25. Communities and Boundaries

So what exactly is it that forms communities? From the sociological perspective, a key ingredient to the formation of a community is a common ideology. In fact, this is probably the foundation of most communities. For example, most churches or denominations are formed around ideologies, or doctrines. Adherence to the ideology places one ion proximity to the group. In some communities, there must be a public recognition of the groups ideology in order to be admitted into the circle. If it is not true for initiation into the community, adherence may be a "staying feature" which secures ones status of "in" and not "out". there are of course varying degrees to which members have latitude to veer away from the ideology. A good example of this would be the political realm. While the political ideology of Democrats or Republicans have identifiable characteristics that distinguish them, you would be hard pressed to find unanimous agreement between Republicans on every issue, despite their fundamentally shared ideology.

If ideology is a foundational element that elicits community, then what are the implications of this for the body of Christ? It is my experience that when a group of people share the same ideology about things, they seem to gravitate towards one another. This happens for obvious reasons. There is comfort in being around people who think like you. There is also the broader interest of collaborating for specific tasks. Not to mention the discussions and learning that arise within a group who intentionally seek to press out the implications for their shared ideology on other part of their life.

You can see this in action with the EMC. There is a different ideology floating around out there about how to be the church, live as a christian and engage in mission for God. It is this different ideology that has elicited the EMC with all of its different tribal expressions. I am excited about this new move of God in the church. It is a breath of fresh air for me and a lot of other people.

What fascinates me about pioneering a community formation is the concept of ideology, praxis and boundaries. These elements are located close together, but I struggle to map their exact coordinates. I am inclined to say, in a linear fashion, that ideology leads to praxis, which then leads to visible boundaries. The only problem with this idea is that we do not live in an air tight, theoretical world. In between ideology and praxis is our culture, worldview, heritage etc. And in between our praxis and boundaries are flesh, hypocrisy, and imperfect knowledge. In other words it is a lot messier than we want it to be.

I have found some relief in the concept of bounded-sets and centered-sets which was first presented by a sociologist named Paul Heibert. Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost in their book The Shaping of Things to Come, discuss this concept at length. I like their metaphor about the wells and the fences. When it comes to herding cattle, you can either build fences to keep track of the cows, or you can build wells, which then become centers for cattle to gather around. The fences would be cultural norms, moral codes, external behaviors and even doctrinal confessions. The well would be a strong ideology that informs and shapes the above externals, but does not erect a barricade to those seeking water.






In the bounded set, it is easy to see who is in and who is out. The only problem is that it erects a barrier to those outside. Not to mention the enormous temptation for legalism. I mean, you could be standing right next to the fence, wishing you were on the other side the whole time. But to everyone else, you seem perfectly fine because you are adhering to the external code.

In the centered set, it is a lot harder to patrol the borders of the community. But really, the goal is not to get people "in the fence". It is to get them closer to the well! So they can drink and stay healthy. So, the question is, what is the well? It is most ambiguously an ideology. It is too simplistically Jesus. Is it more realistic to say that it is the gospel? I want to say that it is. The more I look at this Christianity thing, the more I see that the gospel, if understood and applied, is the foundational ideology for Christian existence and community. Within the gospel is the churches DNA, its ideology and its power. When people are facing this, seeking this and living this, they are drinking from the well.

So what do I mean by the gospel the scholar would say? I would point you to a book by a scholar Michael J. Gorman called Cruciformity: Paul's Narrative Spirituality of the Cross. This book is dynomite! For me, it was the find of a decade. I found myself crying in awe of the cross and all the things I missed about the gospel in the Pauline writings. It is a must read. If the gospel is articulated and embraced, it becomes the governor of morality, relationships, spiritual formation, community, all the good stuff we try to facilitate with our own schemes. Paul does this by offering a pregnant constellation of metaphors. Could it really be this simple? Yes and no. The gospel is God's foolishness, but it is also a mystery. In other words, the well runs deep.

24. The Apostolic Realm

There are so many questions that surround the Apostolic Realm for me. For instance, what is the difference between the Apostle Paul and the ordinary apostle when it comes to "authority"? What is the task of the apostle? How does the apostle relate to the communities they have founded? what is the balance of power and authority between the community founded by an apostle and the community which is in turn founded by that initial community? Do apostles today appoint elders? (This would be a prescriptive question for Titus and Acts) When is an apostles work done? What is the measure of success? What is the DNA which he is supposed to embed in the community? and what about the other gifts? What is the apostolic role with the other gifts? Do you see what I mean? There are so many issues to discuss. So many angles to approach this from.

I can not find any good books out there addressing this in a theologically practical way. There is one book called Paul and the Anatomy of Apostolic Authority by John Schutz. This is the closest I have come to a book discussing these topics. But it really does not do the trick for me. it is a little too rabbit trailish on proving points which can be assumed from the get go. Although he does have a great section on the language of authority that Paul uses in his letters.

Do any of you have any books suggestions out there? Some of this needs to be explored because there is a minfield out there surruonding this apostolic idea. Mainly, the explosive potential of people claiing apostolic authority and power out of their own egos.

23. The Life of an Apostle

The following is taken from Margaret Wheatley's website

The challenges of paradigm pioneers.

While those who want to support new leaders are struggling with the dilemma of scale, individual leaders face very challenging conditions. They act in isolation, often criticized, mocked, or ignored by the prevailing culture. They have no way of knowing there are many more like them, pioneers struggling with new ways of leading. It is a constant struggle to maintain focus and courage in the midst of such criticism and loneliness. And, there are other challenges for these pioneers. These arise from the dynamics of paradigm shifts and how people generally behave when confronted with a new world view.

New leaders must invent the future while dealing with the past.

In speaking with these new leaders, it is very clear that they refuse to carry the past into the future. They do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past having, in many cases, personally suffered from ineffective or brutal leadership. They want to work in new ways, but these new ways of organizing, the new processes for implementing change, have yet to be developed. It is their work to invent them, and so they do double duty. They must simultaneously invent a new process or organizing form, and also solve the problems created by past practices.

It is difficult to break with tradition

It is not easy to invent the new. It is difficult to break free of the training, history, and familiar practices of the prevailing culture. New leaders certainly know that bureaucracy doesn't work, that corruption destroys communities, that aid administered from the top down most often fails. They refuse to repeat these practices, but they, like all of us, have been raised in these traditional ways. Past habits of practice exert strong pressures. When crises mount and people feel fearful and overwhelmed, we default back to practices that are familiar, even if they are ineffective.

Supporters want them to look familiar.

Those with the means to support new leaders often complicate their pioneering work by wanting them to use familiar and traditional leadership processes. Those with resources often feel it too risky to support experiments with new practices. It feels safer to ask for traditional strategic plans, business plans, measurements, and reports, no matter what the context of the initiative. On the surface these seem to be important skill sets, but there is now substantial research demonstrating the failure of these methods to produce desired results in the most traditional of organizations. Perhaps supporters are risk-averse, perhaps they are unaware that these methods don't work. Whatever the reason, sponsors insist that pioneering leaders conform to the past. Resources are not available unless new leaders can demonstrate competency in familiar leadership practices, even those that have consistently failed to achieve sustained change.

