The Return to Spiritual Formation

A person who claims to be a follower of Jesus claims to have a relationship with him. This means they know him, not just about him (Philippians 3:10). Yet, we have turned our churches into groups of people who are studying God as though they were taking a course at school or attending a business seminar. We aim at the head. We don't deal in relationships. And we wonder why there is no passion for Jesus and his mission?

Wrong Question:

How do we develop church members ?

We, churches, aim for this. We develop ministries in our churches that are geared to make people better church members. We want the individuals who come into our building and join the church. We want them to become a club member. We want to make sure that our new members understand the great benefits that they can receive with their membership.

Unfortunately, we have made following Jesus all about being a good club member. There are many wonderful people across the U.S. who have devoted their lives to the church. They fill all the roles that need to be filled and empty themselves out to the church. They look at their lives and see that their lives are not too much different from those outside of church and who have 'Sunday's" off. There is a misconnection and they begin to struggle with their beliefs.

Reggie says, " I think the solution is an abandonment of the church culture idolatry and a radical introduction of spiritual formation.

Tough Question

How do we develop followers of Jesus ?

The purpose for "framing" the question this way is the following: It shifts the conversation from the institution to people. This will also shift the conversation about "numbers". Numbers may still be used but they will be used to measure different aspects of ministry - not how many were at the building ( this is a tough shift ). our conversations then could be about where we see God (Jesus) at work in people and the community.

BTW, the "" on framing and numbers are reminders for me. Framing is coming from Brian McClaren's new book that I want to post on and numbers is the straw that broke my back on leaving YMX. Both of which I may post on later.

The following paragraph may be the most interesting paragraph of the book for me. Here it is: Instead of dumping a packet of church member stuff on them, why not interview them about what they would like to see happen in their lives in terms of their spiritual development and personal growth? He then goes on after the interview, this could occur: the life coach could then fashion a customized personal growth strategy for the person or family.

I really like this thought process and compare it to the gym. I remember when I was part of Gold's Gym, we all had trainers and each person at different goals. Depending on those goals, that is how our training program was developed. I would love for us as churches to do this. This would do a few things. These are the important things in my opinion:

1. The church is supporting the people NOT vice-versa
2. It places the spiritual growth upon the individuals to "carry out"
3. Places the training back at the home

I am still in the process of working out this life coach plan for each member. I have a few diagrams thrown out and a few of them, I think could be viable. In doing so, it would change the whole complexion of the church.

Reggie gives seven benefits of life-coaching. I am not going to go through them, owever, I will place a quote that I loved from him: Imagine helping people see how God can get into the life they already have instead of asking them to give up their life for the church.

So, what is the purpose of spirtual formation ? Many would argue what / how this would look like. I would say that it is more organic (doing life) than academic (curriculum) based. I will close with this final paragraph:

The community of faith should be an enviorment where the number one pursuit is the development of human beings created in the image of God and redeemed into his family through Jesus.

New Reformation: Releasing God's People

This chapter could be summed up in the following sentence: The new Reformation is about freeing God's people from the church (the institution).

So, what does the new reformation do ? It can be charachterized by a few of the following:

- church members no longer willing to allow clergy to script their spiritual journey
- moving the church closer to the world ( not home )
- distinquishes followers of Jesus from religious people
- it is about mission ( not church )
- drawing energy from the information revolution
- they help followers of Jesus live abundant and missional lives

The Wrong Question

How do we turn members into ministers ?

Alright, it is time for honestly. When I read this as the wrong question, it was like a punch in the stomache. This is (was) the question that I have been asking for years. I remember seeing this question all through my seminary career. My degree was in Practical Ministry with an empasis in Church Growth & Evangelism. I even had a class called Every Member a Minister.

As Reggie states: I cringe every time I hear that phrase, I do the same now. It may not seem like a bad thing but what usually occurs and what happens is that we are recruiting church members to get church work done.

Now don't get me wrong, I think church work needs to get done. HOWEVER, I believe that we need to think out side of ourselves and too often, we focus on the local church.

