are in desperate need of brand revival.” This was an important insight, because the number one problem of the small church is not its size but its perception. Being small is not the problem, according to the author. The problem lies in the insecurity and defensiveness that rises out of the failure to meet the expectations of their selves and others.

According to research in the book, 94% of churches in America are less than 500 in attendance, 177,000 of which are less than 100 in weekly attendance. Just over 5% of churches statistically average between 500 and 2,000, with one half of one percent exceeding 2,000 in weekly attendance. O’Brien suggests that there is a real problem if the 94% of small churches try to mimic the one half of one percent who are over 2,000 each week instead of working within their strengths and giftedness to meet the needs of their communities. The author suggests that small churches should recalibrate the metrics of success. He believes that bigger churches appear more successful because the possess statistics in areas that we already know how to measure. It is easy to put a statistic on church growth, but how does one measure kingdom growth?

The core of the book describes four strengths that small churches need to assess as such and build upon. The first strength that the small church inherently possesses is authenticity. Due to their size, small churches more naturally offer possibilities for personalized and intimate relationships. Small churches are somewhat more transparent, making hypocrisy more difficult to mask. O’Brien encourages the small church to simply stay authentic and to resist the temptation to be something they are not. By avoiding trendiness and business models the small church can maintain a high level of authenticity.

The second strength the writer points out is that small churches are lean. Instead of trying to “become all things to all people,” the small church should seek to do the things that no one else is doing and find a particular niche that the entire church can rally around. Programs should be developed solely on community need and giftedness within the body to exercise those programs. If a small church has members that have a particular interest that the church is incapable of developing, the author recommends that those particular members adopt a kingdom mindset and go serve that particular need through the auspices of a neighboring church.

Strength number three is for the small church to equip its members to serve as the missional presence of Christ through their jobs and neighborhoods. He cites statistics that reveal that people have significantly less discretionary time and income than their grandparents who devoted endless hours and dollars to their churches. Because of this socio-economic trend, O’Brien believes churches can be more effective by training their memberships to serve as they are and where they are rather than developing programs that depend on the church building to serve as the epicenter of ministry. Small churches need to shift their value system from attracting to sending and recognize the importance of making Kingdom contributions.

Finally, small churches should recognize the intergenerational advantages it possesses and use the older generations to mentor the young. This chapter offers the suggestion that small churches not feel pressured to age grade every ministry, but to let the natural blending of both young and old foster a family environment.

In conclusion, O’Brien confesses that the problem of the small church is that the very thing it’s attempting to achieve is the very thing that is undermining the very opportunity it’s been afforded. By exercising the natural strengths due to its size, the small church can, as it always has, continue to make an impact people’s lives and communities.

The Strategically Small Church is an excellent read for anyone in a church under 300. If you are a member of such a church, you’ll benefit deeply by this thoughtful and well written book. I would recommend that you purchase a copy, and after you’ve read it, share it with a friend or your pastor who is a part of a small church. It may be the most encouraging gift you give this year.

The Normal Christian Life: Believing

My hunch is that no passage in Acts has been taught or discussed more than the summary that concludes chapter 2. Rick Warren has made a mint from this paragraph in his Purpose Drive Church and Purpose Driven Life, creating a philosophy of ministry and an approach to life through worship, evangelism, discipleship, ministry and fellowship.

In looking at this passage in worship last weekend, I tried to step over the commonly argued themes and point to the process that was at work. While those primary believers were engaged in those purposes, it’s the process that is often overlooked.

The first stage of the process is found in Acts 2:41-42, which reads, “So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayers” (HCSB).

Through the Scriptures, fellowship (literally, “partnership”), the Lord’s Supper (memory), and prayer, the new community were behaving in ways that cultivated faith and belief. Unfortunately, many people quit believing at the point of original faith that leads to salvation. These 3,000 new converts to the gospel expressed faith upon hearing Peter’s message at Pentecost. But they didn’t stop believing. They steadily worked on developing their faith, making God bigger and bigger.