And when resources are scarce, and competition grows among different projects, it is easy for pioneers to lose their way. Against their best judgment of what works in their community, they agree to comply with procedures and practices they know can't succeed. Over time, they fail, not from lack of vision or willingness to experiment, but because they have been held back from those experiments. We destroy these pioneers by insisting that they conform to the mistakes of the past.

There is no room for failure.

As pioneers, it is impossible to get it right the first time. No one has yet drawn accurate maps--explorers learn as they go. The maps that pioneers create will make it easy for large populations to migrate easily to the future, but their own explorations require great sacrifice and constant learning. Our present culture doesn't support this kind of experimentation. We want right answers quickly; we ask people to demonstrate success early in their ventures. We evaluate them based on short-term measures. We seldom give adequate time for the explorations and failures that are part of mapping a new territory. Instead of offering additional resources to their explorations and experiments, we abandon them in favor of safer projects that employ familiar, flawed means.

We want them to fail.

This is the greatest, unspoken difficulty pioneering leaders encounter. Society does not want them to succeed. To acknowledge their success means we will have to change. We will have to abandon the comfort of our familiar beliefs and practices. People naturally flee from such changes and thus, even as the old ways fail, we hold onto them more fiercely and apply them more zealously.In his seminal work on paradigms, Thomas Kuhn described the behavior of scientists when confronted with evidence that pointed to a truly new world view. (see The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 1996, 1974) When the new evidence clearly demonstrated the need for a change in paradigms, scientists were observed working hard to make the evidence conform to their old worldview. In defense of the old, they would discard or reinterpret the data. (This was always done unconsciously.) And in the most startling instances, they actually would be blind to the new information-even with the data in front of them, they literally could not see it. For them, the new did not exist.

When the paradigm is changing, it is common to experience each of these dynamics. How often do we see an innovative approach, and then characterize it as traditional? How often do we observe new leadership practices and deny their existence? How often do we treat their successes as anomalies or as exceptions to the norm? How difficult is it for us to acknowledge them for what they are, radical departures from tradition, the first trail markers of our way to the future?

Mohammed Junus, the founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and pioneer of micro-lending to the poor, tells the story of trying to get support from traditional bankers for his first loans to poor people. Dr. Junus wanted to loan very small amounts of money (often not more than a few dollars) to give Bangla people the means to start their own businesses. Whatever evidence he presented, the bank's reply was always the same: "The poor are not credit worthy." Frustrated, he then loaned his own money to the poor, and was paid back on time. But the bank's response was the same. Even after several years of successful lending to the poor, Dr. Junus was still greeted with the same old belief, "The poor are not credit worthy." He realized that no matter how much evidence he might accumulate to demonstrate the contrary, the banks would never see his evidence nor change their beliefs. (Grameen has since loaned millions to the poor, and developed a model for micro-lending that is used worldwide.) http://www.margaretwheatley.com/articles/supportingpioneerleaders.html

I couldn't help but think of apostles as I read this article.

22. Teacher

Excuse me...I have a question. The function of teaching in the traditional church has by far been the championed gift for the past 100 years. Think about it, what do you do the majority of the time while you are at a traditional style church? You sit and listen to someone teach. Now I do not want to come across as downplaying this important gift in the body of Christ. I have had life changing paradigm shifts from powerful teaching and teachers. But if I can repeat an age old saying "Too much of a good thing is not so good."

In the second movie of the fantastic four, these two heroes try to get married and have a happily ever after. The only problem is, the bad guy wont quit. I use Mr. Fantastic to represent the teacher because in the movie he is the genius in the group. (And...there is only four of them and there are five gifts!) He is the man with the information they all need. And while the biblical idea of teaching is more than just transferring information to another host, the institutional church has certainly narrowed this gift down to Sunday school and the sermon.

I chose this picture because it represents what has happened to the body of Christ as it pertains to the five gifts. Teaching and Pastoring have married each other and dominate the traditional style of church. (Although I would jokingly say that it is primarily a patriarchal relationship between the two. There is normally not much real pastoring going on in traditional churches.)

This unholy wedlock is partly due to a natural process of institutionalization in which organizations and communities solidify and turn inward to manage their identity and existence.

Institutionalization is usually seen when the organization begins marking off the borders of their group to clarify who is in and who is not. The establishment of boundaries is of course not necessarily a bad thing. There are idoelogical boundaries for the community of God. Like the gospel, the identity of Jesus etc. And there are praxis boundaries like the moral catalogues in the epistles etc. In fact, all communities have boundaries, whether they be ideological, praxis, images, locations etc. While boundaries are a necessary ingredient of community formation, they are not intended to function as barricades to outsiders.

So what does this have to do with pastors and teachers? When the functions of pastor and teacher enter into holy matrimony, to the neglect of the other gifts, (leave and cleave) this is exactly what the community ends up doing!

This is not necessarily because the pastor and teacher want to usher this in. It is really a byproduct of the apostolic, prophetic and evangelistic gifts being relegated as black sheep in the family.When the first three gifts of APEPT are missing, the Jesus community reflexively aligns itself with preserving the present order and patrolling it's borders.

I am not advocating that we do not need teaching and pastoring. I am merely saying that their needs to be a great divorce followed by a family reunion. In order for that to happen, at least three things need to take place.

1. Break up the incestuous relationship between pastor and teacher. Their union is natural in that they feed off of each other. But it is unnatural in that they are members of the same family! The gifts of teaching and pastoring are all to ready to pair up and sequester themselves off into a position of patriarchy in the church. Breaking up this disastrous duo means making space for the other gifts in the body.

2. Allow the teacher to teach the body about APEPT and their dynamic roles in the body of Christ.

3. Read Alan Hirch's two books The Shaping of Things to Come and Forgotten Ways. (This one is easy.)

There are a number of inhibitors to allowing APEPT to function in the body. but this is a start. Awareness is step number one.

21. Pastor

"Ummmm.......I need to speak with the pastor." Is it a title or a function? It is most often used as a title. In reality, it is a function, like the rest of the gifts in Ephesians 4. So why do we use it as a title? Well, the answer to this is multidimensional, bu t I think I will tackle this one from the institutional dimension. (Surprise right?) When a church becomes institutional in nature, the functions of the body tend to gravitate towards fixed and static processes. In other words, because institutions, by default, exert a tremendous gravitational pull towards self preservation, the people within the institutions tend to be forced into positions of maintenance within the institution. And the nature of these positions are more often than not dictated by the needs of the institution, rather than the giftedness of the individual. In short, the tail ends up wagging the dog.

This reversal of services is clearly seen in the institutional churches role of pastor. While there are varied examples and scenarios, I will be speaking to this situation as some one with an apostolic and prophetic orientation. This of course limits my perspective, but what other choice do i have?

