Missional Journey

Who Do You Invite to Your Party?

2011-11-22T13:25:00.005-06:00

Luke 14:1-11 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. {2} There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. {3} Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" {4} But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. {5} Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?" {6} And they had nothing to say. {7} When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: {8} "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. {9} If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. {10} But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. {11} For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem for one last Passover week as he goes to the cross. While on his way there he visits many villages and towns, meeting a collection of people including tax collectors and sinners, 10 lepers, little children, a rich young ruler, Blind Bartimaeus of Jericho and Zacchaeus - the dishonest tax collector. It was a motley crew of people desperately in need of Good News. Many of this collection of folks were not the prominent people of society, but the unimportant, the despised and the unclean. Jesus was ready to share the good news of the Kingdom of God with all of them including the prominent Pharisee at whose house he now sits on a Sabbath Day. Jesus wants to find out if the Pharisees gathered there get it - the Kingdom of God that is. He affords them every opportunity to express that they understand God's love and what He is doing in their very sight and hearing.

A guy shows up with "dropsy" which the medical dictionaries describe as an accumulation of water particularly in the feet due to congestive heart failure. This guy's life hangs in the balance. If Jesus doesn't heal him, his life will end soon. So - he give the Pharisees a chance to demonstrate that they understand. When asked if it is lawful to heal him, the Pharisees don't have a single thing to say. Their silence was deafening. For them, keeping the letter of the law mattered infinitely more than a human life. Jesus is undaunted and taking physical hold of the man, He heals him, leaving no doubt in anyone's mind that Jesus did this. Even after reminding them that the law allows for the rescue of a donkey that might fall in a pit on a Sabbath Day, they still have nothing to say. Their devotion to rules and regulations makes it impossible to see the bigger picture of God's love come down in the person of Jesus. Their seething silence does little to mask how much the despise Jesus.

As we believers go on mission together, it is vital that we never allow our systems, traditions and rules to become more important that the redeeming of a single life. Like one invited to a banquet with lots of important people, Jesus encourages us to take the posture of one who honors others and their needs more than our own status or place in the pecking order. Jesus goes even one step farther. He suggests that when we throw a banquet or party, that we invite those in physical, emotional and spiritual need. That gives us a great opportunity to bless others. In doing so, we might experience the thrill of someone saying to us at the resurrection of the righteous (v. 14) "Thanks for sharing your life and Jesus with me. If it were not for you, I might not be here."

The Catalytic Growth of the Kingdom of God

2011-08-09T13:30:00.002-05:00

A catalyst is “a substance usually used in small amounts relative to its reactants that modifies or increases the rate of reaction without being consumed in the process.” Yeast fits the description of a catalyst. Jesus taught about yeast this way in Matthew 13:33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.” Jesus is describing a scene that every Galilean would recognize. Yeast (not the powdered kind, but a little piece of dough kept from the previous baking) was mixed into three pecks of flour (roughly a bushel) and the resulting bread fed 100 people! What looked like a very little “catalyst” had amazing power. While tiny in comparison to whole batch of dough, it changed it and multiplied it exponentially!

Many might expect that the Kingdom of heaven would come all at once with raw power. But like yeast, it has amazing power which might not be immediately observable. Instead it transforms people internally and then externally. The power of yeast is that once worked into the dough, it can’t be stopped! When God’s Kingdom comes in, the same is also true. Look at what is happening in the Global South:

In Africa, Christians were 3% of the population in 1911. Today they are 47%. In China today there are more Christians than Communist party members and the spread of the Kingdom is being led by young people 18 to 30 years old. In India, 2% were Christian in 2002. In less than 10 years India is at 10%. Each time a new disciple is formed by the Holy Spirit they take a “little piece of dough” with them to their family, village and region and the catalytic yeasty process continues. Altogether that has resulted in 500 million new believers within a century. That spread has happened because newly discipled believers believe that sharing what they have just learned is exactly what should be done.

Meanwhile, the fastest growing “religious” grouping in North America is labeled “unaffiliated”. Barna Associates report that in North America, 10% of any city is reached on average and 90% is unreached. In Luke 10:1-3 Jesus said “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.”

God’s Kingdom yeast is as powerful as ever! It starts seemingly small in the person of Jesus and in small groups where he is present (Matt 18:20) and becomes so shockingly big that that today over a billion people around the word identify themselves as His followers.

There is much to learn from the yeast of Kingdom growth in the Global South. Ying Kai, a Chinese American missionary to Asia suggests the following in order to get that yeast outside the walls of institutions. Some shifts in our thinking might be necessary. “Go, not come: The Great Commission says we are to go, not just invite people to come to us. We must go to where the lost are, training new believers to also go to the lost, into workplaces, homes, shops and neighborhoods. Everyone, not some: We must make disciples of all, not just a few. We typically choose whom we want to share the Gospel with, trying to pre-judge who might accept it. But God said to share with everyone. We cannot predict who will believe and whom God will use to birth a movement of Kingdom growth. Make disciples (trainers), not church members: We must not satisfy ourselves with making converts and church members. Jesus commanded much more. He wants true disciples.” And what do true disciples do? Matthew 28:20 “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” including going and making “disciples of all nations.”

You – your family – your churches are bears Kingdom yeast where God has placed you. Work it into the dough of your community and it will do its work of permeating and transforming people and culture through the power of the Spirit as believers carry little pieces of that “yeasty dough” with them everywhere they go. Like a catalyst, it will never be used up.

Cultivating or Planting - What Season Is it?

2011-06-28T10:54:00.004-05:00

Just like farming, there are two activities for a life of witness: cultivating and planting. If you do the right thing in the wrong season, you get zero results." That somewhat paraphrased statement from Ben Arment in Church in the Making: What Makes or Breaks a New Church Before it Starts has a great deal of wisdom in it. Knowing which season you are in can be used by God to produce a bountiful harvest.

One who is planting a garden (small scale) or a field of grain (large scale) understands that the sequence is important. You turn over the hardened ground before you put the seeds in the soil.

In our life of witness we will meet people whose hearts have been hardened by broken homes, sexual abuse, death, divorce and a myriad of other life circumstances. They are just not prepared to receive the seed of the Gospel. That's the time to cultivate, patiently waiting to plant the seed. Too often we walk away from such people, seeking instead those people whose hearts are already cultivated and ready for the seed. It seems so much easier.

But an eventual harvest requires both activities. Paul understood this. He said of himself in Romans 15:20 "It has always been my ambition to preach the Gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation." Paul was ready to do the painstaking work of cultivating people's hearts.

5 ways to cultivate people's hearts (with some thoughts from Ben Arment and some from me)

Pray like crazy for people you meet who seem to be hard soil. Pray for softening of the hard ground and patience for yourself in seed planting.
Purposefully spend time with "hard ground" kind of people, loving on them, spending time with them, being their friend even if they never come to know Jesus. This likely will mean you will have to go to some places and people groups you wouldn't go to if it were just up to your comforts and conveniences.
Understand that every encounter has the potential for a redemptive relationship of cultivation. Spend tons of time listening to people who are outside the churched world. Listen for their hurts, concerns, fears and challenges. Don't just give them the Gospel in written form - give them yourself.
Build strong friendships with high trust. People want to know you're a friend, not a missionary first.
Be aware that with many people you will have to restore Christianity's reputation first. The book UnChristian interviewed thousands of people 16 - 35 who find Christians not to be very much like Jesus but instead find them judgmental and cold. Your warmth and love to a those outside the world of the church gives them a glimpse of Jesus.

The privilege of it all is that the potential is there for God using us in overlapping mission activities at once. If we are faithful disciples we will likely always find ourselves cultivating hearts, planting seeds and seeing the joy of the harvest of 10's, 100's and perhaps 1,000's who come to know and love Jesus.

Faithful, Fruitful and Reproducing Churches

2011-05-27T14:33:00.004-05:00

In scanning the book of Acts it is apparent that not only was the early church "devoted to the apostles' teaching"Acts 2:42 but as a result was fruitful and reproduced.

Of course it didn't happen through cleverness or human effort, but God used His Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Teachers and faithful followers to spread the best news ever heard!

Sadly, some people today are suspicious of of churches that reproduce new believers, new groups and new churches, thinking that they must only be growing because of gimmicks or watering down the Scriptures. Some even believe that "normal" is hanging on and surviving rather than "thriving"

While the early church was persecuted and suffered much, "thriving" and "reproducing" was NORMAL. A quick look at Acts reminds us of this:

Acts 1:15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

Acts 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Acts 2:47 And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 4:4 But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

Acts 5:14 ...more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

Acts 6:7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Acts 9:31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria... grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

Acts 11:21 The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

Acts 11:24 ... a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

Acts 13:49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.

Acts 16:5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

Acts 18:8 Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.

Acts 19:10 ...all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

Acts 19:20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

I fervently believe that God's desire is for every faithful church to be fruitful and reproductive. Some will grow faster. Some may grow larger - but every church has the potential to make new disciples who make other new disciples. Some will help new churches to grow with their faithful mission gifts. Others will plant new churches themselves. All can reflect and live out God's mission heart "all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."

Marks of a Missionary Movement #5 - Adaptive Methods

2011-03-10T15:21:00.008-06:00

In Steve Addison's book Movements that Change the World, Adaptive Methods is the 5th mark of a Mission Movement.

Addison reminds the reader that various forms of soccer (football) "have been played for thousands of years in diverse cultures." Why is that? "You can drop a round ball at the feet of a three-year old child and she can start playing immediately." That is not true of American football, baseball or golf. Soccer can be adjusted to play in any circumstance, geography and people group. It is an adaptive sport.

Adaptive methods in mission are like soccer in that they are simple, easy to learn, contagious, adaptable, transferable and low cost. Dwight Marable of Missions International has done extensive research on Missional Movements and found the same thing in research released in 2010's A Comparison of Root Principles in 2 Recently Assessed Nations, Missions International. Dwight found that where exponential growth of the church is taking place "training is given in small pieces in the homes of believers, at the village well, or in the rice field. They learn enough to implement and do, and they go and do just that. . . There is no waiting period. . . everyone should be teaching new converts and unbelievers creating a culture of training."

Adaptive methods enable a movement to function in ways that suit changing environments without changing the core beliefs. How can we know when adaptive methods are needed. Addison offers a powerful analysis:

"When powerful organizations and movements in one era end up crippled in the next, the cause is often 'the failure of success.' They stop learning and adapting. Worse still, the informal methods that brought initial success become formalized and inflexible with complex policies and procedures. Creativity and innovation jump ship or are made to walk the plank."

What is the solution? Revisit and embrace core beliefs; Give the young and young at heart freedom to pioneer new adaptive methods. Support grassroots missional networks at the local and regional level. Give permission, encouragement and support to those who demonstrate the spread of the one true Gospel in diverse and innovative ways and learn from them.

I would encourage you to order Steve Addison's book Movements that Change the World from http://www.movements.net

Marks of a Missionary Movement #4 - Rapid Mobilization

2011-02-06T11:51:00.007-06:00

In his book Movements that Change the World, Steve Addison tells the story of Roland Allen to introduce the 4th mark of a Missionary Movement, Rapid Multiplication.

Allen was an Anglican missionary who wrote about planting churches among those who had not yet heard the Gospel. Born in England in 1868, Allen was ordained and served as a missionary in North China. As Allen challenged the methods of planting of churches in the early 20^th century he wrote a book titled Missionary Methods: St Paul's or Ours? Allen looked at the spread of the Gospel in Acts and noticed that where he saw the church growing exponentially in his day, it resembled what he read about in Acts. But mostly he saw slow, cumbersome, highly ordered ecclesiastical ways of planting churches which resulted in the addition of a few churches at best and looked very little like the early church. He grieved that multiplication was not happening in most places except for where indigenous people groups took it upon themselves to plant churches. He advocated a return to the methods of St. Paul.

Allen wrote "This then is what I mean by spontaneous expansion. I mean the expansion which follows the unexhorted and unorganized activity of individual members of the Church explaining to others the Gospel which they have found for themselves…I delight to think that a Christian traveling on his business, or fleeing from persecution, could preach Christ, and a Church spring up as the result of his preaching."

While his ideas were largely rebuffed by the Church of England, they sound much like the way the Gospel spread and churches were planted exponentially in Acts.

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

The Greek here means to make disciples “in your daily comings and goings," or "as you pass from one place to another.” That's what followers of Jesus do. Acts 8:1, 4 tells us how this unfolded for early believers " On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria…{4} Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went." Who left and who stayed? The Apostles stayed in Jerusalem, and the other believers were scattered? So – who did the preaching? The scattered believers did…everyday followers of Jesus.

The result of the preaching of these scattered followers? The story of the church at Antioch paints the picture. Acts 11:19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Acts 11:20-21 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

The powerful witness of Christians scattered throughout the Mediterranean world resulted in churches being planted everywhere.

Does this kind of rapid mobilization still happen? It is happening in 3^rd world areas. In 2000, there were 360 million Christians in Africa. At the present rate of growth there will be 633 million Christians there making it the second largest Christian continent after South America. Fifty years ago the fledgling church in China was reeling from the expulsion of Western missionaries. Today the Christian church in China grows by 16,500 new believers each day! Why is this happening? It happens because new believers are excited and empowered to share Jesus the day they become a believer.

This can happen in North America among Lutheran Christians! As pastors and other leaders empower people to learn to know, love, listen to and share Jesus with their unbelieving friends, the Holy Spirit can work to bring about faith and new life! I want to be a part of that. How about you?

Marks of a Missionary Movement #3 - Contagious Relationships

2010-12-22T14:47:00.006-06:00

While strategies and plans are helpful, nothing reaches movement status until it spreads through "preexisting networks of relationships." That is the third mark identified by Steve Addison in the book Movements that Change the World.

In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell pointed out that one of the three characteristics of epidemic change is "contagiousness". Gladwell discovered "the critical role that groups play in social epidemics…small, close-knit groups have the power to magnify the epidemic potential of a message or idea."

That was certainly the case in the early church. By 40 AD, disciples of Jesus likely numbered 1,000 to 3,000 followers. By 300 AD, historians estimate there were 6 million believers, nearly 10% of the Roman Empire. The spread of faith in Jesus was fast, spontaneous and with no central organizing organization! It spread through contagious relationships. We know that it is happening that way in China, India and other parts of Asia. I believe it is beginning to happen in North America again as well.

Several times in the last month as I stopped at various coffee shops in North Texas, I noticed small groups of mostly young people (most everyone is younger than me these days) huddling over their Bibles with cups of coffee, deep in conversation over what they were reading. I don't think this is an uncommon occurrence. In fact, even though denominations and local churches are declining in number, I am hopeful that there are signs that the Spirit is blowing a fresh wind of faith in our culture as young disciples of Jesus are sharing Good News, often in very public spaces.

A few final thoughts from Steve Addison. He states that one of the most important factors in one coming to faith is "a close and positive relationship with a committed participant." That happens in the context of relationships. Malcolm Gladwell talks about the rule of 150...the number of people most of us are able to maintain a relationship with. Each of those 150 have 150 more people. Imagine what would happen if you began praying for God to use you to influence "your 150". What would happen if you urgently asked the Holy Spirit to give you the opportunity to share Jesus with them? Would that work? Think about how it worked here:

John 1:41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah."

Marks of a Missionary Movement #2 - Committment to a Cause

2010-10-22T14:46:00.007-05:00

I love this following quote from Steve Addison: "Effective movements know who they are. They know their founding charism and safeguard it over time. Their methods may change, but the cause never does."

The second mark of a missionary movement that Steve Addison identifies in his book Movements that Change the World is Commitment to a Cause. As we move toward Reformation Day, it is a good time to reflect on how this has impacted those of us who wear the name Lutheran.

As a Lutheran, I recognize our founding charism. Martin Luther became convinced that the church of his day had lost the central truths of Christianity, the most important of which, for Luther, was the doctrine of justification — God's act of declaring a sinner righteous — by faith alone through God's grace. Teaching that salvation is a gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus as Savior, Luther also rejected the teaching of his day that the righteous acts of believers are performed in cooperation with God. He wrote that Christians receive such righteousness entirely from outside themselves; that righteousness not only comes from Christ but actually is the righteousness of Christ, imputed to believers through faith.

Unwavering commitment to that cause led Luther and those who soon bore his name to take actions which led to their excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church and put their very lives at risk.

Unwavering commitment to that cause spread reform throughout Europe, connecting people to Jesus who before had only a vague hope that the church would save them.

Unwavering commitment carried on as Lutheran disciples brought that distinctive Gospel to the shores of North America as well.

Unwavering commitment today is resulting in a rapidly growing Lutheran missional movement in Africa, leading to its prominence as the continent which will shortly have the most Lutherans. The number of African Lutherans rose from just under 13 million in 2003 to 14 million 2004 and 15 million in 2006. Almost all of that growth is happening through indigenous pastors and lay evangelists.

Steve Addison says something else in his book Movements that Change the World that struck me as profound if a missional Lutheran movement is to occur in North America. He states: "Over time every movement wanders from its founding charism and can only be renewed by returning to it in a fresh way. That return must be both true to the movements unique calling and innovative in how that calling is lived out."

That is a challenge worth exploring!

Marks of a Missionary Movement - #1 White Hot Faith

2010-05-28T15:13:00.015-05:00

How does a genuine movement of God's Mission begin?

"God takes the initiative and chooses unlikely people, far from the center of ecclesiastical power. He works to remake them from the inside out...a growing band of ordinary people emerges who have a heartfelt faith and missionary zeal that knows no bounds. Despite opposition from powerful forces with society and (sometimes) the existing church, the gospel spreads into unreached fields."

That's a quote from a very short but powerful book I have just finished reading and will read again titled Movements That Change the World by an Australian church planter, Steve Addison. You can find out more about Steve @ http://www.movements.net/ The New Testament is a missionary document. Acts 1:1 tells us "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach." The book of Acts is the continuing story of what Jesus began to do and to teach, not the ending, and that movement yet goes on.

There are no easy steps to create a missionary movement. Addison reminds us "We are utterly dependent on God for our salvation and for the results of our ministries. Nothing can explain the spread of the Christian movement throughout history other than the power of God that is present in the communication of the Gospel of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ."

Addison does point out however that there are 5 observable characteristics that mark a missional movement. The first of these is White Hot Faith. In the southern hemisphere, where the church is growing at an exponential rate, it can be said that "passionate faith is at the heart of the movement...it is the greatest resource...and often the only resource." There, "people are more likely to believe that what they read in the Gospels is happening in their midst. they believe that the world of the apostles is a present reality."

For me that last statement popped off the page, and it is how I want to approach "mission", believing that what I read in the Gospels is happening in our midst right now and that the apostle's world is a present reality for me and for us! That kind of "white hot faith" can be seen particularly in those who have immigrated and have been raised up to share Jesus with their own growing people group right here in Texas. For them, as Steve Addison says "White hot faith is the fuel that missionary movements run on. Nothing happens without a deep dependence on God. Nothing leads us into healthy dependence on the power of God more than to come to face with our desperate need of Him."

I'll be sharing the other 4 marks in the weeks ahead.

Sharing the Gospel with Fear and Trembling

2010-02-27T17:56:00.003-06:00

If you come to the door of our house you are likely to be greeted by our beautiful 10 year old English Springer Spaniel, Dixie. She is a happy dog who not only wags her tail when she welcomes us home, she wags the entire back half of her body with delight.

If I take her to the door of our veterinarian, however, Dixie begins to quake with fear and trembling. Her pulse rate increases and her whole body vibrates as I lift her up onto the examination table.

"Fear and trembling" are the words St. Paul used to describe his experience of sharing the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 2. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:3-5 "I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. {4} My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, {5} so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

I think Paul probably did use wise and persuasive words and was a skillful communicator. He knew, however, that if the Gospel's effectiveness were dependent on his charisma or skill as a speaker, he would have failed. Paul understood that the effectiveness of a shared Gospel message was dependent on "the Spirit's power." By comparison to that power, Paul is saying that when he came to share Jesus with the Christians at Corinth, he really did experience fear and trembling! He knew that he was totally inadequate to the task.

Paul goes on to say in verses 6-7 "We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. {7} No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began." Paul believed that he was sharing wisdom that would lead to salvation and glory for those who believed.

Paul's words are a comfort to me because when it comes to sharing the Gospel, I am surely no St. Paul, and for that matter, neither are you! Like Paul, I too experience fear and trembling each time I share the Gospel. The good news for you and I is that the effectiveness of our witness is not dependent on us having "wise and persuasive words" but rather in our own dependence on a "demonstration of the Spirit's power" as we faithfully seek out opportunities to share Jesus with friends, family, colleagues and neighbors.

Despite Paul's trembling, he continued to faithfully go from city to city, sharing the Gospel, planting churches and raising up missional leaders. He did not let his fears stop him from giving testimony of salvation in Jesus to whoever would listen. He could do that precisely because he knew that it wasn't dependent on his skill or cleverness.

So – have you felt yourself shaking and trembling lately? Maybe that's a good thing. The next time you feel yourself quaking in your boots when given an opportunity to share Jesus, just remind yourself – I'm just like St. Paul!

How Does Your Yoke Fit?

2010-01-08T15:38:00.003-06:00

My nephew got married to a really neat Christian girl last Saturday in Waco, TX. One of my small tasks before the wedding was to pick up his sister's bridesmaid dress from a tailor shop where it was getting altered. My niece was unable to try it on until the day of the rehearsal and when I went to pick it up, the tailor was surprised that I didn't bring my niece back for final adjustments. Thankfully it fit!

That prompted me to think about the only thing Jesus has asked me to wear. In Matthew 11:29-30 Jesus said "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. {30} For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." That made me think about what it means to be yoked with Jesus in His mission.

Now a yoke doesn't look like an easy thing to me, but that is how the Greek word chrestos is translated. Exploring a bit further I discovered that chrestos can mean "well fitting" or "tailor made" In the Holy Land of Jesus' day, the ox was brought into a carpenter's shop and measurements were made. The carpenter roughed out the yoke and the ox was brought back to have the yoke tried on. The carpenter made careful adjustments to the yoke so the ox could pull without irritating the neck of that ox.

As one who passionately desires to be about the mission of Jesus, it is great to know that the yoke I have been asked to wear was "tailor made" just for me. While living a life of Gospel witness is not easy, I am yoked to Jesus. Because of that, the burden feels light!

That's a great reminder for me because so often I delude myself into thinking that I have to live a life of witness out of my own strength. But that is just not true. I find two vital pieces of good news in these verses.

Knowing that I have a "tailor made" yoke from the one who knows all my strengths, weaknesses, sins and idiosyncrasies is great Gospel news to me! God fits that yoke to my uniqueness in a way which makes the yoke one of a kind. It is designed for me to have maximum pulling power with minimum irritation wherever God sends me.
The One I am yoked to is Jesus...I don't do this Christian walk of witness and mission by myself. Because the one I am yoked to is the Lord of the universe and the Savior of all means that my witness and engagement in His mission will accomplish exactly what He desires.

You also have a well fitting, "tailor made yoke." Try it on for size. Jesus made it just for you to be about His mission of connecting people to Him forever.

Want to Be a Missional Church? Try the 3 "I"s

2009-11-20T14:21:00.006-06:00

Churches that are truly are about Christ's mission to have all people "come unto the knowledge of the truth" 1 Timothy 2:4, rightly divide Law and Gospel in their preaching and teaching as well as center their ministry on the Grace of Christ. But, not all churches that do that are missional. There are 3 "I"s that describe churches that are. Ed Stetzer shares these in the foreword to The Multiplying Church.

Incarnational: Missional churches get connected deeply with their local communities. They focus on living, and demonstrating true Biblical community and are not so focused on buildings. They don't shy away from people who are far from God but meet them where they are to listen, understand and apply the love of Jesus.

Indigenous: Missional churches "take root in the soil of their society" and make every effort to relate and speak to their surrounding culture. Indigenous doesn't only refer to a language or ethnic group, but to subcultures in their communities. This leads some to different styles of music, preaching and programming. Have you noticed how many Cowboy churches are turning up in Texas? I wonder if there will be a Lutheran one! Who would have thought that right here in the Texas District of the LCMS we would have so many ethnically indigenous churches even 10 years ago. (Hispanic, Pakistani, Arabic, Indian, Korean, Sudanese, Ethiopian, Eritrean, etc.)

Intentional: In Missional churches, there is a great degree of intentionality about how the eternal truths of God's love and forgiveness in Jesus Christ is shared. The how of Worship style, evangelistic methods, pastor's attire, etc. are determined by their effectiveness in reaching a population in a specific cultural context. Sometimes churches which have made such decisions get criticized for such decisions. They do so anyway, because they are convinced that they have been sent to a particular people group with its own cultural nuances. If you worry about this one, try reading Romans 14:1-15:7. Paul dealt with some of this critique as well.

How could your church become more Incarnational, Indigenous and Intentional in reaching people far from God?

Culturally Relevant Mission is Dangerous to Discuss

2009-10-10T15:16:00.009-05:00

Writing about cultural relevance is risky. Some folks think that by advocating that the church is called to culturally relevant mission, one is caving in to popular culture. Others may assume that by writing about cultural relevance your are just trying to demonstrate that you haven't lost touch with that culture. But exploring how the church relates to culture seems a worthwhile endeavor to me.

Cutting Edge, Vol.12:2 p.7 expressed it in a way that caught my attention: "Mission is the objective; cultural relevancy is the process. The purpose of the church is not to be cool, cute, popular, or any other adjective that would indicate we are "in." When the church makes cultural relevance its priority rather than a way of doing mission, it becomes syncretistic and thus sells her soul on the altar of cultural relevance." At the same time, "the church must understand the culture and the people in that culture. She must use the symbols of meaning in the culture she is in to communicate the message of the Gospel, without losing the prophetic role of speaking into the culture."

So the church sits on the edge. We contend for the truth of scripture. Jude 1:3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. At the same time we are called to contextualize the truths of scripture. 1 Cor. 9:22-23 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Paul in Athens did both. Acts 17:22-29 First he contextualized, saying"Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Then he contended for the truth "Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you." After telling them the truths of God he contextualized and contended once again saying "As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' 29 "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill."

We are called to both contend and contextualize to communicate the truth of salvation in Jesus in the culture where God has placed each of us as missionaries and where he has placed each church as a mission outpost. If we desire to be about the mission of God, we never cease being students of our culture as well as Scriptures. Who studies and keeps your church up-to-date about the changes in your culture?

The Gospel Gone Viral

2009-08-29T17:53:00.003-05:00

We have been praying for God to begin a Church Planting Movement among the churches, pastors, leaders and lay folks here in the Texas District. One thing I have been learning through my experiences and through my personal reading of leaders like Bob Roberts, author of The Multiplying Church is that a Church Planting Movement (CPM) looks more like a virus than a strategic plan.

In fact, the term Church Planting Movement (CPM) came about as more of a description than a prescription. Bob Roberts described how David Watson coined the phrase. Roberts wrote that "Watson then shared about being at the table with a group of other missionaries when the term crystallized. They were trying to describe what they were seeing take place in the East. 'It was never meant to be the key. It was descriptive.'"

Throughout history, when CPM's are truly taking place they are highly organic in nature. They are actually only the result of lives being transformed through the cross of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Whole families, villages, cities and societies are changed. It is what happened to he jailer in Acts 16:30-34 . Had not whole households been affected, the Gospel would not have spread at the viral rate it did in the early church. The epidemic spread of the Gospel necessitated the planting of churches to disciple all the new believers! It was a Jesus movement first.

Viruses don't happen by addition but by multiplication and fractaling. In third world countries, it has not been that an individual comes to faith in Jesus Christ and then decides to plant a church. Rather it has been true that Jesus revolutionizes the life of an individual who tells their family and friends with so many people coming to know Jesus that churches become necessary to disciple, care for and equip the new believers who go to the next village and do it all over again.

This kind of growth doesn't happen merely by addition, but by rapid multiplication. Individual disciples share what God has done in their lives through Christ, discipling their their friends and families. In that kind of church learning to tell how God's story of redemption in Christ has intersected our life becomes the norm rather than the exception for church members.

Then the Gospel goes viral.

Looking at where it might next plant a church is always on the agenda of the local church rather than wondering if planting a church is something we might do once in our history.

Then church planting goes epidemic. It can happen!

Is Mission Optional for the Christian? C.F.W. Walther Says NO!

2009-07-15T15:45:00.004-05:00

C.F. W. Walther, the founding President of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod says an emphatic NO! (Thanks to my friend Pastor Steve Wagner for surfacing the following quote from Walther)

"For if the entire Christian church is the real mission society which God Himself has established, then all those who ignore mission work and do not care anything for it are not true and living members of the church, that is, not true Christians. They break the oath of allegiance which they have made to Christ at their baptism. They want to carry the keys of the kingdom of heaven in their hands and yet do not want to open heaven to those who are still outside…They want to be God's wheat, and still are not fruitful grains of wheat. They want to have faith, yet have no love. They have no compassion in their hearts for the distress of the heathen, and thereby show that even though they are baptized, they still have a heathenish heart and that they themselves are in darkness and the shadow of death." C. F. W. Walther, "The Mission Society Established by God" in The Word of His Grace, Occasional and Festival Sermons.

Being a Christian means being engaged in the Mission of Christ – It is not an optional activity for an individual Christian or a community of believers in a congregation.

We often say that what matters is being faithful. That is true. Jesus says "If you continue in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free." John 8.32. But Jesus' word includes the Great Commission to "go and make disciples of all nations" Matthew 28:19. Dr. Walther reminds us that if we are not faithful to that Great Commission, we have broken "the oath of allegiance" made at our baptism.

Walther also warns against desiring to have faith and doctrine down pat but not having love for those who are far from God. In fact he calls this attitude having "a heathenish heart" which puts one in the "shadow of death."

Walther's admonition to the church of the late 19th century is to make sure we are opening the Kingdom of heaven to those who are still outside in darkness. He warns the church of then and now that if we turn in on ourselves, even if we think we have our faith and doctrine just right, we are unfaithful servants.

The good news is that we have all that we need to be the "real mission society" that Walther speaks of. We have God's Word in all its truth and purity. We have the promise of a secure salvation, won for us by Jesus in His death and suffering. We have abundant life now and forever because of His resurrection. We have the gift of the Holy Spirit who promises to work faith in human hearts. We also have an abundant supply of people far from God with whom we can share the Gospel. We have financial and technological resources that Walther could only have dreamed of.

The only things that can stop us from being missional are our own fears, prejudices and needs to feel comfortable with people just like us in our own local congregations. It is only our sinfulness that gets in the way.

I don't know about you, but I want to be part of "the real mission society which God Himself has established" as C.F.W. Walther put it. I pray for opportunities to share the love of Christ with others. I pray too that we will continue to plant many new churches here in Texas and throughout the world.

If that is your desire as well, please pray right now that God might use you and your church to be part of God's plan to save people who are far from God!

Missional...like a flock of geese

2009-06-24T20:30:00.003-05:00

In late September or early October Canada fly south in V-Formation to get to winter feeding grounds. Then they turn around in the spring and do the whole thing over again. Hundreds, thousands, millions of these geese form into perfect V shaped squadrons at altitudes 3,000 to 29,000 feet.

Two engineers calibrated in a wind tunnel what happens in such a V formation. Each goose in flapping its wings, creates an upward lift for the goose that follows. When all of the geese do their part in the V formation, the whole flock has a 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. Each then depends on the other to get to the destination. That phenomenon is called LIFT.

The same thing can happen when a genuine missional movement gets going in the body of Christ or even in one little corner of it like the Texas District Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.

God's Word given through Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:21-22 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" {22} On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable

As more and more local churches catch a new vision for church planting to connect new people groups and new generations to Jesus for eternity, we can experience the same kind of lift exhibited and experienced by Canada geese in V formation. Networking, encouragement and a Kingdom vision will overcome fears, turf protection and the wiles and discouragement of Satan. I'm praying for powerful mission lift from the Holy Spirit as churches work and encourage each other in advancing the Kingdom of God.

Real Love in the Christian Church

2009-06-04T13:06:00.003-05:00

I work with many churches. When I ask folks what they most value in a local church, one of the comments I hear most often is "I want a church that is really a loving place!"

When people say that, I think they most often mean that they want the church to be a place where they are loved, valued and accepted. That's important but it is not enough be truly loving in the best sense of the word.

Antoine de Saint Exupery, French writer of the early 20th century made a statement which I found profound:

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction."

And what direction should those of us who value real agape love in the church be looking?

Hebrews 12:2-3 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. {3} Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

In a church that wants to be about the mission of Jesus, it is not enough to love each other enough to gaze into each other's eyes. That's a phony community and if that is enough for folks in a church, they really miss out on what real love is all about.

The direction we look together is on Jesus and His cross. That cross becomes the center of the lens in which we look at the world. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2:8 We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.

That's a description of real love. We love those who are hearing God's word so much that we delight in sharing God's word and our lives with them in an every expanding circle.

We see those far from God's Kingdom with the love of Jesus...those who are right in our local corner of the world and those who live on the other side of the globe. That kind of love breaks our hearts for those who are still not aware of the vast love the Father has for them. It leads us to action, praying for those lost and creating relationships that allow for the Spirit to penetrate hearts and sharing God's news directly with them through witness of care and spoken words.

Then we know and live real love.

The "Holy Dissatisfaction" of Missional Living

2009-05-29T11:19:00.010-05:00

I haven't had a Susan B. Anthony dollar in my pocket for quite a while, but she said something which people who want to live for Christ's mission might find challenging:

"Cautious, careful people always casting about to preserve their reputation or social standards never can bring about reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation...and bear the consequence."

Paul said something similar: 1 Corinthians 4:10-13 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! {11} To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. {12} We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; {13} when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

Missional Living in individuals and local churches creates a "holy dissatisfaction" in followers of Jesus that creates a willingness to be "anything or nothing" as Susan B. Anthony said which often does lead to being "dishonored...cursed...persecuted...slandered...the refuse of the world" as Paul said.

"Holy dissatisfaction" is the unwillingness to stand by and feel OK while people without Jesus are destined for hell. What does that "Holy Dissatisfaction" look like?

Paul put it so well when he said 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. {23} I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

On the bottom of all of my Emails is the following: "Without Jesus Christ, people will miss the best in this life and everything in the next." I really believe that and I pray that God will continue to cultivate in me a "holy dissatisfaction" for those without Jesus. I pray He will do that for you as well.

Like Paul, we need to do whatever it takes to reach lost souls.

not to be edgy, but for ultimate Kingdom purposes
willing to risk failure in order to reach people
willing to be misunderstood or criticized even by fellow Lutherans or Christians
fully committed to the concept that "Eternity Matters Most!" (from my friend Patrick Miller, Mission Planter at Water's Edge, Frisco)

That takes prayer and ultimate action to go beyond feelings and words. Each of us individually needs to be ready to "give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." 1 Peter 3:15. Each congregation needs to be ready to say as Paul did in 2 Corinthians 10:15-16 "Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand, {16} so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you."

