September 29, 2009

Rob Bell Defines "Evangelical"

While on his "Drops Like Stars" tour, Rob Bell spoke with Michael Paulson from the Boston Globe. (Read the full interview.) The conversation turned to the meaning of the word evangelical. Bell provides an interesting, and likely contestable, definition. The excerpt is below.

But the interview raises an important question--has the word evangelical been corrupted? Is it still useful? And do you still embrace the category or have you abandoned it for another label?

From The Boston Globe:

Q. What does it mean to you to be an evangelical?

A. I take issue with the word to a certain degree, so I make a distinction between a capital E and a small e. I was in the Caribbean in 2004, watching the election returns with a group of friends, and when Fox News, in a state of delirious joy, announced that evangelicals had helped sway the election, I realized this word has really been hijacked. I find the word troubling, because it has come in America to mean politically to the right, almost, at times, anti-intellectual. For many, the word has nothing to do with a spiritual context.

Q. OK, how would you describe what it is that you believe?

A. I embrace the term evangelical, if by that we mean a belief that we together can actually work for change in the world, caring for the environment, extending to the poor generosity and kindness, a hopeful outlook. That’s a beautiful sort of thing.

Read the full interview here.

**UPDATE** Rob Bell has responded to the Globe interview on his Twitter account. He says that most of what he said was left out of the interview, and calls it "maddening." He also goes on to clarify the historical roots of the word "evangelical." Read more on Bell's Twitter page.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 29, 2009 | Comments (44) | TrackBack

September 28, 2009

The Fragility of Unity

by Jim Belcher

By now most of you have heard of the conflict at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, the famous church that was pastored by D. James Kennedy for 48 years. (See the Sun-Sentinel article)

This past March, two years after Kennedy’s death, Coral Ridge appointed Tullian Tchividjian as his successor. Tchividjian, the grandson of Billy Graham, accepted the call when Coral Ridge agreed to a church merger with his current congregation, New City Church. He came in with 91% of the vote. Yet six months later, the church (against the wishes of the Elders) held a congregational meeting on September 20th to decide whether to fire him.

What went wrong in such a short period of time? How did the unity of the body become so broken? What does this say about loving and bearing with one another? (See Tchividjian’s interview with Christianity Today about the conflict)

As an outsider it is not my goal here to present both sides or assign blame to one party. What I want to know is, now that the vote has taken place and one third of those present, over 400 people, voted against Tchividjian, how does reconciliation take place? How does the church restore unity, not just formally but in their hearts? Is it possible for Pastor Tchividjian to restore trust with the 400 people who voted against him? How should he and the Session go about restoring confidence in their leadership?

My guess is that they cannot simply move “full steam ahead” or this conflict will likely erupt again. What kind of teaching needs to come from the pulpit? What texts and topic? What about on a personal level? Does some kind of “Truth and Reconciliation” meetings need to take place?

I would love to know your thoughts. There is not a church in the world which has not experienced conflict on this level or a million smaller levels. We need to get this right. The world is watching our congregations and how we respond to the inevitable conflicts that arise. How do you believe we should respond?

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 28, 2009 | Comments (41) | TrackBack

September 25, 2009

Ur Cartoon: Seeker Sensitive

You can see more cartoons from Roger Judd in every issue of our free digital magazine, Catalyst Leadership.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 25, 2009 | Comments (4) | TrackBack

September 24, 2009

Ur Video: Q & A with Craig Groeschel

In just a few weeks we'll be down in Atlanta for the Catalyst Conference. And we're excited to announce that Out of Ur will be the official blog for the event. We'll be posting throughout the conference with exclusive access to speakers and leaders. If you're going to be there, keep your eyes open for Marshall Shelley, Skye Jethani, and Url Scaramanga. Until then, here's a video from the last Catalyst West Coast event featuring Craig Groeschel.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 24, 2009 | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 23, 2009

Is the Era of Age Segmentation Over?

The statistics are grim. Rainer Research estimates that 70 percent of young people leave the church by age 22. Barna Group argues that the figure increases to 80 percent by age 30. The Southern Baptist Convention recently observed that growth in their churches is failing to keep up with the birth rate. Taken together, these findings suggest a startling fact: not only are we failing to attract younger worshipers, we're not holding on to the ones we have.