Now then, what normally happens is that someone with an apostolic, prophetic, or evangelistic gifting comes into an interview with a group of elders, search committee, or some other group responsible for hiring a "pastor", and displays a visionary, evangelistic or apostolic dimension in the interview. As a result, the hiring committee is impressed and attracted to their natural passion for the Kingdom and sees them as the thing they have been missing in their church. As a result, the individual is hired for his gifting, but then forced to function as an administrator or pastor. This is extremely frustrating for the apostle, prophet or evangelist who does not possess the gift of administration or pastoring. Frustration and disillusionment sets in and the "pastor" starts looking else where, to another church for a new beginning where things might be different. All along, wondering why he can only stay somewhere 2-4 years at a time without being wooed into another "pastors" position with promising possibilities of using his gifts. Only to repeat the cycle again, or, worse, settle down and perform as "pastor", all the while neglecting their gifting.

So what is a pastor? The picture above of ? protecting herself and absorbing the attack of the enemy is a perfect metaphor. The pastor is a protector, carer, humanizer, preserver. They look inward to the needs of the community. They are loyal to its needs and concerns. Do not talk to a pastor about leaving the flock to go searching for the one. They will stay with the 99 every time. They are not thrill seekers or adventurous. They are the nurturers. Leave the 99 to the apostle or evangelist. Let the prophet and teacher stimulate the apostle and evangelist into going after the one. But the pastor would never dare leave his flock. He will protect them at a ll costs. Even if it means compromising his convictions.

In the institutional church, the pastors surface as the ones who are the preservers of community. They guard and value the homogeneous nature of community. I am of course speaking of the function of a pastor. The title of pastor, in the institutional church is sometimes altogether different. The "pastor" in an institutional church functions as the administrator and symbolic mediator of the organization. I say symbolic mediator because many times they are forced to mediate to the congregation a in a public way, or through preaching, a visual representation of all the gifts.

Because Sunday morning is the primary venue by which the "pastor" is seen and interpreted, there is a tremendous pressure for him to portray himself as a multi-dimensional persona. Instead of letting the apostles be the apostles, and the evangelists be the evangelists, the "pastor", either willingly or by unspoken expectations, attempts to gather with in himself the the other gifts, vindicating the church's decision to place him in the position of "pastor."

When the pastor does not effectively portray this, several things can naturally happen. First, the church can become disenchanted with the pastor, and look for a new performer. Secondly, and this is the more likely, the church begins to take on the personality of the "pastor." This clonoing bleeds through despitethe best efforts of the pastor to disseminate through example and teaching the other giftings. This involuntary cloning is inevitable because of the way the institutional church is structured and formatted. Thirdly, the "pastor" becomes disillusioned by their own inability to play the role they have been given, and sinks into depression, cynicism or apathy.

So after pointing out the negatives, is there anything good to be said of the function Pastor. Well, to start with, thank God pastor is something you do and not who you are. It is a function. and those with the gift of pastoring have a unique ability to facilitate community, nurture a community, and protect a community. They are the relational guardians of community per se. If we were to fit tem into the over all scheme of the 5 gifts in Ephesians four, it would be in relation to comunity.

1. Apostle: Elicits and Pioneers a community through the message of Jesus
2. Prophet: Stimulates and Ignites a community with the message
3. Evangelist: Emboldens and Adds to a community through sharing of the message
4. Pastor: guards and nurtures the personal and communal needs of a community

The gift of pastoring is an inward gifting. It is focused inward to the needs and empowerment of the community. This inward nature of pastoring is a two edge sword. It is extremely unhealthy when not held in check by the first three gift. with out the apostles, and evangelists, a community will gravitate into serving its own needs and eventually become a closed culture of self centered individuals. Conversely, the same can be said of the apostles and evangelsits. If you do not have any pastors functioning in a community, the needs of the comunity will go malnourished. This will happen right under the nose of the apostle or evangelist with out their atention. However, when you have godly pastors, and vibrant apostles and evangelists parntering in the body, watch out! You are o nthe verge of a healthy and vibrant community.

Too often, the apostles or the pastors have dominated with their own perspectives in leadership. Always wanting to reach more people to the neglect of the ones already in the community, or by pastors giving continuous attention to the community, with no regard for the culture around them that needs to be penetrated with the message.

So how do you solve this problem? In my experience, the only ay to solve this problem is to not have a sunday, preacher/"pastor" centered church. The current forms and structures of churches create a bottle neck of energy, information, perspective and chrisma through the pulpit. This needs to be decentralized into a setting where every person can use their giftings. The only way that I can see this happening is in some type of organic system.

20. Evangelist

Unlike Apostolic and Prophetic, which are taboo words in my heritage, evangelist is on the other extreme. It has been used as an umbrella to cover the other functions, and no doubt, as a verb to brow beat people into inviting people to church or doing one on one Bible Studies. Even as I think about what to write about this function, I am flooded with overlapping concepts and ideas, blurring into a discombobulated blob of ideas.

This word though is a power packed word and is actually a key function in the body. In fact, this function is low maintenance in that it does not need special circumstances to operate. The evangelist is one who loves to share with people what God has done. They may do this through witnessing, inviting, or prayer. Either way, they are oriented towards helping people transition into the Kingdom. When you tell them about an opportunity to help someone learn, experience or become exposed to God, it ignites a passion in them.

Do not confuse this function with a sales rep at a store though. It is not personality specific. It is much broader than the extroverted personality. The evangelist is the one who, by virtue of their interactions with people, penetrates their relational network with the aroma and message of the Good News. So it is not a cookie cutter style or presentation. It is a life lived so the message will have a crack at some one's life.

I love the web site www.offthemap.org It basically says that evangelism is doable, so don't package it as an elephant.

So what does evangelism look like? Here is a brief and limited example. Every Sunday, me, my wife, and two other kids along with their mom go to a skate park here in Clarksville and skate the ramps and concrete waves. What are we doing? We are skating. Is this evangelism? Some would say we are skipping church. I say we are bringing the church to where life happens! I am meeting some of the parents, kids and skater dudes. My goal in being there is to have fun skating and build relationships with people. This is doable. I am not trying to get them into a building. I am not trying to coerce them into talking about God. I am building relationships in public and praying intensely in private.

The apostle orchestrates communities of the message, the prophet critiques with the message, the evangelist shares that message to those in darkness. What a vital and critical function in the community of Christ!

My guess is that there are a lot of evangelists out there who do not know it. Laying dormant or operating in 007 mode. Let's ask the Lord of the Harvest to raise up workers for the harvest.

