Tim Keel, the pastor at Jacob's Well in KC, was the next presenter and led a talk of this title. I had not previously heard anything by Tim other than his church's name, but that will change. (I recently purchased his book!) Keel makes the statement that the most significant crisis the church faces is the crisis of imagination. He defines imagination as the faculty or action of forming new ideas, images or concepts that are not yet there. Keel reminds us that Jesus proclaims that the Kingdom of God is near, but asks if we have the imagination to see it?
Imagination is going to be necessary if we (the people of God) are going to a place where we have never been before. Keel claims that our leadership imagination has been domesticated in three ways.
First, our commitment to modern epistemology. We want to strip things down to observable and applicable truths. Leadership becomes the art of executing the techniques and we depend more on experts than the people that we are journeying with. This can cause us to not see where God's Spirit is active around us.
Second, is through our American pragmatism and what he called the ministry of titillation. Ministry and leadership become a bag of tricks. The call is for us to seek God and listen to our narratives to discover what God is doing, instead of replicating what others may be doing.
Third, is through isolation which he claimed was Protestantisms dirty little secret. We in the West tend to distance ourself from those who think and act differently than us. Keel challenged that thinking and wants us to ask the question of what we could learn from other traditions.
In closing he brought our attention to John 15 and the organic process that is pictured there. This is the passage that talks about abiding in the vine. He said that trees do not strain to produce fruit. Instead it happens as a part of who/what they are. This same truth is true for us, if we abide in God, our fruit cannot help but to be produced.
So do you think about imagination and his thoughts on producing fruit?
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Life in the desert
So if you haven't heard, the weather is really gloomy and rainy here in the Philly area today. This is one of those days in which you just want to stay in bed and sleep the day away. But instead I have to come into the office and am attempting to get some work done. Anyways, I am looking for a bit more sermon help if you are willing to think along with me. This week we are continuing with our look at the Exodus, which I started last week, and focusing on the wandering in the desert part. My original intention was to talk about living faithfully on the journey with God and how the desert is a place where our relationship with God is tested.
So here's my questions for this week: What is your view of the desert metaphor in Scripture?
Is it punishment? It is a place of testing? Of preparation?
Is it necessary? Did God have to lead the people through the desert?
What does the desert look like in our spiritual life? Is the desert only times in our life when things seem like they're going down the crapper?
Thanks in advance for the conversation. I'll try to do the Tim Keel post sometime this afternoon.
So here's my questions for this week: What is your view of the desert metaphor in Scripture?
Is it punishment? It is a place of testing? Of preparation?
Is it necessary? Did God have to lead the people through the desert?
What does the desert look like in our spiritual life? Is the desert only times in our life when things seem like they're going down the crapper?
Thanks in advance for the conversation. I'll try to do the Tim Keel post sometime this afternoon.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Coaching Established Churches for Missional Change
My next breakout was by a guy named Mick Noel. I was intrigued by this titled since I currently find myself in an established church and probably will again sometime down the road. As an associate pastor for the past 8 years this has been something that I've wrestled with for most of that time. Can an established church change? Too many times the answer is no but after hearing Mick's presentation I believe that it can happen. I appreciate the warnings that Mick gave about expecting this to be an overnight shift and how sometimes doing what we feel is good and right can be misconstrued in a negative way by those we are serving.
I think the best quote that Mick used was by a man named Alan Roxburgh in a book called The Missional Leader. "We need to lead in ways that are different from those of a CEO, an entrepreneur, a super leader with a wonderful plan for the congregation's life. Instead we need leaders with the capacity to cultivate an environment that releases the missional imagination of the people of God." I thought so much about this quote that I bought the book to read. I have had leadership principles shoved down my throat from the beginning of my vocation in the church and have always sensed that somehow we were missing the point on a few levels. Here is where I think we miss the point. Most of our talk on leadership is self focused. Because of this we gear our ministries around our ideas, our preferences, our perceived successes. But from what I think Roxburgh is saying here, is that missional leadership is about focusing on God. Our job as a missional leader is to point people to God and the possibility of us realizing the Kingdom of God in our everyday life. This is something that I can buy into and support. One big issue is that this kind of leadership is different than most of our congregations are looking for. So it seems like there are many shifts that need to take place in some of our established churches that center around mission and leadership.