As executive director of the Fuller Youth Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary and a former youth pastor, Kara Powell has her eyes on the youth drop out trend. She is currently in the midst of a three-year College Transition Project, a study that involves over 400 youth group graduates and is focused on understanding how parents, churches, and youth ministries can set students on a trajectory of lifelong faith and service.

Where did the now popular age-segmented paradigm of youth ministry come from?

In the 1940s and post World War II, there was a real burst in parachurch organizations focused on ministry to teenagers and young adults, such as Young Life, InterVarsity, and Youth for Christ. In many ways, they led the way for the church in realizing that we need to focus on specialized discipleship and teaching for teenagers.

Why did the church adopt this age-segmented model of ministry?

Jim Rayburn, the founder of Young Life, liked to say, "It's a sin to bore a kid with the gospel." So he developed some amazingly creative models of youth ministry that took root and bore fruit. I think a lot of churches saw the success of groups like Young Life and started thinking, If the parachurch folks are tailoring their ministry toward young people's interests, then we can—and probably should—too.

On my dad's side of the family, there were too many of us to fit in one room or around one table at family gatherings. So we adopted the two table system. The adult table had pleasant conversation, while the kids' table usually degenerated into a Jell-O snorting contest. Theoretically we were having the same meal; but we were having two very, very different experiences. That's what we've done in churches today.

What is the long-term impact of segregating teens?

A lot of kids aren't going to both youth group and church on Sundays; they're just going to youth group. As a result, graduates are telling us that they don't know how to find a church. After years at the kids' table, they know what youth group is, but they don't know what church is.

There are a lot of statistics regarding what happens to high school seniors when they graduate from a youth group. As I've looked at the research, my best estimate is that between 40 and 50 percent of seniors from youth groups really struggle to continue in their faith and connect with a faith community after graduation.

What can churches do to increase the likelihood that our kids stay in church after they graduate?

I think the future of youth ministry is intergenerational youth ministry.

At this point in our research, we've found that one thing churches can do that really makes a difference is getting kids actively involved in the life of the church before they graduate.

There is a strong link between kids staying in church after they graduate and their involvement in intergenerational relationships and worship. It's important, we're finding, to get beyond a token youth Sunday and start thinking about how to involve kids as ushers and greeters and readers and musicians in our services.

We're also finding a relationship between teenagers serving younger kids and their faith maturity when they graduate from high school. Teens should not only be the objects of ministry; they need to be the subjects of ministry as well. It's the 16 year old that has relationships with 66 year olds and 6 year olds who is more likely to stay involved in a faith community after she graduates.

Read the entire interview with Kara Powell at LeadershipJournal.net.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 23, 2009 | Comments (18) | TrackBack

September 21, 2009

Church Rater or Church Hater?

by Skye Jethani

I love rotten tomatoes. Not the produce—the website. RottenTomatoes.com is a movie ranking website that aggregates reviews from hundreds of journalists and movie reviewers, and then charts how “fresh” a film is based on the percentage of positive reviews. If a film only racks up 18 percent on the “Tomatometer,” I know it’s probably not worth my time or $20.

The collective wisdom of the masses may be a guide when selecting a movie, but what about when selecting a church? In a day when everything seems driven by polls, rankings, and consumer ratings, we shouldn’t be surprised that a new website has been created to rank churches based on customer—eh, congregational—feedback.

ChurchRater.com allows church seekers and members to rate and discuss their experiences at churches all across the country. It was created by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper—co-authors of Jim & Casper Go to Church. The popular book features conversations between Henderson, a pastor, and Casper, the atheist he paid to visit churches. Based on the success of the book, they’re now branching out by providing a service to both seekers and churches. But is ChurchRater.com just another slip down the slope of consumer Christianity?

From the press release:

ChurchRater "is a combination of things: it's 'Yelp' for churches where visitors can rate and discuss their experiences at church, but it's also a social network for church goers and seekers, too, a place where people can dialog about their faith and their lives," says Jim Henderson.

