Category — Change

Everyday, in large and small ways, each of us are making decisions - real decisions with real consequences.  No matter how hard we might try to rationalize choices, blame others, see ourselves as victim, or fain ignorance, we make these decisions ourselves and our choices impact the lives of people around us in either cruel or kind ways.

My greatest sin is not that I make wrong decisions (of which there are many).  Rather, I truly fail when I choose to think that I exist as an island, for Mike alone.  This isolated or alienated self is akin to what Charles Taylor (A Secular Age, 2007) characterizes as the “buffered self.”  Living in a disenchanted world and with the failures of individuals and societal entities (family, church, organizations) around us, we find it all too easy to withdraw into a world ordered solely by our desires or self-perceived realities.  Taylor names this as our tendency toward “a sense of invulnerability” and “self-possession.” As buffered selves, we seek to escape the world that might challenge our sense of well-being, security, or self-consciousness.

The fears, anxieties, even terrors that belong to the porous self are behind it. This sense of self-possession, of a secure inner mental realm, is all the stronger, if in addition to disenchanting the world, we have also taken the anthropocentric turn, and no longer even draw on the power of God. (300-301)

When I buffer self, I am no longer open to the world around - family, friends, associations - and ultimately shut myself off from the world beyond - Father, Son and Spirit.  And yet, for me, such buffering is an allusion, a lie, a self-deception, for the world of family, friends and associations still exists and God is still God.

Reality is this: I am a father; I have brothers; I have a son and daughters; and I relate to friends and colleagues.  I am not a monad but part of people, places, community, family, creation.  Even though I am free to decide what I will do and say, and how I will act and respond, I am not so powerful as to dissolve or alter these realities.  I exist within the context of a sacred responsibility and trust toward my daughters and son, wife, parents - and God.  I may choose to buffer but not to negate these sacred and eternal obligations.

When I act as a responsible and ‘porous self’ with and toward my community and the Creator, I am a better husband, father, and brother.  I am a better man than my own choosing might make me.  Without this community, I am an empty and hollow man.  With this community, I know love, hope, and salvation.

As a free individual with the God-given capacity to make decisions, I choose to lean into my community, to admit when I am wrong, to give and receive forgiveness - to give of myself.  At the same time, I am choosing love and hope for myself.

A revolution is taking place right before our eyes - a mission revolution.  Some might mistake it to be a rebellion against power and authority, but such a characterization would be wrong.  A rebellion is an attempt to overthrow and unseat, while a revolution is the act of re-creating or re-forming from the bottom up.  Rebellion takes place in the halls of power, revolution takes to the streets.  Over coffee at Starbuck, on airplanes returning from Niger, in church offices, and at small gatherings, ‘like-hearted’ pastors and church folk are joining passions and resources into mission collectives.

In simplest terms, a mission collective is a group of people and churches united around the proclamation of Jesus Christ in word and deed.  This means they are, above all, pursuing collaborative mission activity and contributing resources to the common witness of the collective.  In its essence, collectivism honors the contribution of each church and every individual, trusts the work of the Spirit in each, and seeks involvement in the diversity of God’s mission.  Absent are organizational enormity, top-down control, forced uniformity, and politicized, single-issue missions.  Front and center is the mission of God - it is the sinew and muscle holding the collective together, the electricity empowering collaboration, and the nerve center providing coordination and direction.  It is the singular reason for diverse, autonomous congregations and unique individuals to unite in trust and respect for mission.

In practical terms, a mission collective translates into churches giving people and money to joint mission endeavors, sharing ideas and materials, working across demographic and doctrinal lines to create and hold in common needed training materials, systems, procedures, strategies, and encouraging each other to do more and be the best possible witness to Jesus Christ.  A concrete example of a mission collective is Global Connection Partnership Network.  GCPN is “a community of churches committed to a direct global witness.”  It connects, partners, resources, provides material, trains, collaborates, and supports in order for “God’s glory to be realized throughout the earth.”

While the traditional, hierarchical mission paradigm will not cease to exist, growing numbers of young students, adults, and pastors are looking for something different - something more organic, relational, and participatory.  For them, mission involvement no longer rises or falls on promotion or mobilization originating from a distant place or a famous people.  They see and hear mission all around them - in their churches, from fellow students, among friends and in their pastor.  Mission is bubbling up from the bottom.  The revolution is underway as collectives in Waco, Arlington, Oklahoma City, Atlanta, etc., form, grow, and encounter the world.  Long Live the revolution!

Even though I am driven by particular questions, I am not without answers.  I open my hands toward what I do not know, and at the same time, I stand firmly in what I do know. For example …

What is conversion? … Conversion is part of the deal; it must take place.  Conversion must be to a person, not a religion, creed, culture, institution, etc.  In order to be made whole, reconciled to God, to be forgiven of my rebellion, I must turn from my way, my self aggrandizement, and to God through Jesus Christ.