19. Prophetic

"The main task of prophetic thinking is to bring the world into divine focus." The Prophets by Abraham J. Heschel. Because of the transformation of words and the baggage they acquire through time, also referred to as etymology, discussing Biblical terminology often requires "redefining" words to align them with their original intent. The word "Prophecy" falls into this category. It is one of those words that has been infused with mystical, often magical connotations, conjuring up images of a psychic.
However, from a biblical point of view, Prophecy is more than merely telling the future. It goes deeper than just forecasting who is going to win the Superbowl. Prophecy has more to do with shaping the present. In the Israelite tradition, the prophet would be "caught up" into the heavenly council of God where he would receive visions of both the future and the present. Viewing the present from God's point of view created within the prophet an intimate connection with God. It fostered a compassion for God's heart for the people. The prophet would experience the world form God's angle and in a small fashion, enter into what scholars call the pathos, or, the suffering of God. He would receive insight into what God felt, his emotions and disappointment. In short, he would empathize with God.
In contrast to experiencing the present from God's standpoint, he would also gaze upon the future. He would be exposed to either the impending judgment or eschatological hope of the community of God. This combination of viewing both the present depravity of the people and their possible future judgment or deliverance would instill within the prophet an intense burden to represent God's heart to the people. He would "descend" back into his context with a burning passion to proclaim to the people what God had so clearly impressed upon his heart. Far from being a commercial about the future, prophecy is a calculated exposure of the status quo followed by a scathing rebuke.
As Abraham J. Heschel put it, "Prophecy, then, may be described as exegesis of existence from a divine perspective." It is an act of divine commentary on our situations. When a prophetic word comes into our lives, it manifests so much powerful because it lays us bare and exposes our true condition. It critiques our present state with such candid images and blunt language that we stand naked before God with no defense. It brings such a rare epiphane and clarity that it shocks us into attention. A prophetic word from God will often wound before it heals.
This brings me to the gift of prophecy mentioned in Ephesians 4. Those with the gift of prophecy are not modern day psychics handing out mysterious pieces of information for our paranormal amusement. They function as mouth pieces for God. And just as in the days of old, their messages are not primarily warm fuzzies. In fact, a prophet is often annoying. They are agitators and are often borderline negative. They critique the status quo and call for the people of God to live by a different standard. They expose the shallow and superficialness of our spirituality and rebuke our conformity to the surrounding culture.
Quite honestly, we do not want prophets around. The prophets were not the most popular people on the block. You did not crave one on one time with them. There were no lunch appointments with a prophet. Why? They are not your average social butterflies. Bottom line is.....they are a nag and tend to be critical. They are idealist on steroids. With their zeal for the Holiness and Justice of God they have a tendency to mess up our rhythm and shatter our fragile egos. And what gives them this courage? Quite simply, they are passionate about God and not our feelings. Their heart for God supercedes their desire for approval.
But the brutal fact is, as annoying as prophets are, we need them. We desperately need this gift to operate in the body of Christ today. Most of the paid staff members of church can not function in this role. Their job security does not allow it. Yet without the prophets, our vision of the world and our own condition is in danger of being blurred by our fleshly desires and thwarted values. Without prophets we can not see God or our situations with clarity. We drift into mediocre, sub normal lives, never noticing our gradual descent into lukewarmness.
The church not only needs to embrace this shunned gift, but it also needs to develop the discipline of thinking prophetically. We do not need to be afraid of being self critical. Examining ourselves under the microscope of God's message is a prophetic task for the church to adopt.
The challenge? If you are a prophet, use your gift! If you are wanting to lead the church, think prophetically. I leave you with this quote from Mr. Heschel.
"The main task of prophetic thinking is to bring the world into divine focus."

18. Apostolic

This is one of those words I always associated with the holiness movement. You know, those signs in front of churches that have 14 words to the title of the church. Apostolic is just not in my vocabulary.
Recently, I just finished a book called The Shaping of Things to Come by Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost. One of the many insights they have in their book is into the role of the gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4. They call it APEPT Leadership. (abbreviations for the 5 gifts mentioned there.) Aside from their deliberate focus upon discovering your gifts, they analyzed what role these 5 gifts play in the life cycle of a church or movement. Implementing the bell curve, they identified Apostles as the initiators of movements. This places them at the beginning of the curve. At the top of the curve are the pastors and teachers.
In case you are wondering, apostles are the people who have a hard time staying in one place for a along time. They are trail blazers, innovators, pioneers, borderline revolutionists. Those with the gift of apostleship have the unique ability to begin new works for God in uncharted territories. In fact, they are down right miserable if they are tied down to one project or assignment too long. They need the wide open fields of opportunity and adventure. Some people are born with roots, and some people are born with wings. Apostles would be the latter. They thrive on new beginnings, new projects, new challenges and opportunities.
In the church, unfortunately, this gift is often marginalized and discounted. It is superseded by the more "valuable" gifts such a pastoring or teaching. This is due in part to our structure as an institutional church. As a result, it has led our seminaries and our ministry training centers to glorify and centralize the gifts of teaching and pastoring. Missions is what we do over in the other countries. And quite honestly, it is left to those who do not "fit the mold" of the glorified pastor.
Ironically enough, there are a lot of apostles who are unfortunatley forced into the role of pastors. Here's how it goes down. Apostles are passionate, visionary people who have a tendency to show up with shock and awe in job interviews at churches. The leadership of an established church is normally impressed and enthralled with their apostolic dynamic and say to themselves in closed meetings, this is exactly what we need here at our church right now. Unfortunately, that is as far as the wisdom reaches. What ends up happening is the apostle is hired for their apostlic dynamic but is immediatley placed in a pastoral position with pastoral responsibilities and expectations. This makes for a highly frustrated apostle, not to mention a confused leadership, who, at first is enamored with the apostolic impact, but secretly wants a pastor to "run the church." The end result is a square peg being forced into a round hole. Either the apostle buckles down and plays the role of a pastor, or they leave. Or the other option is, they get fired for not running the machine correctly. In the institutional church, there is literally not a place for apostles.
Because of this imbalance, our churches are deprived of the vitality and fresh energy that comes from an apostolic movement. The church desperately needs to embrace this gift and create space for it to flourish. The beginning of the life cycle in the Kingdom begins with Apostles. Just look at the book of Acts. Without the apostolic movement within the early days of the church, there would be little to write about in church history.
This is not to discount the gifts of pastoring and teaching. They are critical to the health of the body. However, it seems that these two gifts have been elevated to the point of exclusion of the other gifts. In most cases, when this happens, the church experiences a plateau. It drifts into a self-centered, inward focused atmosphere.
Now, it takes a prophet to point all of this out to the church, but after the prophetic word arrives, those with the gift of apostleship must emerge.
This is where it gets sort of complex. In order for the apostles to emerge, there must be leadership structures in place that can nurture, train and release those with apostolic gifts into their callings. This means that ministry should not be bottle necked to the pastors and teachers. It means that church planting and Kingdom agendas need to take center stage in our vision casting, teaching and ministry efforts.
We need to be revitalized. This will truly take place when the church allows the body to freely express itself through its divinely appointed ways. Operating in our gifts to the glory of God.
Lord, raise up workers for the harvest.

