The surfing parable

I think that is a great parable. I think surfing itself is a great parable, in general, ...

Laird Hamilton is one of the best there ever was at surfing (some may know him as Gabrielle Reese's husband, despite that). The wave he rode in that was captured in that clip (from the movie Riding Giants) was a type believed to be unrideable. Note, he didn't plan to ride such a wave that day. He didn't plan on how he would ride such a wave eventually. He was prepared, but he didn't plan.

I've never surfed, but I think surfing is such a parable to being what we need to be. I've seen enough documentaries on surfing and other surfing movies to know that the philosophy of the successful surfer is to prepare, 'cause you can't plan enough. The church makes plans, when it needs to make preparations. We can't plan for every possibility, but with God we can prepare for any possibility.

Some hold back from redemptive community because the inexperience with such concepts they feel they can plan well enough. We need not plan, just prepare to ride the waves to come.

Family???

I've been cruising through churches, looking for a temporary home for some level of fellowship while I also look at building redemptive community, something that anyone I've come across who's attempted it says is very hard and it takes a fight to achieve.

The one I went to this morning on a trial basis would have been funny if it weren't sad.

They sang for 45 minutes (!) before the sermon, which was mercifully short. It was about fellowship. The guy's talking about the need for it, and that we all desire family. That we are family. When he talked of this church as being a family, I almost fell out of my chair. At the same time, it was like a revelation.

You see, we just spent 45 minutes staring at the back of the heads of people in front of us. Then these envelopes were passed out as he made announcements, and then buckets went around for collecting the envelopes -- the offering. And then we listen to him speak, a monologue, for a few minutes, otherwise staring at the back of heads of those in front of us.

Does that sound like a typical family Sunday get together to you? While I grew up far from extended family, the exception was until I was about five. Until I was about five or six, my maternal grandparents and three of their adult kids lived nearby. So pretty much every Sunday at lunch we went to the grandparents house with the eight adults (all kids married) and by the time I was five there were six of us grandkids. Sometimes the bachelor uncle from Baton Rouge drove up for the weekend and joined us. Even though one of my uncles was a preacher, we never sat in the position of staring at each other heads, doing something besides talking to and with each other.

Church "family"? Most are not like even disfunctional families I know.

Thirst II: Impact

Perhaps Part II should be about relationship, but the church speaks so much of that (not necessarily accurately), that perhaps the impact thirst should be addressed first.

Scripture is ripe about impact. It starts in the first book, Genesis, chapter 1. We are made in the image of God. Before the fall, we had dominion of the earth, though we gave that away. Throughout scripture, God is referred to as King, and John 1 tells us that we are given opportunity to become children of God. What do mature children of a king do? Typically, they reign in some area of appointed authority on behalf of the king, and in time they inherit the kingdom. In Matthew 25, we see those on the Son of Man's right invited to take the inheritance, the kingdom prepared. If we inherit a kingdom, what do you do with it? You rule.

Children of a king, those who inherit a kingdom, their actions impact, intentionally or not. We are meant to impact the world. We thirst to do so.

Between now and when we take positions of ruling, we are learning to impact. To learn, one has to make an impact in the mean while. If one goes back earlier in Matthew 25 than the sheep and the goats story, we see the parable of the talents. The two men who took what they were entrusted with and grew it, they got more responsibility in their master's domain. We are preparing to inherit the kingdom now. What do we do with what we are given?

So we are created to impact, we long to fulfill our creation, and we are being trained in impacting. Our thirst for impact is a part of the equation for preparing for life when we inherit the kingdom.

Is business discovering the right model?

Ever notice that the church has been following predominant secular models since about the fourth century? Oh, we find a way to justify it through a selective reading of scripture, but still, would you believe it coincidence?

We see it in recent years as churches go for "visions statements" "missions", values, etc. This was, still is to an extent, a model borrowed from business. Rick Warren perfected it and tailored it for a church with his "Purpose Driven Model".

We see it in churches where the Sr Pastor and "elders" or what ever a particular church calls it operating awfully similar to a CEO and a board of directors. Hmm.

Looking at older churches, we can see denominations founded in earlier centuries follow predominant models of their time. The Roman Catholic church has its Pope, Cardinals, etc, which if you study the Roman government of the time, you see parallels in the way the Romans ran the politics of the time and the way the Roman Catholic church operates now, with a pope instead of a Caesar, etc.