What is the gospel? … The gospel is not a group of words or a set of propositions in an elite or special language meant to convince the mind.  The gospel is a person who confronts my whole existence (not just my mind).  Jesus is Good News.

What is community? … Community is more than coffee, songs, handshakes, and kisses.  Community is friendship, solidarity, love, and life.  Community is not clean and easy … it is messy, confusing, and expensive.  It requires me.

Who are the people of God? … The church is not defined by who shows up to meet within four walls. The church is the people of God on pilgrimage through the mall, school, workplace, home, giving witness to Jesus.  This witness is not from position, power, or privilege by the power of the Spirit.

How are we to do missions? … The mission of God is much, much more than what happens through the professional missionary or the mission enterprise.  Because God is the Creator of life, his mission runs through the whole of life, finds expression in every aspect of life.  Mission is best done via relationships, trust, and the people of God.

Am I authentic? … I am authentic if I make known what is true - I am a sinner, an inadequate teacher, a poor husband, a struggling follower of Jesus Christ, and so on.  I am in the process of being transformed and always will be.  If this process stops, I am no longer authentic.

Am I still living? … My aim is to live - to feel the hurt around me, to give of myself to those who cannot give back, to listen -really listen- to the people talking to me, to act out of conviction, to love well.

While I have questions, I do have some answers.  Yet, the largest question for me is … am I living into the answers that I do have?

There are a number of questions that I continue to ask, that still drive me.  Some of you will wonder what is wrong with me.  You ask - Why are you still asking questions?  Don’t you have things figured out yet?  Well, I keep asking because the given answers just don’t fit or are no longer clear.  For example …

What is conversion? … What does it look like when one steps across the line to be a committed follower of Jesus?  When does this happen?  Is it at a point in time? Through a long process?  Is it continual?  Does it ever end?

What is the gospel? … What part of religion (my religion) is Christian and what is culture?  I ask this because I am afraid that extras I have added to the Jesus message confuse those who do not know Christ and create pseudo-barriers.

What is community? … Community has become the new cool word and thus co-opted to mean whatever one wishes.  I want to know and experience real community.

Who are the people of God? … What is the essence and purpose and mission of the local church? What marks as being God’s people in the world?

How are we to do missions? … Structures, means, and pathways that we once used for mission involvement are quickly fading.  What is the new mission paradigm?  What does it mean for the church to encounter the world?

Am I authentic? … What does authentic living look like?  How do I get there?  Am I willing to do what it will take to be there?  What does transformation look like in my life?  Why am I so afraid of living an open life?

Am I still living? … Not am I still alive, but am I living?  Am I on cruise control, asleep at the wheel?  Am I passionate about something (someone)?

These are some of my questions … not all.  I remind myself often that the questions are not my enemies but necessary friends. It is only through asking, owning, and living into these questions that I can grow and hope.

Michel de Montaigne (1533-92) comments …

Since it is the privilege of the mind to rescue itself from old age, I advise mine to do so as strongly as I can. Let it grow green, let it flourish meanwhile, if it can, like mistletoe on a dead tree. But I fear it is a traitor.  It has such a tight brotherly bond with the body that it abandons me at every turn to follow the body in its need. I take it aside and flatter it, I work on it, all for nothing.  In vain I try to turn it aside from from this bond, I offer it Seneca and Catullus, and the ladies and the royal dances; if its companion has the colic, it seems to have it too. Even the activities that are peculiarly its own cannot be aroused; they evidently smack of a cold in the head.  There is not sprightliness in [the mind's] productions if there is none in the body at the same time. (cited in S. Toulmin, Cosmopolis, 38)

What hope is there as we grow old, our bodies and minds fail?  Friends and family once brilliant, daring, and beautiful now shuffle along in dull, spiraling decay. Do what they may to preserve the mind (let it grow green, let it flourish), it too follows the body and betrays.  We are whole beings and thus move wholly toward physical and mental death.

For my body, I will take exercise, eat whole grains, take certain things in moderation, medicate it when ill, and thereby enjoy its pleasure and strength.  For my mind, I will turn off the TV, interact with others, offer it poetry and Lewis, and thereby delight in its ability to reason and recall.  And yet, I know decay and destruction wait in the wings.  My 58 year old body and mind does not offer me much hope.  My hope is in Christ and his resurrection of body and mind.  This kind of hope does not fail nor will it decay.

Zeal is well and good, as long as it is tempered with knowledge.  We who teach and preach must be careful not to call people to heart-felt commitment and excitement without explaining the need to go on to maturity via careful and adequate instruction.  In fact, to challenge people to zeal and not provide the means to grow in their understanding is less than responsible.  Too many people begin like a flame only to burn out with the passing of time or when things become difficult.  Zeal and knowledge must walk hand-in-hand.