17. The Fantastic Five

I just recently finished watching "The Fantastic Four" -at the theaters. It brung back a lot of memories. I used to collect this comic when I was "younger." My mother would send me to the 7-11 for a slurpee and as a motivation to go, she would give me .50 to buy a comic while I was there. I always thought they were the coolest (along with wolverine and the X-Men). Upon reflecting about the roles of the characters, I realized that the fantastic four is a contemporary version of the building blocks of the universe. (Stoichea if you are a new testament junky). The old school building block were earth, air, fire and water. In the Fantastic Four, water is considered a little bit our of date (we are no longer an agricultural society) and is replaced with Mr. Fantastic, who, for all practical purposes, liquidizes his body to either stretch or conform his body to the needs at hand. Sort of like water, but not really.
Besides this variation, the Fantastic Four are a recapitulation of the original, fundamental elements of the universe.
As such, they are the perfect postmodern story line for heroes. If you have not noticed, the one man, got it all together super hero is sort of not so popular in these post-modern days. Specifically, Superman. Superman is a super-hero construct from modernity. He relies on no one, has only one flaw, and can do anything and everything well. You might be thinking in the back of your mind, hold on, what about Batman and Spider man. They are "one man super heroes", but they were block buster hits. Well, good point. But there is a subtle, yet distinct difference between these two and Superman. Batman is a pull yourself up from your own bootstraps type of hero. He is not endowed from on high with supernatural gifts, perfect from day one. He also has Robin at his side. Spiderman, while being a lone ranger per so, has to struggle with his identity. His accidental infection causes him to search for his place in this world, dealing with the uncertainty of his new existence. OK, I digressed.
What does this have to do with anything? The Fantastic Four is a model for our approach to ministry. Too often, we take the Superman approach to the Kingdom Agenda. We either assume the Superman role ourselves or expect other people to be Superman to us. (This is especially true in the institutional church where the clergy are placed in that Superman role, sometimes all too eagerly on their part. Carl Jung called this the Christ Archetype.) Really, God has not designed any of us to be the total package. We are each individually gifted by God to play a unique role in the Kingdom.
I want to suggest that the Fantastic Four are paradigmatic of the five gifts in Ephesians 4.

Apostle - The Human Torch
Prophet - The Thing
Evangelist - Mr. Fantastic
Pastor - Invisible Woman
Teacher - Dr. Reed Richards - (later transformed into Mr. Fantastic)

Each one of these characters illuminates and illustrates the functions of the five gifts in Ephesians 4. The following 5 blogs will be an exploration into their similarities.

16. Jehovah-jireh. When God moves, or we move, or any movement takes place, it is always within the world of God. I was let go from my position as campus minister last night. I was originally going to resign from the church in May, but after making them aware of my decision to resign, plant a church, and my theological differences with the traditional COC, they decided to let me go immediately. It was untimely in that I wanted to finish the school year well, and provide a good ending of the semester to the students in our ministry. But.....This will not take place. Andy Stanley says that vision attracts criticism. Those of you who are visionaries can attest to the truth of this statement. Vision has a way of getting under the skin of some, inspiring others, and indicting us all. Our vision to start a church planting movement has met its first official criticism and opposition.

10 years ago I would have been devastated after being fired by a church. I am actually thankful. Being released from this context of ministry will enable me to pursue wholeheartedly my passion to facilitate this movement. What the enemy intended for harm, has actually turned out to be a catalyst for the spreading of the message. God is GOOD! Please pray for our team to be prayerful and loving to God and eachother. We want to be a missional community empowered by the Holy Spirit. Walking with God is never safe. But it is exciting. Yes! We are on the journey. God will provide for our family and the church plant.

15. Name Change.

As we surveyed the church landscape of Clarksville, we noticed that there were at least 5 other churches that either start with the name Grace or have this word in their title. As a church planting movement, we want to fill a distinct niche in Clarksville, and reach out to the unchristian population in the city. We do not want to be just another church that has a new fad of worship or ministry, attracting a large group of either disgruntled church members or people with too much traditional church baggage. We are targeting the unchristian and the seeker first, and then, if a Christian comes among us who likes our values and mission, we will praise God for sending workers into the harvest.

It is basically a matter of values and vision. We want to start a movement of planting culturally relevant churches, and to do that, we need to lay new foundations and practice new methods. Our vision does not revolve around (to use one of Gailyn Van Rheenen's phrases) massaging the already existing church culture in Clarksville. We are going to be a missional community that is on journey with God to engage the world around us.

Having said all of that, we have chosen to leave the word "church" out of our name. Several people on our team have made notice of people they know in their relational network that would not come to a "church" because of all the negative baggage associated with "church." i.e. dressing up, putting on a facade, judgmentalism, clicks, etc. (All the stuff we try so desparately to avoid, but somehow periodically drift into). I guess what I am saying is that our decisions in this plant will revolve around building community and engaging unchristians, not marketing ourselves to the Christian community so we can have a "Big Church". We do not want to be a mega-church. We want to be a church planting movement that plants missional, culturally relevant churches. At the same time, if GOd blesses us with that kind of growth, we will continue to plant churches and continue to follow God with the growth. We are not militantly anti-mega church, we are just not seeking it or nurturing that philosophy for our Kingdom efforts..

Well, here it is. Our "name" will be IKON. We chose this name for several reasons. First, an ikon is the Greek word in the new testament for image. As such, it will communicate that we are seeking to reflect the image of Jesus Christ. Second, an "ikon" point to something greater than itself. It is only a representation of a greater reality. This is all we are. We are not the attraction, we only stimulate and point people into another realm where they experience Him. Third, it will be a great conversation starter. I have already had several good conversations with people about this name that led to some interesting insights into God and "church." Fourthly, if I am honest, I think it sounds cool. Lastly, it will set us apart, for the time being, from the church culture here in Clarksville.

But let's keep things in perspective here. A community will not thrive and reflect the reign of God because it has a cool name. It will thrive because of the faith hope and love of the people in the community. It will thrive because the Spirit is allowed to work in us as an individual and community.

14. Ministry Gifts. "Ministry remains identified with the static roles of clergy as priest, pedagogue, or professional, all dispensers of spiritual resources." Missional Church edited by Darrell L. Guder.

I can remember the first time I was introduced to a spiritual gifts inventory. I was pumped. I was so digging the idea of finding out what my gift was. That was about 8 years ago. I have since found some cool ones online.

1. http://www.spiritualgiftstest.com/

2. http://www.churchgrowth.org/analysis/intro.html

3. http://www.buildingchurch.net/g2s-i.htm

4. http://mintools.com/spiritual-gifts-test.htm

5. http://www.bc.united-church.ca/Healthy_Congregations/sgg.htm

6. http://www.cforc.com/sgifts.html

I personally like the third one on the list.

It is a sobering realization that most christians do not know what there spiritual gifts are. Without exception, in dialogue with people in the church through classes and one on one conversation, I have only come across one person who has ever been able to identify their spiritual gifts.

If we do not know what our gifts are, we are operating at minimum efficiency at best. Some of us operate in our gifts because we it is so much a part of us that we naturally express ourselves through it. While the rest of us are likely not to even be operating in our gifts at all. They are like a tool in our shed that has been hanging on the wall, collecting dust and basically taking up space. What would it be like to be a hammer but never hit nails? How would a saw feel without ever abrasively rubbing up against the wood?