"It's been kind of a wild ride for me and Jim," says Casper. "We never expected the book to take off, but here it is a couple of years later and Jim and I have toured the country, spoken at dozens of churches and along the way discovered that we’ve become 'America's leading Church Raters!' And one thing we have learned is that talking about faith and church experiences is something people seem hungry to do, so we decided to kind of open the doors wide to our kind of dialog."

ChurchRater.com allows people to post ratings, comments and reviews on churches they visit. They will also be able to connect with other church seekers, and "best of all, they can find a church that’s close to their heart, not just their house," says Casper.

My brief exploration of the site uncovered a few concerns. For example, ChurchRater.com offers no criteria for determining what makes a church “good.” It is based solely on the opinions of those posting a ranking. Like RottenTomatoes.com, they seem to believe that the collective wisdom of the masses will reveal which churches are truly “5-star.” But should popularity really be the determining factor when looking for a church home?

Here’s another shortcoming. Each church’s ranking page offers no details about the church apart from its address, website URL, senior pastor, and denomination. To learn anything about the churches worship, doctrine, or philosophy of ministry one must read through the reviews. That’s not very helpful, IMHO.

But here’s the biggest problem I saw with ChurchRater.com—people are highly opinionated, and often nasty, about churches. For example, the thread of comments about Lakewood Church and Joel Osteen isn’t pretty. It’s a digital food fight with those denouncing Osteen as a prosperity preacher on one side and his defenders on the other.

The same can be said for other high-profile churches and pastors on ChurchRater.com. But you don’t have to be Osteen, Driscoll, or Hybels to get attention. Even small churches are airing their dirty laundry on the site. For example, this comes from the ranking of a church in Florida: “Years of attending and listening to a man that did not practice what he preached left me bitter.” The anonymous writer goes on to accuse the pastor of financial mismanagement, unfair firings, and other unethical behaviors. Whether true or not, is a public website the right place for Christians to be voicing these accusations? And who is responsible for guarding the site's comments to ensure they don't include slander? (Lawyers are probably circling the website like sharks.)

In the end, I’m not sure how helpful ChurchRater.com will be for those seeking a church. It may simply provide another forum for people to debate theology, vent their anger, and praise or pummel well known church leaders.

If there’s an upside, it may be that Jim and Casper have plans to allow followers of other faiths, and not merely Christians, to embarrass themselves and undermine their credibility online too. "We're even expanding to reach beyond Christianity,” says Casper, “with the upcoming launch of ShulRater, a site for the Jewish community."

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 21, 2009 | Comments (40) | TrackBack

September 17, 2009

Ur Video: Francis Chan on Being a Prophet

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 17, 2009 | Comments (6) | TrackBack

September 16, 2009

3 Myths about Preaching Today

by David Fitch

As I have traveled these past few years, I’ve heard the repetitive refrain from despondent pastors: “I always thought that if I preached a good sermon the church would grow.” I heard it again last week so I thought I’d comment on it along with two other beliefs about preaching. Here are 3 dying myths (IMO) of Christendom about Preaching.

MYTH 1: If You Preach a Good Sermon the Church Will Grow

Many a despondent preacher has discovered that this notion is no longer true. It has become a dying myth in post-Christendom. Nevertheless, it gets reinforced by mega churches who leverage (by video screens, etc.) one or two gifted teachers to build crowds coming to consume a good sermon. These examples are largely drawing on the leftovers of Christendom—people still looking for “good teaching” that is portable and user friendly to somehow improve their Christian lives. I take no offense in ministering to those of us who are still part of Christendom, we need to be fed and nurtured too! I just want all pastors who aim their ministries in this direction to realize the pie is getting smaller and the competition hotter. Anyone still holding onto the premise—if I just preach a good sermon, they will come—and ministering in a post-Christendom context, must either compete or be grossly disappointed with the continued dwindling of his/her congregation.

Having said all this, the “great halls” (stadiums) of preaching distribution will not connect to the lost souls of post-Christendom. Post-Christian people are not attracted to the sermon as the first place to go in their spiritual distress. We must help leaders understand that if you spend 35-40 hours a week in your office preparing a good sermon on Sunday, making it not only theologically competent (which is worthy) but slick, you are ministering to the dying vestiges of Christendom.

