April 29, 2008

Money from Heaven

"I thought that spending my check from the government was supposed to be the patriotic thing to do, but I'm not sure it's the Kingdom thing to do." That is how my friend Chuck began explaining his idea about what our congregation could do with the economic stimulus payments that begin arriving in the mail this week. After hearing so much about the sluggish economy and our responsibility to jumpstart it through consumption, he was wondering if there might be a better way to invest Uncle Sam's rebate.

On Sunday, I invited Chuck to join me in front of our church. I asked him to explain why spending the money on himself was not the best thing he could do with it. "As I read about the government's plan in the news, the more the idea of spending money on myself seemed to be at odds with the values of God's kingdom," he said. He told us he'd been reading Jesus' words in Luke 12 and it appeared to be opposed to the message that we can spend our way to prosperity, security, and happiness.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear? Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted.

Chuck said that Kingdom investment doesn't necessarily mean giving money to the church.

Maybe there is a neighbor who needs some help. Maybe there is a ministry that could use some financial generosity. "The important thing," Chuck told the congregation, "is to ask God what his plans are for this money."

Next Sunday our church will use more time talking about this. The congregation will be encouraged to pray about the best way to invest their rebate. It's exciting to consider how the thousands of dollars represented in our local congregation could be creatively invested in ways that reflect and advance God's Kingdom.

Is your church talking about the Economic Stimulus Package? Has your congregation spent time imagining how our government's plan to stimulate the economy might be an opportunity to demonstrate God's alternative economy? Or, are you staying clear of anything that smacks of government and politics?

What about churches in urban or poorer rural communities - are these checks a small taste of justice for those left behind by our full-speed economy? Will people in your church spend the money on themselves, or will you also encourage them to invest it in God's kingdom?

Share what your church is doing with the stimulus package checks - the editors would love to hear.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 29, 2008 | Comments (25)

April 25, 2008

Monsters on the Loose 2

Read part one of Craig Detweiler's post here.

Monsters movies are a tired, moribund, nearly dead genre. Roland Emmerich's 1998 Godzilla remake was horrible - all the effects, none of the joy. It had a traditional scenario, established stars, and extravagant set pieces. But the end result was a snooze. Where was the giddy thrill of discovery? The fear of what happens next?

Cloverfield goes back to the original Japanese source material to reinvent Godzilla. It has all the familiar notes: What is that thing? Where did it come from? No time to find out--RUN! The tension builds in traditional ways. Long quiet passages punctuated by panic. The rats in the subway tunnel run the same way. It offers a creature in the background you can't quite see.

But Cloverfield didn't just revive an old genre; it also uses the latest video camera technology, such as creepy night vision, in a raw and authentic way. The movie generated antipathy simply because of its shaky, handheld video style. It feels loose, informal, and spontaneous - it can also make you seasick. The style itself becomes a stumbling block. Plenty of viewers longed for Cloverfield's camera to settle down and conform to some pattern. But the chaos also means you can't be a passive observer. The audience is forced to participate.

Emergent churches are equally authentic, immediate, and lived. Their services feel unscripted, even though they may be planned. Like Cloverfield, they offer the illusion of spontaneity which is an art unto itself. The generation that embraces Cloverfield and emerging churches isn't interested in second or third order reflection. They live in the moment, treasuring direct and unmediated experiences.

For better or worse, handheld digital video is the affordable future. This new, highly democratic medium has barely begun. Everyone can and will be a filmmaker. There will be plenty of junk, but an immediacy will emerge because everyone now has a chance to tell their story. The same goes for churches; everyone can become a theologian as formalized education becomes unnecessary. Sure, there will be plenty of junk theology and it will take time to sort out the essential from the popular, but in emergent churches leaders would rather learn by doing ministry than studying it just as film students would rather start making movies rather than sit in a classroom. Despite its faults and limitations, the next generation prefers on the job training. This could be their blind spot or their competitive advantage.

The critical backlash to Cloverfield was inevitable. Many of the critics announced, "I hate the characters," especially the cameraman, "Hud." By casting no-name actors, Cloverfield didn't rely upon people we previously cared about or trusted. It undercut the established star system of Hollywood. Who is the star? Who am I supposed to follow? Similar questions are being asked in emergent churches. Who is the pastor? It is a team? Who do I listen to? Where is the authority?

Flat casting forces us to pay attention, to work harder than we're used to. It also results in that rarest of experiences - a chance to be surprised. No stars mean everyone is threatened and could be snatched away at any time. Cloverfield allows us to feel just as vulnerable and clueless as the characters onscreen. It is supposed to evoke empathy, not revulsion. What would I do in the same situation? Haven't I made the same mistakes?

Cloverfield's style may be different, but it's a film that deeply respects the past. So don't attack it for trying something new. Embrace the effort. Applaud the ingenuity. Amidst the thrills it even manages to slip in a life-affirming message: Treasure your relationships. Enjoy each day at Coney Island. Fleeting moments of romance can be gone. Love somebody with passion, today. Enjoy a walk in the park. These are not new truths, but the reclamation of ancient wisdom.

Same goes for the emergent movement. Emergent churches are wired by digital natives. Their leaders were raised on the World Wide Web. They've all been to the T.E.D. conference. They are utilizing the latest technologies. But they also have a sense of history. Emergent Christians carry a profound appreciation for ancient Christian faith despite all the handheld shenanigans. Sure, they will have their blind spots, and sometimes their style will be nauseating. You may not be the target market for the emerging church or Cloverfield, but try to enter the audiences' shoes. Listen up. Don't fear the future. Sit back, relax and maybe even enjoy the show.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 25, 2008 | Comments (12)

April 24, 2008

Out of Context: Tim Keller

"Today there are many who doubt that there is just one gospel. That gives them the warrent to ignore the gospel of atonement and justification. There are others who don't like to admit that there are different forms to that one gospel. That smacks too much of 'contextualization,' a term they dislike. They cling to a single presentation that is often one-dimensional. Neither of these is as true to the biblical material, nor as effective in actual ministry, as that which understands that the Bible presents one gospel in several forms."

-Tim Keller is pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York. Taken from "The Gospel in All its Forms" in the Spring 2008 issue of Leadership journal. To see the quote IN context, you'll need to see the print version of Leadership. To subscribe, click on the cover of Leadership on this page.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 24, 2008 | Comments (6)

April 22, 2008

Monsters on the Loose

If you hate Cloverfield (or don't even know what it is), then you probably loathe emerging Christians. If you like Cloverfield, you're likely to dig the emergent conversation. Both deliver on their grand promises in a novel way (that is decidedly not for everybody). But why does the film (and the emergent folks) inspire such antipathy? Why can't we appreciate the next generation's re-imagination of tired clich?s?

Movies offer a safe way to process our cultural anxiety. In monster movies we're presented with an opportunity to corral our fears. Zombies or UFOs or viruses wreak havoc for ninety minutes before order is inevitably restored. Cloverfield depicts a seemingly ordinary evening in New York City that is derailed by an unexpected and unexplained attack. Sound familiar? Cloverfield is a direct response to the fear unleashed by the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Eerie shots of panic in the streets remind us how vulnerable we felt. We follow shell-shocked New Yorkers crossing the Brooklyn Bridge in search of safety. The film doesn't offer any reasons for the monster's rampage. It is pure terror. Our way of life as we know it is vanishing, and nothing seems capable of stopping the assault.