There is so much more I could say but let's discuss this for now. What do you think?
I think the best quote that Mick used was by a man named Alan Roxburgh in a book called The Missional Leader. "We need to lead in ways that are different from those of a CEO, an entrepreneur, a super leader with a wonderful plan for the congregation's life. Instead we need leaders with the capacity to cultivate an environment that releases the missional imagination of the people of God." I thought so much about this quote that I bought the book to read. I have had leadership principles shoved down my throat from the beginning of my vocation in the church and have always sensed that somehow we were missing the point on a few levels. Here is where I think we miss the point. Most of our talk on leadership is self focused. Because of this we gear our ministries around our ideas, our preferences, our perceived successes. But from what I think Roxburgh is saying here, is that missional leadership is about focusing on God. Our job as a missional leader is to point people to God and the possibility of us realizing the Kingdom of God in our everyday life. This is something that I can buy into and support. One big issue is that this kind of leadership is different than most of our congregations are looking for. So it seems like there are many shifts that need to take place in some of our established churches that center around mission and leadership.
There is so much more I could say but let's discuss this for now. What do you think?
Monday, October 20, 2008
Missional Living in Suburbia
The first breakout that I attended at the Missional Theology conversation was titled, "Missional Living in Suburbia." It was taught by the co-pastors from The Well, an emergent church located in Feasterville, PA, Todd Hiestand and Gary Alloway. (You can find a link to Todd's blog on the right.) I chose this breakout because I currently find myself in the suburban context at a church who is trying to figure out what missional means. I had hoped that Todd and Gary would offer some great insight that would illuminate my thinking and help me be a catalyst in helping to shape my current context. While I did not walk away from their breakout a changed person, I did rather enjoy hearing the story of their church and what they have both discovered so far.
Here are a couple of things they said that got me thinking.
"Missional living begins with knowing where you are and having pride in it." This almost seems like a no brainer but upon hearing them explain this concept I find it to be very true. They both talked about their current context of Feasterville, PA. I have never been to Feasterville so I will just have to take them both at what they said about it. They both claimed that there is nothing special about Feasterville. In fact when people talk about Feasterville they usually talk about being from the Philly area or the Trenton area. A shift for them was figuring out what distinguished Feasterville from the surrounding area and celebrating it.
"Be careful not to structure your missional activities to places solely away from your context." Evidently they used to be really involved in various ministries in Philly which led to a disconnect there in Feasterville. This action in Philly, while noble and worthwhile, fed into the notion that mission work was done away from where we live. They combated this by partnering with many organizations in their context and making sure that there was a heavy focus of mission work in the same place where they lived.
"The challenge lies in figuring out the culture. It's hard and there are no shortcuts." I found this to be true in my own context. Before moving to the Philly area I would have claimed that I grew up in a suburban culture. The truth is that I grew up in a small town outside of a larger city. My town had a culture, based around high school football, and it was easy to spot. But upon moving to the Philly area, I encountered this strange anomaly called a township. For those of you who do not know what a township is, and I am one of them as well, it is essentially a land mass that is organized for tax and ridiculous governing purposes. Townships do not have anything like a town square, courthouse, etc to set up its center. There is usually some sort of building where the supervisors work from but that's about it. So this area in which I am a minister has nothing much to unite it. I have actually found out that not too long ago those who populated this area used to be considered hicks. (Albeit not like the hicks that I know!) If you were to look at the landscape now it is totally different. This is a very affluent area where most people are somewhat transient depending on what the drug companies are doing at the time. Because of that we are at a loss for truly understanding our current culture.
"Mission is not our work, it's our participation with God and what God is already doing." What a great reminder. We do not have to reinvent the wheel and try to do something that's never been done before. Our first priority is to find out where God is at work and join it. In some cases that may lead to new ministries but not in every case.
All in all Todd and Gary did a great job in their presentation. I especially liked their transparency in ways that they have changed and had to adapt to new ways of thinking. I believe God will honor their church and the choices they have made to become a missional church in suburbia.