As a result of their steadily increasing faith, “Fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles” (Acts 2:43, HCSB).

Because of their belief, they witnessed the miraculous work of God. Here’s the point. Miracles in the face of unbelief will harden the heart. You would think the opposite to be true, but it’s not. Think about Pharaoh from the book of Exodus. When Moses presented himself to Pharaoh and requested in the name of God that the children of Israel be released from bondage, Pharaoh replied that he did not know God and that he would not let the people go. After that initial meeting, God sent 10 plagues to the land of Egypt—each one a miracle. With each plague, Pharaoh’s heart was increasingly hardened. Miracles in the face of unbelief will harden the heart, not soften it. And miracles happen in the rich soil of faith, not the rocky soil of unbelief.

What are you doing to cultivate belief in your life? Worship and discipleship are wonderful ways to cultivate belief. Just make sure you remember the end game.

Who Tithes These Days?

Interesting research from the Jesus Creed blog by Scot McKnight. Check out his post titled
Who Tithes These Days?

Binding and Loosing

Last weekend I preached a passage that I have preached as frequently as any I have preached in my ministry, Matthew 16:13-19. It is very familiar, and my guess is that anyone who has attended church for any length of time at all has heard a sermon from this text.

The great thing about the passage is that it is unusually rich in language and word play, giving the preacher multiple exegetical options and angles. One that I discovered in my study last week, thanks to Ben Witherington III, is the Semitism found in verse 19. The verse reads as follows,

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19, HCSB).

Typically, this is taken as Jesus’ authorization to declare his word of forgiveness to those who repent and enter into the Kingdom of God. In other words, when someone responds to the grace of Christ, we can authoritatively declare them as members of God’s kingdom, and if someone rejects the grace of Christ, we can declare them as outside of the Kingdom. That alone is pretty heady stuff. That’s the common take.

Witherington broadens this a bit, citing for his case the Semitism of “binding and loosing.” This would have been in reference to the Rabbinical teachers of the first century, who were viewed as having authority to bind law and loose law upon adherents to Judaism. If one broadens the length of the view, “binding and loosing” can extend beyond merely the ability to pronounce grace and forgiveness.

What I did with this, ultimately, was to juxtapose the Semitism over and against Jesus’ declaration that he “will build his Church,” and that it would prevail against ultimate evil, specifically death, the grave, and hell. One can take Jesus’ words and be confidently optimistic about the future impact of the church.

The limitation is in our willingness to bind and loose, or in more contemporary language, forbid and permit. Jesus set forth his plan and promise, unveiling the redemptive mission of the church. However, it would seem that heaven itself will not override our own disobedience to the mission, and the obstacles we place in the path of the mission, not least of which is our fallen insistence that the people who come into church must become like those in the church.

So I concluded by asking rhetorically, “What are you binding? What are you loosing? What are you forbidding? What are you permitting?” Anyone with access to Google can quickly discern that the state of the church in America is not trending positively. Mainline denominations and conservative evangelical denominations alike are routinely reporting declining numbers. If you take out the anomaly of the big box mega-churches, those numbers are even more grave.

How can that be, given Jesus’ optimistic outlook? Is the problem heaven? Shall we continue to blame the culture and the communities we serve? Or do we need to look in the mirror, and ask ourselves what we are “binding and loosing?”

Real Church by Larry Crabb

I first became acquainted with author Larry Crabb through his best selling book Inside Out. Crabb is a Colorado based Christian psychologist and speaker who had written several books that have made him an oft quoted source. I typically do not gravitate toward the psychology or self-help sections of the book shelf, but when I saw that Crabb had published a new release, Real Church, I thought I’d pick it up and read it, especially given that one of the book’s testimonials was by Dallas Willard.

The full title of the book is Real Church: Does it Exist? Can I Find it? The cover bears the full title in the motif of a movie marquis. That should have been a clue about what was to come between the covers.