Not knowing our giftedness in the body is symptomatic of the way we structure church. Alan Roxburgh insightfully pointed out that our church structures cater to a consumeristic audience, where the crowd comes to get entertained by the paid professional clergy. Our leadership structures have nurtured a passive, consumeristic membership. Many of our people do not know their gifts because, in their mind, their is really no need to discover them. From their perspective, life in the Kingdom is about attending. The leadership typically puts together cookie cutter programs and slavishly drives people to coordinate and run them. We place our ideas over on top of other peoples lives and try to funnel as many people as we can to sustain and promote them.

I am longing for a gift-based approach to ministry. Instead of coercing people into being involved with programs that they are neither gifted nor passionate about, why not help people discover their gifts, put them in a community of people with the same gifts, and empower them to creatively engage their gifts with the body and the community? Let God generate ministries through peoples giftedness. Let God work through a ministry because there are people who are gifted to serve in that area. No more generically manufactured programs to stroke our egos about spiritual activity and results.

Within a gift-based church, creativity and leadership training are paramount. Creativity is the spark that ignites ministry. Leadership is the wind that fans into flame. There are no top down ideas dictated to the people, followed by guilt and manipulation because they are not excited about "our" program. There is no need to hem people in by projecting our own passions and pet projects onto them. People need to be released to do ministry generated by their relationship with God, love for people and a sense of calling to make a difference in the world. It is a lot easier to ask someone to show up to a program and fill a slot than it is to nurture them into an awareness of their gifts and calling.

Discovering our gifts is crucial for spiritual expression and creativity. Our giftedness is tied in with our identity and calling in the body. It is a grand filter through which our walk with God should pass through.

So, with out delay, I want to ask you the question.....Do you know what your gifts are? Well, do you?

13. Prayer. Conversation with God is.....Well....Let's be honest, Weird. I am sure you have entertained this idea before. This is at the heart of our frustration with it. It used to bother me when people would speak of "Conversation" with God. My initial reaction was "There is nothing 'Con' - the idea of two - 'Verse-ation' about prayer. We talk and He listens. This ofcourse was before I delved into the spiritual disciplines. I have sense modified my views of prayer.

Some of you reading this have immediately labeled me because of this statement. Let me just say that I do believe God works and is active in the cosmos today. He is present in my life and is continuously interacting within my frame of existence. But prayer is most often initiated by us, ended by us, and, I am sad to say, controlled by us.

In spite of the apparent one sided nature of Prayer, it is still multi-dimensional. It evades reductionistic labels of auto-suggestion and "positive thinking." It resists rational explanations of "coincidences." Prayer is a mystery that breaks through to another realm of reality. When we pray, we are acknowledging that the cosmos is greater than our experience. Our call to God is by its very nature a result of a conviction that we are participants in a cosmic battle. This war is waged by powers that are beyond our abilities to resist or control. Without the aid of God, we would be purely sideline victims to the cosmic drama.

This is why prayerless-ness the the most subtle form of pride and arrogance we can express. Our flesh resists prayer. The independent spirit within all of us cries out to wage war in our own strength. To go as long as we can, drawing from inner and external resources. Prayerlessness is intimately connected to either unbeleif, arrogance or both. It declares that our efforts are the axiom of success. The ironic thing about prayerlessness is that it actually takes us out of the battle rather than propelling us deeper into it.

However, through prayer, we become pivotal participants in the course of history. When we pray, we enter into spiritual warfare. The cosmos is effected by our supplications and intercessions. One of my favorite stories on this topic in the Bible is Daniel 10. Daniels prayers moved the spiritual order and even initiated a an angelic collision between the "Prince of Persia" and the angel from God.

Do not underestimate your prayers. Do not be fooled by the one dimensional lens of flesh and blood. There is an arch enemy of God, and we are enlisted in the warfare against him.

Will we pray for laborers to enter the harvest? Can we ask for God to allow the message to spread quickly? Is it possible for us to "Move the Mover" by our prayers. If not, then why pray?
Let us pray without ceasing.

12. Grace. Check out this quote discussing Romans 5. "How, then, is death defeated, and how are law and sin deposed, through Christ's free gift of grace? Paul is very clear that such a victory occurs not by denying the reign of death, nor by pretending that God's absence never happened [at the cross]. Grace lets sin be and gives it space and scope; but thereby grace matches it and goes beyond. The essential mark of grace and love is their abundance, not reducing but surpassing the power and range of negativity and sin. Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. So, while the consequence of one human person's sin has been very great, how much greater yet is the result of one such person's righteousness? There is a parallel and parity between Christ and Adam, each of them one individual who represents the lot of many; but there is in Christ disparity and superfluity, to the extent that life surpasses death, which is the lack of life, a free gift transcends the demands and penalties of law, and pardon outweighs condemnation. Indeed, so fertile, abundant, and expansive is the grace of Jesus Christ that it even surpasses itself, growing and expanding as it reaches out towards its goal. God loves us precisely as rebellious enemies, and accepts the reign of death within us: our revolt and God's deposing; and by showing us a love greater in quality and depth than our lovelessness, God reconciles us and makes us friends. And now that we are friends, God loves us even more, opening up new possibilities of joy and blessedness beyond all measure, the forgiving grace of Christ's death yielding preeminence to the future, still greater, fruits of his resurrection life." Between Cross and Resurrection: A Theology of Holy Saturday by Alan E. Lewis p. 96.

All I have to say after a thought like that is...............Praise God!

11. Women's Role. What an explosive topic right? Women's role is certainly not an isolated topic. It is interwoven with our emotions, cultural norms and.......our egos. This discussion is emotionally charged because it goes down to the very heart of the way we view the world and find order in our social systems. I am sure that you are aware of the feminist movement and all of the agendas it has pushed and is pushing in our culture. I instantly think of the show Commander in Chief which I am suspicious of being propaganda for Hillary Clintons intentions of running for office.

I myself was very apprehensive when I becam eaware of the ideas about women's role emerging in our culture and the church. When it came to the church, my first thought was, "Come on now, how are you going to get around this one?" My skepticism was based upon my interpretation of the text and my cultural bias to the topic. Turns out, I have completely changed my mind on the subject. It is not that I do not respect Biblical authority, or am oblivious to the issues at hand. I have a deep respect for scripture and its authoritative voice for the church. The critical factor is: interpretation.

So, where do we start on a topic like this? Well, it must begin with hermeneutics. To save time and space, the pivotal hermeneutical question is "What is cultural and what is eternal?" These texts on women's role must be confronted with this question. To engage this topic without discernment of the texts historical and cultural context is to do grave injustice to the hermeneutical task. As one of my mentors, Dallas Burdett, says to me, the three rules of Bible Study are 1. Context. The second one is ........Context. The third one is........Context. This of course alludes to the surrounding verses, chapters and themes in the book. But it also encompasses the "real time" context of the passage. The "real time" context has to do with the historical, cultural and political context of the original audience. These documents are "on target" forms of literature adressed to a specific people, in a specific place and a specific time with a specific purpose and agenda. We have to admit that we are reading other peoples mail.

This necessitates asking questions like, "Who is the audience he is writing to?", "What is the local situation he is dealing with?", "Who are the opponents in the passage and what is the substance of their contentions with the author", "What is the cultural situation of their day and how does that shape their worldview?." All of these questions must be taken into account when interpretting documents that are 2000 years old.