For some, the emergent movement has become a monster to be dreaded and feared. Despite leaders' best efforts to explain their theology, rumors about the Emergent Village keep swirling in the blogosphere. A struggling, insecure church has identified emergent Christians as the new enemy. How a small band of smart, reasonably clean-cut ministers like Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt or Rob Bell could inspire so much fear is a tribute to the mania available on the Internet. To some evangelical watchdogs, public enemy number one has a goatee, an earring, and a dog-eared copy of Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christian. How did this get so far out of hand?

Cloverfield started with a teaser trailer. The obscure name "Cloverfield" was never really explained. But the Internet buzz generated by a single commercial reaped huge dividends. People went wild, analyzing the trailer shot by shot. "Who created this movie? What is it about?" And most of all, "When can I see it and solve the mystery for myself?" It was as if the Hollywood studio behind the movie made it purposefully obscure.

The emergent movement works from the same mindset. It starts with random, unchurchy names. Some sound like booths at a Renaissance Faire: "The Well," "The Journey," "The Quest." Others apt for a coffeehouse vibe: "Elevation," "Area 15," "Thad's." They don't spell it all out. They let people talk and discover it for themselves. Word of the mouth is the best marketing. It is cheap and effective. "You've got to see it." "What is it?" "You've just got to see it." We can all learn from Cloverfield (and the emergents) ability how to arouse curiosity, build anticipation and preserve a sense of wonder.

For those who have invested enormous sums in stately locations or grandiose settings, such underground marketing phenomena can be frustrating. To those who have been building, planning, and working hard it seems quite unfair. How can sixty seconds of showing nothing but the Statue of Liberty's severed head, generate more enthusiasm than something literate, important, and ambitious like the film Atonement? How can established denominations that occupy the prime corner on the most traveled streets in town lose members to a gathering held in a warehouse? When did a shaggy mutt become preferable to a pure bred? If you're amongst those seminary-trained pure-breds, it should make you mad to see a goateed, self-taught computer geek take over. It is easy to get bitter. Unfortunately, you must learn the native tongue, understand the new medium, deal with the new terms.

Of course, the enormous anticipation generated by Cloverfield resulted in the inevitable letdown. It is easy to generate suspense in a trailer, but to measure up to pre-release hype is tough. "It wasn't as interesting as I thought." "It's not that scary." "There wasn't enough blood." The same can be said for the emergent church. On the other side of mystery arises the reality of disappointment. "That's it? It's just a church." Just singing. Basic bible reading. Coffee time.

So much energy has been devoted to discrediting the emergent movement, that it can also be disappointing to discover just how modest and meager their changes are. They may do church in the round. They may sit on sofas rather than pews. They may wear jeans rather than khakis, but basically, the emergent movement is a heartfelt gathering of Christians trying to follow Jesus together. At the end of the day, Cloverfield is just a movie. The emergent movement is just a loose affiliation of churches. Neither is a revolution; they're more like a romp.

In part two (the sequal) of his post, Craig Detweiler explains why critics panned Cloverfield for its unorthodox style. Are critics of the emergent movement reacting to style, or is their objection more substantive?

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 22, 2008 | Comments (25)

April 21, 2008

A More Macho Messiah

Brandon O'Brien, assistant editor of Leadership, has a provocative article over at ChristianityToday.com about the shortcomings of the new Christian men's movement. From worship songs that inspire men to "Grab a sword, don't be scared. Be a man, grow a pair!" to chest-thumping sermons, the de-feminizing of the church may be doing more harm than good. Here is an excerpt from O'Brien's article:

Mark Driscoll, pastor of Seattle's Mars Hill Church, desires greater testosterone in contemporary Christianity. In Driscoll's opinion, the church has produced "a bunch of nice, soft, tender, chickified church boys. ? Sixty percent of Christians are chicks," he explains, "and the forty percent that are dudes are still sort of chicks."

The aspect of church that men find least appealing is its conception of Jesus. Driscoll put this bluntly in his sermon "Death by Love" at the 2006 Resurgence theology conference (available at TheResurgence.com). According to Driscoll, "real men" avoid the church because it projects a "Richard Simmons, hippie, queer Christ" that "is no one to live for [and] is no one to die for." Driscoll explains, "Jesus was not a long-haired ? effeminate-looking dude"; rather, he had "callused hands and big biceps." This is the sort of Christ men are drawn to - what Driscoll calls "Ultimate Fighting Jesus."

Here's a video with more about GodMen, a ministry highlighted by O'Brien in his article. It was started by comedian Brad Stine to provide space where "men can be men; raw and uninhibited; completely free to express themselves in the uniquely male way that only men understand."

Are you inspired or insulted? Read O'Brien's entire article, "A Jesus for Real Men," at Christianity Today's website.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 21, 2008 | Comments (45)

You Might Be Emergent If...

In the introduction of their new book whose title says it all - Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be (Moody, 2008) - authors Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck offer yet another attempt at defining "emergent Christianity." I've included the full quotation below. Check it out and tell me whether you fit the bill.

After reading nearly five thousand pages of emerging-church literature, I have no doubt that the emerging church, while loosely defined and far from uniform, can be described and critiqued as a diverse, but recognizable, movement. You might be an emergent Christian: if you listen to U2, Moby, and Johnny Cash's Hurt (sometimes in church), use sermon illustrations from The Sopranos, drink lattes in the afternoon and Guinness in the evenings, and always use a Mac; if your reading list consists primarily of Stanley Hauerwas, Henri Nouwen, N. T. Wright, Stan Grenz, Dallas Willard, Brennan Manning, Jim Wallis, Frederick Buechner, David Bosch, John Howard Yoder, Wendell Berry, Nancy Murphy, John Frank, Walter Winks, and Lesslie Newbigin (not to mention McLaren, Pagitt, Bell, etc.) and your sparring partners include D. A. Carson, John Calvin, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Wayne Grudem;...

if your idea of quintessential Christian discipleship is Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, or Desmond Tutu; if you don't like George W. Bush or institutions or big business or capitalism or Left Behind Christianity; if your political concerns are poverty, AIDS, imperialism, war-mongering, CEO salaries, consumerism, global warming, racism, and oppression and not so much abortion and gay marriage; if you are into bohemian, goth, rave, or indie; if you talk about the myth of redemptive violence and the myth of certainty; if you lie awake at night having nightmares about all the ways modernism has ruined your life; if you love the Bible as a beautiful, inspiring collection of works that lead us into the mystery of God but is not inerrant; if you search for truth but aren't sure it can be found; if you've ever been to a church with prayer labyrinths, candles, Play-Doh, chalk-drawings, couches, or beanbags (your youth group doesn't count); if you loathe words like linear, propositional, rational, machine, and hierarchy and use words like ancient-future, jazz, mosaic, matrix, missional, vintage, and dance; if you grew up in a very conservative Christian home that in retrospect seems legalistic, na?ve, and rigid; if you support women in all levels of ministry, prioritize urban over suburban, and like your theology narrative instead of systematic; if you disbelieve in any sacred-secular divide; if you want to be the church and not just go to church; if you long for a community that is relational, tribal, and primal like a river or a garden; if you believe who goes to hell is no one's business and no one may be there anyway; if you believe salvation has a little to do with atoning for guilt and a lot to do with bringing the whole creation back into shalom with its Maker; if you believe following Jesus is not believing the right things but living the right way; if it really bugs you when people talk about going to heaven instead of heaven coming to us; if you disdain monological, didactic preaching; if you use the word "story" in all your propositions about postmodernism - if all or most of this torturously long sentence describes you, then you might be an emergent Christian.*

Now that you know the symptoms, take the quiz on the left and let me know if you consider yourself an emerging Christian.