The 155 pages inside contain the confessions of the author who states that he is tired of and disinterested in church. He’s been there, done that, and feels that the church has let him down. Crabb writes, “Unplanned and unanticipated, this book jumped out of my personal disappointment, frustration, and concern with church as I’ve experienced it.” He then unpacks all of the wrong reasons that lead people to attend church. They are as follows:
1. Going to church will make my life better. (Seeker Sensitive)
2. Going to church will show you how Jesus wants you to change the world. (Missional, Emergent, Acts 29, et al)
3. Going to church is all about saving lost souls and helping the already saved to be visibly moral. (Bible Exposition)

Apparently, these are the types of churches that Crabb has attended and/or his general categorization of the types of church’s that predominantly exist in America. None of these styles of churches as defined by his evaluation are suitable to meeting the needs of his life or the yearnings of his struggling heart. So after hammering the Bride of Christ and her faults for 84 pages, Crabb settles down to list the characteristics of the kind of church he believes he wants. The marks he suggests are listed below:
1. A church that hungers for the truth that sets addicts (as in, addicted to self) free.
2. A church that respects the necessary ingredients in the remedy for addiction.
3. A church that finds contentment in wanting what Jesus wants.
4. A church that is mission energized.

The author takes some real, personal risks in Real Church. His stated goal is to be confessional about his struggles in his personal walk with God. Those struggles are real, and to his point if we’re all honest we all experience those same kinds of problems. I believe that his struggles, along with our own should be affirmed.

But as a pastor, I do take issue with his insistence that somehow his struggles are the fault of the church and the pastors of churches. Every pastor in America has heard a church member utter the phrase “I don’t feel like I’m being fed” more than once. And most of those pastors that hear those stinging words are not entertainers or rock stars. Nor is that their goal. In many ways Crabb portrays yet another brand of consumer Christianity, albeit with more sophisticated felt needs.

I specifically struggled with Crabb’s profile of the American church. He does a grave injustice to the missional church movement, making it inclusive of the emergent church, the Acts 29 network, and a host of who knows what. He admits that he doesn’t understand the missional church movement, but evidently he has judged it nonetheless to be inadequate and insufficient for what he believes he (read we) need.

In general, Crabb’s book is written in a painful style. His flowing stream of consciousness weaves in and out of circular reasoning that makes his point(s) hard to follow. On one hand he would have the reader believe he’s interested in sharing his “confession.” But on the other hand, the dominate one at that, the reader is left with a scathing rebuke of everything wrong with the American church.

He argues that he cannot be awakened by “formulas.” Which is ironic, given the fact that his self-discovered solution to his need is “revival.” So with a concluding invitation to join him in prayer for “revival,” he offers a bonus section of his new book, 66 Love Letters, which is now available for purchase. This resource promises to help our churches “fight biblical illiteracy and develop a compelling spiritual theology.”

Disney Dynamics 4

What do you think of when you hear the word “classic?” As a guy in his mid forties I tend to think of classic automobiles, such as the ’57 Chevy or the ’65 Ford Mustang. One of the more intriguing things about Disney World was its ability to retain all that is classic without becoming a historical land mark.

As a Baptist, I think there is great value in our tradition. The early church, after all, was rooted in the tradition of Old Testament Judaism. Those first and second generation believers retained important traditions that contributed to how they would worship, fellowship, and even govern themselves. At the same time they abandoned the practices that were no longer appropriate or feasible.

I think churches and individual Christians periodically need to evaluate matters of faith and practice with this illuminating question: Are we cherishing time honored traditions? Or are we merely perpetuating history?

Believe it or not, I am not against tradition. We all have them. As I reflect on how my family recently celebrated the Christmas holiday reveals that tradition is both helpful and healthy. However, we can quickly lose sight of the value of tradition when our lives, our families, and even our faith is reduced to perpetuating history. If all we do is perpetuate history, nothing meaningful is accomplished and we eventually end up alone wondering why the world has passed us by.

