Sound Bites – Missional Synchroblog

These are statements and phrases from the missional synchroblog posts that I would like to remember.  For the Cliffs Notes version, see the summaries at Subversive Influence.   Those interested in a micro-tour of the synchroblog might enjoy these sound bites.

My apologies to my friends who are experiencing missional saturation.

Feel free to skip this post.  And I am guessing the synchrobloggers will only glance through to find their own name.

Sound Bites

The church emerges out of the mission of God in the world, not the other way around.  Actual mission must precede any new cultural understandings that the church might develop of itself.  -  Alan Hirsch

adding the label “missional” to their meetings and programs does not make them missional.  -  Alan Knox

It is often dumbed down by people who confuse it with “evangelistic” or “mission-minded”  -  Andrew Jones

finding those wells that still exist in our lives today…Places where people naturally gather…A place to share my life with them.  -  Barb Peters

So the word “missional” just becomes one more marketing tool in our attractional toolbox to get people to the show.  -  Bill Kinnon

a lifetime’s engagement with the communities where we have been strategically placed  -  Bill Kinnon

We need to be converted away from an internally focused, Constantinean mode of church and converted towards an externally focused, missional-incarnational movement that is a true reflection of the missionary God we follow. -Brad Brisco

there is no “40 days of missional” model  -  Brad Grinnen

sustainable change requires transformation at the deepest level in order to effect long-term changes at the surface level.  -  Brad Sargent

the church will be organized around mission as its sole purpose.  -  Br.Maynard

Drawing others into the deeply relational and loving arms of Jesus -Chad Brooks

It’s a scary world for the experts when the amateurs are out in front.  –  
Chris Wignall

neither church nor human is the author of mission.  -  Cobus van Wyngaard

The essence of God’s mission is extravagant love  -  Dave DeVries

Jesus left the comfort of church err… heaven, and went to where people were at – David Best

(incarnational) rhythm contradicts the rhythm of an attractional church.  -  David Fitch

a way to be involved in God’s work toward the redemption of ALL THINGS.  -  David Wierzbicki

to reflect God’s character and God’s priorities in our everyday life  -  Doug Jones

the call of the church to love our neighbours, to make disciples, to be broken and poured out for others.  -  Duncan McFadzean

I hope that those of us seeking to imitate an incarnate God really understand that that means following a crucified One.  -  Erika Haub

engaging the world as living alternatives.  -  Jamie Arpin-Ricci

seeing life, ministry and mission interwoven together.  -  Jeff McQuilkin

following the lead of the Holy Spirit into restoring the world around us.  -  Jonathan Brink

little wonder then that so many who really get what missional is all about are labeled heretics.  -  JR Rozko

“you don’t even know, like really know, a poor person, do you?” -
Kathy Escobar

our participation in the joyful, ecstatic, overflowing fruitfulness of God.  –  
Len Hjalmarson

get out there to be the church  -  Makeesha Fisher

did we sacrifice reaching out for a new sound system?  -  Malcolm Lanham

like spending a day at the office with God… every day!  -  Mark Berry

learning to dwell in the margins or risky areas  -  Mark Petersen

a radical departure from a focus on ourselves or on our own church...noticeably different from churches building their own kingdoms…  -  Michael Crane

an awareness of the great desire of God from the beginning.  -  Nick Loyd

the missionary of God to us now, to all of us…is the Spirit.  -  Patrick Oden

God’s mission – search and rescue – is participatory.  -  Peggy Brown

redemptive interaction with people.  -  Phil Wyman

a church that is not missional is no church at all. It’s a club for the already initiated.  -  Richard Pool

Believers need to see their life holistically and completely sacred before they can begin to grasp what it means to be missional.  -  Rick Meigs

to be all that the Holy Spirit desires as he shapes and forms Christ in us.  –  
Rob Robinson

every living moment is a door into God into which the other is welcome.  -  
Ron Cole

They focus on what’s outside themselves and spend their time and money there.  -  Scott Marshall

giving hope in a world of gray.  -  Sonya Andrews

not simply “what the Church does”, but chiefly “what she is”.   -  Steve Hayes

signing on to God’s project to repair the World  -  Tim Thompson

How missional is put into practice is the stumbling block for many in the “missional” conversation.  -  Thom Turner

Who Can Make the Shift?

One thing that came up during the missional synchroblog is the ability or likelihood for existing congregations to become missional.

Alan Hirsch says that the organizing purpose of a missional church is mission.  Brother Maynard says it is their raison d’être (reason for existing).

The organizing purpose of most churches is the organization itself and the Sunday service.  Most believe that the growth of their church and service within the church is the same as building the kingdom. They may be genuinely interested in mission, but it is not their central purpose.

By looking at where the time and money of an organization is spent, we can determine their central purpose.  Does the majority of money and time flow out, or is it consumed on the congregation itself?

The answer to whether an existing congregation can become missional is dependent on their willingness to change their central purpose.

By co-opting the term and changing its emphasis, churches who do not wish to make such fundamental shifts in their thinking can apply it to a program and say, essentially, “Yes, we’re a missional church.”  (Brother Maynard)

That isn’t missional.  You can’t have it both ways.

What will it look like for an organization to shift its focus and purpose to mission instead of the organization and the Sunday service?  Are congregations willing to make that degree of change, to pay the full price to become missional?

If not, be straight about what you are, and don’t claim to be what you are not.

But for those who truly want to be missional, realize what you will have to let go of in order to become missional.

What Is Missional? This Is.

This article by Darryl Dash describes what Sanctuary, a missional community, looks like.  It explains many of the ideas that I was trying to get across in my defining-missional post.  I will share a few quotes, but I am sure you will be encouraged and inspired by the entire article.

In not Out

As we talked, we noticed that our language didn’t match up. We talked about Sanctuary as a mission; Greg talked about it as a community. We talked about targeting people; Greg talked about wanting to be with people where they are.

With not For

When we come to a community with a set of services, Greg explained, there’s a power dynamic at work. We serve; they receive. They remain disempowered. When we go into a neighborhood, spend time with them, listen to them, and allow them to serve us, we become servants, and the power imbalance disappears. The challenge is to find who the poorest people are in the neighborhood, and to discover how we can be with them.

Us not Them

Greg talked about lessons he’d learned: about becoming a church of the poor, rather than a church that only served the poor; of learning early on that he had to shut up and do more listening than talking; of getting past the idea that church is only a service on Sunday; of connecting with those who are broken by being vulnerable about our own brokenness.

Shifting into Missional Gear

Making the Paradigm Shift

As my contribution to the What Is Missional? Synchroblog, I want to explain a few simple, yet vital, tweaks in the way that we view ministry that are needed in order to overcome the dualistic, condescending, and separatist mentalities of mission and ministry that hinder truly missional expression.
.

What Is Missional? It is…

.

Out not In

An important distinction of missional is that it is Out rather than In. This is a 180 degree shift from traditional ministry methods. Ministry is a lifestyle out in the world rather than service to or within an organization.  As we love and serve others around us, we participate in the life of the kingdom.

With not For

As we walk together with others in their faith journey, we walk in mutual relationships, both giving of ourselves and receiving from them.  When we share the love of God with others, we encounter Christ himself in their midst.  The idea of mutuality is expressed by doing things With rather than For others.  This necessitates that we take the time to know them.  We develop relationships of commitment, to be with them in their journey rather than to simply show up for charity work.

Us not Them

Another necessary shift in thinking is to view the people that we minister among as Us rather than Them. We are all invited to share in Christ’s table.  We don’t view others as a project, but we identify with them as our family – broken as we are, in need of restoration.  Our own restoration and shalom is wrapped up in the reconciliation of those around us.  God is already at work in their lives.  It is our missional privilege to share in God’s mission of reconciliation among the people in our world.
.

Missional – sharing God’s love out among the people in our world

.
List of those participating in the synchroblog:

Alan Hirsch
Alan Knox
Andrew Jones
Barb Peters
Bill Kinnon
Brad Brisco
Brad Grinnen
Brad Sargent
Brother Maynard
Bryan Riley
Chad Brooks
Chris Wignall
Cobus Van Wyngaard
Dave DeVries
David Best
David Fitch
David Wierzbicki
DoSi
Doug Jones
Duncan McFadzean
Erika Haub
Grace
Jamie Arpin-Ricci
Jeff McQuilkin
John Smulo
Jonathan Brink
JR Rozko
Kathy Escobar
Len Hjalmarson
Makeesha Fisher
Malcolm Lanham
Mark Berry
Mark Petersen
Mark Priddy
Michael Crane
Michael Stewart
Nick Loyd
Patrick Oden
Peggy Brown
Phil Wyman
Richard Pool
Rick Meigs
Rob Robinson
Ron Cole
Scott Marshall
Sonja Andrews
Stephen Shields
Steve Hayes
Tim Thompson
Thom Turner

Missional Mommies

There are several mothers of young children who are heroes of mine in the missional conversation.  As bloggers, they tend not to be the most dominant voices.  Perhaps because they “spend a fair bit of time talking about themselves, their kids, and what they did that day.”

Yet it is the very fact that their missional theology is integrated and expressed in the narrative of their family, friends, and moments of ordinary life that makes their example powerful.  And really, isn’t this kind of integration necessary to define ‘what is missional?’

As they go about their days, they are discipling little hearts.  They are connecting with the people of their neighborhoods, grocery stores, and parks, often because this is what their time is confined to during this season of life.  However, it would be wise for those of us that have the luxury of more free time to take note of their incarnational example.

To demonstrate what I mean, let me link to posts from a few of the missional mommies who inspire me.  Believe me, you will be blessed and inspired to read their posts.

• Erika – Honestly, this is the most beautiful picture of discipleship I have read.  Part 1, Part 2
• Amber – Sweet moments of Chloe’s life. I loved the prayer that she would see Jesus as not “too big” for her.  Part 1, Part 2
• Molly – A brilliant post on punishment versus discipline. The skills and attitude cultivated in discipling a two-year-old through a tantrum are useful in every relationship.
• Mary – She shares how missional living is a family affair.  Mary parents with a gentle, patient maturity that I wish I had when my children were toddlers.

I am thankful for the gems of wisdom that I glean from the stories these women share.

One At a Time

That is how you write 500 posts.

According to my blog stats, this is my 500th post.

I could not imagine writing 500, or 500 more.

Sometimes I can’t imagine writing the next one.

So I don’t. For awhile.

And then, I don’t know why, I just keep writing.

~

(A little trivia for the statisticians:

The 500 figure does not include deleted posts or drafts that may never see the light of day.

I am 25 days shy of my 3rd year anniversary for a total of 1070 days.

This makes my blogging rate 1 post per 2.14 days. BR=1/2.14

I have previously mentioned that my final blogging day might be September 25, 2008 (10:04 AM).

End-time prophets may want to take note of this date.)

Two Perspectives

Ed Young defends his position on the video clip that is now posted at Out of Ur.

“See the laymen believe these people, because laymen, they’re always going to believe the victim. They’re not going to believe the pastor. We’re all about the victim.”

Too bad that he invalidates and dismisses the views of entire groups of people who are apparently so dumb (baa, baa) they would follow a pirate. I also found it interesting that he chose the word victim to describe those who leave.

When he asked, “In what areas is there a vacuum?” my immediate thought was that there is an obvious vacuum in equipping and releasing.

His perspective on lack of loyalty, lack of commitment, and level of betrayal indicate a presumption of ownership, territory, and entitlement that he seems completely blind to and unaware of as a part of the problem.

As usual Brant has a way of cutting through the BS to offer another perspective. He includes a link at the end to Pirate Pastor Ed’s church describing how you can share your loot in their capital campaign.

Just remember…

“Remember, Town and Country offerings are given above and beyond your tithe, which is at least 10% of your gross income.”

I don’t make this stuff up.
This is unapologetically church as usual in the world of church success.

I Can Only Imagine, or Can I?

I have a few thoughts swirling around about imagination, memory, identity, and potential for change. Just to be clear, this isn’t an angry or bitter rant. I am just thinking out loud and sharing some not-fully-developed thoughts.

Cindy asked in the previous post, “What now?”

There is important and necessary work happening in the conversation in an attempt to re-imagine what church is when we remove the Christendom lenses through which most of us have always known church. At this point however, it is mostly theory and conversation.

In The Forgotten Way, Alan Hirsch asserts that embedded within us is an apostolic memory that he refers to as mDNA. If we were to remember and realize that aspect of our identity as the people of God, the church could be transformed from an institution to an organic missional movement.

Even for those experimenting with changing models and methods there is an innate tendency to modify and remodel aspects of the dominant model. I really wonder if we are capable of imagining beyond what we have always known.

According to Alan’s mDNA, it is within us. Yet it seems that the power of the memory we are imprinted with may be a force greater than mDNA.

Instinctual drift is the tendency for organisms to revert to their natural tendencies, a history of learned behaviors so ingrained that they have become second-nature. We instinctually drift back to these known patterns by default.

In the Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch said:

“One of the major blockages to unleashing Apostolic Genius is our adherence to an obsolete understanding of the church. A people whose imagination of what it means to be God’s people has been taken hostage to a less than biblical imagination of church.”

Not only have our imaginations been taken hostage, but our desires have been captured also. I said in the previous post that we have the church we want. The majority of us live among people completely entrenched in and satisfied with the church model I described in my previous post.

I am doubtful that we will see church re-imagined to the degree that Alan describes. I am also doubtful that the dreamers who attempt to launch into something new will overcome the instinctual drift to revert to the inherited memory of church or to overcome the resistance from the masses whose expectation is for the institution of church we have always known.

While diagnosing the need for change is important, what will become of a handful of people asking “what now?’ in the shadow of the Christendom machine?

Measuring Success

Let’s take a look at some of the factors that contribute to the success of a church organization. I am not an expert but it seems to me that these are the things that are viewed as marks of success among church organizations.

Number of members

This is the most obvious measure of how a church is doing. The pastor of the church we attend has frequently mentioned that “how big is yours?” is the inevitable question at pastors’ gatherings.

$$$

The size of the budget determines what the organization is able to do. It is reflected in the size and quality of the building or campus. The budget also determines the size of staff that is possible which influences the ability to provide services and programs.

The quality of services and programs is dependent on the money available. More money allows for a higher level of investment in children’s programs and facilities and in youth programs and facilities. It also allows for a greater investment in technology which is reflected in the production value of the programs and services.

Loyalty

In a successful church organization, the members are fans. They naturally promote the church because of their excitement and positive feelings about it. Their excitement is also reflected in their willingness to participate as volunteers in the programs and services offered. The involvement of enthusiastic members is the oil that keeps the machinery of the church functioning.

Visibility

One of the measures of success of a church is how well-known the pastor is in the community and perhaps even at a regional or national level. A charismatic leader has the ability to create a following and to grow the size of a church perhaps to the point where video venues will be necessary. An extremely talented worship team or worship leader can also contribute to the visibility and success of a church.

The Bottom Line

So there you go, lots of people giving their money and time to contribute to the smooth operation and potential influence of the organization.

What do you think?

Post-critical?

Not yet.

In the Why Are An Orange? post, I wrote:

I am so disillusioned with the end results of the organizational and programmatic aspects of church that I cannot seem to see beyond that.

At the moment, church as business seems to permeate everything that I read.

Ben Gray wrote a post entitled The Church Today Is Big Business. While I may not necessarily agree with all of his points, I do agree with his conclusion:

Most churches today are big business. They have profit margins, a paid CEO and subordinates. They even have a marketing strategy. It’s goal is to attract customers by providing a better product than any other church in town. And believe me, they need those customers because they have business expenses. They have bills and salaries to pay. Without paying customers, the church will go out of business.

The church is a business. You say, “But the church isn’t in it for the money.” I say, “Bull shit.” Every church is in it for the money. You ask how I got so bitter. I ask how the church got so vain.

There are pastors and churches everywhere proving that this mentality is pervasive. In Manifestations of Consumer Church, Bill Kinnon posted a link to the Ed Young video where Ed laments about church pirates who steal sheep, clearly communicating a sense of territorialism about church growth rather than an open and inclusive view of the body of Christ extending the kingdom.

Father Rob shares a warning in his post, The Church Is Not a Business:

I would say that a huge portion of the church has been heavily influenced by a church model that is actually founded more on best business practices than on biblical faithfulness.

In the pages of Scripture, we get a very different model for how the church is to operate. Success there does not depend on a person’s brilliance, their adherence to the latest best practices, or their ability to master ingenious strategies. It depends on God; on being “empowered” by the Holy Spirit.

We don’t “market” Jesus or what the church has to offer; we become what God is calling us to be and let that speak for itself. We don’t “sell” the Gospel or manage customers, commodifying both the teachings of Jesus and the people we are called to serve. And language really does matter in how we think about these things. And perhaps most counter cultural of all, we don’t necessarily pursue success; we pursue faithfulness.

Instead of being the sacred places they were meant to be, our churches will only become more and more like the world around them; like businesses chasing the latest market niche.

And if you don’t believe that, watch the latest video clip of Bill Hybels discussing WC and the response to the Reveal study. I have a great deal of respect for Bill, but I had trouble sifting through the business and attractional language in this clip – strategic, models, relevant, initiatives, spiritually catalytic, effectiveness, weekend event, service, adjustments, more effective, more information, lead better, seeker ministry, risk profile – yada, yada, yada.

“You have to thrill believers in order to move them to a place where they see people far from God the way Jesus sees them.”

I am trying to put a positive spin on what he meant by thrilling believers. Better worship songs? video clips of Bono? better coffee and donuts? What kind of thrilling might be happening in the multi-million dollar building at the well-produced service of the weekend event? Maybe there could be a power point of what’s happening outside the walls in order to “thrill the believers” into seeing others the way Jesus sees them.

Hamo shared an email by John Yates. He describes the problem of the church settling for an identity as a business organization as “spiritual masturbation.”

By “Christianity” I mean the construct of organised religious practice that developed in post–Constantinian Europe and was then progressively exported around the globe. It is the dominant form of religion we are familiar with to this day – church buildings, professional ministries, set services, academic training for ministry and so on.

Contemporary Western Christianity largely defines itself by its relationship with itself and its history. It is extremely introverted. This is indicated, for example, by the inordinate focus on leadership, ministry, church growth, gifts, the Bible, anointing, prosperity, revival etc. rather than on the person of Jesus and his living presence amongst us.

The greatest obstacle to the advance of the kingdom of God in most of the West is not secularism, religious pluralism or Islam, but a resurgent Christianity. By this I mean a religion dominated by mega churches, super pastors and political influence. What we are most in need of today is a post-Christianity church.

Do I believe this is true of every single church? No, but I do believe that most leaders of church organizations have difficulty not falling into the trap of business success mentalities and patterns of commodifying people. To be honest, I have a difficult time seeing myself not being critical of this.