(*Reprinted with the permission of Moody Publishers)

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 21, 2008 | Comments (69)

April 16, 2008

T4G's 5,001 Theology Freaks

I'm sitting at the airport in Louisville, Kentucky, heading back home after spending two days with 5,000 theology freaks, and I mean that in mostly a good way. Together for the Gospel ("T4G" to the initiated) is the second gathering of the friends and fans of Al Mohler, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C.J. Mahaney, and their very systematic theology (there are XVIII Articles in their doctrinal statement).

The first T4G event in 2006 drew over 3,000 of the "young, restless, and reformed" (Collin Hansen's nicely turned phrase and title of his new book). The event this year was so large it had to be held in Louisville's International Convention Center.

This year's feeding of the 5,000 was a series of addresses on theology, specifically Calvinist theology--yes, total depravity was the topic of an entire session, as was "The Curse Motif in the Atonement"--but, interestingly, traditional Reformed emphases of infant baptism, the covenant, and presbyterian polity were missing.

Each presentation was followed by an informal conversation between Al and Mark and Ligon and C.J., and all 5,000 of us got to listen in to their insights and inside jokes, their questions and affirmations. It's an engaging mixture, at least for the left-brained, and if the couple dozen people I talked to are representative of the whole, these 5,000 aren't just casual about their theology. They love exploring, dissecting, and applying this stuff!

The conference bookstore takes up almost as many square feet as the meeting space, and it's all books! If you've been to other conferences recently, you'll recognize how bizarre this is - no videos, no music CDs, no resources (unless the ESV Study Bible counts). And many of the books are written by authors who aren't available for autographs - mainly because they've been dead for awhile (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Carl Henry) or quite a while (John Calvin).

The most intriguing session for me was Mark Dever's session on "Improving the Gospel: Exercises in Unbiblical Theology." Since Leadership and Christianity Today are in the midst of a year-long Christian Vision Project focus on "Is Our Gospel Too Small?" I figured Dever would find some points to differ with (which is a spiritual gift that did NOT cease with the apostles among this crowd). He didn't disappoint.

Mark identified five "cries" of our day that he considers unbiblical efforts to "add to the gospel" and thereby confuse people and diffuse the gospel's power. Let me summarize them.

1. "Make the gospel public." Dever cited N.T. Wright's emphasis on how the gospel is not just a private matter and should affect the laws of the land, and observed "there's none of that in Scripture." While conceding that there may be implications of the gospel that should affect legislation, Dever insisted, "We must distinguish the gospel itself from the implications of that gospel. Otherwise the message of God's fully sufficient work in Christ will be mixed and confused with human works?. Never substitute good works for the good news of the gospel."

2. "Make the gospel larger." Dever pointed to Charles Colson as showing signs of an overly enlarged gospel by suggesting that "Christianity is a way of seeing all of life and all of reality. It's a worldview." Mark's warning: There are lots of good things that Christians should do (working for justice, for instance, or practicing hospitality), but they're not the gospel. By bundling such good works with the gospel, we risk confusing the actual gospel with the way people choose to live it. Dever, who has a degree from Duke, observed of southern Christians before the Civil War: "Those who believed the gospel and supported slavery still shared the gospel with us, even if they were wrong about its implications."

3. "Make the gospel relevant." When the gospel is linked to efforts to make evangelism more effective, it leads to pragmatism, which leads to liberalism, said Dever. "Of course we should contextualize the gospel - not to make the gospel more palatable or acceptable to the sinner," he said, "but to make the offense of the gospel clearer." He insisted: "Don't try to improve the gospel by making it more relevant - you'll lose the gospel."

4. "Make the gospel personal." Dever pointed out the dangers of a strictly "me and Jesus" relationship, which leads people to view the church as an optional spiritual accessory. "The idea of being fundamentally identified and submitted to the authority of one particular church is as alien as eating locusts and wild honey. Too many see church as just a plural word for Christian." I couldn't quite tell if Mark intended to bundle the gospel with formal membership in a local congregation, but it sounded that way.

5. "Make the gospel kinder." God's purpose involves both the salvation of sinners and the damnation of sinners for his own glory, said Mark, and it's a mistake to assume that God's purpose is to do the greatest good for the greatest number, and therefore we should reach as many as we can. That leads to pragmatism, and "pragmatism is a greater danger than open theism ever will be."

Dever wrapped up by saying, "Keep the gospel clear - free from distortions. Don't try to improve it."

I'd never considered the question, "Is Our Gospel Too Large?" But in light of Dever's session, I might have to. I sure don't agree with everything I heard at T4G (the spirit of finding points of disagreement is contagious), but the energy of the theological interchange was even more contagious. Consider me Theology Freak 5,001.

Posted by Marshall Shelley at April 16, 2008 | Comments (43)

April 15, 2008

Book Review: Jesus for President (Part 3)

Let's make a couple of assumptions about a church leader who reads Jesus for President. First, he or she actually finishes the book despite the occasional punch in the gut. Second, that this same church leader agrees (on some level) with the premise that too much of our American church life has been shaped by our comfortable relationship with the state. If one accept both of these assumptions, what then?

While the book offers plenty of fodder for thought and conversation, it is not a how-to manual of subversive Kingdom living. Since most of us will not be leaving our churches to join a New Monastic community with Claiborne or Haw, what is our response? How do we serve and lead congregations that preserve Kingdom distinctiveness while demonstrating God's redemption to our neighbors?

One way to answer these questions is found in how Claiborne and Haw compose their book's last chapter: story telling. The authors claim, "Preserving the distinctiveness of the kingdom of God has always been the most important task for the church." And, "The only thing all Christians are called by the New Testament to imitate is Jesus' taking up his cross." Rather than tell us exactly how to do this, they've decided to show us in the final portion of the book.

They tell stories about missional robotics engineers, dumpster diving, making stuff "from the scraps of the empire," Amish forgiveness, defending the homeless, and alternative economics. The stories range from a peacekeeping trip to Iraq on the eve of the US invasion, to a young couple who adopted an old woman with Alzheimer's from the projects of Omaha.

There are stories that will startle the reader with their creativity. There are others, especially for church leaders, which will feel more like a rebuke. For example, the authors use Relational Tithe as an example of an organization that practices alternative economics. They write,

Church father Ignatius said that if our church is not marked by caring for the poor, the oppressed, and the hungry, then we are guilty of heresy- and a new reformation is long overdue. Some of us who were pretty discontent with how the church was embezzling money belonging to the poor to build buildings and pay staff began to dream again what it would look like to reimagine tithes and offerings, which God intended to be instruments of a redistributive economy? and we came up with the something beautiful and small- the relational tithe.

How do we serve and lead congregations that preserve Kingdom distinctiveness while demonstrating God's redemption to our neighbors? - that was the question I had as I approached the end of Jesus for President. Without directly answering that question perhaps Claiborne and Haw have answered the question. Maybe it's about sharing stories.

In each of our churches there are astonishing stories that happen every week. People caring for each other, sacrificing for each other, taking risks for the Kingdom. But if your church is like mine, you probably do not talk about these stories very often. Whether we wish to avoid pride or simply don't have enough time during our services, the result is many untold (yet inspiring) stories. Stories about people who are living as citizens of an alternative Kingdom. And while it may seem a tame response to a radical book, perhaps our first step is to become better storytellers.

The stories we tell shape us. What stories are being told in your church? Are they stories about power and influence that unwittingly celebrate the values of empire? Or, are you sharing the stories of ordinary people living out the extraordinary values of an alternative kingdom?