Here are a couple of things they said that got me thinking.
"Missional living begins with knowing where you are and having pride in it." This almost seems like a no brainer but upon hearing them explain this concept I find it to be very true. They both talked about their current context of Feasterville, PA. I have never been to Feasterville so I will just have to take them both at what they said about it. They both claimed that there is nothing special about Feasterville. In fact when people talk about Feasterville they usually talk about being from the Philly area or the Trenton area. A shift for them was figuring out what distinguished Feasterville from the surrounding area and celebrating it.
"Be careful not to structure your missional activities to places solely away from your context." Evidently they used to be really involved in various ministries in Philly which led to a disconnect there in Feasterville. This action in Philly, while noble and worthwhile, fed into the notion that mission work was done away from where we live. They combated this by partnering with many organizations in their context and making sure that there was a heavy focus of mission work in the same place where they lived.
"The challenge lies in figuring out the culture. It's hard and there are no shortcuts." I found this to be true in my own context. Before moving to the Philly area I would have claimed that I grew up in a suburban culture. The truth is that I grew up in a small town outside of a larger city. My town had a culture, based around high school football, and it was easy to spot. But upon moving to the Philly area, I encountered this strange anomaly called a township. For those of you who do not know what a township is, and I am one of them as well, it is essentially a land mass that is organized for tax and ridiculous governing purposes. Townships do not have anything like a town square, courthouse, etc to set up its center. There is usually some sort of building where the supervisors work from but that's about it. So this area in which I am a minister has nothing much to unite it. I have actually found out that not too long ago those who populated this area used to be considered hicks. (Albeit not like the hicks that I know!) If you were to look at the landscape now it is totally different. This is a very affluent area where most people are somewhat transient depending on what the drug companies are doing at the time. Because of that we are at a loss for truly understanding our current culture.
"Mission is not our work, it's our participation with God and what God is already doing." What a great reminder. We do not have to reinvent the wheel and try to do something that's never been done before. Our first priority is to find out where God is at work and join it. In some cases that may lead to new ministries but not in every case.
All in all Todd and Gary did a great job in their presentation. I especially liked their transparency in ways that they have changed and had to adapt to new ways of thinking. I believe God will honor their church and the choices they have made to become a missional church in suburbia.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Bible and Missional Listening
This was the title of a talk that Scot McKnight gave at the Missional Theology Conversation gathering I attended last Friday. His main focus was for us to understand the Bible through a relational approach instead of an authority approach. I'll try my best to break down what he was talking about and hopefully it will spur some conversation among us as well.
McKnight set up two different approaches to the Bible that we can take. The first he called the authoritarian approach. This approach uses a flow that looks something like this. God-revelation-inspiration-inerrancy-truth-response-submission. This is an approach that many of us are very familiar with and have spent much of our time in ministry combating. "God said it, I believe it, and that's good enough for me." This approach leads to things being very black and white with no room for gray. McKnight says that the words inerrancy and submission are the most troubling with this approach. He used Psalm 119 as an example where scripture (or the law) is not for submission purposes but to be followed out of response. Vs 35, "Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it." (ESV) Notice that it doesn't say "your words are authoritative so therefore I submit", instead it's "your words are a delight therefore I will follow." This authoritarian approach is framed epistemically (knowledge is the desired outcome) and seems not to be what the God of the Bible is desiring.
The approach that McKnight was encouraging us to embrace is what he called the relational approach. This approach is framed by desiring to know the God of the Bible or the 'I' and 'You' behind the Bible. Here are a few tenets through which this approach flows. First, we need to understand that the Bible is God's spoken word to us. The Bible is not God but it points to God. The Bible is God's way of assuring us that God is there and is not silent. Second, we are invited to listen to God through the Bible and respond. Third, we enter into the Bible's own conversation and the conversation that has been going on throughout church history. There is a community focus to reading and understanding the Bible. It cannot be done in a vacuum.