MYTH 2: Who You Preach To is Who You Will Reach

I have heard it said repeatedly “who you preach to is who will come.” This has worked within Christendom for centuries. Today, in post-Christendom, it has become another dying myth that IMO should be dispelled. It says that if you preach to unbelievers in your service your members will start inviting their unbelieving friends to hear what you’re saying. But if you don’t preach to unbelievers you’ll have a worship service full of believers. But again this feeds on the impulses of Christendom—that the way to bring non-believers into the Kingdom is through inviting them to hear a good sermon. This does not make sense to those who can think of nothing more irrelevant and disenchanting than going to listen to someone “preach at me” (often their perception).

MYTH 3: The Goal of Preaching is to Make the Bible Relevant

We pastors, who are at the end of our wits in the fields of post-Christendom, will often try to make our preaching more relevant. Caught between the winds of the Neo-Reformed who argue “we just need to preach the truth and they will come,” and the mega church gurus who argue that “we need to make the Bible relevant,” we make a last ditch effort to do the latter (because we’ve already tried the former). Sadly however, this is a Christendom attitude that attempts to pull in the Christendom leftovers with a more updated gospel ready made to fit their already Christianized lives. As more and more churches try to “out relevant” one another and the leftovers of Christendom become anesthetized to relevancy, “making the Bible more relevant” is revealed as yet another dying myth in post-Christendom.

The Kind of Preaching We Desperately Need

The task of preaching is to proclaim truth. It is the moment that brings the truth into the present. Much like anamnesis in the Lord’s Supper is much more than intellectual recall of the Lord’s death and resurrection, so preaching is more than recalling and teaching information from the past about God. Preaching is a speech-act. It is the proclaiming of the truth out of Scripture over us so as to bring the truth into being by the Spirit.
Preaching is a truth making event—not in the sense that the truth is invented here, but that the Spirit, through the gifts, brings it into reality. (I’ll have to defend myself against the accusation that I’m a Bultmannian sometime). Much like Jesus said in Luke chapter 4:21 - “today this Scripture has been fulfilled in its hearing,” proclamation is a speaking forth of an interpretation (from Scripture) of our lives in terms of who God is, the gospel and what he is doing to bring it about in our lives and thru us into the world. If anything then, far from trying to make the Scriptures relevant, the goal of preaching is to make everything else irrelevant. It is the re-narrating of ourselves corporately into God.

The bottom line is once we preach for formation, where God’s truth is birthed in and among us, we become shaped for his mission in the world. We can see things we didn’t see before. We act out of assumptions we didn’t have before. We imagine what God is doing in ways not possible before. And a little congregation becomes a powder-keg for mission and the harvesting of fields ready for the gospel.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 16, 2009 | Comments (27) | TrackBack

September 15, 2009

The Gospel for iGens

by Scot McKnight

The following is an excerpt from Scot McKnight's cover story in the summer issue of Leadership Journal. You can read the entire article at LeadershipJournal.net.

When I saw the title of Alan Mann's book, Atonement for a Sinless Society, I knew he was onto something. The intent of evangelism that focuses on preaching the law and God's holiness, wrapping those two elements into a vision of God's wrath and hell, is to stimulate a cry for salvation out of a sense of guilt over who we are and what we have done. This model still works for some. But it may not be the wisest model for iGens.

One of the most insightful elements of Mann's book is whether iGens feel guilt. For a person to feel guilty, that person must have a sense of morality. But morality requires a potent sense of what is right and wrong, and it needs a powerful sense of what is true and false. Contemporary culture does not provide the average iGen with a profound grasp of what is right and wrong apart from the conviction that assaulting the self is clearly wrong.

Yet deciding to stake one's life on Jesus and the cross requires a sense that we are wrong, that we need Jesus, and that his saving death and resurrection can become effective. Mann claims that iGens are neither moral nor amoral. Instead, because of trends like the self-esteem movement and the impact of relativism, he concludes that iGens are pre-moral. Mann suggests that they do not feel guilt as much as they feel shame for not achieving what they are designed to accomplish.

This realization has helped me see that Jesus is the place to begin with iGens. In fact, we can make this more precise: Jesus as lived out by a credible witness or through a community that makes Jesus real. This is not Jesus as revealed by institutional religion or churches, but Jesus seen in the lives of genuine compassion and commitment to something that transcends the superficiality of modern and postmodern culture.