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 15, 2008 | Comments (8)

April 11, 2008

Live from Shift: Bursting the Christian Bubble

The final session of Shift 2008 featured Dan Kimball, pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California, and regular contributor to Leadership and Out of Ur. Kimball shared some insights from this book, They Like Jesus But Not the Church.

He began with the good news - our culture is very interested in Jesus. He pulled a number of items from a bag: a Jesus bobble head figure, Jesus band-aids, a Jesus eraser, and then showed images from a Madonna concert where the queen of pop hung on a cross with scripture verses above to highlight the 12 million kids dying from Aids in Africa. Kimball says there is no doubt that people in our culture are curious about Jesus - and many find him very attractive.

Now the bad news - popular perceptions of the church and Christians are very different. Kimball showed a video of college students in his town describing Christians as judgmental, homophobic, and hypocritical. He humorously recounted the response of a girl at the health club when she discovered Dan was a pastor. She said, "Pastors are creepy" but admitted she didn't know any personally.

This, says Kimball, is precisely the problem. In an increasingly post-Christian culture fewer people have contact with real Christians. We've hidden ourselves in a Christian sub-culture bubble. As a result only "the loudest voices are defining who we are," he says. These loud and usually angry Christians are the only ones heard and seen by the culture. This is what people have based their opinions of Christians upon.

Kimball says the solution is getting outside the bubble again; obeying Jesus' prayer for his people to not be taken out of the world (John 17:15). Only when we have real contact with people in the culture where love and friendship can be established will we change their perceptions of the church.

Dan recounted a great story from his time hanging out with the girl who cut his hair. While he was attending a ministry conference in Texas, she'd invited him to a bar to meet her friends in a band. The band turned out to be "Satan's Cheerleaders." Also in attendance was the Lizard Man - famous for having his whole body tattooed to resemble a lizard. Because of his friendship with the hairdresser, Dan was able to engage the group in a conversation about faith. Later he walked out of the bar with Satan's Cheerleaders and the Lizard Man just as the ministry conference attendees were exiting across the way.

He ended with good news. "Most Christians and churches are not what the perceptions are," said Kimball. We aren't as judgmental, homophobic, or hypocritical as people think we are. We simply need to show them by getting outside our bubbles and reengage the culture.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 11, 2008 | Comments (14)

Live at Shift: Deep Ministry in a Shallow World

If there is one thing that everyone in youth ministry seems to be talking about it's how to keep students following Christ after high school. That's been a hot topic here at Shift, and this morning Kara Powell addressed the problem head on. As the executive director of the Center for Youth and Family Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, Powell knows the sobering statistics.

Her data reveals that 50% of high school students who had been deeply involved in a church's youth ministry will not be serving God 18 months after graduation. And that's not counting the many other high school students who are only going to church because their parents are forcing them. She also cited the LifeWay study that was highlighted on Ur last year.

Powell stood next to a table piled high with ministry books and resources. She asked, with so many resources available to us why are our students falling away at such alarming rates? Her thought: the more resources we have the less desperate and dependent upon God we feel. And we begin making "mindless, automatic decisions about our ministries." She called for an end to "autopilot" youth ministry, and for us to start asking hard questions about what we're doing.

Here are Kara Powell's four critical questions:

1. What gospel are we feeding kids?
She says that a lot of what students are fed is a guilt based gospel - what Dallas Willard calls the "gospel of sin management." Powell compared it to a diet of Red Bull. It's fast, energetic, and easy, but not very nourishing. And after the rush is over you deflate. We've fed students a gospel of rights and wrongs, but nothing nourishing that they can internalize and grow from. No wonder they fall away shortly after graduation. The buzz is over.

2. Are students' doubts welcome at our table?
Powell's research shows that the students who were able to express their doubts and problems about faith in high school were more likely to endure through college. She shared about girls in her youth ministry talking about homosexuality. Rather than shutting down the conversation with fast answers from Romans 1, she let girls share openly. Eventually two expressed their own feelings of possibly being gay. Are we secure enough to let these kinds of conversations occur in our churches?

3. How can kids take their place at God's diverse kingdom table?
Kara said that the church is suffering from a new kind of segregation - not racial or economic, but age. The youth ministry functions like the "kids' table" at Thanksgiving. But her research shows that students who have meaningful engagement with the adults at church do far better post high school. She called for a new 5:1 ratio - not five students per adult, but five adults per student.

4. How can we train students to feed themselves after graduation?
Echoing the sentiments shared by Greg Hawkins presentation on REVEAL, Powell called for youth ministers to teach their students how to feed themselves spiritually. They can become totally dependent on the youth ministry for their spiritual nourishment, and when that resource is disrupted when they leave for college everything falls apart. Rather than making kids dependents on us we need to make them independent. A simple but often overlooked goal.

While Powell was addressing youth ministry and youth workers, I was struck by how relevant her words are to every pastor. The drop off rate seen among high school graduates is forcing youth pastors to reevaluate their approach to ministry. But shouldn't we all be concerned? 48 year olds may not be leaving the church the way 18 year olds are, but are they really growing? Are we feeding them a Red Bull gospel? Are we teaching them to be self-feeders? Are their doubts and struggles welcomed? These are great questions for us all.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 11, 2008 | Comments (8)

Live from Shift: Willow Implements REVEAL

Here we go again. Willow Creek's REVEAL study has been a very hot issue on this blog. Rather than recapping all the history, I encourage you to review a few previous posts.

Willow Creek Repents?: Why the most influential church in America now says "We made a mistake."

Willow Creek Repents? (Part 2): Greg Hawkins responds with the truth about REVEAL.

REVEAL Revisited: One sociologist says Willow Creek's research may not be as revealing as we think.

Today, Greg Hawkins, executive pastor at Willow, recapped the study and then shared some changes that the church is now making in response to the research. He said they're making the biggest changes to the church in over 30 years. For three decades Willow has been focused on making the church appealing to seekers. But the research shows that it's the mature believers that drive everything in the church - including evangelism.

Hawkins says, "We used to think you can't upset a seeker. But while focusing on that we've really upset the Christ-centered people." He spoke about the high levels of dissatisfaction mature believer have with churches. Drawing from the 200 churches and the 57,000 people that have taken the survey, he said that most people are leaving the church because they're not being challenged enough.

Because it's the mature Christians who drive evangelism in the church Hawkins says, "Our strategy to reach seekers is now about focusing on the mature believers. This is a huge shift for Willow."

One major implementation of this shift will occur in June when Willow ends their mid-week worship services that had been geared toward believers. Instead the church will morph these mid-week events into classes for people at different stages of growth. There will be theological and bible classes full of "hard-hitting stuff." Hawkins said most people are very enthusiastic about the change.

On the seeker end of the spectrum, Willow is also changing how they produce their weekend services. For years the value people appreciated most about the seeker-oriented weekend services was anonymity. This is what all their research showed. People didn't want to be identified, approached, confronted, or asked to do anything. But those days are over.

"Anonymity is not the driving value for seeker services anymore," says Hawkins. "We've taken anonymity and shot it in the head. It's dead. Gone." In the past Willow believed that seekers didn't want large doses of the Bible or deep worship music. They didn't want to be challenged. Now their seeker-sensitive services are loaded with worship music, prayer, Scripture readings, and more challenging teaching from the Bible.

Willow has been wrestling with the research from REVEAL since 2004. Hawkins said, "We've tried incremental changes for four years, but now we know we have to overhaul our whole strategy." Small steps are no longer the method; Willow is revamping everything. "It would be malpractice for us to not do something with what we're learning."