We have become pretty efficient in recruiting leaders for ministries. We give spiritual gift inventories, talk to them about their passion and then place them into ministry that matches their gifts and passions. But, we do this to fill church jobs. What would happen if we did this for "jobs" outside of the church ?

Reggie makes a statement that has me chewing and chewing and trying to digest it. Here is his statement: They (clergy) view the recruitment difficulties they are experiencing as a motivational issue rather than understanding the significant shift in how people are making decisions about how they will spend their lives.

I believe that there are many individuals out there that are looking for authentic relationships and they are wanting to live a missional life. HOWEVER, they realize that 'church work" will take up time, burn them out and cause them not to live out of their passion and love. We also fail when we think their gifts can only be used by God through Church Jobs. One final statement from Reggie that hits hard at home before we move to the tough question:

Laypeople see the disconnect in the every member in ministry strategy. They are voting by not lending their time, energy, and money to ministry vision that has the church as the primary beneficiary or recipient. Church has become increasingly irrelevant to their workday and home lives. Church ministry to them is an add-on activity to an already crowded life. They wonder why God can't use them where he has already embedded them - in their homes, workplaces, schools and community.

This is one area where I am treadding water and trying to walk the line.

Tough Question:

How do we turn members into missionaries?

We as a church need to see how we can deploy more missionaries into the community. This can be challenging for us because if we do this - there may be fewer people at the church and fewer programs that can be supported because people are out in the community transforming it.

We, Christians, love to live in the sub-culture that we have created. This also goes for church. We love surrounding ourself into church. It is safer there. Also, when we live in our church-bubble, it causes us to think about our church and not the kingdom at large and definitely not about our community.

NEWSFLASH: People are busy and are out there. Let's captalize on them being out there instead of us drawing them away from their influences and putting them in a building.

We as churches really need to have MISSION as the backdrop of everything that we do. This can be difficult for churches especially when we enter dialogue about being culturally relevant. We need to connect with the culture. Reggie says: you can not be faithful to the Great Commission without being relevant.

The greatest problem that I see is the unwillingness of those who attend church to connect with individuals who are outside of the church. I am not sure what we are afraid of ... maybe that they will "rub off on us" - I don't know. However, what happens is that we become more concerned about our club ( religious culture )than Jesus or the mission that He has set us out to do.

I am not sure where it exactly occurred, but we have become an "add-on". People think of the church has an add-on. We go to work, we go to play, we are involved in extra-curricular activities and we add on church when we have time. We have got to change this. We need to have Christ as part of our life - no matter where we are - do not segment your life out.

I am going to end on a quote from the book and will use another segment of the chapter as a different post since this post is becoming long. Here it is: The problem is that when people come to church, expecting to find God, they often encounter a religious club holding a meeting where God is conspicuously absent.

Church Growth To Kingdom Growth

About 30 years ago, the church growth movement hit North America. The movement came to us out of a response that the church had lost its mission. So, we did what we know how to do best - we trained consultants to go out and tell us to grow churches.

Out of this movement, we saw a few camps develop. One group was stating that if we did what God called us to do and were filling the Great Commission, the church would grow. The other camp was laying it at the feet of God .... God is responsible for it.

It has created a huge mess. I am currently in a youth ministry forum that is dealing with a number of threads on youth building, youth ministry numeroucal growth and target ministry to reach the masses. Some of the conversation to me is just sickening.

But, Reggie hits a point early on in chapter 2 when he says the following: the idea that churches should be growing put a lot of pressure on denominations and church leaders on whose watch the steam had gone out of post WW II church expansion.

Right and Wrong of the Movement

There were a few things that were right about the movement. The could include the following:

1. Wake up call to the church
2. It introduced the idea of missiological principles
3. Called to attention of the growing diversity of individuals
4. Brought cultural relevance to the front burner
5. Moved away from just church thinkers

There were definitely some things that were wrong with the movement. Here are a few of them:

1. Church Hopping
2. Mom and Pop churches "folded" to the Megachurch
3. Church leadership abused the church
4. Go Short of Sin to "bring up the numbers"
5. Celebrity church

These are some thoughts that come from the book. I have personally seen these principles take shape. They occur more in some places than others. Some of the most prevelant I have seen is from Lexington, Kentucky and Birmingham, Alabama.