McKnight's claim is that the relational approach leads to a better understanding of who God is and what God has called us to. The relational approach leads to us being able to respond to God in love and respect instead of fear and submission. One quote that I especailly loved is that "having the right view of the Bible is not the point, but having a relationship (or engaging) with the God of the Bible is the point."
McKnight then moved on to talking a bit about Missional Listening. He said that the biggest complaint that God has of the people is that they do not listen. His call is for us to be attentive enough to hear the words of God, allow them to sink in our very being and then to go and do what they say. When we engage in missional listening we will truly know God and follow God's desire for us to love and God and to love others. It is not about gathering information, but it's about how we are following what God has asked us to be about. Missional listening is inspired and it is a process.
I hope this is a fair summary of what McKnight was presenting to us. I did buy the DVD so when I get it I'll watch it again. What do you think? What is your understanding of the Bible? If you have shifted away from the authoritarian approach do you ever find yourself reverting back to the old ways? How can we help others to view the Bible in this way without pushing them over the edge or is that what needs to happen?
By the way, I just received McKnight's new book, The Blue Parakeet, where I believe most of this talk came from. I will let you know that later on as well.
McKnight set up two different approaches to the Bible that we can take. The first he called the authoritarian approach. This approach uses a flow that looks something like this. God-revelation-inspiration-inerrancy-truth-response-submission. This is an approach that many of us are very familiar with and have spent much of our time in ministry combating. "God said it, I believe it, and that's good enough for me." This approach leads to things being very black and white with no room for gray. McKnight says that the words inerrancy and submission are the most troubling with this approach. He used Psalm 119 as an example where scripture (or the law) is not for submission purposes but to be followed out of response. Vs 35, "Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it." (ESV) Notice that it doesn't say "your words are authoritative so therefore I submit", instead it's "your words are a delight therefore I will follow." This authoritarian approach is framed epistemically (knowledge is the desired outcome) and seems not to be what the God of the Bible is desiring.
The approach that McKnight was encouraging us to embrace is what he called the relational approach. This approach is framed by desiring to know the God of the Bible or the 'I' and 'You' behind the Bible. Here are a few tenets through which this approach flows. First, we need to understand that the Bible is God's spoken word to us. The Bible is not God but it points to God. The Bible is God's way of assuring us that God is there and is not silent. Second, we are invited to listen to God through the Bible and respond. Third, we enter into the Bible's own conversation and the conversation that has been going on throughout church history. There is a community focus to reading and understanding the Bible. It cannot be done in a vacuum.
McKnight's claim is that the relational approach leads to a better understanding of who God is and what God has called us to. The relational approach leads to us being able to respond to God in love and respect instead of fear and submission. One quote that I especailly loved is that "having the right view of the Bible is not the point, but having a relationship (or engaging) with the God of the Bible is the point."
McKnight then moved on to talking a bit about Missional Listening. He said that the biggest complaint that God has of the people is that they do not listen. His call is for us to be attentive enough to hear the words of God, allow them to sink in our very being and then to go and do what they say. When we engage in missional listening we will truly know God and follow God's desire for us to love and God and to love others. It is not about gathering information, but it's about how we are following what God has asked us to be about. Missional listening is inspired and it is a process.
I hope this is a fair summary of what McKnight was presenting to us. I did buy the DVD so when I get it I'll watch it again. What do you think? What is your understanding of the Bible? If you have shifted away from the authoritarian approach do you ever find yourself reverting back to the old ways? How can we help others to view the Bible in this way without pushing them over the edge or is that what needs to happen?
By the way, I just received McKnight's new book, The Blue Parakeet, where I believe most of this talk came from. I will let you know that later on as well.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Story of Jacob
I'm speaking on the story of Jacob this weekend and am having a bit of trouble trying to figure out where to go with it. This year Doug and I are trying to work through a majority of scripture looking through the lens of God's call in Micah 6:8 to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. Our desire is to talk through how the people of God have done this well, failed miserably, or been challenged by God in a new way. We hope to connect the story of God into our story so that we can learn, grow and understand that we are a part of God's story.
So back to my question. Do you feel that only focusing on the reconcilliation part of the story of Jacob misses out on the bigger story of God choosing Jacob to be the one to carry on the promise of Abraham? I've read quite a bit the past couple of days on Jacob and I want to make sure that I do his story justice. Any thoughts?