In the larger REVEAL survey taken by 200 churches, people were asked what they want most from their church. Three of the top four responses were:
1. Help me understand the Bible in greater depth
2. Help me develop a closer personal relationship with Christ
3. Challenge me to grow and take the next step in my faith

Hawkins said that sometimes Willow gets accused of managing the church based on market research; of simply giving people what they want. "Look at what they want!" he said while pointing to the screen. "They want the Bible, they want to be close to Christ, they want to be challenged. Yes, I will give them what they want!"

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 11, 2008 | Comments (22)

Live from Shift: Switchfoot Podcast

For the third podcast recorded here at Shift, we sat down with Switchfoot band members Drew Shirley and Jerome Fontamillas.

In it, Drew and Jerome discuss the ways in which they've seen student culture change over the past 10 years, as well as how those changes have redefined their relationship and connection with their audience. They also share quite a bit about the starting place for the music they create, and the motivation for being in a band, recording and touring.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 11, 2008

Live from Shift: Thursday Night Experiences

The second day of Shift 2008 ended with the Thursday Night Experiences, aimed at having the conference extend beyond just what happens in main sessions and breakouts.

To start the night, everybody began together in the main auditorium for a Q&A session with the band Switchfoot. The conversation covered everything from Switchfoot's "strategic touring" of good surf destinations, to the motivation and inspiration behind their music. Lead singer Jon Foreman and fellow band members discussed their desire to avoid the narrow labeling of sacred and secular, and instead create "music for thinking people," helping listeners question and think about the larger issues of life.

After Q&A, lead singer Jon Foreman played a short acoustic set of Switchfoot songs, as well as material from his new solo effort, and a new song written for the soundtrack of the upcoming Prince Caspian film.

After the performance was over, conference guests scattered across the building for six different experiences, including the World Vision AIDS theater, the Interlinc Cafe, featuring music artists Lanae Hale and Ayiesha Woods, an interactive art exhibit centered around social justice, a premiere screening of the Shells, the 20th short film in the NOOMA series, worship led by missional-community-on-the-move Psalters, and finally a space where student ministry leaders and their teams could assemble packs of medical supplies to be sent to Kenya and Uganda by Bright Hope International.

We'd love to hear from any of you who were there: what experiences did you participate in? Was it worth coming back for? Did the night provide additional learning and growth opportunities for you other attendees?

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 11, 2008

April 10, 2008

Live from Shift: Mark Miller Podcast

We've got our second podcast from the conference. Mark Miller is an author and pastor at Life Church in Wheaton, Illinois. He's speaking at a breakout sesssion at SHIFT on the topic of "Engaging Students in Global Justice." In it, he discusses his own journey of discovering global justice being much more than a political issue; it's a deeply spiritual one. He also discussed the excitement about a new generation of students who are passionate about following the way of Jesus by serving the needs of the world. Click below to hear the podcast.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 10, 2008

Live from Shift: Deep Justice vs. Shallow Service

Kara Powell spoke during the final session at Shift this afternoon. Powell is the director of the Center for Youth and Family Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary. She began by bursting a pretty big bubble. Many churches have gotten involved in short term missions trips (STMs) that often involve a service project in a developing country. But are these trips making any real difference?

The research isn't encouraging. Powell shared about how those being served by North American church groups often feel demoralized by our service, and how many wished these churches would simply send the funds so they could do the work themselves. On the flip side, evidence suggests these trips are having a minimal impact on students as well. In an article she wrote called "If We Send Them, Will They Grow?" she concluded that students who go on STMs are not more likely to become long-term missionaries, and it doesn't impact their materialistic lifestyles.

Powell said a lot of our local and international efforts toward the poor are really a placebo effect. They make us feel better about ourselves, but they're not really impacting people the way we'd like to believe. What's the answer? She believes we need to shift from shallow service to "deep justice."

After tracing the importance of justice as a theme in the Old and New Testaments she laid out the difference between serving the poor and seeking justice. "Service is giving someone a glass of cold water who needs it. Justice is asking why the person needs a glass of cold water." Service is good, she says, because it addresses real needs. But seeking justice means fixing the system that created the problem in the first place.

Our churches tend to approach service as an event - buying gifts for poor kids at Christmas, feeding the homeless, going to Mexico to build a house. Again, these are worthwhile things. But justice isn't an event, it's a lifestyle. She defined justice as simply "righting wrongs." Toward this end students at her church are engaging issues like sex trafficking, HIV/Aids, and modern-day slavery.

Powell's talk was very piercing. Is your church forming people to merely serve, or to be a people of justice? My sense is that if we pursue the goal of "deep justice" we may see an awakening in many evangelical churches. But if it remains simply events of service then social justice will be just the latest trend that will pass out of popularity like WWJD bracelets.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 10, 2008 | Comments (7)

Live from Shift: Ministry 2.0 in World 2.0

Darren Whitehead leads the student ministry of Willow Creek. He compared the church in our changing culture to his own experience as an immigrant (he's from Australia). Most immigrants suffer from "cultural freeze," he says. This is the tendency to maintain their old culture in the midst of the new one they find themselves in.

He says the church is doing the same thing. We're preserving church from the 1960s in a world that changing. He says this is really uncomfortable for newcomers. When someone comes into the church "it's sort of like walking in on two people making out. It's intimate and you feel kind of strange being there."

This has led to what Whitehead called an "epidemic of ineffectiveness." He cited numerous studies that all show huge numbers of students leaving the church after high school and never returning. He says, "The rate of change in the culture is far exceeding the rate of change in our youth ministries."

Technology is changing the world and the culture. Whitehead referred to Time Magazine's observation that we are seeing the emergence of version 2.0 of the internet through user-focused sites like Wikipedia, Youtube, and Facebook. This means students are growing up in World 2.0 where "consumers are now content providers." This has led to five critical shifts in the way Willow is approaching youth ministry. These five ideas may well apply across the board.

1. Moving from passive to interactive
In the new World 2.0 people are creating content. As Whitehead says, in the past people were interested in how professional your ministry was. But today, "Any 14 year old with a Mac can produce really slick videos." As a result students "don't want professional, they want personal." This should be good news for smaller churches without a big staff or budget. It means getting the people involved in creating the music, videos, and other content of the ministry. Whitehead says "students are no longer attending our ministry, they are our ministry."

2. Moving from resolved to unresolved
The new generation isn't looking for easy answers. They are even insulted by trite answers to difficult issues. This means they "are trying to be tour guides rather than travel agents." Whitehead says they're trying to walk along side of students rather than simply telling them what to think. He wants them wrestling with questions not just absorbing answers.

3. Moving from imitation to imagination
Whitehead says that for years we've been trying to clone students. We've shown them what we think it looks like to follow Jesus, and we're not giving them space to imagine how it might look for them. Part of this has contributed to making "young people spiritually dependent on us." This is why they fall way when the leave the high school ministry. Instead, says Whitehead, we need to be teaching people to be "self-feeders."

4. Moving from informational to experiential
Darren admitted this isn't exactly a new idea. Most of us are wrestling with how to be creative and engaging for those who have a variety of learning styles. Some things they've done: talking about vision with 3-D glasses, cooking food on stage to illustrate the aroma of Christ, and an experience of walking to the cross blindfolded.

5. Moving from confession to compassion
Finally, Whitehead says that young people aren't interested in merely telling (confessing) what they believe. They've become activists. Toward that end they've made James 1:27 (you know, true religion is caring for orphans and widows) their ministry's theme this year. They are partnering with local and international ministries to engage their students in compassion projects for single mothers and students in Africa. He wants students to realize that "following Jesus isn't just a belief system - it's something you do."