Disney Dynamics 3

Our first day we drove from our resort to Disney. It was a simple drive of about 5 miles. All I had to do was follow the clear directional signs. As we entered Disney from the south we passed underneath an archway bearing the phrase "Welcome to the Happiest Place on Earth."

I don't know if Disney is the happiest place on earth, but I've got to give them credit for being true to their mission. Every "cast member" was patient, friendly, and accomodating. It felt genuine and authentic, too. Problems were dealt with quickly and without incident. Come to think of it, I didn't see anyone who was unhappy. Sure, there was the occassional crying toddler, but those instances were too infrequent to even notice. Disney clearly made every possible effort to follow through on their promise to provide a place of smiles and laughter.

Sometimes businesses (and churches for that matter) promise more than they can deliver. As for our congregation, my prayer is that we consistently deliver on what we espouse to be true of ourselves.

Disney Dynamics 2

I think one of the base concerns for those who travel is the expense involved. Going places will cost money, and going to nice places will cost a lot of money. That being said, I was impressed that Disney didn't gouge their visitors for every last nickel in their pockets.

Case in point, Disney permits you to bring your own food and beverage into the park. Because we have lived in St. Louis and have family that still live near St. Louis, our family has frequented Six Flags on several occassions. When we visit Six Flags we pack lunch in a cooler, exit the park and "tailgate" on the blistering asphalt. At Disney, however, we didn't have to worry about smuggling sandwiches and bottled water in to the park. Like most public venues, Disney searches backpacks and drawstring bags. Got a sandwich? Not a problem! Got a bottle of water? No big deal! Packing a light lunch each day was permitted, and for a family of four, this amounted to savings in the neighborhood of $200.

Example two is photography. We happened upon a pavillion where Tigger, Pooh Bear, and Eeyore were available for photo ops with guests. Disney provided a photograher who would take a picture that was available for purchase. But we were also encouraged to use our own cameras as well. No purchase required and the Disney photographer even used our cameras to take pictures for us.

The final example is the Disney policy on the fast pass. At Disney there is no charge for fast passes on attractions (compared to the $70 per person fee at Universal Studios). The only rule is that you can only have one at a time.

These three simple gestures are examples of how to add value to an experience without conveying the feeling that the bottom line is the bottom line. Is Disney a for profit corporation? Absolutely. Do they convey that to their guests? Absolutely not.

I think churches and not for profit organizations can learn much from Disney. Disney doesn't sell a product, it sells an experience. When we focus on the right things and significant things the money will take care of itself. How you deal with money reveals your true mission and purpose.

Disney Dynamics

Last week my daughter’s high school band performed at Disney World in Orlando. It seemed like a wonderful reason to load up and make the trek. When you take a family trip during peak season you can count on several things such as heavy traffic and elevated prices. What I didn’t count on was some lessons that I learned from my four days in the House of Mouse.

We were very fortunate to be accompanied by a relative who is a Disney Vacation Club member. It was like having a private guide to direct us through our experience. As we walked through the various parks I was amazed at what he was able to teach me about “The Happiest Place on Earth.”

For example, I was immediately impressed by the park’s immaculate condition. According to Wiki Answers, Disney world received 42.8 million visits in 2005. Yet there were no signs of trash, grime, or filth. Not a speck of dust. No graffiti in the rest rooms. No paper cups aimlessly wandering across the walkway. No chipped paint, scuffs, or burned out light bulbs. The park looked brand new.

I learned that every night a massive staff comes in to clean. They power wash the entire park 365 nights a year. From the parking lot to iconic castle, it was obvious that Disney employees take tremendous pride in taking care of every square inch of their property.

You’ve probably heard that consultants are valuable in part because they are able to provide you or your organization with a fresh set of eyes. They are able to see the proverbial cob webs that we tend to overlook and the scratches and dents we somehow have grown accustomed to living with. What do you do when you have 42 million fresh sets of eyes come through your place each year? Better yet, what will you do when you have a couple of families visit your church with their fresh sets of eyes this weekend?