:: inamirrordimly :: A theology and culture blog with the Bible in one tab and a news feed in the other.

I just finished the Contemporary Issues study guide for my book. Within this guide, that presents the views of theologians on a variety of issues we face today, I made the point that Christians don’t often volunteer or serve the needy in their communities for lack of knowledge about what needs to be done.

I know this is the case for myself. While living in Doylestown, PA I really didn’t know what charities there were and didn’t know how to find them. That’s not an excuse though. I should have taken some initiative to find them. But nevertheless, I make my point that charities, for the visibility they think they have, can be overlooked in a community.

It is my own conviction that the nonprofit sector is one area where Christians can and should focus a lot of time, energy, and resources. Hours of program development and set up dollars can be saved by simply partnering with nonprofit organizations already serving in the key areas of a community. If there is no nonprofit to meet a particular need, then the church can step in to fill that gap. For the most part though, we do not need to reinvent the wheel.

Having said all of that, I was introduced to a great organization that has set up a site where Christians can find volunteering opportunities: www.christianvolunteering.org. The majority of these are located in cities, but many nonprofit organizations need volunteers who can help with stuff like web site development, and so a country yahoo like myself could very easily serve a homeless shelter in NY, NY  … that is, if I had any web design skillz. Sadly, I do not.

Even if we sacrificed one day of shopping to serve with an organization, I’m sure we’ll have a much better time volunteering than fighting mall traffic.

Lately Willow Creek has talked about Christians learning how to be “self-feeding.” The premise is that as Christians grow in the Lord, they are studying the Bible and taking responsibility for their learning. The problem is that personal Bible study and even much of the teaching in church can have the adverse effect of fattening us up with knowledge.

First of all, when I think of Christians who are self-feeding, I immediately think of a person studying the Bible by himself/herself. Theology is first of all a practice for the whole church to do together, and so even the theological conclusions of our personal study should be shared with other Christians, fellow bloggers, or some other gathering of friends and fellow believers.

And even if we proceed to become self-feeding, there is also a word of caution about feeding in general. I know that many Christians choose churches based on whether or not they are “fed” good teachings. This is well and good provided that the meal is not the main event.

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JR has a compact list of questions that have come up with someone who would not describe herself as a Christian. Here they are:

If you could ask God one question what would it be?
What comes to your mind when you think of Jesus?
What comes to your mind when you think of Christians?
What confuses you the most about Jesus?

These get to the heart of some major issues today. People generally hold some views on God that may or may not be based on anything that claims authority such as say, the Bible. It’s good to talk through these notions.

Also, it’s important to work through the disconnect that people have with Christians and to gently tap on the conclusion that while Christians can do some boneheaded things sometimes, they’re generally nice enough people who really do want to be like Jesus . . . someday.

While the goal of the church should be going into the world and living out the Gospel, there are other circumstances when a church can stay at home base and do just as much good for the community: providing hospitality.

When done well, hospitality is a humbling experience. It involves letting go of one’s possessions and accepting the other without conditions or limits (except in the case of someone who is violent and so forth). A congregation with a building can extend hospitality to the community and still remain actively engaged in a missionary activity.

The key is letting the others use the space on their terms. We can’t attach little requirements such as, “You can use it, but you have to stay for a ten minute testimony,” or “You need to read this tract before we let you in.” No strings attached: that is so vitally important.

Many communities lack cheap or free space for programs and projects–especially for the poor. Everyone has to pay the bills and everyone is looking for new ways to make an extra buck, so why give away space so that the poor can have art lessons, dance classes, or any other enriching activity? Never mind that the arts are the first thing cut in a school budget, these companies are looking at the bottom line.

This is the place where the church can step in and put many of our buildings to good use. A partnership between a church and a nonprofit organization in need of space is a tremendous way to connect with the community and to bring about the justice that should be found in God’s Kingdom.

Technorati Tags: mission - community - church - nonprofit

There are two nice fat buzz words in the title to this post, but they’re all very important for the church today. The challenge is to keep the discussion new and fresh, rather than regurgitating the same thing to one another and working ourselves up into a righteous fit about how missional and relevant we are.

Sound familiar?

