New Year's Resolutions, Goals, Planning, etc.

As I read through the New Testament, attempting to remove the filters of time and previous (prejudiced) teaching I continue to be amazed by the little things that pop out of no where.

In a conversation with my wife tonight we were talking about how today's devout church goers are beginning to say things that sound a lot like the new age thinkers around them. For instance, those whose comments I've been reading about being focused on setting goals for the year to come sound an awful lot like the new agers around me who speak of visualizing the good things they want to manifest in the future in order to make them happen.

The conversation with my wife turned to how little has changed from the times of Genesis through Revelation to today. Man still molds his religious practices into the image of the popularized culture surrounding himself or herself. Why? Who cares.

While Jesus was someone folks seemed to want to be around just because of His presence, He was not someone who "fit" in by any means. In fact, He fit in more with the ir-religious than He did with those who were considered religious in His day.

I find I am becoming less bound by religious thought and practice passed down for generations and more drawn to simply being of one mind with Father. While I'm not seeking to be different just for the sake of being different, I do more and more each day find myself separated from those who practice under any of the religious systems of this world.

Numbers

Sometimes I wonder if people "speaking for Jesus" really think about what they say before they open their mouths. Take this quote I came across recently:

The number of followers a church leader has is directly related to the how passionately the leader follows Christ.

 

Here are just a few quick things that strike me about this statement...

1. It's about numbers, not about Father.


2. It's about "us" not about Him.


3. It's based on a formula for success as man sees success.


4. It's oriented to drive church goers by playing on guilt.


5. It indicates there's a competition between church leaders.


6. It removes Father from the picture indicating it's the man who draws and leads the people not Father Himself.


7. It's based on our own effort, not on Father's provision.

Why would anyone follow, or want to follow, a church leader rather than following Christ/Father and doing it alongside others who follow alike? The themes of the Old and New Testaments continue to ring through... man wants worshiping the One True God to be about us (that's religion). We want a "king"... in a form or fashion which fits the culture of the day, but we want an earthly king to lead us because we want to be like the godless who place themselves at the center of their universe and create a god they can control and explain perfectly.

Sometimes, the things people say...

I've been watching this guy tweet for some time, but this one demanded a post. It's actually the second time (that I know of) that he's tweeted the same phrase.

I'm trying to figure out if he just doesn't see it, or if he actually thinks pushing people to join his online church is "sowing the Gospel".


A couple of times, in response to other nonsensicalness he posted,  I tweeted back in reply to, in essence, point out the error in his thinking. I think he's learned, as do most "church" folks, that I'm no "prospect" for his congregation so he just ignores me now.


What do you think? Is Dr. Kenny Russell's statement above rather absurd? Do you think he really MEANS what this says or do you think he means something else and it just came out wrong?


Are we really blinded so much by ambition to build something or be joined by others in something that we will say anything to make it happen?

I might consider the notion of "church" if...

So it's been a while since I wrote anything. One been busy... two just didn't have much to say... well, actually saying it one on one with several who needed it that way. Either way, today I was delighted to see this posted by a friend on his Facebook page. His name is Paul Vieira and you can find him at http://paulvieira.info as well as on Facebook. Here's what he had to say...

I might consider the notion of "church" if those involved:

1. view the word "church" as meaning something more like its original context - "community", not a building, institution or organization

2. don't have personal agendas on what community should look like

3. feel no guilt about not going to church

4. are comfortable with there being no pastor - not expecting to be "spiritually fed" by another person

5. view worship as daily decisions to acknowledge God and do what is right by God - not about singing songs

6. (if music is involved) see music as a familiar way of creating atmosphere and expressing ideas and emotion

7. are on a journey with eyes looking to Jesus as the Authority on every matter in this life and the next

8. are comfortable with others being at different places on that journey - no judging

9. see community as something fluid - we don't have to meet all the time and it can look different each time

10. are comfortable with not knowing all the answers, others having different opinions, and appreciating the mystery of God

Does this describe anyone out there?

I simply responded, "ME!".

Umm... guess not.

So last week I wrote about our "It's FREE you know" experience. This morning, as is typical on Sunday mornings, I was sitting on the front porch, but this week anxious to see what the follow up would be from last week's nodder.

I have to admit I was hopeful that he'd make some kind of futher overture to draw us into what he obviously believes is his spiritual "family". Not because I really wanted to be a part, but because I really have a desire to see those who claim to follow Christ act like it.

Sadly, he pulled up at the same time he has for almost a year and parked in the same spot he has every week. Got out of his car, looked over my way... and said nothing. In fact, he glanced away as soon as he noticed I was looking his way.

Guess he feels he has fulfilled the mandate taught by his religious system to "Go ye therefore" by simply "inviting" me to come into his building.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (emphasis mine)

John 13:35

"It's FREE you know"

About a year ago we moved into a small house in a quiet neighborhood in old town Longmont. To our East was a brand new rebuilt house that was empty and for sale... it was the only thing between us and "The Church at Longmont" that sits on the corner. For over 11 months on Sundays (and Wednesdays) people would come and go and often we would see them (and they would see us). Until today, no one spoke to us from there. In fact, no one even really looked our way long enough for us to catch their gaze and speak.