Part of the problem is a common opinion in the church that knowledge destroys or undermines faith.  I have heard people say …
“If you study theology, you will loose your passion for God.”
“God looks on the heart more than the mind.”
“Doctrine only confuses a person.”
“Simple faith is the best faith.”
“Knowledge puffs up.
And while many of us would deny such a lopsided opinion, our emphasis on a commitment response in contrast to our lack of attention to and opportunity for discipleship and formation indicates what we really think.

And yet, Jesus clearly makes the point that we are to love God with more than the heart (Luke 10:27).  His definition of love of God includes the mind (as well as soul and strength).  I believe he did this for several reasons.

• We are more than one-dimensional beings, and thus, truly loving God requires more than an emotional response.  Loving God requires more than a partial-person commitment. It demands our whole being.
• The heart can lead us astray.  We can actually dishonor God through uninformed actions while all the while acting with fervor and passion.  The heart is not to be trusted to act alone.
• An intellectual pursuit of God provides the necessary refinement of our misconceptions and development of our capacity to believe.
• When the circumstances of life become difficult and problems sap our emotions, it is knowledge of who God is and how he acts and the truths of the faith that can sustain us.  Feelings wane, emotions come and go, and thus, we need more than a ‘heart-tether’ for faith.

Because it is convenient to measure commitment to God by emotion, passion, or fervor in worship, we assume that if people are not ‘excited’, or continually smiling, or animated in their worship that something is personally wrong with them or there is something lacking in their love for God.  Emotions, at best, tell only part of the story, and, at worst, they can be deceptive.  In the end, the ultimate proof that we belong to and follow hard after Jesus is our steadfastness and faithfulness to him in the best and worst of situations.  Such faithfulness requires our whole person - heart, mind, and soul.

So, we must …
-actively and consistently read the Bible, both Old and New Testaments
-embrace life’s questions and not push them under the table
-avail ourselves of opportunities to gather with other believers in study, conversation, and questioning
-read the opinions of others (books, articles, commentaries)
-ask God to catch our mind up with our heart and vice-versa

If I am to faithfully face the challenges of the present day and be active in my witness of Christ to those around me, I must diligently pursue God in both my zeal and understanding.

 ”The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”
    Mark 10:45 

Just as Christ came as a servant, service is the role of the church.  And yet, the church is constantly tempted to be a triumphant and victorious community that aligns itself with power, privilege, and place rather than finding itself in the places of service.  There is a fine line between the the “victorious Christian life” and the assumption that privilege and rights belong to us irrespective of others.  An indicator of when we have crossed that line is when we expect to be served by the powers in society, to be at the head of the table, to be respectable and honored - to be socially advantaged. 

History shows that the people of God usually do not voluntarily move toward service.  Rather, service is forced on us via humiliation, loss, and exile.  Quite possibly the American church is at the brink of such loss.  The Christendom arrangement within the American context (particularly in the South) has run its course, and Christianity is being disestablished in school, by government, in polite society, and within the wider popular culture.  Many Christian leaders act as though it is still 1950 and that society still cares about what they have to say or is looking for them to determine what is right or wrong.  However, the year is 2009 and society is not listening, nor does it care what we think.  At best, the wider culture only wants to manipulate and corrupt Christianity for its ends. 

The need for the gospel to be at home in its context (contextualization) must be balanced by the necessity of critical self-examination.  Christianity becomes un-Christian when its essence is severely diluted by societal forces.  Patriotism and gospel, consumerism and gospel, entertainment and gospel, sports and gospel, wealth and gospel are dangerous mixtures that can and will mute the church’s voice and disengage it from mission.   Thus, the church constantly needs are reminder; a means to assist it in strking the right balance.

Service is the means through which we remember who Jesus is and are reminded who we are to be.  Jesus was in the world, for the world, and serving the world.  Our renewal as the people of God will not come through accumulating more power, or recapturing a golden era, or re-inventing ourselves.  Rather, renewal comes as we realign our mission to that of the Suffering Servant by taking up a towel, kneeling before the maimed and marginalized-washing feet, dressing wounds, and loving without conditions. 

Service is not resignation from or a forfeiting of the church’s role in society.  It is the means through which it actually is salt and light, permeating the whole of society.  The power of the gospel is made real not in our alliance with the state or in political maneuvers but in our service.

Jesus came to serve; we are called to serve.  Either we freely pick up the towel or circumstances may force it on us.

As already noted in previous posts (2008: Oct 19; 2009: Jan 9, 23, Mar 11, 22, Apr 12, May 19), the face of global Christianity has been radically altered.  Jehu Hanciles, Beyond Christendom: Globalization, African Migration, and the Transformation of the West (2008), highlights how the development of Christianity into a non-Western religion has impacted Western Christendom.