Dan Kimball wrote in his book They Like Jesus But Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations that what turns off iGens about the church is that it's too organized, political, judgmental, chauvinistic, homophobic, arrogant, and fundamentalist. But Kimball's research uncovered that iGens like Jesus. This is solid footing for gospeling iGens.

More evidence for starting with Jesus comes from the "Images of Jesus" personality profile designed by the North England Institute for Christian Education, and is republished in my book, The Blue Parakeet. In the assessment, a person records answers to personality questions about himself or herself ("Do you suffer from the nerves?") and then answers the same questions about Jesus ("Does he suffer from the nerves?"). There are no right answers. The intent is to determine how high a correlation exists between self-image and Jesus-image. Among iGens the answer is a loud Yes! This test shows that nearly everyone conforms Jesus to their self-image. A startling affirmation of what Jean Twenge discovered: iGens—surprise, surprise—have a robust enough self-image to think Jesus is just like them.

If this generation likes Jesus, and if iGens have the chutzpah to think they are like Jesus, then let's start with Jesus. We sometimes forget that the earliest Christian gospeling was telling the story of Israel's history (Peter on Pentecost) or acknowledging God's presence in the world (Paul in Athens) so that it led to the story of Jesus. Sometimes we forget that the first four books of the New Testament are called "gospels" because they are just that. The earliest Christian preaching, the early narratives about Jesus, grew and grew until they became the four Gospels.

Sometimes I think we forget that no where in the pages of the New Testament do we find what many of us heard when we were gospeled: God loves us, we are sinners, God still loves us and sent us his Son to die for our sins, and if we receive God's plan we will spend eternity with him and be empowered by grace for a new life now. I believe every line in that gospel to be true, but no one said it quite that way in the New Testament.

Read McKnight's entire article here.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 15, 2009 | Comments (16) | TrackBack

September 11, 2009

Recession & Racial Integration

by Brandon O'Brien

A year or so ago, when gas prices were over $4 per gallon here in Chicagoland, something remarkable happened: people started driving the speed limit. Despite the threat of traffic tickets, commuters regularly speed by 20 miles per hour or more on our highways. But for that few months, people cruised at a modest and efficient 55. One of my colleagues put it this way: “What the law has been unable to do, high gas prices did overnight.”

I guess there are times when the promise of saving money gives us just the boost we need to do the right thing.

More recently, the current economic hard times have given a couple of churches in Louisville, Kentucky, a good excuse to do something they might not have done otherwise. St. Paul Missionary Baptist church, a predominantly African-American church, and the mostly white Shively Heights Baptist Church have merged.

Pastor Lincoln Bingham leads the lively and growing St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church. The church’s youth and senior adult ministries were flourishing, and as a result, they were running out of space. The congregation needed a larger facility to expand their mission. But they didn’t have the money to expand or relocate.

Meanwhile Bingham’s good friend Mark Payton was shepherding the mostly white, and mostly aging, Shively Heights Baptist Church. The congregation had plenty of space—maybe too much. With all their empty seats, they were worried about their future. Their mostly aging, mostly white congregation was having a hard time attracting young members. They, too, were strapped with a tight budget and dwindling funds. So Bingham’s St. Paul church family moved into Shively Heights’ facility, and the two congregations now worship together.

The financial benefits weren’t the pastors’ only motivation for the merger. The men have been good friends for 25 years. Payton says his friend Lincoln has preached in every church he’s served as pastor. But when both of their churches fell on hard times, it seemed like a prime opportunity for the congregations to make a radical move.

Pastor Bingham insists, “We are doing it because we feel like it's what God would have us to do.”

Congregants seem to agree. “We was kind of dull around here,” says one older woman from Shively Heights. “We needed something to lift us up.” They have certainly gotten that. The pastors share preaching responsibilities and the churches’ worship teams have blended. The new St. Paul Baptist Church at Shively Heights is a full and energetic place.

In that part of the United States, integrated worship is the exception, not the rule. But when an interviewer for NPR asked the pastors if they’ve met with any resistance, Pastor Payton said, “I think any time we try to do something for the glory of God you're going to have some resistance, but [we’ve had] very minimum resistance. All of my leadership from my Sunday school, from our active deacon body, all of them was 100 percent on board with this decision.” Pastor Bingham adds that they’ve received lots of positive feedback from area pastors, some of whom have suggested that they may follow suit and consider a similar merger in the future.

We’ve heard lots of talk in recent months about the hardships churches are facing amidst the current economic climate. Giving is down in places, because people have lost jobs. Churches have had to lay off staff and reduce programming. It would be easy to think of the recession primarily as curse for churches. But St. Paul Baptist Church at Shively Heights makes me think it might be a blessing in disguise. Budget shortages force us to reconsider our priorities; a shortfall gives us a great excuse to kill unnecessary programs and other initiatives. In the case of these two churches, the tough times encouraged two pastors to see where God was at work across town and consider cooperation for the Kingdom’s sake.

A congregant from St. Paul’s put the matter succinctly: “It’s God’s will,” she said. “Because if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t have happened.” She added, with perspective that can encourage all of us in these hard times, “It lets me know God is moving.”

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 11, 2009 | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 9, 2009

Video Ur: Perry Noble on Multi-Site Churches

The validity of video-based preaching has been a matter of debate on this blog. Some, like Bob Hyatt, are critical of the trend believing it puts even greater distance between the teacher and the taught. In addition, projecting one preacher to many locations may hinder the development of other Bible teachers.

Others believe video is a powerful and useful tool as we seek to carry the gospel into every corner of our culture. It allows for churches to grow more rapidly by removing a common bottleneck in the church planting process--finding a gifted expositor.

In this video, Perry Noble jumps into the fray with his own opinion as to why some church leaders are critical of video-based multi-stie churches. Forget about theological considerations, the development of spiritual gifts, or congregational health--Nobel goes for the jugular. Do you think he's right?

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 9, 2009 | Comments (44) | TrackBack

September 8, 2009

Al Mohler Defends Obama...Sort of

Al Mohler, the outspoken president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has written about the controversy surrounding President Barack Obama's address to school children today. Normally Out of Ur doesn't venture into the political fray, but in this case Mohler models a thoughtful and moderate response--one that might be helpful to other church leaders struggling to communicate with their congregations about the matter.

Here's an excerpt:

Much of the controversy is reckless, baseless, and plainly irrational. Some have called the speech an effort to recruit America's children into socialism. Others have argued that any presidential speech piped into classrooms is illegitimate. But a presidential speech to students is hardly unprecedented. This speech by this president has led to an unprecedented uproar.

At this level, the controversy is a national embarrassment. Conservatives must avoid jumping on every conspiracy theory and labeling every action by the Obama administration as sinister or socialist...

Furthermore, this controversy smacks of disrespect for the President and, by extension, disrespect for the presidency itself. Both fly in the face of Christian responsibility to pray for those in authority.

After reading President Obama's entire speech, Dr. Mohler concludes: "This message should be welcomed by America's parents, both Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives."

However, Mohler doesn't place all of the blame for the controversy on conservatives. He believes the Obama administration's maneuvering and its stoking of Obama's iconic cultural power have led to the paranoia. Read Mohler's entire post on his blog.

In the end Mohler says:

Barack Obama is President of the United States. Christians must be the first to pray for this president and to model respect for the presidency, even when we must disagree with the President's policies and proposals. Given what this president intends to say tomorrow to America's students, count me as one who hopes many are listening. If even a few young hearts are encouraged, those moments will be worth all the controversy.

What do you think of the controversy? And how should pastors and church leaders direct their flocks?

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 8, 2009 | Comments (17) | TrackBack

September 4, 2009

Rocking the White Citadel

By Greg Taylor

My life and worldview will never be the same after living seven years in Uganda. My wife and children, our mission team members, and I all made friends with and learned from people who were struggling out of poverty but still lived full of joy and hope.

Unfortunately, few Western Christians have the opportunity to learn from believers in other cultures. As a result, we impose our own perspective on Christians worldwide.

In The Next Evangelicalism, professor and pastor Soong-Chan Rah says the evangelical church has been held captive to Western-white power and must be released in the same way the early Christian church was released from Jewish ethnic control. Nearly 95 percent of Christian churches in America have more than 80 percent of one particular ethnic group. Most evangelical churches are white monoliths.

