Hunsberger & Missional Faithfulness

July 24, 2008 | Filed Under church, culture, lesslie newbigin, missional | No Comments

All the clearest voices tell us that the corpus Christianum, the Constantinian arrangement, and the world of Christendom that guided our thinking about ourselves for 1500 years, is not coming back.

Our habit of telling our Christian story always as a success story, the habit so ingrained in us by even these later years in which formal Christendom was largely disestablished but functional Christendom continued, is running out of capital. The danger lies in continuing to believe the fiction that this is the way our story goes. The crisis means discovering what new story awaits us, and how the Holy Spirit draws us into the story in a new way.

That brings us to the opportunity side of the crisis. The opportunity is to recover what it means for the church to be missional. This is not just to have missions, or to send missions or missionaries, but to possess a distinctly missional sense of our identity, and to know ourselves to be formed by God as a sent community that bears the marks of the full biblical story of a cross, as well as a resurrection.

Here we are face to face with the challange for which Lesslie Newbigin has become so famous (or, infamous). He imagines what it would be like for the churches of the West to become genuinely engaged in “the missionary encounter of the gospel with our Western culture.”

That this sounds so new tells how far we have lost our missional character because it is in such a continual engagement that our calling and vocation finds it certre.

– George R. Hunsberger from “Birthing Missional Faithfulness: Accents in a North American Movement” in International Review of Mission

The Times They Are A-Changin’

February 18, 2008 | Filed Under church, culture | No Comments

The latest Barna Update illustrates the shift of the spiritual landscape in the United States. Barna reports that for the first time the majority of adults believe there are biblically legitimate alternatives to conventional church when it comes to experiencing and expressing their faith.

Here is the heart of the article:

For decades, American Christians, who comprise more than four of every five adults, assumed they had one legitimate way to practice their faith: through involvement in a conventional church. But new research shows that this mind set is no longer prevalent in the U.S. The latest Barna study shows that a majority of adults now believe that there are various biblically legitimate alternatives to participation in a conventional church.

Each of six alternatives was deemed by a most adults to be “a complete and biblically valid way for someone who does NOT participate in the services or activities of a conventional church to experience and express their faith in God.” Those alternatives include engaging in faith activities at home, with one’s family (considered acceptable by 89% of adults); being active in a house church (75%); watching a religious television program (69%); listening to a religious radio broadcast (68%); attending a special ministry event, such as a concert or community service activity (68%); and participating in a marketplace ministry (54%).

Smaller proportions of the public consider other alternatives to be complete and biblically valid ways of experiencing and expressing their faith in God. Those include interacting with a faith-oriented website (45%) and participating in live events via the Internet (42%).

Activity Outside the Conventional Church

The Barna study also found that tens of millions of people are experiencing and expressing their faith in God independent of any connection to a conventional church. In the past month, 55% of adults had attended a conventional church service. During that same month, 28% of all adults who did not attend a conventional church activity did, however, participate in an alternative means of experiencing and expressing their faith in God.

Looking at some of the newer and more controversial methods of spiritual engagement, the survey found that 4% had participated in a house church or simple church; 9% had been involved in a ministry that met in the marketplace; and 12% had engaged in spiritual activity on the Internet.

Get Involved In What God Is Doing

February 2, 2008 | Filed Under church, culture | No Comments

Two years ago today Bono spoke with a prophetic voice at the National Prayer Breakfast in D.C. To watch the video or read the text of his remarks go here. Following is one of many statements that spoke to me:

A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord’s blessing. I was saying, “Look, I have a new song, would you look out for it. I have a family, I’m going away on tour, please look after them. I have this crazy idea, could I have a blessing on it?”

And this wise man asked me to stop. He said, “Stop asking God to bless what you’re doing. Get involved in what God is doing — because it’s already blessed. Well, let’s get involved in what God is doing. God, as I say, is always with the poor. That’s what God is doing. That’s what He’s calling us to do.

The Story of Stuff

January 23, 2008 | Filed Under culture | 2 Comments

I finally carved out 20 minutes to watch “The Story of Stuff.” The video is a bit slow to load at times, but it is worth the wait. It does a good job of illustrating how our insatiable appetite to consume is slowly killing us. Be sure to check out the helpful ideas of promoting sustainability and justice that are offered under the another way link.

Shouldn’t the church be at the forefront of leading an alternative way?

“Then he said, ‘Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.’ Then he told them a story: A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.’” (Luke 12:15-21)

Ministry in 2018

January 8, 2008 | Filed Under church, culture | 1 Comment

Alan Nelson, executive editor of Rev! Magazine and author of Me to We offers an interesting article in the latest issue of Rev! titled “Ministry in 2018: 12 Trends Affecting You Now.”

The list is developed by synthesizing research from dozens of studies over the past five years. Trends that are discussed include: Hospice Care for Denominations, Outreach Through Service, Morphing of House Churches, Spiritual Tipping Point Away From America, and Fewer Mega-Campuses Built (But More Mega-Ministries).

While the discussion on each of the trends is interesting and worth reading, I found the responses (and in some cases push back) from others like Alan Hirsch, Dan Kimball and especially Sally Morgenthaler most helpful. Find the expanded online version, including the additional responses here.

The Celtic Way of Evangelism

December 28, 2007 | Filed Under books, culture | No Comments

The Church, in the Western world, faces populations who are increasingly “secular” — people with no Christian memory, who don’t know what we Christians are talking about. These populations are increasingly “urban” — and out of touch with God’s “natural revelation.” These populations are increasingly “postmodern”; they have graduated from Enlightenment ideology and are more peer driven, feeling driven, and “right-brained” than their forebears. These populations are increasingly “neo-barbarian”; they lack “refinement” or “class,” and their lives are often out of control. These populations are increasingly receptive — exploring worldview options from Astrology to Zen — and are often looking “in all the wrong places” to make sense of their lives and find their soul’s true home.