One way to break some new ground in our missional discussions and practices is to confront the places where we don’t have things figured out. LT, who I’m happy to see is blogging again–he’s even using WordPress–asks the question at meremission that everyone knows the answer to, but is afraid to ask, “Is anybody here not white?” He asks this question graciously and with humility, offering his two cents as a Chinese pastor in Philly.

How do context and ethnicity affect our thoughts on the mission of the church? I imagine that one’s approach in Vermont will be very different from the approach taken in Philly.

Also, is the missional discussion dominated by the white middle class? If so, could it be because the suburbs tend to lag behind the cities when it comes to innovation? I’m not an expert here, but in the suburbs I’m guessing that people need a philosophy overhaul to get out of the church and into the streets to do ministry. It’s not such a leap for those in the city.

Painting broadly, I think of the suburbs as a place to “withdraw” while the word for cities is “immersion.” Let’s face it, one can easily ignore poverty in the suburbs; it’s not so easy on city streets.

So, if my little hypothesis is correct, could it be that urban ministers have a lot to teach suburban ministers?  I think so.

In the emerging/missional church circles tossing the word “attracting” up is a bit like sitting a turkey in front of a band of hunters with semi-automatic weapons. It will not be tolerated. Attractional church is bad, anti-New Testament, and completely out of touch with our contemporary culture.

The days of attracting people to church are over pal. That was sooooo 90’s, get it? Nobody wants to go to your lamer church service. You need to go to them and do social activism stuff like feeding the poor, visiting the elderly, and especially–bless yourself as you read this–ART SHOWS.

Yes, mission, sending the church out, is the way of the future. But is attracting people all that bad. Have we stumbled into yet another false dichotomy that polarizes the church instead of bringing diverse viewpoints together?

Yup.

Here are some thoughts from a Leadership Journal article on Mission:

Leith Anderson, pastor of Wooddale Church near Minneapolis says, “I think attractional is really a subset of missional. Churches ought to be attractional. After all, there is an attractive appeal to the mission. Churches that don’t attract people to the gospel or even to the institution will not live out the mission because they won’t live at all. The problem arises when attracting people to the church becomes the mission.”

Wright also believes being missional is attractive. Northeast is a rapidly growing small church. After three years of leading this church, Wright says, “We’ve found that many churches in our area have grown by putting on a great show. Our model is different. We believe that by serving those around us, we show them Christ, which does have an attractional quality. Still, the primary goal is to serve, not to attract.”

I like the idea of emphasizing something different, as opposed to talking about something new and fresh. That keeps everyone at the table and creates a balance of perspectives.

Technorati Tags: mission - missional - church - leadership - emerging - missio+dei

The beginning of Acts provides a simple reminder about the mission of the church:

“‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth.’” Acts 1:8

There is an assumption in this passage that, while seemingly obvious, is worth stating. If we’re called to proclaim Jesus, then we need to start with knowing him.

I remember speaking at a local rotary club last year. I had to give a presentation on a topic I really didn’t know much about since the previously scheduled speaker was no longer available. Needless to say, it didn’t go well. I was jumbled, awkward, and rushed through my poorly prepared points.

Perhaps this is a key to what Christians sound so awkward and are sometimes unwilling to share Jesus. We don’t quite know what to say or what to talk about because we’re not as familiar with him as we should be.

Square one with mission and the good news is knowing Jesus. We can’t take the first step in sharing him if we have never received anything from him.

Do we want to spend all of our time and money paying off a mortgage? This question relates to a lifestyle decision we recently made. One home is in move-in condition. The other home is very nice, but in need of major renovations. The first is $40,000 more than the other.

And that is where we reached our two roads diverged in a wood. We opted for the less expensive home that will need some work. It’s a sacrifice of sorts, we can’t have everything that we want on the home front, but now we are freed up to save a little, travel, and stay in the jobs we enjoy. If our goal is to travel and to enjoy our surrounding area, then choosing an expensive house doesn’t make sense.

Shift with me to the church now, specifically the gatherings of Christians.