So back to my question. Do you feel that only focusing on the reconcilliation part of the story of Jacob misses out on the bigger story of God choosing Jacob to be the one to carry on the promise of Abraham? I've read quite a bit the past couple of days on Jacob and I want to make sure that I do his story justice. Any thoughts?
Monday, October 13, 2008
Missional Theology
Last Friday, I and 3 others from my church went to Biblical Seminary to hear a conversation in Missional Theology. The occasion was in honor of one of their theology professors, John Franke, who was being installed as the Lester and Kay Clemens Professor of Missional Theology. I have read two of Franke's books and recommend them both, The Character of Theology and Beyond Foundationalism. The best part of the event was that Franke asked 4 presenters to come in and talk about Missional Theology. The presenters were Scot McKnight, Tim Keel, Darrell Guder and Brian McLaren with a few breakout sessions lead by some local leaders in our area.
I will spend the next few posts talking about the meat of what was covered, but I want to make one general point before I do that. I was totally blown away by the way a generous orthodoxy was embraced at this event. Having grown up in a denominational setting my whole life, I have trouble breaking out of a sectarian mindset. I am constantly fighting the desire to draw the battle lines between the other and myself, when in reality we are on the same team! I think that is in large part why Mission Theology is resonating within me. It is speaking a new language that seems so right to me. Missional Theology does not seek to further point out our differences, but instead to find commonality that will move towards uniting us as the people of God. Thank you Biblical Seminary for being courageous to live out this conviction. May God continue to build the Kingdom here among us all.
I will spend the next few posts talking about the meat of what was covered, but I want to make one general point before I do that. I was totally blown away by the way a generous orthodoxy was embraced at this event. Having grown up in a denominational setting my whole life, I have trouble breaking out of a sectarian mindset. I am constantly fighting the desire to draw the battle lines between the other and myself, when in reality we are on the same team! I think that is in large part why Mission Theology is resonating within me. It is speaking a new language that seems so right to me. Missional Theology does not seek to further point out our differences, but instead to find commonality that will move towards uniting us as the people of God. Thank you Biblical Seminary for being courageous to live out this conviction. May God continue to build the Kingdom here among us all.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Beginning of a journey
So after many months of internal wrestling, I have decided to start this blog. Please know that this is more for me than it is for you. My journey is characterized by the title that I have chosen. I find myself as a resident Nazarene alien. I took this title from a book written by Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon called, "Resident Aliens." The book is essentially about how Christians always find themselves as resident aliens in the world. Their call is not to fight this reality, but to accept it and faithfully live by God's calling.
Here is where I find myself. I love my tribe of Nazarenes. I love the heritage that I have in being a 5th generation Nazarene. I love the heart of what we stand for in the Kingdom of God. But I'm finding that I'm a little out of place. I'm finding that instead of keeping our spirits tuned to the movement of God, my tribe is more tuned into doing it the way we've always done. I have not given up hope for the future, but I'm afraid of my identity within my tribe if our course does not change.
I hope this blog will be a place where I can wrestle with my friends and some welcomed strangers on what God is calling His church to in this day and time. I pray that as we journey together God will open us all up to new ways of seeing His Kingdom, instead of our kingdom.
You should also know that I love sports and music as well. So don't be surprised if they make an appearance on here as well.
Here is where I find myself. I love my tribe of Nazarenes. I love the heritage that I have in being a 5th generation Nazarene. I love the heart of what we stand for in the Kingdom of God. But I'm finding that I'm a little out of place. I'm finding that instead of keeping our spirits tuned to the movement of God, my tribe is more tuned into doing it the way we've always done. I have not given up hope for the future, but I'm afraid of my identity within my tribe if our course does not change.I hope this blog will be a place where I can wrestle with my friends and some welcomed strangers on what God is calling His church to in this day and time. I pray that as we journey together God will open us all up to new ways of seeing His Kingdom, instead of our kingdom.
You should also know that I love sports and music as well. So don't be surprised if they make an appearance on here as well.
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