But I wonder if a new business trend is possibly a very biblical model, and this is a great time for the church to copy again.

In the natural world, there is a beautiful sense of design and order, but no apparent "authority". Social architectures have noted this, and are proposing new social orders that some businesses are starting to adopt. As Dee Hock, founder of VISA notes, "Purpose and principle, clearly understood and articulated, and commonly shared, are the genetic code of any healthy organization. To the degree you hold purpose and principles in common among you, you can dispense with command and control. People will know how to behave in accordance with them, and they'll do it in thousands of unimaginable, creative ways. The organization will become a vital, living set of beliefs".

This is a business management theory, but it comes from a careful study of the order of God's universe. God's universe is both out of control and ordered. There is order in chaos and structure without control. Is this the next model for the church to follow? Was it the one it should have been following all along?

Is this a part of the model of redemptive communities?

To me, from what I read of the underground churches of China, India, and those in Muslim countries, this sounds like what is occurring there.

Thirst

Thirst is a recurring theme in the scriptures, and Jesus refers to himself as the water

13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-15 NIV

What is the thirst, or longing, that is referred here to? Larry Crabb, a professor of counseling at Colorado Christian and well known author, suggests it is two fold: thirst for unconditional love, and thirst for impact. We deeply long for unconditional love, and to make a difference.

Jesus is supposed to be the answer to both. Though we, or perhaps rather the church, talks about relationship and seems to often skip over the desire for impact. Why is this?

Don't take Crabb's word for it. The challenge to make a different world, to assist Jesus in the greatest mission ever, is all over the New Testament. One of the most amazing (amazing in part due to how much it is ignored and seldom preached) passages in scripture to me is John 14:12

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (emphasize added). NIV

In the coming days, I'll post on both sides of the thirst equation, and what it means for a restored heart. For now, let me say that I believe that one of the reasons that church attendance is 61% female is due to the typical church's emphasis on relationships over impact. Women, in general, are more inclined toward relationships and community, while men in general are more inclined toward making a difference. Church also skews older -- again, generally the older you are the more you care about relationships, while the younger are more about making a mark on this world. This could well be why church plants tend to have a higher percentage of the younger and men: in those early days, there is more promise of making an impact.

There is more

There is still more. Character transformation is more than the elimination of sin. Character transformation is more than beginning to express the fruit of the Spirit. God is about reclaiming the divine potential he has planted within each individual. In its essense, the word character means a unique shape or mark ... Each person has been uniquely marked or shaped by God. Our theology of character transfomation needs to extend beyond the reestablishiment of virtues to the reclaimation of the potential of every person.

Erwin McManus in An Unstoppable Force

Dallas Willard, in his book Divine Conspiracy, said that too often, the good news preached is a gospel of sin management. While forgiveness is huge, Jesus also said that He came that we may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10). In Luke 4, Jesus kicks off his ministry by reading from Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61 tells of the release, restoration and renewal of people. Yes, the gospel is about forgiveness, but it is so much more.
I want to be about that much more. I want to offer teaching and ministry in the areas of the "more" as well as preparing hearts to receive the more. The word "salvation" comes from a Greek word that means to heal or make whole. Philippians 4:13 tells us that we are to "work out our salvation". I want to help individuals, small groups, and churches in the process of working out the full restoration of our hearts. This means moving beyond mere sin management toward:

• living with hope
• living in victory
• living the life we were created to have
  

What do you want?

Spiritual mature dissatisfied with church?

Last year, the results of a survey of 7 churches, including Willow Creek Community Church, was done by the Willow Creek Association. The study surprised Willow Creek, but those more sensitive to the "splinter in the mind" would perhaps not be so surprised.

The full report can be found here and its "sublinks": http://revealnow.com/storyPage.asp?pageID=12

Most "surprising":
Increased church activity does not led to spiritual maturity
The more spiritual mature were more dissatisfied with their church experience

I think the first comes from an unspoken misconception that church activity is necessarily spiritual activity, that church-centrality equates to being centered on Christ. The latter is in part due to this too, as the spiritual mature come to know this intuitively and are unhappy about it.