According to the World Christian Encyclopedia (2001), the church in Europe and North America is losing members at a rate of six thousand members a day (just over 2.2 members a year).  The level of apostasy is much higher with regard to churh attendance: roughly 2.7 million church attendees in Europe and North America cease to be practicing Christians every year (an average loss of seventy-six hundred every day).  These extraordinary developments are substantiated by numerous reports (114).

How are we to respond to such information?  Several options: We can dismiss this information as only academic, statistical mumbo-jumbo, or we can give way to resignation, hand wringing, and despair, or we can pursue the questions which this information provokes.  

I believe that integrity and faithfulness demand that we pursue the obvious questions.  Such questions as …

• Is this a signal that the church has lost its place of prominence in Western culture, or that faith has been successful translated into new places and fresh expressions?
• Does the decline in church attendance indicate an abdication of faith or that people are doing their faith in different ways and places?
• Where are those who leave going?  To new religions, other forms of ’spirituality’, or to the mall?
• Has denominationalism run its course and thus is the blame or cause of the statistical decline?
• Where would the church in Europe and North America be if not for Pentecostalism and Charismatics?  If not for Christian immigrants from Africa and Latin America?
• Has the Western church merely succumbed to the long process of secularization and thus just needs to rediscover or rejuvenate its conservative and/or evangelical moorings? 
• Is the information a call to re-double our efforts to re-evangelize the homeland, or is it a cause to rethink the nature and purpose of the church within Western culture?  
• For what reason and on what basis should we continue sending missionaries to Africa, Latin America, and Asia? 
• In what ways should the shift evoke adjustments in our personal and corporate lives? 
• In what ways should the shift cause us to rethink faith, church, theology, missions, etc?  

Tough questions!  Some would say these kinds of questions should not be voiced aloud, less we undermine our evangelical and missionary commitment and resolve.  Well, my contention is that to avoid these questions and blissfully continue doing church and missions as if nothing has changed is irresponsible.  Faithfulness to the gospel and the mission of God demands that we not dodge, dismiss, or mask difficult or uncomfortable questions.  Nor is it acceptable to just keep repeating well-worn answers.  The change in world Christianity is massive, complex, and dynamic and thus demands that we make reasoned and intentional adjustments in our thinking, living and loving.  Tough questions require an authentic response.

We really do need a broader conception of mission.  Mission does not necessarily mean ‘missionary’ nor must it refer solely to the missionary enterprise.  Missionary is a vocational designation and the missionary enterprise is only one avenue through which we give witness.  Mission is much larger than any one vocation or a particular endeavor.  I prefer to think of mission as signifying a way of being or a lifestyle (as well as other things).  It denotes a way of being with God and in the world as a witness to His glory.  Therefore, mission formation is the particular process through which we are transformed into God’s people for witness to the people wherever we might encounter them.  This witness could take place in Waco, Dallas, New York, Ghana, or Tibet.  What is crucial to mission is not necessarily a particular place but formation into a particular kind person.  Formation to mission is crucial, and thus, we need clear thinking regarding what this looks like. 

1. Mission formation orients life toward the missio Dei, the mission of God.  God’s movement toward creation in redemptive and healing love is the focus, rather than a program of the church (ministry), or an organization of the denomination (mission board), or a vocation (missionary).  Mission formation pushes us beyond temporal emphases and programs and causes us to look for the activity of God.  By focusing on God, the primal missionary, we come closer to being party to what he is doing in the world.
2. Mission formation takes place within the realities of life.  Instead of retreating from life or disengaging from the realities of the world, mission formation engages the needs of the world and the lives of people.  In no way does this negate spiritual disciplines or an emphasis on the interior life.  Yet, outside of engagement with the world, formation is incomplete and can even be malformed. 
3. Mission formation must focus on the peoples of the world.  Because the Creator loves the world, he sends his Son, Jesus Christ.  As the Father sends his Son, the Triune God sends his followers (Jn. 20:21).  Formation exists for the preparation of followers for witness to the nations.  If formation becomes an end in itself, then the Christ life can become solely about our development or personal and national interests.  If election becomes about us, our families, and our nation, as it did for Israel, then we become disqualified as witnesses.

Talk is cheap, and thus, doing must be expensive.  Obeying what we know to do and what we know to be right is the hard work of any kind of formation but especially that which missional.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes,

You can only learn what obedience is by obeying. It is no use asking questions; for it only through obedience that you come to learn the truth. With our conscience distracted by sin, we are confronted by the call of Jesus to spontaneous obedience. (The Cost of Discipleship, 78)

The call to God’s mission does more than give us a new vocation, or relocate us outside the border of the U.S., or require us to learn a new language.  It is an expensive call to obedience, to know God’s truth.

Per our discussion of world Christianity and its impact on the church of the West, see Mission From Africa in this week’s The New York Times magazine.