What Do You Think About Fast Growing New Missions?

2009-04-15T15:17:00.005-05:00

Sometimes, members and leaders of existing churches watch what is happening in new missions that are growing and wonder if what is happening there is "Kosher" (i.e. really Lutheran) or not.

Shawn Lovejoy noted in his blog that sometimes the comments about growing missions sound like the following:

"They must be watering down the Gospel"
"They're probably just telling people what they want to hear"
"All they care about is building a big church. They don't care about people"
"All they care about is drawing a crowd"
"I've heard they sell beer in their lobby" (Well - probably not that one, but one never knows).

I must say that I rarely hear those comments first hand, but sometimes hear them repeated by someone who has heard someone else make them.

Luther's explanation to the 8th commandment tells us "We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way."

I see this cutting two ways. As mission planters here in Texas find the Lord blessing their labors in introducing people to Jesus so that their eternities are changed forever, I trust that their motives and methods are intimately connected to Jesus' Great Commission. I know that for those front-line mission planters "Eternity matters most!"

Second - I also trust that those who express concerns like those listed above truly also love the Lord and those not yet connected to Jesus.

Each of our planters works hard to share a Law/Gospel message of sin, grace and redemption in such a way that it impacts the particular culture where God has placed their new church. It is hard work. Pastors' of existing churches do the same.

So, I celebrate wherever I see signs of God's mission breaking out to permeate culture, ethnicity and generations. I pray God's blessings on those planters, pastors and leaders as they trust one another to carry out the mission of Jesus.

Nurturing a 2 Corinthians 10:15-16 Vision for Mission Expansion

2009-03-17T13:37:00.005-05:00

In 2 Corinthians 10:15-16 Paul writes "…Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand, {16} so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you."

How does God want your church to be involved in the expansion of God's Kingdom on earth? Many churches never get beyond the walls of their building, the A-Z list of their own members or the hoped for move-ins of Lutherans to their community when they think about the influence they might have for Jesus Christ.

How would you define that term "the regions beyond you"?

Global - Most Christians can easily identify with God's global mission. Supporting World Missions will always be vitally important. Your congregation's tithe or better is an important way to expand influence in the regions beyond you. Many congregations also are beginning to personally connect with God's global mission by creating opportunities for people to travel to those countries to serve, encourage and teach.

Regional - The phrase "regions beyond you" suggests stretching to expand the kingdom. Church planting used to a way of life for many Lutheran Christian congregations which sought to serve growing under served communities. That vision is getting recaptured by many Texas District congregations along with the District itself. The 2009 budget has committed $2,670,237 to partner with churches that become involved in mission planting. Has your congregation begun to stretch its vision, looking as Paul did to the "regions beyond you"? Where might you begin to think about planting a church in the regions near you? Call your Mission and Ministry Facilitator if you want help exploring that possibility. If we really believe the words of Jesus in John 10:10 "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly," we will want to be faithful in exploring how we might be part of planting churches in our sphere of influence so that the Gospel of Jesus is shared.

Local – The "regions beyond you" might not only be geographical but might suggest a cultural, ethnic or linguistic divide that missional churches will need to cross in order to expand the influence of God's Kingdom. This is not only true in large cities but also in small towns and regional areas. Many of our congregations are situated in places of such change. For them, "regions" may people groups who are across the street and just around the block. Because this kind of reaching feels uncomfortable to some, many congregations and leaders are fearful of disturbing the comfort level of current members. Some congregations and leaders, however, have begun to identify with the vision given to John in Revelation 14:6 "Then I saw another angel … and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth--to every nation, tribe, language and people." What people groups are in arm's length of your church that you have yet to stretch toward? Be bold in raising that question in your congregation.

Personal – "Regions beyond you" is also personal. Paul didn't just pray for the opportunity for the church to expand its influence – he was part of the action himself! That is what God wants for each of us: 1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,"

Just Who Are the UnChurched?

2009-02-08T11:10:00.009-06:00

This morning as I left home and then returned from worship and Bible Study at my church I noticed what I notice nearly every Sunday that I am home. Very few cars leave my neighborhood on a Sunday morning. Most of my neighbors are Unchurched. They are the kind of folks every new church plant and every existing congregation wants to reach.

They may be unchurched but they are not a monolithic group of people. Barna Research does the most extensive research about just who the unchurched are.

Perhaps the most surprising thing they discovered is that 62% of unchurched adults consider themselves to be Christian. Another startling finding is that the number of unchurched has increased by 92% in the past 13 years going from 39 - 79 million.

The evidence points to an incredible need for a new mission focused church planting movement as well as the urgency for existing churches to become truly missional.

Here is what the research uncovered.

Definition

The following is how we define an unchurched adult for our research: an adult (18 or older) who has not attended a Christian church service within the past six months, not including a holiday service (such as Easter or Christmas) or a special event at a church (such as a wedding or funeral).

How Many?

There has been a 92% increase in the number of unchurched Americans in the last thirteen years. In 1991 there were 39 million unchurched Americans compared with 75 million currently. (2004)

Who?

Although they comprise slightly less than half of the national population, men constitute 55% of the unchurched. (2006)
The average unchurched person is 41, which is younger than the national norm of 45. (2006)
One-fifth of American adults (21%) are single-never-married, whereas nearly one-half of the unchurched fit that definition (48%). (2006)
The highest concentration of unchurched adults is in the West where 43% of adults are unchurched and the Northeast (40%), compared to 28% residents in the South and Midwest who are unchurched. (2006)

Spiritual Commitment

More than three out of five (62%) unchurched adults consider themselves to be Christian. (2006)
44% claim they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today. (2006)
In a typical week, 19% of unchurched people read the bible compared to 47% of all adults who do so. (2006)
In a typical week, 66% of unchurched people pray compared to 84% of all adults who do so. (2006)
Three-fifths (61%) of the churched population has accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, compared with one out of every five unchurched adults (21%) who has done so. (2006)

Beliefs

64% of the unchurched say that Satan is not a living being but is a symbol of evil. (2006)
63% of unchurched adults state that a good person can earn his or her way into Heaven. (2006)
Slightly less than half (48%) of the unchurched define God as the perfect, all-powerful, all-knowing Creator of the universe who continues to rule His creation today. (2006)
51% of the unchurched assert that when Jesus Christ lived on earth, He committed sins. (2006)
27% of the unchurched firmly believe that the Bible is totally accurate in all that it teaches. (2006)

Handing off the Missional Baton

2009-01-14T14:22:00.008-06:00

I spent yesterday in training with Will Mancini in utilizing The Church Unique process (Church Unique; Jossey-Bass, 2008) of helping churches discover their Kingdom Concept, develop their Vision Frame and create their own vision pathway.

Will's vocabulary includes seeing Mission as Missional Mandate. The etymology of mandate from the Latin means "to give into one's hand" the way a relay runner hands off the baton in a race.

Exactly what are we to hand off as we state the unique Missional Mandate for each church? In John 20:19-22, Jesus tells his disciples "Peace be with you" which sets the stage for the hand-off of His mission. In v. 21 he says "as the Father has sent me, I am sending you." For the disciples, that Missional Mandate had a unique look which first included sharing the Gospel with their Jewish brothers and sisters between the borders of the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. It soon expanded to Greek speaking Jews in places like Antioch and rapidly expanded to the Gentile world of Asia Minor, Africa and Europe.

Each new church start and existing church of Christ followers is also handing off a baton to those who become part of its mission. You and your church are in a unique local setting. Generic photocopied mission statements from other churches won't be adequate for expressing the uniqueness of God's Missional Mandate for your church. What is the unique baton expressing Christ's Great Commission your are handing off? Missional Mandates always express how your church will help people move from A--->B. Think of Jesus' Mission. One expression of it is found in Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Another is found in John 10:10 "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." In each of those expressions of His Mission, Jesus tells how he wants to move someone from lostness to being saved; from emptiness to a full and abundant life.

What baton has Jesus handed off to your church to carry out Great Commission ministry using the unique strengths and assets with which He has blessed you? What do you believe God wants to have happen in the lives of your members and attenders because your church exists?

Reflections on Leading With a Limp

2008-12-23T12:34:00.006-06:00

I recently attended a mission planters conference. At the conference, the speaker, Darrin Patrick, mission planter at The Journey, St. Louis spoke a great deal about how missional leaders need to understand a paradox of leadership. This paradox is spelled out in Dan Allender's book Leading with a Limp. Allender says "to the degree you attempt to hide or dissemble your weakness, the more you will need to control those you lead, the more insecure you will become and the more rigidity you will impose - prompting the ultimate departure of your best people."

Patrick went on to say the following: The Apostle Paul's leadership was as much about repentant, reluctant, sin-confessing leadership as it was about strong visionary leadership. Paul identifies himself that way in 1 Timothy 1:15-16 "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. {16} But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life."

Leaders need a little God honoring reluctance. See Acts 14 – one minute Paul and Barnabas are worshiped as gods and the next they are nearly the victims of murder.

Pastors, church planters and other leaders need reluctance because they will literally disappoint everyone at some time or another! Because you work with people, systems and plans, and all of these will break, reluctance is needed.

What did that humble reluctance with a dose of dependence look like for Paul?

2 Timothy 4:9-18 "Do your best to come to me quickly, {10} for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. {11} Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. {12} I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. {13} When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments. {14} Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. {15} You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message. {16} At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. {17} But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. {18} The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Leadership is hard, always with a sense of loneliness! Reluctant leaders draw "big L" leaders around them. They are not trying to be rock stars. They rely on the Lord.

Reluctance is a leader magnet! How do you get reluctance? 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. {8} Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. {9} But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. {10} That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Whatever the "thorn was" it caused Paul to be in a dependence crisis to trust God apart from his own skills and abilities and thus a leader with a sense of "reluctance." In the soil of dependence, God created character for Paul and still does so for leaders today.

It is the same with us. Paul's character was shaped through his conversion which he describes in 1 Timothy 1:12-15 "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. {13} Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. {14} The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. {15} Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst."

Leaders need to be reluctant and repentant.

To have a culture of repentance in a church, one must confess their ministry sins (power, success, ambition, control, winning, etc.) Each is a dark side of something (e.g. While control can mean insuring quality, the downside is micromanaging others and discouraging others to use their gifts.)

James 3:16 "For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice."
James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

When we confess in this way…it lets the air out of our ambition (see 3:16 above)

Questions to ask yourself when selfish ambition, power, success, control or the need to win start to raise their ugly heads in your ministry: Who are you trying to be? Whose model are you tempted to copy? (This is true for Pastors, other church professionals and lay leaders)
How is God shaping you to be repentant and "reluctant" missional leader?

Evangelism to Red Apples -- Pre-Evangelism to Green Apples

2008-11-10T12:58:00.004-06:00

James McDonald pioneered the concept of "red apple evangelism" in 1988 basing it on John 4:35.

McDonald draws a distinction between red apple evangelism and green apple pre-evangelism. God has prepared some people through sometimes painful circumstances of life to be ready to hear the Gospel (Red Apples). These are folks who God has prepared to hear and believe the truth of the Gospel right now! They are ripe fruit. New and existing churches need to teach people how to recognize "red apples" and be prepared to share the truth of Scripture in both words and in actions. McDonald says "It's not hard to see who is 'ripe' in our world. People who are hurting; people with problems; people whose lives are falling apart. They're all around us. We need to look for them under a rock or up in a tree, and we don't have to 'market' the Gospel to them. It's a pearl of great price to them."

Green apples are people who are not (yet anyway) ripe to the Gospel. Those are people whom we become friends with (pre-evangelism) even though they are not yet ready for the harvest. Our very friendship might be the instrument that God uses to prepare them to hear and believe the Good News of salvation through the blood and merit of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

McDonald contends that we spend too much effort on Green Apples and not enough on Red Apples. He puts it this way in an interview for PreachingTodaySermons.com

"Too often, instead of looking for the people God is breaking down and bringing to a place of humility... we want to reach whom we want to reach. Jesus went to the down-and-outers; we're a lot of times—and certainly in suburbia—looking for the up-and-outers. That's just not where the gospel is penetrating.

So what we've too often done in the church is build a philosophy of ministry that will allow us to get green apples in and out of church without offending them, and we call that evangelism. Eventually some of those green apples get ripened to the Gospel and they come to know Christ. We praise God for every one of those.

But we could be seeing far more people coming to faith if we skipped the dog and pony show and just went straight to the heart of the matter, which is reaching people whom God's trying to reach with a bold proclamation of truth - Red apples. They're ready to hear the Good News."

How prepared are we to reach out with Word and action to the Red Apples God has placed into our sphere of influence? How can we learn to recognize them? What if they are very different (socially, economically, ethnically) from us? Who is a Red Apple God has called you to share Jesus with?

A Missional Credo for Tough Times

2008-10-19T13:47:00.003-05:00

Right now, banks are pulling back; mortgage firms are pulling back; individuals are pulling back from their 401-k plans and unloading their stock portfolios. Folks are trying to preserve what they've got and minimize their risks.

Churches might be tempted to pull back and minimize their risks as well, thinking that acting missionally is best left to better economic times. Habakkuk, the Old Testament prophet reminds us that we ought not put our trust only in what we can see with our eyes.

In Habakkuk 3:17-19 he says: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, {18} yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. {19} The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights."

There couldn't be times much worse than that: no buds on the fig trees; no grapes on the vine; a failed olive crop; no grain in the fields; no sheep or cattle in pens or stalls. In Habakkuk's day that looked like economic disaster leading to starvation and eventual death.

Even though their were no outward signs of God's blessing, Habakkuk had confidence that God's blessings would come. In Habakkuk’s Creed everything turns on the first phrase of verse 18 “yet I will rejoice” – the word in Hebrew for this phrase is alaz which means “to rejoice in triumph” Habakkuk expresses that despite what he sees with his eyes, he is confident in God’s power to save and to strengthen him. His exuberance is so lofty that he says “He makes my feet like that of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.”

His credo can be one for churches and individual Christians to think and act missionally. Worldly logic would say "this is no time to be planting churches" or "this is no time to invest my own time and money in outreach." Habakkuk's credo reminds us that this may exactly be the time that God is ready to produce the most fruit.

9-11 brought a flood of people into churches for a short time with questions and interest in things spiritual. Many churches may not have been prepared to leverage that interest to introduce people to Jesus. Some predict the current financial downturn to last for years creating a new and perhaps extended opportunity to introduce people to Jesus so that they learn not to "store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. {20} But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:19-20)

So, the next time I start evaluating God's actions only by what I am seeing, I am going to remember Habakkuk's words "yet I will rejoice...the Sovereign LORD is my strength...he enables me to go on the heights."

2008-10-06T08:13:00.008-05:00

Three Missional Lessons in Hospitality From a Cruise Ship Crew

1st Peter 4:9 says "Offer hospitality to one another..." The Greek for "hospitality" is philoxenia (philos=love; Xenos= strangers) It means "to love the stranger.

Every one of our churches expresses the desire to share that kind of hospitality with guests but often struggle to do so. Our family (Becky, Jennifer, Mike and I) experienced philoxenia first hand on a cruise of Alaska just a few weeks ago. While the cruise was totally enjoyable, I observed 3 lessons in missional behaviors and attitudes that churches and leaders could learn from.

1) The highest level of care needs to be expressed at the lowest level of the organization: I know there was a captain on our ship because the ship went the right direction, arrived at each port on time and didn't sink. But, I only saw the captain once while he was going up a flight of stairs. However, I saw Bennie our room steward and Lelik and Bramadi our table stewards several times each day. They were warm and friendly, and by the end of the first day they knew all of our names and engaged us in welcome conversation. They expressed care which was genuine. It would have done little good for Holland America Cruise Lines to advertise "we have the most caring captains on the high seas" if those members of the crew who actually worked with passengers were not caring. Even if such and advertisement were true, it wouldn't matter if those who interacted with passengers didn't do the job. We knew that a good captain was commanding the bridge because at every level of the ship's crew, from top to bottom, that level of care was expressed and experienced. By the end of the week, Bennie, Lelik and Bramadi were our good friends. Sometimes in our churches we expect our pastors to be the sole provider of care and everyone's friend. While that might work in a church of 100, it won't work in a church much larger. The world's friendliest pastor can't compensate for unfriendly ushers, greeters and regular church goers. He needs to model that caring and continually teach it to the people in his church.

2) No "insider" language on board: The crew on our ship was mostly Indonesian which means that their native language is Bahasa Indonesia (what we call Indonesian) and yet all spoke English to the mostly American and Australian passengers. Even when they were talking to each other, they did not speak Indonesian but English. I asked one of the crew members about this and he said that this is always done because they do not want a passenger to mistakenly think that crew members are talking them. He also said that "we are here for the passengers and not for ourselves." We could learn much in the church as we have a great deal of "insider" language and expressions.
Our announcements, acronyms and even worship forms often assume others know exactly what we are talking about, even bordering on giving the impression that we never expect a guest to come who doesn't already know "our language." Those of us in the church need to continually ask ourselves how the language, expressions, and lingo affect those who are our guests. We need to speak their language.

3) Substance and style are both vital to a guest's experience: Having a well prepared and delicious meal every night in the dining room on board was promised in all the promos we read before taking the cruise. Card tricks and math riddles (when our steward discovered Becky is a math whiz) every night made our meals memorable. We were made to feel like we were our Stewards "favorites". Having a clean room with made up beds each day was important, but the attention to detail, the towel animals made by our steward each night and the engaging conversation with our room steward made us feel special. One might say "what's so special about that?...that's how every passenger feels."

Exactly -- no one is missed. Every passenger experiences the same level of care. Both the substance of what one experiences on a cruise (safety, good food, exciting destinations, learning about new places and people) and the style (the friendly respect from crew members, the special touches to keep everything spotless, making you feel important) are both vital to the experience. However, if it were all style and the food was bad, we were late arriving at every port or the ship sank, none of the style would have mattered. If the substance was gotten right but the crew was unfriendly and the ship dirty, most people would not sail with that cruise line a second time.

In our churches, it is important to get substance (Biblically faithful theology, God honoring worship, correct division of Law and Gospel, Theology of the Cross) right while we pay close attention to style (appropriate worship forms, welcoming environment, effective discipling methods). It is all part of what guests and members experience.

A New Look at Discipling --- Agree or Disagree?

2008-08-31T13:54:00.003-05:00

David Putnam (Breaking the Missional Code, Broadman & Holman, 2006) offers a new look at the discipleship process that he says most missional churches have discovered. They challenge our thinking. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with his findings?

DISCIPLESHIP:

...begins prior to conversion. In today's context, conversion is part of the journey and will often require years of participation in a local congregation before a person goes public with his or her faith. New missions are already figuring out how to do church in such a way that makes this possible for those who are just learning about Christ.
...involved participation in a faith community prior to conversion. Churches will need to recognize the importance of relationships as the currency that moves the unreached and unchurched person toward genuine discipleship. Members of those churches spend more time connecting with unchurched people, loving them genuinely even if they don't become believers right away.
...often involved participation and experience with the Christian community prior to conversion. Non-believers have even gone on mission trips with believers and along the way have come to know Jesus. Churches that understand this are proactive in creating experiences for those on such a journey.
...involves participation in service prior to conversion. Churches that understand this encourage their members to invite unchurched friends to participate in service to the community. The very act of serving in a Habitat for Humanity project along side churched Christians may be used by God to move someone toward faith in Christ.
...does not require "club membership" in the church before someone is permitted to usher, play in worship band, sing in a choir or even read the scriptures aloud in worship. Churches that understand this trust that the very fact that an unchurched person wants to participate in serving, in mission, or in worship - may expose people to the means the Holy Spirit uses to bring someone to faith.

So - what do you think? Do you agree? Are there others you would add to the list?

Sharing Jesus in Third Places

2008-08-16T16:02:00.006-05:00

Each of us has a First Place,Second Place and a Third Place.

First Place for most people living in the developed world is the home. This is often a place of closely guarded privacy. The Second Place is where we work. The workplace can often be a place of huge demands and pressure. Third Places vary by context and culture and may be places like pubs and restaurants, places like Starbucks, sports team parents groups and anywhere that people feel free to be themselves. Kind of like the bar in Cheers, "where everybody knows your name." People will spend hours in Third Places and may know more about the lives of people there than most people in churches know about each other. Third Places are where the relationships that knit our society together are formed and fashioned. For many Christians, "church" is their Third Place. Often we expect people who are far from Christ and His family to come to our Third Place. After all, we feel so comfortable and welcomed there, we think that they should too...but they don't come. Perhaps what we need to do is meet folks in their own Third Place.

Why should Third Places matter to Christians? They are where we can learn about the culture of our communities. There we can learn about people's everyday struggles and concerns are. They are places we can ask spiritual questions. They are the places we can share Jesus. Afterall, people who don't know Jesus rarely come to our First Place , and often we are not permitted to talk about Jesus in our Second Place. Where are the Third Places in your community?

Where does this concept come from? Michael Frost's book, Exiles: living missionally in a post-Christian culture (Hendrickson, 2007)is the place. Michael is Australian and Professor of Evangelism at Moorling College in Sydney Australia.

Should Small Churches Plant Churches?

2008-08-03T06:30:00.002-05:00

[from an article by Rev. Ken Behnken, Center for U.S. Missions]

How often haven’t we heard the excuse that we will plant another church when we get larger? How large is larger? At what point do you, as a new mission start, start thinking about having a family? This is something newly married couples discuss already in their courting days. By the time they are pronounced husband and wife they already have a pretty good idea about when they will start their family.

New church plants ought to be doing the same thing. The initial mission plan should include “family planning.” When will we start having children? It is never too early to plant a new church. Many non-denominational churches are grooming a team for a new church plant in their first year of existence. By the time they reach 100 members they are ready to give away leaders and members to help start the next church.

If we are serious about reaching more people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then we need to be thinking exponentially. We have daughter churches that have daughter churches that have daughter churches. This is New Testament thinking. Paul, Barnabas, Timothy, and the early apostles did not plant a church and wait until it grew to a certain size. As soon as there were leaders established in the new church, they were off to plant the next church.

Yes, it is costly. It will cost you money, people, leaders and delayed dreams. Your initial church would probably be larger if you did not plant another congregation. It is easy to get so focused on our own turf that we forget to look at the Kingdom.

A newly-married couple that selfishly chooses not to have children because it would interfere with their occupations and dreams of material wealth, come to the end of their lives having multiplied things but not themselves. When you plant a daughter church, you have multiplied yourself and are reaching twice as many people. As your daughter congregations plant new churches, the multiplication continues. Think of the joy you receive by watching God bless your children. Think of the joy you will have watching God bless your daughter churches. Think of the family reunions as you get together with your daughter churches and your granddaughter churches.

It is never too soon to start thinking about multiplying your church family. Prayerfully seek God’s guidance and then watch Him perform the miracle.

4 of Top 10 Growth Areas Makes Mission Planting Vital for Texas

2008-05-26T10:18:00.006-05:00

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released data on the 10 metro-areas in the U.S. with the greatest population growth in the last one year period. Four of the ten are in Texas. DFW-Arlington at #1 grew by 162,250 people. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown at #4 grew by 120,544. Austin-Round Rock at #8 grew by 65,880 and San Antonio at #10 grew by 53,925. Austin-Round Rock is also in the 10 ten in rate of growth at 4.3%.
That totals 402,599 and does not include the growth happening elsewhere in Texas. That growth is not an anomaly but is the norm for our state!

The Texas District has set a goal that through its congregations, 200 new churches would start by 2017. Some might think this goal overly ambitious, but when compared with the growth of our state, it looks modest.

Whether these statistics are merely interesting facts or create an urgency to share the Good News of Jesus personally and have a stake in planting new churches depends on your view of the church. If the church exists merely to care for those already in God's flock, the numbers don't mean much. If, however, you believe that the church is a living organism that does not exist only for the benefit of its members, the numbers mean much more.

In state where only 17% of the population worships regularly, many of those 400,000+ new residents don't know Jesus well. In fact, for many, no one has ever even told them that Jesus loves them and has paid the price to buy them back from sin, death and the devil.

Every pastor, church worker and member needs to be asking "What is my stake in planting new churches that reach new people?" It is not a question for some future time but for right now!
1 Corinthians 7:29, Paul said "What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short." We are surely in those "short times" The time to begin is today.

Timing Makes all the Difference!

2008-04-15T15:59:00.000-05:00

Phil Stevenson, who will be the keynote speaker at our Texas District LCMSM2C Partner's Retreat, May 6-8 wrote the following about timing in his weekly blog "Expanding Wave", April 2, 2008. His article has great questions which will help you as you plan to live missionally.

Timing makes all the difference. Being in the right place at the right time can be the difference in an opportunity taken or an opportunity missed. A good idea can go unattended if given at the wrong time. In football the link between a completion and an incompletion is often the result of the timing between the quarterback and the receiver.
In II Chronicles 2:1 we read, “Solomon now decided that that the time had come….” This had to do with the building of the temple. David had wanted to build it. David had a wonderful dream, but the timing was not right. This reminds us that the distance between the dream given and the dream fulfilled can vary.
It was 1989 that God birthed in me the vision to participate in a multiplication movement through churches planting churches. It was not until 1996 I had the privilege to lead my church in planting a new congregation. It was six years between the birth of the dream and the implementation of the dream. During those six years I cultivated the dream through education (reading, listening, attending seminars, talking to others, etc…), prayer and scribbling down ideas. I discovered this key principle: Make preparations and wait for God’s timing!

Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:25, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Keeping in step with God’s leading is critical in timing A right idea, even if it is God-given, is limited when delivered at the wrong time. Some have said it this way:

• The wrong idea given at the right time results in ineffectiveness
• The wrong idea given at the wrong time results in failure
• The right idea given at the wrong time results in resistance
• The right idea given at the right time results in success

Since timing is such a critical element when do you know, as a leader, when it is right? When is it the right time to rally your congregation to a new mountain top? When is it the right time to lead a congregation in daughtering a new congregation? When is it the right time to build? Relocate? Begin a new ministry? Start another campus? Implement small groups? Plant a church? Go to multiple services? Move to a new ministry? This is only a sampling of “right time” questions leaders wrestle with.
To the question of timing, I offer more questions. Navigating through these will provide you some guidance as to “when.”
• How you given it enough thought?
• Have you talked to the right people?
• What is the fallout of the decision?
• What is the benefit of the decision?
• What is your leadership “pain” threshold?
• Is it right, or just popular?
• Is it right, even if unpopular?
• Is there a stirring among the people?
• Are you willing and able to implement the decision?
• What does your gut tell you?
• What are you hearing from God?

Last thought: Most leaders miss the right time more to an unwillingness to decide than deciding too early.Who will applaud the decision? Who will boo?

Revitalized for Missional Outreach

2008-03-20T15:10:00.002-05:00

Ed Stetzer, in the book Breaking the Missional Code spends some time focusing on what existing churches need to do to really develop an external mission focus. I talk to pastors and leaders on a regular basis who say "we need revitalization" and Stetzer puts his finger on one of the key factors for this to happen. He says:

"Most churches are not breaking through - but they can. Churches that need revitalization need to ask why they are stagnant in the first place. It is amazing but consistent - churches that need to grow think they can do it without change! They think they can break the code by doing the same things they have always done. the problem is, if they keep doing things the same way, they will have the same results.

Instead, most churches need to be led to embrace healthy change if they are going to see different results. . . Change is often needed to be more effective. However, people resist change. But if more people can see that change will produce growth, they are often more open to changing.

Christians love seeing people come to Christ - they just forget that joy. Too frequently, they have chosen their traditions over their children. They have chosen their comfort over their effectiveness. they are part of that 89% of churches not experiencing healthy growth."

The challenge of course is what things might be changed for the sake of the Gospel and what things must not change. One of our congregations consistently uses the phrase "Eternity matters most!" By that they mean that they will do anything for the sake of sharing Jesus with people in their community so that they might be God's instruments in changing eternity for someone.

How are you doing with change? What would you be willing to change? What must never change?

Not Letting "Handicaps" Keep Us From Being Missional

2008-03-03T18:43:00.003-06:00

As some of you might know, my wife Becky, Director of Youth and Discipleship at Faith, Georgetown, fell while leading a senior high youth retreat on January 5th of this year. The result of her fall was a left ankle with multiple fractures and a right foot with a broken metatarsal bone. The ankle injury required a delicate surgical procedure to rearrange all the bone fragments with a titanium plate and 5 screws put in place to hold it all together. Becky's orthopedic surgeon shares a good prognosis, but a fairly extended healing process of one year. Many well meaning people have said, "Why don't you just take it easy? You deserve a rest..." and other well-meaning statements of encouragement.

Becky could have filed for disability, and focused all her attention on her own temporary "handicap" and everyone would have understood. But...that's just not how Becky views life and ministry. The day of her surgery she was in the office taking care of phone calls and making arrangements for classes and ministries she is responsible for. She did take off the day after surgery, but 48 hours later she was back for as many hours as she could stand without her foot swelling like a balloon. Becky sees the urgency of her mission as Christ's servant as just too important to let a wheel chair and two broken feet get in the way. Its not that she feels the church couldn't live without her; instead, as long as God gives her strength, she wants to be about his mission. If she waited to heal and walk with her own two feet, it would be 3 months or longer before she would be back in the game.

How about your church? What "handicaps" do people sometimes use for not considering church planting, evangelizing, or supporting Texas District or local missions. Congregations say things like "once we can afford our new staff person...or once we get our new Family Life Center paid for...or once we get past some issues of disagreement then we will become missional."

If we allow our congregational "handicaps" to be the excuse for not carrying out the Great Commission, we can always find a reason not to plant a church or share Christ with our community. If we wait until all is perfect in our congregations, we will always find some "broken ankle" that will keep us from serving. What "handicaps" do you want the Holy Spirit to help your church to overcome?

3.8 Million in 2007

2008-02-04T17:16:00.000-06:00

"In the 30 seconds it took you to skim the headline and decide to read this post, somewhere in the world approximately 125 people were born, and 53 people died, 36 of whom did not claim to know Christ. In 2007, approximately 3.8 million people died who likely didn't know Christ."

That was the first paragraph of Editor Linda Lowery's column in the January/February 2008 Edition of "Outreach" Magazine. Statistics like that are always good for shock value as well as bringing home the point that the world is in urgent need of a relationship with Jesus Christ so that the eternal destination of multitudes can be changed.

However, I must sadly admit that while I find it easy to report those numbers, I struggle much more with translating that knowledge into real-time witnessing action in the circle of relationships God has given me. Because I spend the majority of my time working with churches, it becomes easy to spend all my time with those who are Christians already. When that's the case, the 3.8 million become a statistic that I feel dismay about but do little about personally. It's kind of like reading about the millions of children who go hungry every night around the world. The number is so big that I block it out as something I can't impact.

What would God have me do? As God opens my heart and mind, I see people all around me who need Jesus: a neighbor who grew up in a repressive church environment and has rejected the "institutional" church; my chiropractor who has expressed interest in spiritual things, and so many others. My wife, Becky has been faithful in an ongoing conversation with the guy who cuts her hair. This conversation has gone on for several years and I must confess she is more faithful than I in pursuing this witnessing opportunity. The bottom line for me is that I have to pray that the Holy Spirit would open my eyes to become very intentional in seeking opportunities to share the Gospel and be an inviter. I need to cultivate relationships with those who don't seem connected to God or any community of believers, genuinely caring about their eternal destinies.

When that happens, God can use me to have impact on whatever part of the 3.8 million come into my little world. When that happens in the lives of believers everywhere, the gates of hell are stormed, witnessing becomes part of everyday life, new missions are planted and more people get connected to God for eternity. How is God using you to impact the 3.8 million?

Extraordinary Prayer and Abundant Evangelism - Universal in Every Church Planting Movement

2008-01-18T21:37:00.000-06:00

Les Puryear, a North Carolina Mission Planter in his blog "Joining God in His Work" reports that David Garrison who has spent years researching church planting movements in third world countries found that there are 2 universal elements to any church planting movement

The first is extraordinary prayer - not just the kinds that says "God bless our church planting efforts" but rather prayer to open the hearts of pastors, people and churches to have a passionate desire to share the Good News of Jesus with others and to plant new churches to evangelize and disciple those people.

The second is abundant evangelism. If prayer links a Church Planting Movement to God, then evangelism is its connection with the people.

"Essential to every movement is the principle of over-sowing. Just as nature requires a tree to drop thousands of seeds to produce a single sapling, or a human body to generate hundreds of eggs to yield a single baby, so it is with evangelism. In Church Planting Movements we find hundreds and thousands of people hearing the gospel every day and out of this abundant sowing, a growing harvest begins to take place."

"Conventional wisdom in the West has often taught a reasonable yet much less effective pattern of gospel transmission. "You must first earn the right to share your faith," goes the traditional model. "Once you have developed a friendship and demonstrated that you are really different, your lost friend will ask you what is special about your life. Then, you can tell them about Jesus."

I have taught this very concept myself. Garrison says this is a very western concept and not true. It certainly makes me sit up and take notice. I am still thinking about this. A passionate purveyor of Church Planting Movements denounced this Western model. "We teach that it's not about you or your earning the right to share your faith. Jesus earned that right when He died on the cross for us. Then He commanded us to tell others!"

That makes sense! It's Biblical. I still believe that I can be a more effective witness if I am willing to invest in the person as I begin to witness. That way I can share God's Word in ways that meet that person where he or she is. Also, the stronger the relationship I have with those who need to hear the Good News, the more urgent my witness becomes...because I want them to share heaven with me!

"If nature's principle of sowing abundantly to reap abundantly is true, then so is its opposite: if you sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly. ( 2 Cor. 9:6) This simple truth is so powerful and yet many well-intentioned missionaries accomplish every lofty ideal except this one. To remind them of the importance of abundant gospel sowing, many successful church planters have prominently displayed a one-page sign at their workstation which reads: "How many of my people will hear the gospel today?" If there's going to be a movement, then the answer must be in the thousands."

This means that attractional programs, outstanding worship, servant events in the community, etc. can only be that which supports the personal witness of church planting pastors, launch teams and members of new missions. It also must be a core value and behavior that is not allowed to fade when the church reaches a comfortable size. What do you think?

How Big Must Your Church Be to Plant a Church?

2007-12-14T14:12:00.000-06:00

Phil Stevenson, Author of The Ripple Church, a book we have been giving to any church in the Texas District willing to explore the possibility of planting a church wrote the following in an article in 'The Pastor's Coach' available at www.INJOY.com several years ago:

"I want to address a myth about church parenting: the myth of attendance. It is the idea that only churches of certain sizes are able to parent churches. All churches need to be open to the opportunities to parent. It is not so much the size of the church as it is the size of the church’s heart. It is more about health than size. In fact, healthy churches naturally reproduce. Christian Schwartz in his book, Natural Church Development, states, "Hardly anything demonstrates the health of a congregation as much as the willingness--and ability--to give birth to new congregations."

Check your health, not your attendance sheet. Check your heart, not your numbers. Nothing can grow indefinitely. An elephant gets to a certain size and stops. A mouse grows and it stops. They are not the same size, but they are healthy. The only hope for the continuation of a species is not for a few to grow large, but for all to multiply. The same is true of churches. A few growing larger will not meet the need, but all multiplying can help sustain the species."

I am positive that Phil Stevenson is right! In Lutheran Churches in particular, there is this notion that big churches should plant churches. The truth is not many of them do either. I am thankful though, that more and more of churches, both large and small, in the Texas District, Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod are praying and pondering about when God might lead them to plant or partner to plant one or more new churches. Healthy organisms reproduce! The norm for Christ-centered, healthy churches is also to reproduce.

What ideas do you have for how this new surge in church planting energy might become a church planting movement in the Texas District? Please share any thoughts, no matter how random with us!

Taking off "four months more" lenses in church planting

2007-11-19T18:40:00.000-06:00

Today, Reggie McNeil spoke about living missionally at the Texas District LCMS Professional Church worker's conference in Austin. Reggie talked about John 4:35 where Jesus tells his disciples "Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." (NIV) The disciples were used to thinking of fixed and unchangeable times between sowing and reaping, so it was normal for them to look out at the fields and say "four months from now, the harvest will be ready." But Jesus is trying to get them to open their eyes to see that God's mission doesn't have a fixed, unchangeable mechanistic pattern of sowing and harvesting. He is telling them to see that the time to live missionally is right now because the fields are ripe for harvest.

Reggie said the "four months more" becomes code for not living missionally. It also seems to be code for why many churches never get around to church planting. The "four months more" lens causes churches to say things like We'll get around to planting a church when we

get our new sanctuary built
get a little larger
complete the staff additions we have been planning for
get our finances and stewardship in order
have more spiritually mature members
get past a few conflicts we are dealing with
fill in the blank_____________

To those churches I think Jesus would also say "I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." The truth is that Satan does not want to see new churches planted. He hopes leaders keep wearing those "four months more" lenses. Those lenses always lead folks to conclude that church planting is something which should come later...or even never for some churches. Those lenses have got to come off!

How can we start seeing mission opportunities through "ripe for harvest" lenses? What do you think?

I

Lizards not Frogs...Rabbits not Elephants in Church Planting

2007-11-01T13:31:00.000-05:00

Plant "Lizard" Churches and not "Frogs"
These metaphors come out of David Garrison's study of Church Planting Movements. They reflect what he has discovered about church planting movements throughout the world.

the problem with Frogs...Frog churches perceive themselves as ends in themselves, sitting fat and complacent on a lily pad (or main street), expecting the lost to come to them in search of salvation. Frog churches hold meetings in places where they feel comfortable and require the lost to adapt to their froggy world.

Lizard churches...Lizard churches are always pursuing the lost. Adaptable and ready for action, they move quickly into the world through cracks and crevices seeking the lost. Lizard churches penetrate their communities. They decipher the "missional code" of their community and people groups. They are willing to expend enormous energy, even lose their tails if necessary in order to bring the lost into the family of God.

Plant "Rabbit" churches and not "Elephants"
the problem with Elephants... An elephant reaches its full size in 3 years, however it does not mature sexually until 18 years of age and is not ready to reproduce until then (the male is not ready to sire until approximately 30 years old!) Once an elephant is pregnant it takes a full 22 months for gestation and has the capacity to bear just one elephant. It is another 5 years before the female is ready to give birth again and might bear 7 calves in her lifetime. Elephant churches always have a reason (building program, staff needs, internal growth, etc) for not reproducing a new church and once they do decide to reproduce (if ever), the gestation period is painfully long. After that they may not want to reproduce again for many years.

Rabbit churches... Rabbits are ready for reproduction at 6 to 9 months. They are continuously fertile. The gestation period is 31 days and they ordinarily give birth to 7 babies. During this time the adult rabbit is also growing and reaches its maximum size in 3 years (just like the elephant) In its lifetime, one reproducing pair, through its offspring, has the capacity of reproducing 476 million rabbits! Within the first three years, rabbit churches are thinking about when they might reproduce. They plant new churches as a regular part of their desire to carry out "the Great Commission" and they also build into the DNA of each of their "daughter" churches this culture of church planting reproduction.

Don't get me wrong -- God loves frog churches, lizard churches, elephant churches and rabbit churches all the same. But -- church planting movements that reach growing numbers of people from every culture, language and people group happen when churches function more like lizards and rabbits. What other metaphors help you consider healthy church planting movements?

Mission Outposts in a Postmodern World

2007-10-22T14:23:00.000-05:00

Every church desiring to be missional must deal with the postmodern world. Many churches want to insulate themselves from the “evils” of postmodern culture. Some are intentionally seeking to reach people who struggle with postmodern worldviews. But, who or what are postmoderns anyway? Ed Stetzer, in his book Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age describes those who embrace postmodern philosophy this way. He says Postmodern thinkers know “that everybody has their own point of view and all are equally valid.”

Some are tempted to think that postmodern thought is specific to a particular age group. Stetzer tells us however, “The world view we identify as cultural postmodernity is not new in academia, the art world, or even in many major cities.” A 60 year old artist from Austin might be thoroughly entrenched in postmodernity while a 24 year old banker in Denton might hold modernist views.

Since most churches are still dealing with modernity, the postmodern world looks pretty scary. Many churches have not engaged postmoderns because they don’t want to have contact with the value system of the postmodern world. Stetzer says “it is much easier to deny its power than to acknowledge its influence.”

What if Paul and the other apostles had done the same with the 1st century pagan world? Paul wouldn’t have engaged the Greek thinkers of Athens in Acts 17. Paul and the traveling apostles did not accommodate the Gospel to pagan thought, but rather engaged that world with the truth of Christ. Thankfully, today, many churches faithfully are choosing to engage the culture with the truth of Scripture – “becoming missionaries in a culture they have not traveled to, but which has instead traveled to them.”

How are they doing that? Postmoderns find truth to be that which is expressed by a community of people rather than truth which can be rationally explained or proven. Churches reaching postmoderns emphasize the kind of “truth lived out” community found in the early Christian church of Acts. Cultural postmodernism rejects many of the lies of modernity: that happiness could be found in success, that peace is achieved through human progress, that man is inherently good. Churches reaching postmoderns find this pessimism healthy, and find in it a touch point for understanding the Law/Gospel principles which Lutherans particularly emphasize. Postmoderns utilize many vessels, styles and forms for sharing of thought and information. These include a rather eclectic range of musical tastes, electronic communication, and a return to the visual arts, an embracing of literature both ancient and modern. Churches reaching postmoderns use these styles in their worship settings, music, visual arts and communication of Scripture.

Stetzer says the 10 traits most frequently found in churches reaching postmoderns include:

1. Being unashamedly Spiritual
2. Promoting incarnational ministry (living in the culture)
3. Engaging in service
4. Valuing experiential praise
5. Preaching narrative expository sermons
6. Appreciating and participating in ancient worship patterns
7. Visualizing worship
8. Connecting with technology
9. Living community
10. Leading by transparency and team

Is your church engaging that culture? Are you ready to cross over to share the Good News? Check out the website of Austin City Church, a church actively engaged in reaching people in a Postmodern culture at austincitychurch.com
(PK)

What do you lose if your church plants a church?

2007-10-15T11:06:00.000-05:00

If your church is one of those considering planting a new mission, you may be asking or hearing "What is the downside -- what will we lose if we plant a church? Phil Stevenson addresses this concern in the book The Ripple Church: Multiplying Your Ministry by Parenting New Churches.

Stevenson writes: "Churches that parent other churches don't lose money...they invest it into a situation that will result in a net return to the Kingdom of God. They do not lose people, they invest them in the work of gathering a harvest."

Church planting is costly, but it is an investment and not a loss. That isn't just semantics. If a local church views church planting through the lens of what it might lose, it will never plant. But, if it views it through the lens of more people being connected to Jesus for eternity, it will plant once, twice and more! It takes an unselfish leader and an unselfish congregation to look beyond one's own church and this year's budget or statistics to ultimate kingdom impact!

Churches Planting Churches Creates A Genuine Church Planting Movement

2007-10-08T19:47:00.000-05:00

In his study of church planting movements world wide, David Garrison came to this conclusion: "In most Church Planting Movements, the first churches were planted by missionaries or by missionary-trained church planters. At some point, however, as the movements entered a multiplicative phase of reproduction, the churches themselves began planting new churches. In order for this to occur, church members have to believe that reproduction is natural and that no external aids are needed to start a new church. In Church Planting Movements, nothing deters the local believers from winning the lost and planting new churches themselves."

In order to plant 200 new churches (actually now 173 since 27 have been planted since 2004) in the Texas District over the next 10 years, a genuine church planting movement must occur and I believe it is already happening. It won't occur with an occasional plant here or there at the prompting of the Texas District, but it will happen as it bubbles up from the local church.

One of the greatest privileges I have as a Mission and Ministry Facilitator is to be invited into what feels to me like "sacred conversations" with pastors, lay leaders and mission planters as they pray, ponder and plan how God is going to use them to plant one or more new churches.

What's even more exciting is when a recently planted church is already engaged in or planning for its next mission start. My colleague Bruce Wurdeman uses the metaphor of a snowball rolling downhill to describe how a Spirit led church planting movement is likely to grow in Texas. At the top of the hill it may look small, but as it rolls downhill, it gathers mass and momentum. That's how I believe God is already acting in the lives of local churches all over Texas. What do you think? What's necessary for a church planting movement to become the norm for the way we spread the Gospel with more and more people in more and more places?

Facilitating Church Planting Movements #5 - 10 Factors in Church Planting Movements

2007-09-29T22:05:00.001-05:00

Ten Common Factors in Church Planting Movements

Stetzer reported on a world-wide study done by David Garrison, Wiesbaden, Germany. Garrison studied common factors when a mission planting movement breaks out in developed and developing countries. He found that there are at least 10 frequently, though not universally, found characteristics. These are not listed in any particular order of priority or frequency, however, most if not all of these factors are usually present

1. Worship in the heart language
There are cases in which God’s Word has not yet been translated into the heart language of the people and worship is conducted in a trade language. Even in those rare instances, though, the heart language of the people emerges in their prayers, songs, sermon illustrations and applications. Worship in the common heart language keeps it accessible and within reach of all members of the community and allows everyone to participate in a new church’s formation. Missionaries who identify and embrace the heart language of the people they are trying to reach are well positioned to stimulate a Church Planting Movement. Nothing reveals a people group’s worldview as much as an intimate knowledge of their heart language. Missionaries who choose to work through a trade language begin their ministry with a curtain between themselves and the hearts of the people they are seeking to reach.

2. Evangelism has communal implications
Unlike the predominant pattern in the West with its emphasis on individualism and personal commitment, Church Planting Movements in developing countries typically rely on a much stronger family and social connection. Missionaries in CPMs have recognized this and urged new believers to follow the web of their own family relationships to draw new believers into the community of faith (see Acts 16:31-32). In many cases, the churches come to consist of family units and are led by the family’s head.