One of the biggest challenges that student leaders face comes from the home. Whitehead says these kids go home and see that their "mom and dad don't live differently than anyone else." The students are hungry to be challenged, but the lukewarm faith of their families is a problem. "We got to be sure that we don't under challenge them."

How are you seeing these five shifts occurring in your churches? Which ones seem to be universally applicable? As Whitehead articulated - this isn't just a youth issue, it's the direction our whole culture is moving.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 10, 2008 | Comments (2)

Live from Shift: The Perfect Storm

The second day of the conference began with Brian McLaren's breakout session, "Onramp to the Postmodern Conversation." This was designed to help newcomers to the issue understand the shift that is happening in the culture. He compared this change to a hurricane that assaulted Honduras a number of years ago. 100 inches of rain fell in one week. The country was devastated. When the rain stopped the landscape of the country had been changed.

In one case, a bridge that had spanned a river was now on dry land. The river's course had completely shifted. To the bridge's credit it was still standing; it was very well built, but it was totally useless. This, says McLaren, is what the modern church is facing. The modern church was very well built and designed for stability, but the ground is shifting and it's no longer as effective.

A similar storm is hitting the world today. Brian covered western history in about fifteen minutes, revealing paradigm shifts that have occurred in the past - including the one that gave us modernity about 500 years ago.

We are experiencing another prefect storm today, says McLaren.

In the last century there have been unprecedented changes in communication, technology, transportation, and economics that has shifted how people think. And once again, Christianity needs to recognize how it has linked itself to an old world view and be prepared to make the shift as well. McLaren was mindful to say that the bible is not the problem, but the modern boundaries or "bands" that we've constrained it with.

Following the presentation he gave a generous amount of time to questions. This is where his pastoral sensitivity and pragmatism came through.

A 61 year-old gentlemen who works for Evangelism Explosion asked, "How do we keep current? Things are changing so fast."

Brian's answer - there are two big shifts every organization must recognize. First, that their current method isn't working. And second, that even the new method they develop won't work forever either. That's hard for modern institutions that value stasis.

A young pastor from west Texas shared his struggle with defining postmodernism for others in this church. He said it's really hard to talk with his senior pastor about these ideas. He asked Brian for his advice.

McLaren admitted that the word "postmodernism" is becoming problematic. Many people automatically associate it with evil, relativism, or some other heresy. He suggested avoiding the term. Instead, we ought to approach leaders in our churches from a place of humility rather than solutions. Let's talk about the problem together. Help them see the challenge you're facing with younger people. "If you rush at people with a solution before they feel the problem you'll have trouble," he said.

One inquisitor, an Anglican priest from Canada, said that his church has embraced many of these postmodern/post-Christian ideas for decades. But now they're not only wrestling with issue of homosexuality but also the resurrection and the deity of Christ. He wanted to know, what are the guards the boundaries to ensure that his conversation doesn't go outside of orthodoxy.

Brian said that the polarities his church is witnessing is the "residue of modernity." In modernity there were two ways of being Christian - the fundamentalist way and the liberal way. But both of these came from a modern world view, they just landed on different conclusions. When we see churches fighting between liberals and conservatives, that's a church still locked in modernity. McLaren says that in a postmodern paradigm he's finding liberal Christians who are open to the idea of miracles again, and fundamental Christians who are rethinking the way they read the bible.

Toward the end of the session, Brian talked about the challenges of taking a church in this new direction and the conflicts that can arise. He said we've got to remain focused on those who need a relationship with Christ. "It's heartbreaking to see Christians fighting and arguing with Christians about all of this stuff," he said. "The fighting is driving people away from Christ."

Rather than fighting with church leaders to make changes, Brian suggested finding more creative ways to live out the mission to reach people for Christ. He said, "If you wait for your religious organization to give you permission to do the things you know have to happen, then you'll never be faithful." If the kind of people you are called to reach won't be welcomed into your church then invite them in to your home, he said. This doesn't mean leaving the church, but for some people it might mean "getting out your resume."

That made me think - how much energy do we pour into helping our established institutional churches make the shift? Are we, in a sense, casting pearls before swine? And should more of us be working outside the boundaries of the institutions that pay our salaries in order to faithfully engage what Christ is calling us to?

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 10, 2008 | Comments (6)

Live from Shift: Mark Yaconelli Podcast

Yesterday morning we recapped Mark Yaconelli's talk from the first day of Shift 2008. Thanks to those of you who have left comments on this post, along with the reviews of the sessions with Brian McLaren and Shane Claiborne. During his session Mark spoke passionately and with a good dose of humor about some of the unglamorous aspects of serving in student ministries. And one point he bemoaned watching the "good youth groups" at summer camp walking around with their Bibles while his students were "lighting marijuana cigarettes and sneaking off to the bushes."

Leading up to this conference the Shift organizers posted a number of podcast interviews with some of the folks who are speaking this week. Yesterday, immediately following his session, we got Mark Yaconelli in the studio to ask some follow-up questions. Take a listen.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 10, 2008

April 9, 2008

Live from Shift: Telling Better Stories

Here at Out of Ur we've been hosting a conversation about the themes found in Shane Claiborne's latest book, Jesus for President (part one and part two). As is evident from this conversation, Shane is a guy who provokes a response in those he encounters. Certainly those at the Shift conference who just heard Shane speak about The Scandal of Grace got a taste of this.

Before proceeding, let me tell you how hard it is to summarize Shane Claiborne. The guy is a non-stop storyteller! Stories about growing up in Tennessee attending youth group. Stories about his home in the rough neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Stories about going to Iraq on the eve of the bombing of Baghdad. On top of his stories, Shane quotes incessantly: Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King JR, and Dostoevsky among others. Consider this a plea to check this post in a couple hours when we can post some video of this session.

Update. Here are some video highlights from this session.

In addition to writing and speaking, Shane is a member of the Simple Way, a Christian community in Philadelphia. It is obvious his experience with this community (identified by some as New Monasticism) has deeply impacted how he understands the role of the church in America. Citing the research found in Unchristian, Shane told this room of youth leaders that those outside the church see them primarily as anti-gay, judgmental, and hypocritical. Against this discouraging research, Shane summarized Jesus' reply to John the Baptist's question in Luke 7. "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."

And what might it look like to be people who are defined not by the research in Unchristian but by the type of grace seen in Luke 7? While for Shane this involves living in a dangerous neighborhood and traveling to Baghdad on the eve of war, he makes it clear that there are many ways to answer this question. What could it look like in your ministry? How do the un-churched students that you interact with describe Christianity? How does your ministry reflect Jesus' words of hope and grace?

One of the conversations Shane had while he was in Iraq was with a Christian bishop. After Shane expressed surprise about how many Christians he was meeting in Baghdad, the bishop replied, "You Christians in America didn't invent Christianity, you just domesticated it." Perhaps one of the antidotes to this domestication is to rekindle our Christian imagination. Looking around the auditorium as Shane spoke, it was apparent that people's imaginations had been captured. In the last session, Mark Yaconelli spoke about how busy and distracted most of us are. This observation was coupled with a challenge to reclaim the Sabbath so that we might have room to hear from God. I wonder if another benefit of Mark's challenge is that we may begin to imagine ways of living within our world that align with Jesus' teaching.