This is a discovery of the Matrix that we call the [traditional] church, IMO. We've replaced disciple making with church planting, though we dare not admit it we've replaced Christ centerness with church centerness. Jesus said I will build my church, and He instructed us to make disciples. We've found a way to take charge of the former and neglected the latter.

What we need to do, whether the result is "redemptive communities" or some other form, is find a way to let go and let Jesus do what he said he would do when it comes to the church. What does that look like?

(what follows is a paraphrasing a part of a chapter from Neil Cole's Organic Church)

From Matthew 16: "and I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build MY church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it".

Jesus builds the church -- Jesus builds it. Not an innovative approach, a personality, a vision statement, etc

Jesus owns the church -- Jesus bought the church with his blood.

The church is meant to be growing -- the church Jesus builds should be experience spiritual growth, and seeing new souls is a part of that. Doesn't mean each local church should be growing- most warm-blooded things grow to a point then reproduce - reproduction is a form of growth.

the church that is growing will face opposition -- Jesus warned that we would face opposition. If a church is truly alive and growing (see above), hell is opposing it. A preacher once said "If you wake up in the morning and don't run into the enemy head on, then maybe you're going the wrong direction". To quote a WWII bomber pilot, "If you are taking flak, you are over the target".

The church Jesus builds is unstoppable -- in the Two Towers, Theoden retreats into Helm's Deep, despite Aragorn's admonishment to ride out and meet the enemy head on. The battle turns when Theoden finally does ride out rather than defend the fortress, and the enemy is taken back. Reinforcement also arrives soon afterwards.

Hade's Gates will not stand -- hmm, gates are defensive. You don't see a dog wearing a sign that says "Beware of Gate". You don't have a seven day waiting period to buy a gate. The Kingdom is meant to advance, not sit on its butts in a "worship service". Where are a church's resources tied up?

(end paraphrasing)

Again, we are meant to be about disciple making. That implies a very simple, almost "natural" form of "church", so we can focus on what Jesus told us to be about - discipling the nations (Matthew 28:18-20).

The Red Pill

"The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us, even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you to the truth."
"what truth?"
"That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind.".
So states Morpheus in a famous scene from The Matrix. After opening a small silver box and pulling two pills from it, Morpheus continues.
"This is your last chance. After this, there is no going back. You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

and Neo takes the red pill.


But before the pills decision, Neo faced another choice. Kidnapped, Neo is offered the chance to leave, but Trinity asks him to trust. Neo asks why he should. Looking down a street being pounded by rain, Trinity says "Because you have been down there, Neo. You know that road. You know exactly where it ends. And I know that's not where you want to be".

slowly Neo gets back in the car.

Looking down the road of conventional church in America, you are looking down a soggy street. How compelling is it, really? More vision statements, shows called worship, building and capital fund raisers. Is this really what Jesus died for?

You read the New Testament, the account of Acts especially, and wonder why the conventional church pales so in comparison. You hear stories of the church in China, India, and underground in Muslim nations, and wonder at the power. Why not here, where you are?

to adapt what Morpheus says at one point in the movie "Let me tell you why you are here. You are here because you know something. What you know you can't explain. But you feel it. You've felt it your entire life. There is something wrong with the church. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind"

The Red Pill

"The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us, even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you to the truth."
"what truth?"
"That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind.".
So states Morpheus in a famous scene from The Matrix. After opening a small silver box and pulling two pills from it, Morpheus continues.
"This is your last chance. After this, there is no going back. You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

and Neo takes the red pill.


But before the pills decision, Neo faced another choice. Kidnapped, Neo is offered the chance to leave, but Trinity asks him to trust. Neo asks why he should. Looking down a street being pounded by rain, Trinity says "Because you have been down there, Neo. You know that road. You know exactly where it ends. And I know that's not where you want to be".

slowly Neo gets back in the car.

Looking down the road of conventional church in America, you are looking down a soggy street. How compelling is it, really? More vision statements, shows called worship, building and capital fund raisers. Is this really what Jesus died for?

You read the New Testament, the account of Acts especially, and wonder why the conventional church pales so in comparison. You hear stories of the church in China, India, and underground in Muslim nations, and wonder at the power. Why not here, where you are?

to adapt what Morpheus says at one point in the movie "Let me tell you why you are here. You are here because you know something. What you know you can't explain. But you feel it. You've felt it your entire life. There is something wrong with the church. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind"