church leadership conference

I had the opportunity to attend a conference last week where I was going to meet with a number of church planters. I've always enjoyed hanging out with these guys; they are people who tend to be very creative risk-takers who aren't afraid to try new things. They have literally risked everything on the dream that they believe God has given them. The daunting task of starting a church from scratch also tends to make them great people of faith and prayer.

I went to this conference hoping to glean some practical advice about launching a church, and maybe to help me to decide if it's something I should pursue. Not surprisingly, God had something for me that wasn't on the conference schedule.

The first night, an Australian named Jossy Chacko (yes, that's really his name) spoke briefly. He felt that God had given him a vision to plant 100,000 churches in India by the year 2030. Honestly, I was blown away by the audacity of his vision. And, impressively, he's on track to fulfill it. I couldn't wait to hear more about his organizational structure, training and promotion.

The next morning, I caught him in the hallway. As we spoke, there were a couple of things that became obvious: 1.He did his homework. He had spent a lot of time and thought in creating a sound organization with Biblical discipleship at its core. And 2. His greatest concern with regards to church planting had nothing to do with a leadership model, promotion or organization. Instead, he talked about prayer, fasting, reading the Bible and seeking wise counsel.

I've had a lot of conversations lately regarding the topic of launching a church. Invariably, they cover the gamut of relevant issues, from demographics to ministry paradigms, through funding and promotion and back again. But when I talked to Jossy about my desire to start a church, he talked only about seeking God. He told me "If it is God's will, He will build His church" (Matthew 16:18). It would be easy to dismiss his advice as being oversimplified or culturally irrelevant. But Jossy is an educated, first world Christian with business experience and cultural savvy. He is also heading an organization that has successfully planted hundreds of churches in a part of the world thought to be completely inhospitable to the Gospel.

I would be an idiot to try to start a church without adequate research or organization. But I've committed to seek God's face and His will before anything else in this process. If you're a believer, I appreciate your prayers as well.

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need" Matthew 6:33

(more) tolerance for truth

For a statistically based look at this cultural phenomenon (see below), check out this article from the Wall Street Journal.

tolerance for truth

"God created man in his own image. And man, being a gentleman, returned the favor."
-- Rousseau

Historians tell us that in the second century, there were certain hot-button issues that were particularly difficult for new Christ-followers to believe. They could handle a guy walking on water or waking up dead people, but they couldn't deal with the idea that Christ was physically crucified (or that God could inhabit a physical body at all). In fact, throughout the history of the church, it seems that every generation picks up its white-out and decides which parts of the Bible it will collectively ignore. It's important to note that these omissions aren't related to scholarship. They don't come as a result of a more complete understanding of the original languages or by new archeological findings that give us better historical context. They're driven by cultural sensibilities. Simply put, there are parts of the Bible which make us uncomfortable. I had the same attitude towards my Mom and Dad in 1983: I thought they were good parents, but I would have felt a lot better about introducing them to my friends if I could have made them more cool.

In this generation, we face a similar challenge. Tolerance has become the ultimate value. When I was a Youth Pastor, I saw hundreds of students make commitments to Christ. Many showed devotion to God, a desire to learn the Bible and a hunger to serve others. But there was a disconnect when it came to the idea of absolute truth. Students could easily affirm the truth of the Bible and Christ's Lordship, but became very uncomfortable if that truth had to apply to others. This becomes especially clear in conversations about homosexuality and the uniqueness of Jesus as Savior.

We don't have to look very far to find the source of this tension. Our media and educational system in America have very openly and aggressively promoted acceptance of every lifestyle and belief system. Today's 20 year old has heard these messages consistently in the classroom, from TV, the radio and internet his or her entire life.

Unfortunately, this influence has begun to affect some influential voices among young evangelicals (Jay Bakker -- "one punk under God" and Spencer Burke -- TheOoze.com). These guys would never claim to be scholars; like many of us, they're just uncomfortable with certain parts of the Bible. But instead of trusting God's Word, they change it.

This reaction is as old as the Bible. Thankfully, the Apostle Paul gave us a warning and some good advice regarding this tendency. 2 Timothy 4:2-5

qualifying events

I've been spending a lot of time filling out forms to aid in my ministry transition (health care, 403b, unemployment insurance). They refer to "qualifying events" that allow me to make changes or receive benefits. Basically, they need to make sure I really did get laid off.

Interesting. My girlfriend Joy spent the last five years training for the upcoming Olympics in Beijing. Her entire life revolved around her training schedule and the aptly named trials. Though she's an amazing athlete with great discipline (check out this video of her rigorous training schedule), unfortunately, Joy didn't make it this time.

Getting laid off sucks. But as much as I wish I didn't experience passing the test of a "qualifying event," I wish that she had even more.

redefining christianity by bob dewaay

At any church, it's important that certain beliefs and practices are accepted as non-negotiables. Prayer, Biblical authority and communion certainly fit in that category. But over time, methods and preferences can easily slip into that same compartment in our minds. Even time-tested, fruitful processes and philosophies need to be questioned once in a while.

Which is where Bob DeWaay comes in. Redefining Christianity is a scathing attack on the Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren and by extension, any church that identifies itself with the Purpose Driven movement. Though I agree with some of his complaints, philosophically I don't know if I could have disagreed with him more.

Some of his accusations regarding Purpose Driven churches:

• they don't do discipleship
• they let unchurched people, not the Bible define their weekend services
• they misuse Scripture
• their teaching is more about man's wisdom than God's truth

There certainly are tendencies within the movement (though not necessarily in every Purpose Driven church) that cause concern, but there are just as many problems with a more traditional church model (lack of growth, few conversions, insensitivity to and disregard for the unchurched). The bottom line is, which approach is more Biblical and more fruitful? And which paradigm is better suited to deal with a quickly approaching post-Christian America?

I'm thankful to Pastor DeWaay. His book provided me with the opportunity to re-question many of my long held philosophies and practices. I found the book to be dismissive, poorly researched and the perfect addition to my normal diet of homogeneous ministry and leadership books.

"Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates to invention. It shocks us out of sheeplike passivity..."

--John Dewey

church shopping

As a staff pastor, it's usually very difficult to visit churches that aren't currently giving you a paycheck. So now that I have some freedom, I have a little bit of what you might call visitation constipation. Last weekend, I wanted to visit every church in the city. In fact, I went to three services, and heard four different sermons.

But I realize how difficult it is to check the consumer mentality at the door. I was taking copious notes, critically assessing everything from greeters to music to the pastor's choice of clothing (pretty interesting in a couple of churches). One church even had carne asada and mariachis. It wasn't until sermon number three that I caught myself, and just listened and tried to receive from God.

Two things I'm thinking about with regards to this experience. The first is pretty obvious: I've always been critical of the "church shoppers" that come through our doors. They tend to be demanding and overtly religious. I need to not be that.
The second, however, is something into which I haven't put a lot of thought. When I was a staff pastor, what was I doing to encourage this shopping mentality? When we put out glossy mailers, offer free food and jumpies and try to do all the church things better than our "competition," what right do I have to expect anything other than blatant consumerism? Something I need to think about.