"Racism," he says, "is America's original sin." Our culture and economy were built on the backs of Native Americans and black slaves. But American individualism and consumerism keep Christians from understanding and confessing corporate sin.

According to Rah, today's "slavery issue" is immigration.

Rah says church leaders maintain a "conspicuous silence" on the issue of immigration. Though some view immigration as a huge problem, Rah interprets law changes as far back as 1965 as catalysts for making immigrants the next hope for evangelical churches.

But the road to change is long and full of pitfalls, and the cards are stacked against non-whites. A 2005 Time story featuring 25 influential evangelicals included only two non-whites. Rah tells stories of churches resisting ethnic change in their communities, but has hope for a few shining examples of churches learning from and embodying ethnic change in their neighborhoods. He says the "colorblind American" approach is superficial and serves only to cover over and hide racial hatred.

Korean-born and raised in a Korean immigrant community, Rah is critical of the modern church growth movement and repudiates the homogenous unit principle, saying God never intended church leaders to target a particular race of people. Rah claims that race itself was never used in the Bible but "nations" is the preferred category, that slave trading states created the concept of race to perpetuate manifest destiny.

The author also finds the term "emergent church" offensive, saying "the real emerging church is the church in Africa, Asia, and Latin America," which now makes up 60 percent of the world's Christian population. He says these immigrant communities form a social network that cannot be extricated from their religious practices. The community helps people find jobs and homes, and white Americans can learn much from immigrant communities.

Many churches, meanwhile, have preferred numeric growth to hearing prophetic and diverse voices. Yet only a small group of churches are multi-ethnic, and the melting-pot-turned-salad-bowl of cultures has been covered with a "creamy ranch" that makes even kimchi or jalapeno all taste like salad dressing.

The next evangelicalism, Rah says would embrace a theology of suffering as well as celebration, intentionally give up power, and follow the lead of liminal (in-between) second and third-generation immigrants.

This will require that white leaders intentionally give power to Hispanic, Asian, black, and other minority cultures.

The Next Evangelicalism resonated with me because I grew up white, rich, and Christian. I'm still all of those things, but in a changing world. This book describes the world as we know it today and a vision for what churches could look like tomorrow. Rah warns us that if we fail to wake up and realize the center of the Christian universe is not white America, then we will become increasingly irrelevant and, more tragically, unfaithful to our task to take the gospel to all nations.

While Rah's tone is challenging, his message is ultimately one of hope. The curse of Babel was reversed at Pentecost, he says. If we heed his message, a renewed vision for this kind of multi-cultural Christianity can bring new life to Christ's church in the United States.

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 4, 2009 | Comments (25) | TrackBack

September 3, 2009

And the Winners Are...

Last month we invited Urbanites to answer this question: What is Consumer Christianity? Your response has been surprising and creative. Some submitted definitions, others sent in pictures that made us laugh and grieve. A few even composed songs and lyrics. Thanks to everyone who participated.

We've selected some of the best entries for everyone to see and read--from Jesus bandages to God gum. And those who engaged will be receiving a free copy of Skye Jethani's book, The Divine Commodity: Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity.

Keep reading to see the winning submissions.

“Consumer Christianity” what can it be?
Charging money to set yourself free?
Maybe it’s Jesus in plastic and chrome,
A retailer trying to place Him in your home.
Buying and selling – it’s the American way,
But should Christ be marketed? What do you say?
Stop and listen to this simple ode –
Should Jesus be stamped with a big bar code?
Much like Luther detested the indulgence,
Giving of money to sooth the bad conscience;
Consumer religion has been around for some time;
Like Demetrius, a Silversmith, offering Diana for a dime.
But Christianity – does the same rule apply?
Should we sell Christ or His cross or weeping eye?
Should we offer a pass from purgatory --
For so much money your loved ones reach glory…
Should I start on Christmas, retailers best friend?
Where does this consumer mentality end?
Even Easter, the crosses with glittering diamond and gold –
Does this get the old, old story told?
No – we deck self and home with junk bright and hoary,
And speak not a word about Christ and His story.
God forgive us for buying into the world’s madness,
For not thinking of Your glory – surely bring you great sadness.
Over 100 words, but I don’t need another book…

Submitted by LB Yates

I am stuck on Jesus' brand, cause Jesus' stuck with me.
I prayed a salvation prayer, I’m safe for eternity!
It won’t rub off and it won’t fall off,
I’m religious all the time...
I am stuck on Jesus' brand, ‘cause it centers around me!