These texts that we read were born within a particular time and place. The carry with them particular cultural, social and even political "baggage" if you will, that is characteristic of documents from previous eras. We must respect their context if we are to faithfully interpret their content.

There will be more posts on this topic, but for now, let me point out a paradigm shifting theme in the text. The first is Joel 2:28-32. This passage is quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost as he alludes to the Holy Spirit descending upon the 120. He clearly states that the outpouring of the Spirit is the fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel 2:28-32.

So lets take a look at the passage. 2:28 And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. 30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 32 And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.

The question I want to ask is this: Does God want women to prophesy? This is an important question because it focuses the discussion on the will of God. Does God WANT women to prophesy? From looking at the text, it appears that he does. God is the one who sent the Spirit. He is the one who wrote the prophecy. He is the one who directs where the Spirit will go and what he will do when he abides in someone. The reason why this is a crucial point is because often in entering into this discussion about women's role, we approach it in the framework of what I call "last resort" theology. We feel as though God really did not WANT the women to prophesy, but that he sort of put up with it because of special circumstances. This is soooo not what the text reveals. God desires women to prophecy. It was his idea. It is his initiative. It originates with him!

This is amazing to me. It is in the heart of God for women to prophesy. What a powerful concept to begin this discussion with. Now, if you are not open to women prophesying, I am sure your mind is being flooded with reasons why God does not want it today, or even, why the text is not saying this. This is understandable. We all resist new ideas and concepts when they have the potential to bring about major change in our lives. But we must be vulnerable to the text and allow it to shape our theology. This is a difficult task, but possible none the less.

So what is the point? Well, I think the foundational thing here is that God is not against it and has no reservations about women prophesying. He is actually for it! This passage needs to serve as one of the filters when engaging other texts. It is not that I am trying to sneak in the back door or even break in through the window of God's church by promoting women should prophesy. God has already built a front door for this to come in. The question is, will we lock the door and board it up, shutting the women out of opportunities to use their God given gifts.

More to come on this topic. However, let me suggest a few websites:

Christians for Biblical Equality International
Gal328
Egalitarian Christian Alliance

10. Community. "There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community." This quote from M. Scott Peck is one of the many nuggets of wisdom from him about community. I can remember the day I first made the connection with the root word of community. "Commune." This led me to think of "Communism." This launched me on all kinds of rabbit trails about community. Then there was the connection between "community" and "communion." Like, communion on Sunday morning. You know, the Lords Supper.

We all crave community. A place to be vulnerable and accepted at the same time. An environment where our transparency will will not be trampled on. The beautiful thing about community is that it is one of the closest things to the nature of God. The tri-unity. The sweet fellowship between the Father, Son, Holy Spirit is the model of community for us.

Communities exist all around us. The paintball community, the Jazz Festival community, the work community, the remote control car community. People gravitate towards it. Granted, some forms of community we are coerced into through forced interaction.

So what makes the community of God different? Well, that is a real sermon starter. Here are two thoughts.

The birth and shape of our identity finds its origins in the work of Christ. The Master Story, as Michael Gorman would put it, is the community creating event, festival, attraction, commonality and core experience that brings us into community with eachother. I think this may be what Paul was getting at in Galatians 3:26-29. Baptism is the foundational, common experience in this Master Story that places us into community with each other. We all went through a con-formity to the Christ Event. This is the center of gravity for us. The Good News is what draws us to eachother.

The nature of our community makes us different. Because it is tethered and rooted in the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, our norms, boundaries, purpose and standards of interaction spring from a deeper value system than our latest personal interest or hobby. The community of God is not borne out of our fleshly desires. It does not originate from our idiosyncratic preferences of entertainment. We are called to emulate and model the character and nature of a crucified Messiah with in a community. This is where the American, individualistic culture has surfaced in our midst. Our discipleship is not to be lived out strictly within the confines of our "quiet time" or personal good works. Our "private" approach to God is merely a reflection of our current cultural norms. The biblical context for discipleship is the community of God.

True community comes at a cost. Jesus had to die to create community between the ethnic barriers of Jew and Gentile, between the social stratas of rich and poor, between the traditional roles of men and women. Colossians 2 Ephesians 2.

It is no less with us. No quick solutions. No easy pathways to authentic community.

Community is fashioned through many variables, but none would disagree that the gateway to community is ............ vulnerability.

A high risk. But a beautiful reward.

9. Movements. Numerology does not dominate my thinking, but is a very interesting topic in the scriptures. The number 9 has to do with fruitfulness. There are nine fruits of the spirit, there are 9 months for the fruit of the womb. Nine is also a number of judgment. This is an interesting combination of associations with the number nine.

Movements are born out of a deep dissatisfaction with the status qou. Christian Smith, author of The Emergence of Liberation Theology: Radical Religion and Social Movement Theory, labels this deep dissatisfaction as "insurgent consciousness." It is a mentality that results from a redefinition of reality, resulting in frustration from things not being the way they can and should be.

We are often confronted with the way things are, and something deep with in us says, "This is not how it is supposed to be." How we respond to our assessment of things is what separates us from others. Some people resign themselves to the status qou and give up on any hope of things changing. Others bravely attempt to bring about change through the system. They think to themselves, "if we could only change a few rules, tweak a few positions, or start a new program, this will solve our problems." This would be the managing option. Staying within the confines of the system, manipulating and rearranging the current situation, slavishly preserving the original design and structure, hoping to achieve better results. They "manage" the current configuration and somehow try to squeeze a little bit more productivity or effectiveness out of an existing situation.

A visionary leader, on the other hand, takes a radical approach. A visionary leader questions the very foundations of the organization. They critique the structure, values and very existence of the
company. A visionary leader, fueled by their vision of what can and should be, resists the temptation to just make minor adjustments to the present system. They will not stand for anything less than a new birth. This means starting over with new values, new goals, new paradigms. The very nature of the present situation requires it. To attempt anything short of this, would be to short change the future and cave in to mediocrity.

Movements are born when a visionary leader, compelled by their vision of a new reality, are forced to lay siege on the future, and, through intentional planning and resourcefulness, partner with God in making their vision a reality. In their mind, this new reality must come to full expression.

Working or living with a visionary leader is most often annoying and pestering. They are never satisfied with how things are. They are always questioning, critiquing, forcing the issue. They always want to try something new. They are skeptical of tradition. They abhor phrases like "Thats just the way things are," or "that's how we've always done it," or "You can't change the world." Words like"Never," "Can't," "Impossible," and "Safe," cause them to break out with allergic reactions. They refuse to believe that the way things are is they way they have to stay.

Every movement is birthed through a visionary leader. Someone who refused to accept their circumstances. Someone who had an insurgent consciousness. Someone who was willing to move on their impulse and believe God for the impossible.