3. Rapid incorporation of new converts into the life and ministry of the church
In most Church Planting Movements, new disciples immediately become disciplers of others and even church planters. One elderly man who came to Christ in a Church Planting Movement in India planted 42 churches in his first year as a believer. In an effort to keep the movement growing outward, CPM-oriented missionaries typically encourage new believers to join or help start new churches, rather than simply adding larger numbers to existing congregations.

4. Passion and fearlessness
Church planting Movements are characterized by passion and a sense of urgency that attests to the importance of salvation and the necessity of conversion. New believers exhibit a boldness in the face of opposition. A spirit of timidity or fear quenches a CPM. Boldness may invite persecution, but it fuels a Church Planting Movement (see Joshua 1:6).

5. A price to pay to become a Christian
Church Planting Movements often emerge in difficult settings where conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a popular or socially advantageous thing to do. In some cases, conversion leads to severe persecution or even death. In the face of this persecution, believers find strong support in the testimony of Jesus and the New Testament church (see Matt. 10:17-25). Persecution tends to screen out the uncommitted and ensures a highly dedicated membership.

6. Perceived leadership crisis or spiritual vacuum in society
A country or people group that has experienced a loss of leadership or a spiritual void coming from war, natural disaster or displacement may create a ripe environment for a Church Planting Movement. Societal disintegration is becoming increasingly common in our rapidly changing world and bodes well for Church Planting Movements. The removal of long-held symbols of stability and security prompts individuals to reconsider matters of eternal significance.

7. On-the-job training for church leadership
With the rapid increase in the number of churches, effective leadership training is critical to the success of the movement. If new church leaders have to leave their churches for extended periods for theological training, the momentum of the movement will be diminished. At the same time, this vital component of church growth must not be overlooked. The most beneficial training brings education as close to the action as possible. Theological Education by Extension, with an emphasis on practical learning interspersed with ongoing ministry, has proven to be a strong complement to Church Planting Movements. The forms of this on-the-job training typically include a series of short-term training modules that do not impede the primary tasks of evangelism, church planting and pastoral leadership. Missionaries also attest to the importance of ongoing leadership training for the continued growth and strong development of a Church Planting Movement.

8. Leadership authority is decentralized
Denominations and church structures that impose a hierarchy of authority or require bureaucratic decision-making rather than serving as supportive catalysts are ill-suited to handle the dynamism of a Church Planting Movement. It is important that every church leader has all the authority required to do whatever needs to be done in terms of evangelism, ministry and new church planting without seeking approval from a church hierarchy. When denominational staff come along side planters to undergird and support, they can become vital links.

9. Outsiders keep a low profile
Missionaries who have been involved in Church Planting Movements point to the importance of keeping a low personal profile as they seek to initiate and nurture the movement. A key concern is to minimize foreignness and encourage indigeneity. Rather than waiting for new believers to prove themselves worthy of leadership, missionaries begin by drawing new believers into leadership roles through participative Bible studies and mentoring pastors from behind the scenes.

10. Missionaries suffer
A list of missionaries who have been engaged in Church Planting Movements reads like a catalog of calamity. Many have suffered illness, derision and shame. In some instances the suffering was due to their own self-destructive behavior; in other cases it came at the hands of opponents. Students of Church Planting Movements suggest that the affliction may be related to a higher spiritual price required for rolling back the darkness (Rev. 12:12). Whatever the cause, the disproportionate degree of suffering by missionaries engaged in Church Planting Movements is noteworthy. Missionaries intent on this course of action are well-advised to be on their guard, to watch, fight and pray.

Facilitating Church Planting Movements #4 - Factors for Higher Attendance in new church plants

2007-09-20T16:02:00.000-05:00

Stetzer has done significant research into factors that contribute to higher attendance in new church plants. Here is what he found

Factors for Higher Attendance

• Meet in a school for first year
• Meet in a school or theater in subsequent years
• Conduct special children's' events (e.g. fall festival)
• Mailing invitations to services, programs, events
• Conducting regular new member classes
• Use a membership covenant signed by new members
• Plant at least 1 daughter churches within 3 years of initial church plant
• Having a proactive stewardship development plan enabling the church to become financially self-sufficient
• Having multiple staff members (can be volunteer or part-time) rather than a single staff member at beginning of church plant
• Financial compensation for planter (from a variety of sources)
• Planter receiving health insurance, whereby majority of premiums were paid by church plant, sponsoring church, and/or denomination
• Conducting block-party as outreach event (in neighborhoods)
• Working full time over part-time or half-time as church planter
• being assessed prior to planting the church as the church planter
• Having the church planter's expectation realized

What Stetzer says does not work: You do not get a church planting movement by creating non-reproducible models. i.e. - you can't reproduce a plant in which you invest $500,000. The denomination can't do it and the planted church can't do it. Planters and churches reproduce in the way that they were produced! If the investment is too high – expectations for next plant are so high that reality can never match (Ed Stetzer has planted 5 churches and never received more than $20,000 from the denomination)

Probably no church plant has all of the factors that Stetzer has found contribute to higher attendance. Some of them are out of the control of the planter or planting congregation. But, many can be done no matter what kind of plant is being pursued.

In the Texas District, LCMS we have been saying that the right person, the right place and the right plan need to be in place in order to receive funds from the Board of Mission Administration. Stetzer's list affirms those three criteria.

Facilitating Church Planting Movements #3 - Eight shifts in church planting

2007-09-13T08:42:00.001-05:00

8 Shifts in Church Planting

In his research Ed Stetzer has identified shifts in the way new churches are being planted. These are shifts which have been happening over the last few years. The bulleted list are Stetzer's words. My observations and thoughts follow each bullet.

From Programs to Processes

Not even great programs worked every time in the past. It is most important to understand the people we are trying to reach and develop processes to accomplish that purpose. So, if the issue is discipleship, planters may use existing programs and materials (e.g. The Alpha Course, The Purpose Driven Life) or they may create their own process which fits the community they are working to reach with the Gospel.

From Models to Missions

For many it was easy to copy models of others because planters wanted to copy others' success in their own context. In this way, planters didn't always do the hard work of unlocking the missional keys to their own community. Planters certainly continue to learn "best practices" from other church planters, but they are also doing the hard work of connecting with their community. They carefully look at where God is working and with their lay leaders they are fearless in trying new ways to plant seeds of the Gospel in their community regardless of the risk of failure.

From Attractional to Incarnational

Attracting people to a church with slick advertising, better programs and good strategy is not necessarily bad, but today it is not enough. Some attractional churches have led to a
non-participatory Gospel as an unintended consequence. The attractional approach is a come and see approach.

Leaders that "break the missional code" are recognizing that non-relational evangelism is a contradiction. Leaders that move from attracting prospects to incarnating the Gospel are the ones that break the code. Result of the attractional approach? We spent 30 years fixing up our churches and 30 years later our culture is more lost and our churches are filled with people who are less committed to Christ's mission. The incarnational approach is more interested in the harvest than in the barn!

Professional to Passionate

1 Peter 4:10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

Stetzer says that "each one" really means "each one"! He points out for example that the "house church movement" is gaining traction as well as many alternate forms, and it is being done by gifted lay people as well as professional ordained.

We need to lower the bar of what it means to be planting a church and we need to raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple. i.e. You can’t reproduce a church that took a million dollars to plant, no matter how successful it is. If can't even reproduce it self because the bar for what success looks like is too high!

Seating to Sending

Many new church starts begin conversation in their first two years about when they will plant a new mission themselves. Planters in those churches don't hold so tightly to their "members" that they are fearful about sending some of them off as a launch team to start a new church. They believe that God will continue to bring new people to "fill the seats" of those who are carrying the mission of Jesus to a new location.

New members to Disciples

It is not that the concept of membership is unimportant, but rather that the concept of discipleship is so much more important. Membership process has a beginning and an ending point - when the person is officially "received." Discipleship is ongoing.

Mission by addition to Exponential Planting

All healthy things reproduce. In order for the LCMS to become a mission planting movement mission planting must again become one of the fundamental marks of a Lutheran church – not the oddity or the exception. There is never a "good" time to send money, people and energy somewhere else. But - as they say the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago -- the second best time is right now!

Monuments to Movements

It seems that every pastor really wants to get into mission if only his church was a little bigger! Buildings, space and property do matter, but many new church planting pastors spend much more time praying, thinking and teaching their people about being involved in God's mission than they do working on buildings. Buildings are only a means to accomplishing the purpose of the Great Commission.

Facilitating Church Planting Movements #2 - Biblically Faithful and Culturally Relevant churches

2007-09-07T14:30:00.000-05:00

Stetzer shared he following about Bibically Faithful and Culturally Relevant churches.

If we are going to see church plants succeed, we will have to have churches that are Biblically faithful, culturally relevant, counter cultural communities that reproduce.

It is long, hard and difficult work to create reproducing churches. Reproducing is like having a baby. It is painful, bloody, smelly but glorious!

Biblically faithful – centrality of Christ's cross and resurrection
Culturally relevant – almost every denomination selects a "culture" and feels it is their duty to reproduce that culture and call it "the kingdom of God." For Southern Baptists that looks like low church Protestantism from the 1800's singing Fanny Crosby hymns. For Lutherans it may look like 15^th – 17^th century Northern European church hymnody, liturgical forms, etc. If that is all we can reproduce, we will have poor results. In dealing with issues of culture: Our Christology must inform both our Missiology and our Ecclesiology. Question ultimately is "What expression of a Lutheran New Testament church works best in this culture?"
Countercultural Communities – We need to look like the culture around us (language, dress, music, etc.) but we need to live radically different. Our 21^st century problem is that for most churches they look different then the culture but the people live the same as everyone around them!

Big question: How can we move from decline to evangelization and church reproduction?

I think his observation about how many local churches today look very different from the culture (in terms of music, vocabulary, use of technology, culturally) is true. Perhaps we get deceived into thinking that we are therefore living radically different than the world. But - Stetzer's observation is that in most ways we live just like the culture around us. People still use power to get their way in the church; marriages don't do much better in the church; racism and class envy are all there as well. The challenge for missional churches and new mission starts is how to live radically differently than the culture but be diligent in discovering the missional keys which can unlock the culture so that message of God's love in Christ can actually be heard and experienced.

Facilitating Church Planting Movements #1 - Contend and Contextualize

2007-09-05T10:44:00.000-05:00

Recently I went to a learning event with Ed Stetzer, author of Breaking the Missional Code at the Center for U.S. Missions on the Concordia, Irvine campus. The event was "Facilitating Church Planting Movements." Stetzer talks about 2 fundamental tasks in church planting and being missional. Here is a summary of his comments:

Contend and Contextualize – We must do both!

Contend:

Jude 1:3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

Ed Stetzer does not believe in abandoning denominational distinctives but rather carefully defining them. The church that engages the culture while contending for the "faith once delivered to the saints." We must decide what is the essence of being Lutheran Christians so that we will know exactly what are contending for. By doing so, we will also determining what we will not contend for.

Contextualize:

1 Corinthians 9:22-23 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. {23} I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

"Contextualization is a delicate enterprise if there ever was one. The evangelist and mission strategist stands on a razor's edge, aware that to fall off on either side will have dreadful results.

Fall to the right and you end in obscurantism, so attached to your conventional ways of practicing and teaching the faith that you veil its truth and power from those who are trying to see it through very different eyes.

Fall to the left and you tumble into syncretism, so vulnerable to the impact of paganism in its multiplicity of forms that you compromise the uniqueness of Christ and concoct another gospel which is not the Gospel.

Whichever you are more afraid of – your temptation will likely lean toward the opposite.

I agree with Stetzer -- how to both contend and contextualize will be one of the biggest challenges new church plants will deal with in the years ahead. Congregations who will parent these new missions will also need to do much praying and thinking about how to faithfully share the Gospel in new places and with new people groups over these next few decades.