We talk a good game: The church is here to bring the Gospel to the world. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and to help Christians grow as they root themselves into the Lord. And to provide teaching. And to provide worship music. And to provide Sunday school. And to provide family-friendly events. And to raise our teenagers into responsible Christian adults. And to provide child care. And to never say no to anybody’s idea lest we hurt their feelings. And to never drag a failing program in the backyard to put a bullet into it lest we rock the boat. And so on.

What should the church do with itself? Our lists are apparently very lengthy. The longer I spend outside of the traditional church, the more I realize that church meetings are really supposed to be very simple times where a group of people meet with God. That is the criteria for success; our traditional church programs, in my opinion, are not always conducive for such success.

Just as we may mock the young couple for buy a home that will tie up all of their resources and time, but then plan on taking expensive vacations every year, the church fills itself with all manner of internal programs that are supposed to deliver intimacy with God and then kids itself into thinking it’s here for mission.

What I’m advocating is a ruthless simplicity for the church. Cut, cut, cut! If we add up all of our “ministry hours” and find that they’re devoted to internal programs, then we must cut back to the essentials: meeting with God together.  Make sure that happens, keep it simple, and don’t overindulge on the home front.

Only when I stepped back from the church and rediscovered it in a simple form have I truly been able to adequately immerse myself in my community. I still meet and pray with Christians. We still connect with God together, but now I am free from many of the programmatic obligations provided by church. With that spare time, I’m freed up to work on God’s mission.

Technorati Tags: mission - church - Christianity

Todd has been hard at work on the latest incarnation of MereMission. It’s a site dedicated to the discussion of embodying Christ in our day to day lives. For more you can read the about page.

In the past Mere Mission aggregated blog posts from a collection of blogs, but now it’s going even more public. If you pop over today you’ll find that you can register yourself and begin posting there.

I’d love to say more, but I have a house inspection to attend. Enjoy the new MereMission.

Technorati Tags: meremission - toddhiestand - mission - theology

Jordon Cooper provided a link to Steve Collin’s site on church and community called Small Ritual. I’ve had the tab open all day. I can’t stop looking at this site.

Steve has provided one of the best tools for creating community and space for spirituality. There are pictures galore and all kinds of trendy graphics illustrating his ideas. I may need to stop writing this post to look at it again. . .

. . . ah, there. All better now.

I love the idea of a network coming together because of a common link or goal. This has happened among the non-profits in Manchester, VT and I have been right in the middle of it. I’m learning tons about loose-knit networks from our little non-profit experiment.

I think that loosely connected, but interdependent networks are the way forward for the church. Let’s can the consumer-oriented “feed me” time and try something a little more disorganized and free-wheeling. Planned chaos is better than sticking to the same old thing and waiting for unknown chaos to break out.

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Alex McManus has this to say about the Emerging Church:

“Mosaic is different from the ‘Emerging Church’ not just in terms of ambition, ethnicity, and mission, but also in attitude and thinking. Many of those who take on the mantle of the Emerging Church seem to me to be burned out Church leaders who needed to bail on a Christianity that offered pat but empty answers. I consider this a good move.”

Wow, he has hit the nail on the head. In many ways the emerging church has been a refuge for those who no longer find the life of God in church. The major difference is that some stay away from church, others jump right into alternative forms of church, and still others end up in some kind of emerging-hybrid.

While I like the emerging church stuff in many ways, I think the future of Christianity lies more in two areas:

1. Simple Churches that focus on gathering around Jesus.
2. Missional churches that are simple and focus on bringing Jesus into a particular context.

That is what I’m wrestling with right now.

Todd has set up Mere Mission to be an aggregated group blog, which is something I suggested doing even if he probably already had it all planned out. That patting you hear is my hand on my back. And yes, typing is hard with one hand behind my back. (That seemed like a lot of work to arrive at a suitable punchline)

OK, so let me first clarify what this “mission” thing is about. Think of a missionary. Then think of being a missionary every day. Then think of God reaching out to people as the ultimate missionary. Then think of combining all three of those and you’ve got a rough idea of this mission concept. The trick is moving the entire church toward this kind of living: missional living that is.

I hope to contribute to the discussion over there once the feeds are up and running. Until then there is still quite a bit to see, including a nice reading list.