In the face of this changing Western culture, many Western Church leaders are in denial; they plan and do church as though next year will be 1957. Furthermore, most of the Western Church leaders who are not in denial do not know how to engage the epidemic numbers of secular, postmodern, neo-barbarians outside (and inside) their churches.

- George Hunter III in The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach The West . . . Again

Conversation with Rob Bell

December 26, 2007 | Filed Under church, culture | 1 Comment

There is a very interesting conversation over at Read the Spirit between David Crumm and Rob Bell at the beginning of Bell’s “The God’s Aren’t Angry” tour. You can find the complete interview here, but here is a bit of the dialogue:

DAVID: You’re known as a master of new media -– that’s the way people think of your work with the downloadable sermons and Nooma films and your church’s unusual Web site. But you don’t use a lot of that on stage. Not at Mars Hill and not in these tours. What you do on stage is very basic. Why?

ROB: We have to be extremely cautious. We shape our tools and they shape us. I’m completely open to whatever new technologies present themselves, but we also must be aware of what these new things are. They’re tools and they shape our messages.

Some of these tools are so powerful that they will gather lots of people. But filling a room with thousands of people who watch a performance –- that’s not church. Church involves feeding the poor, talking somebody out of killing themselves, helping someone pay their grocery bills when they can’t afford to do it. That’s church.

Hurray! Church Got Sued & Lost

October 31, 2007 | Filed Under church, culture | 2 Comments

I never thought I would celebrate the day that a church got sued and lost! But yeah to this one!

The Barna Group Update

September 25, 2007 | Filed Under church, culture | 5 Comments

If you have any doubt about the waning influence of the church in America read Barna’s latest update here. A new study conducted by the Barna Group among 16 to 29 year olds shows that a new generation is more skeptical of and resistant to Christianity than were people of the same age just a decade ago.

I find many of Barna’s findings to be reminiscent of Kimball’s latest book “They Like Jesus But Not The Church.” What this generation is skeptical of is not the way of Jesus, but the “way” of judgmental, hypocritical Christians. I appreciated one of the final paragraphs in the Barna update:

Some Christians fear the changing reputation of Christianity and it certainly represents an uncomfortable future. Yet, rather than being defensive or dismissive, we should learn from critics, especially those young Christians who are expressing consternation about the state of faith in America. Jesus told us to expect hostility and negative reactions. That is certainly nothing new.

But the issue is what we do with it. Is it a chance to defend yourself and demand your rights? Or is it an opportunity to show people grace and truth? Common ground is becoming more difficult to find between Christians and those outside the faith. When the Apostle Paul advises believers to “live wisely among those who are not Christians” and to “let your conversation be gracious and effective,” (Colossians 4:5-6, NLT) he could be writing no better advice to committed Christians in America.

What Can We Learn From Calvin & Hobbes

August 23, 2007 | Filed Under church, culture, gospel | 2 Comments

I love the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip written by Bill Watterson. I have C&H on my sidebar gadgets, my laptop screen saver, and we have C&H books scattered in what seems ever room of the house. Like many others, I was disappointed when Watterson made the decision in 1995 to retire from cartooning. Well, I was delighted to discover a wonderful essay by Fred Sanders titled “What You Can Learn from Calvin and Hobbes about the Message and the Medium” over at The Scriptorium Daily. Sanders discusses lessons learned from Watterson and how those lessons should be applied to the way the church communicates the Gospel of Jesus. (HT: Tim Challies)

John Stott on Cultural Engagement

August 12, 2007 | Filed Under church, culture | 2 Comments

“In the end there are only two attitudes which Christians can adopt toward the world. One is escape and the other is engagement.”

- John Stott

Culturally Savvy Christian

July 10, 2007 | Filed Under books, culture | No Comments

I recently began reading Dick Staub’s The Culturally Savvy Christian, subtitled “A Manifesto For Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite.” In chapter one Staub emphasises how popular culture is crippling the souls of people. He then contends that the only real answer is a transformed American Christianity. Here is a short excerpt from the conclusion of chapter one. More>>

Don’t Assimilate Me!

June 1, 2007 | Filed Under culture, gospel, missional | 2 Comments

Here is a very helpful post by Rick Meigs over at The Blind Beggar where he summarizes the last chapter of Gary McIntosh’s book “Beyond the First Visit: The Complete Guide to Connecting Guests to Your Church.”

While I shared with Rick that I was a bit uncomfortable with couching all of McIntosh’s thoughts in the “what the emerging church does” discussion (because I believe it is bigger/wider than simply what the EC does) I found the points to be right on and in many regards more biblically faithful than our typical modes of operation. I would like to hear your thoughts. More>>

Origins Conference

April 28, 2007 | Filed Under culture, missional | 4 Comments

I am leaving Monday for Mosaic’s Origins conference. I am looking forward to seeing what being missional looks like for Mosaic and how they are getting it done. I hope to blog throughout the couple days in LA. Have any of you been a part of Origins in the past or been around Mosaic? If so, are there any recommendations? Are there certain places or people I should look for?

Worship & U2

March 30, 2007 | Filed Under culture, music | 5 Comments

I have always been a huge U2 fan. I own every cd they ever produced (although I did sell “POP” to a used cd store a few days after I purchased it) and at times have traveled several states to see them in concert. I say that to admit that I have a bias in regards to U2 being the best band of all times and producing the best album of all times - The Joshua Tree. I still find the lyrics and music of U2 to be challenging, inspiring, and many times worshipful, not to mention the humanitarian issues that Bono has championed the past several years. I found this video be a good summary of all the above. Be sure to watch it through as there is a short portion from Bono’s talk at the national prayer breakfast.