I have heard Shane speak a few times and though his words can often be challenging (and disagreeable to some), it is always clear that people walk away with a sense of what is possible. Despite the magnitude of the global crises Brian McLaren spoke about this morning, the Shift attendees are walking out of the room with their heads full of ideas. As best I can tell, this is a result of our Christian imaginations being stirred.

I wonder if this type of imaginative storytelling happens on a regular basis in our churches and student ministries. Should it?

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 9, 2008 | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Live from Shift: Broken Ministry

The second session at Shift began with a plea from Bo Boshers, the Executive Director of Youth Ministries for the Willow Creek Association. He shared that a survey of this conference's attendees showed that 67% of the youth leaders and students are not being mentored. "Folks, we've got to get this one right!" he said. It seems that the need for one-on-one relationships in youth ministry is one of the shifts the conference organizers are concerned with.

Mark Yaconelli, who just finished speaking, pointed out another major shift he believes must happen. Through a wide-ranging talk Mark kept coming back to his theme of emptiness and brokenness. Given the many resources, curriculum, and programs available at the conference, it was almost ironic to hear Mark tell youth pastors, "You don't need anything. You need less. You can come to a conference and get so overwhelmed that you forget you already have everything you need. Your love of your kids and your desire to love God is enough."

UPDATE. Here are some video highlights from this session.

Mark began his session by reading Luke 5:1-11. He pointed out that Jesus' first would-be disciple only had empty boats and their time to offer. Mark contrasted this passage with a fictional story of a youth pastor who decides to put on an event for his youth group on Cinco de Mayo called "Cinco de Jesus." As he humorously described this frantic leader making preparations and inviting students to the event, it was evident from the audience's laughter that they understood this scenario. The guy behind me muttered, "I've been there," when Mark finished his story by saying that only two kids showed up to this spectacular event.

It is the tension between the desire to do big things and the reality of our brokenness that Mark kept returning to. Youth leaders first enter the ministry because they desire to serve as spiritual guides to students. According to Mark, the demands of church ministry quickly can distract from that initial simple calling.

The calling gets switched when you get into a church. The calling was to be a spiritual guide, a spiritual leader. Which feels different than what the church and families are asking us to do. To be a spiritual guide you have to spend time in the Spirit, and when we spend time in the Spirit we realize God is asking us to be broken- to be free of our own plans and agendas.

Has this been the case for you? Does your initial calling into ministry seem different than what you actually spend your time on? Do you agree with Mark that your calling is primarily to be a spiritual guide?

It was clear from this session that Mark does not think a large youth ministry is the same as a successful youth ministry. In fact, ministry that is small and challenging may actually be what God has in mind for a leader.

What if our youth ministry is our spiritual discipline? All our weaknesses are exposed in youth ministry. Thank God for those kids who are bringing out those things that are unhealed in us, the broken things. Without them you might think you didn't need God, that you didn't need to pray.

While I love what Mark is getting at, I wonder how it would "work" in a local church. Let's hear from you. Is it possible to have a youth ministry that regularly allows room for brokenness and emptiness? How grateful are you for the types of weaknesses that are exposed in you because of your ministry? Finally, are you able to take a regular Sabbath break that might allow for an awareness of the brokenness Mark described as essential for ministry?

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 9, 2008 | Comments (11)

Live from Shift

I'm sitting in Willow Creek's auditorium as hundreds of youth leaders and students slowly make their way in. In a few minutes Shift 2008, Willow's student ministries 3-day conference, will begin. As previously mentioned, for the next few days Out of Ur will be hosting the online component of this conference. We'll do our best to summarize the ideas and questions raised by each speaker. Our hope is that those of you attending the conference will chime in with your comments about what you are experiencing during these three days. And for those of you watching from a distance, hopefully these posts will give you a taste of what is happening here in Barrington, Illinois.

UPDATE. Here are some video highlights from this session.

This morning's first speaker, Brian McLaren, just walked in and Charlie Hall is beginning to lead worship so I'll sign off for now. Check back in a couple of hours for a summary of the first session. Later today we'll be adding video highlights so keep checking in.

UPDATE. Read on for a summary of the first session...

The main session began with a video called Did You Know? that can be seen on YouTube. The video creatively demonstrates the major and rapid changes going on all around the world. Though he didn't reference the video, it was a great set-up for Brian McLaren's presentation, Everything Must Change.

Not long into his presentation, Brian told a story of his time as a volunteer youth leader in the 1970's. He asked his youth group to brainstorm a list of things that were major issues in their churches. This list included things like speaking in tongues and contemporary worship music. The group then came up with a list of those things that were important to the group and their friends. This second list reflected the global concerns of the 70's: nuclear war, communism, famine, and overpopulation. In Brian's words, "there was nothing in common with those two lists."

Brian obviously believes that youth leaders have a role in shaping their students to be involved with that second list.

Every kid that I lead to Christ and commitment to the church is going to increase his or her commitment to the first list and will have less time to devote to the second list. Which list is God more interested in?

What do you think? What types of major issues are your students most concerned with? Does your church regularly address those issues? Should our youth ministries spend time equipping students for global issues or, as Brian put it, is our role mainly to "get people into heaven"?

Brian closed by encouraging the audience to see the Kingdom of God as having everything to do with how we tackle our world's biggest problems: prosperity, equity, security, and religion. While salvation matters, Brian is concerned that the church often abdicates our responsibility to God's creation.

Here is something I find interesting. The Shift organizers decided to kick off this conference with a presentation about global crises. Why? I'd be very curious to hear from Shift attendees. Did Brian's material resonate with you? Will his presentation about these major crises make a difference in how you do ministry?

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 9, 2008 | Comments (22)

April 8, 2008

Coffee with a Cause

I'm sitting at Ebenezer's - a coffee shop in Washington DC. That may not seem particularly remarkable, but this trendy meeting place represents the convergence of three social pillars - government, business, and church.

Ebenezer's is owned and operated by National Community Church. Often referred to as "The Theater Church," NCC meets at theaters located at three Metro stops around Washington. But the coffee shop serves as the church's headquarters. The upper floors are occupied by NCC's staff offices, and the basement of Ebenezer's is a multi-media venue where worship services are conducted as well as concerts.

The connection between the coffee shop and the church represents a growing trend of churches advancing their mission through for-profit businesses. Ebenezer's has been very successful for National Community Church. The business is thriving; it was even ranked among the city's best coffee shops. (Right now the place is quite busy.)

Mark Batterson, pastor of NCC, said the experiment with Ebenezer's has been so positive that they're considering expanding to other locations and even franchising the operation to help other churches launch coffee shops to function as "3rd places" and missional outposts.

I can tell you first hand - Ebenezer's is a nice place. I can't vouch for the coffee (I don't drink the poison), but the tea is very good quality. But here's the question - should churches be getting into business? What are the advantages and disadvantages of mixing Christian community with commerce? How would you feel if your church moved in this direction?

Some believe that spending $2 million on a coffee shop that is utilized all week and naturally attracts non-Christians, is far more missional than spending the same amount on a worship building that's primarily used on Sunday for believers. Are they right? Am I sitting in the future of the American church?

Here's the other fascinating thing about Ebenezer's - it's located four blocks from the Capital building. National Community Church is populated primarily by young government staffers from both sides of the aisle. And the coffee shop draws many political appointees. You can't find a more politically charged environment than this. If I had any hair I'm sure it would be standing on end.

I spent the last few hours talking with Mark Batterson about leading a church in this environment. (You can expect to read about that conversation in the summer issue of Leadership.) For now I'll just leave you with this question: how would you feel if a highly visible and polarizing politician started attending your church?