Now back to the number thing. It is interesting to me that fruitfulness and judgment are interrelated in scripture. This is just a thought. When God brings judgment, it is an indictment on the current situation. God is basically saying, "This is not how it is supposed to be." Until judgment comes, we are not moved to change. Judgment is actually a catalyst to fruitfulness. When God turns on the light and shows us how far removed our current experience is from what it should be, we can answer God's call to enter the process of birthing a movement. Judgment Births Movements. This may take the form of God moving within the framework of a current structure or system, bringing about renewal or revival. Or, it may take the form of birthing an entirely new structure or system for God to move in. We avoid judgment like the plague because it is painful and it has a way of questioning our prior efforts and successes. But the judgment of God is multidimensional. It does not just expose, it empowers.

I personally believe God is calling me to birth a new movement for him to move in. Will this movement be faultless and exempt from the judgment of God? No. Will it be immuned to some of the same temptations other movements fell into? Certainly not. But, it will be a fresh, new movement. A church planting movement.

Oh God, move among us. Help us to burn with dissatisfaction of our current situation. Ignite in us a movement of your Spirit to holiness and obedience. Move in us and through us.

Are you satisfied?

8. New Creation. I chose this topic because of the number 8. In the first century, Sunday was referred to by some in the community of faith as the 8th day. By designating it this way, they aligned their movement with the creation narrative in genesis. The overall idea was that God had rested on the seventh day from his glorious act of creating the cosmos, but, through the Christ Event, had entered into another phase of fresh creative power. This time, it was not the cosmos, but people. He set his hands to restore his image in humans.

God had begun creating again. He had risen up off his throne, looked over the banister of heaven and explosively spoke into humanity a new existence. This new art work of God is displayed first to the powers and then to the world. Because of this, Paul says: "If any person is in Christ, they are a new CREATION. Old things have passed away. BEHOLD! All things have become new."

Being the art work of God throws us into an entirely new framework for the activity of God among us. It parallels our story with the creation narrative. It allows us to imagine ourselves within the creation event. The image of God is being shaped with in us by the master sculptor. His character and nature is steadily being pressed into us. His hand carves out our pride, and vanity, the Spirit of God moves upon us as in the beginning, perfecting the work of "separation" and finishing the process of forming and filling. We are the New Creation.

This concept of new creation emerges in an interesting place in one of Paul's letters . In Galatians: "Neither circumcision, nor uncircumcision is anything. But a NEW CREATION." It is interesting that this concept surfaces in a discussion of legalism. Legalism has a way of attracting your attention to boundaries, rules and regulations. It fixes our affections on powerless rituals and systems, thereby diverting our focus from the creative power of the Good News. Legalism eclipses the brightness of Gods glory, overshadows the work of Christ, and replaces it with guilt, pride, shame, and fear. All of these negative products of legalism are antagonistic to Gods work in us. They frustrate the process of transformation. Legalism, because it is antithetical to New Creation, is rejected by Paul. If you are familiar with the fruits of legalism, this does not suprise you.

What is even more interesting is when Paul says that uncircumcision is not to be placed on a pedestal either. Paul is guiding us away from a dualistic position towards legalism and law keeping. When confronted with heresy, we are tempted to define ourselves by what we are not. Taking a stand against something brings with it the tendency to "stand still" on that very conviction, making "it" our defining charachteristic. Our identity in Christ is not rooted in an after thought from religious controversy. Paul would say, "So your circumcised? This is of no benefit to you. This is not what the Good News is pointing us to." He would also say "So you have refused circumcision based on your freedom in Christ? .........And? This is not where the Good News takes us. Uncircumcision should not function as another form of "circumcision", vainly placing you in a a so-called superior position to the legalist. This is not the symbol of your identity."

Paul is saying that the agenda of the Good News is purely about New Creation. It's purpose is not to promote groups or cliques based on decisions that are reactionary towards legalism or traditionalism. This is too short sighted. It is too fleshly. The big picture is NEW CREATION. The Good News is about God's ability to break into our lives, overpower our darkness and shine the glory of the light of Christ into our deflated existence. To form and fill us with his presence and nature. How does he do this? Through the creative power of the cross and resurrection of Christ. This is what the Good News is about. God has begun creating again through a crucified and raised messiah. He is forming and filing....again. And the question is not, "Are you circumcised?" or "Are you uncircumcised?" As if this is what the universe revolves around. The real question that we must ask ourselves is this: Am I resisting the creative power of the cross?

7. Risk. We are heading down to Jackson MS today to partner with the Meadowbrook Church of Christ in the relief effort. We possibly will be going to the coast on Saturday to do some chainsawing and some brush clearing. As I planned this trip, I had images of us being robbed at gun point for gas, running out of gas on the highway, and even being killed by an angry victim of the hurricane. No.....I am not paranoid. I have just heard quite a few stories since the relief effort has started.

Risk.

I could not help but make the analogy to the mission of God. Taking risks is part of what walking with Jesus is all about. The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 is all about risk. In fact, it seems to me that Jesus wants us to take risks. This is why he could not stomach the 1 talent man who safely hid the talent in a sheltered environment. Could the Kingdom of God be about risk? Could it be that God is looking for some people to make wise, faith-filled endeavors whose success is not clearly guaranteed?

this church plant is going to be a risk. I can not tell you how many times the enemy has approached me with thoughts of inadequacy, fear of failure, worries of financial support. Church planting is not safe. As one of mentors, David Noles says, God is Good, but He is definitely not Safe. To walk with God is to be on the edge. Vulnerable.

The irony of it all is, if I trade in my security for his calling, I find new a freedom. Not freedom from risk, but freedom to enjoy the adventure of living a life sold out for God. No more of that "little living." It is time for us to take a risk.

"Whoever puts their trust in him, will never be put to shame." Peter

6. Trust. I must trust him even if I can not trace him. He alludes my calendar, he out performs my expectations, he leads me through uncharted paths, he makes me wait......He tests my passion for him, he refines my motives, he takes me through the winepress of suffering, up the hill of crucifixion, on the slab of inaction, and finally, yes finally, into the glory of resurrection. This pathway actually authenticates my spirituality. If I share in his death and suffering, I will most definitely share in his resurrection. To be conformed to the story is to be on journey with Jesus. It is only through the trial that we can learn the power of his resurrection.

On thing I have learned about God, is that he refuses to be held to our timelines or expectations. He is sovereign. He has this thing called a Kingdom Agenda. I would like to see myself on this Island with "my agenda" being the only factor in God's mind. My goals and passions at the forefront of is activity in the world. But this would not be his Kingdom. It would be mine. God's Kingdom is larger than my plans, than my activity for him. It crosses our boundaries of denominations and doctrines. The Lord does not Reign in a condominium of religious preference. The Lord Reigns over all the earth.

God is orchestrating Kingdom Activity all around me. I am merely a team player with other Kingdom People. Like a master chess player, God is maneuvering and manipulating circumstances in the presence of both the enemy and peoples decisions. Whether I know it or not, I am cooperating with the community of God. He is synergizing my efforts with other people to bring about the greatest amount of glory.

Why is it taking so long, why is this person not emerging, why did he say no, why now? I must trust him, even if I can't trace him. When the son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?