There are numerous churches that are "growing". Well, their numbers are up but they are due to location move, church hoppers and engulfing the small church with great programs.

Reggie hits a homerun when he says: we have the best churches that men can build, but we are still waiting for the church that only God can get credit for.

So, we are looking at the wrong questions and the tough questions. Here are the questions for the church growth to kingdom growth.

Wrong Question: How do we grow this church (dow do we get them to come to us) ?

Tough Question: how do we transfor our community (how do we hit the street with the Gospel)?

Come to us Baby ....

This is what I think of when we are talking about church growth. We yell out to the community, come to us. This has caused us as church (congregations) to compete. It is kinda like Jerry McGwire ... Show me the .....NUMBERS. We are concentrating on numbers now so that has switched us into the customer service mentality. Yea .. now that really has helped us and had caused us to answer God's call. We now spend multi-millions to satisfy an increasingly high-maintenance consumer.

So, we are stuck in this methodology rat trap and we keep spinning and jumping from wheel to wheel hoping that the next thing will launch us into the right direction.

Blah

Let's take a look at the tough question ...

Reggie sums it up perfectly when he says, "churches that understand the realities of present future are shifting the target of ministry efforts from church activity to community transformation."

We need to be connected with God's heart and we need to have our heart break where His heart breaks and we rejoice in what brings Him joy.

We though are not connected with Him. We should be (since we are the church) but we are not. One of the reasons is that we have turned spirituality into a refuge mentality.

I am currently reading a book that is really challenging me. The book is called "The New Friars". It is a book of stories on individuals who are out there in the world, giving up everything to be with the people. The book is challenging me greatly and it ties into this question very well. I need to have my eyes open and my heart tuned to God so I can see where there is hurt and injustice and be there.

We have now become the pharisees and we need to hear His challenge and follow His example. Instead of "come and get it"; it was "go get 'em". Instead of withdrawing from people for the fear of contamination, he ate with them.

I think that the toughtst part is that when we hear this challenge, we think there has to be a new evangelism or outreach program to due this. This is understandable because of what business and what the church growth movement has taught us. But, we usually fail because it is nothing more than trying to "entice" the unchurched to come to church.

We as churches really need to take a proactive approach and see how we can staff and funnel our resources into community transformation. Each community is different and each transformation that needs to take place will look differently.

What is it in your community ?

One of the different aspects about this is highlighted in the book. Kingdom thinking does not force people into the church to hear about Jesus or maintain the church membership is the same thing as kingdom citizenship.

We need to be where they are at and we need to be meeting the needs of community. This is tough though because this means that we are not sure how to "measure success".

Final words for me today. I know that this has been long and I am not sure if anyone is still following but it is not our job to convict people of sin. We are to be out there showing them God's grace.

Collapse of the Church Culture

Today, I am going to hash out some of the points from chapter 1 in the book "The Present Future". The chapter is called, "The Collapse of the Church Culture".

One of the statements in the opening chapter that sends shivers down my spine was the following: They are leaving the church to preserve their faith. For most church goers that just sounds messed up. However, if you place your ear to the pavement and listen to the vibes; it is true.

In the book, Reggie takes a look at questions. He takes a look at what is the wrong question and then what is the tough question. Let's take a look at them for the first chapter.

Wrong Question: How Do We Do Church Better?

I have to be honest, this question hit me hard. I have operated out of this concept for numerous years - more than I probably want to admit to. I mean, I went and got my masters degree in Church Growth & Evangelims. Why ? So, I could help churches do ministry better, so we can grow and we can reach more people.

Every week, I receive promos for new conventions, new seminars and new ministry helps that will make my ministry better and for us to be successful. We always seem to be looking for the next thing that will help us.

Reggie hits it on the head when he says, " no wonder people are skeptical about the next thing coming on the horizon ". We are so busy with our lives and we jam-pack the church calendar. Here is a newsflash from the book that I agree with greatly:

Church activity is a poor subsitute for genuine spiritual vitality.