Submitted by Chad Estes

With no commentary about the contents themselves, this medium communicates how we've come to understand salvation as a transaction, much like we would swipe a credit card to purchase a product.

Submitted by Adam Graber

Consumer Christianity is a religion that claims that the customer (seeker, congregant, member, attendee, . . . etc) is king, the customer is therefore the object of worship. The Church must supply whatever the customer wants. This is not a version of Christianity—it is a non-Christian Religion—in Christianity, the Triune God is King; and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are worshipped. The Church is here to represent the reign of God to the world.

Submitted by Barb S. Murphy

Consumer Christianity is an attempt of the Church to capitalize on the culture of marketing in the name of Christ. The community of Christ followers is replaced by a business model, featuring a CEO and Board, that must keep its customers satisfied in order to achieve desired growth. Little attention is paid to issues of theology, the tradition of historical Christianity, or any other elements that would discourage people from patronizing the business.

Submitted by Jonathan A. Aigner

Consumer Christianity: 1: a divergent form of Christianity categorized by the belief that individual satisfaction is the primary purpose of church-based worship; 2: the public use of products incorporating Christian scripture or imagery, with the intent of declaring or affirming the user's Christian faith; 3: a branch of the Prosperity Gospel, categorized by the belief that acts perceived as holy will result in physical rewards from God; 4: the belief that wearing a "John 3:16" shirt is equivalent to carrying out faith through deeds.

Submitted by Elly Runnalls

Christian Consumerism is the mentality that regards church as a provider of a range of essential Christian services. Loyalty to and support of a particular church is based on the quality of these service provisions rather than an understanding that church is a place to serve. “To be served and not to serve” could well be the motto that describes this expectation of church. The precise services that are valued change according to age and life circumstance. Church loyalty can be switched easily when a better or more attractive service provider is found.

Submitted by Stan Fetting

Consumer Christianity is a faith system whose focus is me and us, emphasizing doing over being. It stresses how I (we) can become (fill in the blank) rather than the Kingdom of God. Jesus is our example rather than our life. The Father is the one who gives rather than the Creator whom I love. The Holy Spirit is my unseen power rather than the One who unites, leads, and reveals. Faith is my currency rather than my relationship with God. And the church is the place I do “spiritual business.” Consumer Christianity is organization not organism.

Submitted by Charlie Robinson

Consumer Christianity - the notion that God exists to fulfill our plans rather than the other way around.

Submitted by Paul Steinbrueck

Submitted by Shan Wattnem

Consumer Christianity: A form of Christianity that allows one to be a Jesus-follower without being a count-the-cost-disciple first. These are typified by their desire for "better worship," non-threatening messages, and a call for relativity rather than radicalism

Submitted by Tim Magnuson

Consumer Christianity is a contest wherein I am asked to express my opinion as part of a gimmicky sales ploy, subtly reinforcing the dominant (idolatrous) cultural narrative that all definitions in life are up to me.

Submitted by Scott Marshall

Consumer Christianity: A T-shirt marketed to tweens that says "Jesus is my BFF!" and the 25 year-old male that owns it. (It stings a little less when I divulge that I'm a youth pastor...)

Submitted by Jake Bouma

Consumer Christianity is when a faith journey is substituted with a faith activity, a sacrifice of servant worship is replaced by a ceremony without sacrifice, a life of discipleship is relegated to a curriculum on following Jesus, and the covenantal love of a prodigal God (LORD) has been bastardized to the mere romantic satiation of our own spiritual lusts and expectations. In other words, Consumer Christianity is ultimately a misbegotten compromise of what Jesus, the Christ/Messiah, intended for His followers.

Submitted by Kevin Neuner

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 3, 2009 | Comments (5) | TrackBack

September 1, 2009

Ur Video: Drive-In Church

Posted by UrL Scaramanga at September 1, 2009 | Comments (13) | TrackBack