My short time in Washington has been very interesting, and I've come away with more questions about ministry and politics than I anticipated. So far I've only concluded one thing: whether Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, theocrat or secularist - everyone likes a good coffee shop. That may be NCC and Ebenezer's winning strategy.

Posted by Skye Jethani at April 8, 2008 | Comments (5)

April 4, 2008

Choosing Multi-Ethnic Over Mega

I recently returned to my native Arkansas - a world much less ablaze with all the conversations about emergent, missional, monastic, anti-institutional, and ancient-future Christianity. As much as I appreciate those dialogues, a heavy dose of them can obscure the fact that there are many local congregations nationwide that are not clinging to a sinking institution, are not confronted with a thoroughly postmodern youth culture, and are not terribly concerned with relevance (as such). They are, nevertheless, participating in great advances for the kingdom of God.

Take Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas, for example. Located in the University District of Little Rock's south midtown, the church enjoys a prime location - for burglary, murder, and carjacking. It's in that part of town you wouldn't loiter in on Saturday night (I suppose all the evildoers sleep late on Sunday morning). But its location is strategic. In neither inner city nor suburb, and just across the street from the Little Rock campus of the University of Arkansas(UALR), the church's neighbors represent a diversity of ethnic and economic backgrounds. More importantly, the church's membership faithfully reflects the district's demographics.

As a lifelong Arkansan, I can testify that the joyful multi-ethnic and economically diverse fellowship that takes place at Mosaic is a monumental accomplishment.

The small town I lived in nearby not long ago was home to a white First Baptist Church and a black First Baptist Church, each of which was located appropriately on its own side of town. Keep in mind it was only 50 years ago that Little Rock's Central High School defied a federal order to integrate. And while laws have changed in that half century, many - perhaps most - hearts have not.

That's why I was so surprised during my experience in worship at Mosaic to discover that, while it is a healthily intergenerational bunch, the congregation is not led by young, inclusive postmoderns, but by middle-aged, working class black, white, and Latino men and women. According to the latest buzz, these folks are supposed to be dying for lack of vision.

Teaching pastors Mark DeYmaz and Harry Li are quick to attribute Mosaic's growth and vibrancy to God's blessing. In fact, in a generation when traditional churches are dying, they are doing nearly everything wrong - they meet in a building, they hand out bulletins, they have a mission statement, and they run programs. But they leave success in the Lord's hands. DeYmaz, who spent nearly a decade on staff at a large, homogeneous church in town, explained, "The hardest thing about this ministry is that we know how to grow a church big and fast, but we refuse to do it. We don't use church-growth strategies; we don't market ourselves. We could grow the ministry fast. But we'd rather grow it biblically."

DeYmaz explains what he means by biblical growth in his 2007 book Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church (Jossey-Bass). Based largely on John 17, Ephesians 2, and the pattern of the church at Antioch (Acts 13), DeYmaz argues that "a house of prayer for all people" is best led by a ministry team made up of "all people." Because a church led by a white pastor will likely only reach white people, Mosaic is committed to maintaining an ethnic balance on its staff (for more on this, see "Ethnic Blends" in the upcoming issue of Leadership). They do this because they consider the multi-ethnic church as more than an effort at racial reconciliation or liberal dogoodism. It is a biblical mandate - a New Testament commandment that, because in Christ there is no Jew or Gentile, Greek or barbarian, then God's church should look like God's kingdom: full of people from every ethnic and economic class (and, in Mosaic's case, with physical and mental disabilities).

DeYmaz is careful not to criticize homogeneous churches in his book, but he does warn, "I believe the homogeneous church will increasingly struggle in the twenty-first century with credibility, that is, in proclaiming a message of God's love for all people from an environment in which a love for all people cannot otherwise be observed" (14).

What do you think? Is inter-ethnic ministry a biblical mandate? Or is it simply a new strategy (however noble) for church growth? And what does all this mean for your church if, like mine, it's full of white folks who welcome worshipers of other ethnic backgrounds, but only (as DeYmaz observes) they agree to worship the way we do and not cause a fuss?

Posted by Brandon J. O'Brien at April 4, 2008 | Comments (24)

April 2, 2008

Book Review: Jesus for President (Part 2)

A few months ago, while visiting a church out of state, I had a moment of crisis. Just before the sermon, the pastor stood to give the announcements. After wrapping up, he invited a young man in military uniform to stand. The young officer had grown up in this church and had just returned from his first tour in Iraq. The pastor thanked the congregation for their prayers for the soldier and his family. The congregation responded with enthusiastic applause. So far so good.

But then the pastor reminded the church of the dangerous and noble work America's soldiers were doing in Iraq. He said they were protecting our American freedoms and that we should be grateful for their sacrifice. The congregation stood to their feet and began clapping?and clapping?and clapping. I have never experienced a more enthusiastic and prolonged standing ovation on a Sunday morning in my life.

What would you have done? I sat.

After the service I admitted to my wife that I was uncertain what the right response was in that situation. The tenor of the pastor's remarks and the zeal of the congregation's response did not seem to reflect Christ's call to love our enemies. I wondered how a brother or sister in the Iraqi church, which has come under increasing persecution, would have felt about this Sunday morning display of patriotism. At the same time, I felt like a total jerk for sitting while the rest of the congregation demonstrated their gratitude to the military. This experience and the questions it raised came to mind several times while I read Jesus for President.

In chapters one and two, Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw summarize the Biblical narrative. (I covered their perspective in my first post.) In chapter three they begin exploring the implications of this narrative for those of us living in the world's most powerful country. They describe America as an empire parallel to the Roman context the first Christians endured. They also believe Constantinianism was generally bad for the church, and that the book of Revelation is less about eschatology than living faithfully within a diabolical empire. Whether or not you agree with these assumptions, Claiborne and Haw make a compelling case that the church in America has become much to cozy with the state - a point that my Sunday morning experience seems to validate.

According to the authors, the great challenge facing the American church today is how to live faithfully as the distinct people of God within an empire that will preserve its interests at any cost. To press this point they quote often from the early Church Fathers who existed within the Roman Empire.

High treason is a crime of offense against the Roman religion. It is a crime of open irreligion, a raising of the hand to injure the deity? Christians are considered enemies of the State? we do not celebrate the festivals of the Caesars. ?Tertullian

We ourselves were well conversant with war, murder and everything evil, but all of us throughout the whole wide earth have traded our weapons of war. We have exchanged our swords for plowshares, our spears for farm tools? the more we are persecuted and martyred, the more do others in ever increasing numbers become believers. ?Justin

The authors point out that these earliest Christians fully expected to be persecuted by the empire. "The powers would drag them before governors and courts, beat them and insult them, feed them to beasts, and hang them on crosses. And hate his followers is what the world did- at least for the first couple of hundred years." Claiborne and Haw think American Christians have avoided persecution not because we live in a Christian nation, but because the church is content with the government's Christian veneer.

Jesus for President wonders if the reason the American church does not articulate a Christianity distinct from national citizenship is that we have lost our godly imagination. Or perhaps we have become so used to living with power and privilege that we are hesitant to articulate a different way of living. Let's assume these modern-day monks are on to something. What then? What is the role of the church within the empire?

Had I been in the pastor's shoes that Sunday morning a few months ago, I would like to think that I would have asked the congregation to pray just as diligently for the church in Iraq as for our troops. I would like to think that we would have mourned every life lost in the war - Iraqi and American. And I would like to think that we would have spent time praying for our enemies.

But maybe my courage would have failed me. After all, I too am a comfortable citizen of the empire.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at April 2, 2008 | Comments (31)