The reason, people are searching for meaning in their life. I think we, churches, have sold them this line that if they are in worship, if they are in Sunday School, if they help out with ministry, if they .... and the list goes on and they keep placing check marks after the lists ...

HOWEVER, what it has produced is a group of people who are tired, depressed, fed up and dis-connected to the church. Which is very sad. Reggie makes another great point in the following manner:

In North America, these people have been led to believe that their Christian life is all about the church, so this failure of the church not only creates doubt about the church, it also leads them to all kinds of doubt about God and their relationship with him.

We, as churches, have decided to run and hide. We have built fortress ( church buildings ) and we hide inside of them. At times, we think that we will abide by the Great Commission and do an outreach event. We cringe to do so because we love to live in our bubble. However, the outreach event is really messed up as well (usually). Why ? Because we expect them to come to us and we want to get them cleaned up and have them part of us so we can be more comfortable with them. What a vicious cycle.

Reggie makes the following statement that I have been chewing on for weeks as he explains how this is the wrong question. Here it goes:

The point is, all the effort to fix the church misses the point. You can build the perfect church and they still won't come. People are not looking for a great church.

The premise: church hopping is for church people. Those outside of the church are looking for meaningful relationships and a purpose in their life. Also, he points out ( and this is tough ) that people outside the church think that church is for church people NOT THEM.

The conclusion: We can make the church better and we can "grow" the church by bringing along some church hoppers. The need for the church is not a methodological fix; it is a misson fix. Thus, Reggie states that this is the tough question that we should be easking:

Tough Question: How Do We Deconvert from Churchianity to Christianity?


This can be very hard. What has occurred in many circles is that we have forgotten about Jesus. Our focus has been more about the church ( the institution ). Now, please hear me, the institution can still be used as a vehichle to introduce people to Jesus. However, we need to make sure that we are converting people to Jesus and not to the church.

Reggie reminds us as I have seen in numerous arenas as well is the following: People may be turned off to the church, but they are not turned off to Jesus. the first time that I encountered this was in 1991 while I was playing basketball in the inner city of Indianapolis. Some of the guys said, " man if i could get &%^$# past the religion of church, I would love to have a relationship with Jesus ".

Those statements have shifted greatly though. People are now noticing they can have Jesus without the church. But, a scary thing is now, they are not associating Jesus with the church. They see the church has a religious club that they have no desire to be part of.

We need to get back to the mission. The church was created for us (people) to join God in his redemptive plan of the world. We have moved away from it and we (the church) has turned the focus to ourself.

Here is the good news. God is still active. He is still calling us to be part of the movement. We can answer the call. Do you hear the voice and are you willing to hear the call ?

We need to go out. We need to be with the individuals in the world. You are already there: in school, in work, social networks. Be Jesus to them. We have two powerful "weapons" ( I hate that analogy ) and they are grace and love. The world really is searching for God. However, they do not think they can find God in the church building, so they are out there on the search ....

Will you help them on their journey ??

I am still wrestling with how I will be doing this in my daily life. I am looking forward to the journey. I am also thankful that I am part of an "institutional church" that is missional and moving more and more that way daily ( I believe ).

I will be revisiting this soon on my personal journey and our church jouney. Chapter by chapter, we shall go.

The Present Future: Part 1

I am going to be doing a series on this. For me, it is agoing to be a journey. The journey will not only reflect my thoughts on the issues in the book, but how they play out in my ministry context and I will also be giving insight from our church as our church council works through the book.

Here is the "summary" on the inside flap.

Many of the old beliefs held by church leaders and congregations read as if they are self-evident, irrefutable truths - if you bild the perfect church they will come .... Growing your church automatically makes a difference in the community ... Developing better church members will mean better evangelism .... Time has failed to produce the evidence of these claims.

In the book, Reggie debunks these and other old assumptions and provides an overall strategy to help church leaders move forward in an entirely different and much more effective way.

It is a 6 chapter book with each chapter focusing on a reality that he believes the church must address. I am looking forward to expressing his thoughts and then processing them. The book is stirring inside me and they (the book thoughts) are flowing through in some of my conversations (ym boards) and people are disagreeing .. and I think that is great because it shows the struggle we are having in the church.