Today was different. He pulled up in a pickup I've seen parked in the same parking spot almost every week for the whole year. He stepped out of his truck, straightened his jeans and shirt and confidently looked over at us to say "Good morning".

What came next I almost couldn't believe. With an air of arrogance and condescension his head motioned toward the building and said "It's FREE you know".

The old me wanted to say something that showed this arrogant religionist how blind he really is. But asking Father what to say He was silent and confirmed in me there was nothing to say.

So many thoughts passed through my mind as the man walked into the building.

HIM: "It's FREE you know"

ME: "Do you know that YOU are NOT?"

HIM: "It's FREE you know"

ME: "You have no idea how much it has cost you... you have no joy."

HIM: "It's FREE you know"

ME: "Then why are they always pushing you for money?"

HIM: "It's FREE you know"

ME: "No, but Jesus meant what it represents to truly set you free and you don't even see it."

So sad. I weep for his blindness, yet he is not my assignment.

Contentment vs Ambition?

It's become very interesting to me over the last three years how much more in tune with Father's character some who "don't know Father" are than those who do or claim to follow His Son. It seems they have an advantage over us in that they see His character exemplified in the brush strokes He left about Himself sprinkled through His creation. We often miss thees brush strokes because we discount the thoughts presented in movies, songs, books, science, even astrology as in opposition to the Bible. (That should get some folks riled up!) But before you get too riled, let me throw out a disclaimer. I would never put forth that Father intends or intended for us to worship nature, be self-worshiping, or look to the sky to know whether or not we should buy a lottery ticket. However, I'm beginning to see that some of the folks who practice or promote these crafts are more in touch with the pattern of their creator than are those who read their Bibles daily, attend church several times weekly, and give above their expected 10% (the "expected by whom" is another post entirely... but I won't be writing that one).

If I walked you into an art gallery with rooms of painting collections from several artists, chances are you could identify which paintings belonged to which painters just by the similar style and expression of themselves that are evident in the masterpieces they create. Likewise I'm learning that the world we live in, as well as all the people around us are masterpieces of the Master. So many people around us who don't know the Father have taken the time (we have not if you are reading between the lines here) to study some aspect of His magnificent creation and have found patterns or representations of cycles which I'm beginning to realize are the brush strokes of the Master. Like Paul I'm beginning to find myself surrounded by those who have some form of an altar to an "unknown god".

A recent post on the SearchingForMore.com blog written by a distant, and yet unmet brother living in TN I was reminded of the importance living a life in line with the understanding of this truth. In his post The Danger of Contentment Jason points out that contentment can be an arrow in the quiver of The Enemy. He expresses that he is not content with many of the "spiritual" things in his life and desires a more dedicated and life-altering walk. My disclaimer before I go on is that this is similar to the passion which grew inside of me and led me to walk away from the religious life I had lived for 25 years.

Jason's discontent is consistent with those who venture down the path to living the truth of what Jesus showed and taught us. I believe Jason would pretty quickly agree with everything I am about to say in response to his post.

Many of the non-religious around us emphasize the importance of living a life of balance. From yoga to Jedi Master Yoga (well, the author of the Star Wars saga I should say) balance in life is emphasized as key. Likewise, the life of a Christ Follower is a life of balance.  This important principle permeates the communities focused on art, science, business, and on and on that exist all around us. Yet those who follow or claim to follow Christ tend to live lives swinging from one extreme to another. The amazing creator of everything left some definitive brush strokes about balance on our planet, across other planets, and across the known universe. While being content can lead to complacency in one's journey, there is a lot to be said to finding the balance between contentment and ambition.

Paul emphasized that he had learned to be content whatever his circumstances. Yet I would not describe Paul as being complacent with or towards anything in his life.

Enter into the post the influence of Phil Card. Phil was a church member in one of the churches I served, but that was far from his public legacy. Phil served for a great many years in what would be called denomination service trying to establish a lifestyle of discipleship in groups and individuals. After he retired (which I'm not sure he ever REALLY did) while serving on staff in his church Phil served as my mentor for a field service class that was required for my seminary degree (kind of funny because I had always been in "full time ministry" while getting my degree... but I digress). A regular part of our weekly meetings during the class, as well as at any opportunity he would have outside of those meetings, Phil would quietly say to me "Ambition is the problem. Do you know what I mean?" I always thought I knew what he was saying and typically thought it meant something about some aspect of whatever the conundrum of the week was at the church.

Not until five years ago did I truly begin to understand what I think Phil was trying to say... or if Phil was not trying to say this specific piece of to me, Father used him as a mouthpiece to echo it to my life years later. As part of my journey I began to realize my own ambition had driven me to believe I was a better "Christian" if I worked with multitudes. The bigger the numbers I was influencing the better for the Kingdom. My ambition to "do great things for God and His Kingdom" had be all messed up.

At the close of John, Jesus quietly says "the Father is the goal and purpose of my life". Now there is ambition. The only person in the history of the world who ever had limitless power and capability and who could have had the biggest "ministry" in history was ambitious for one thing... whatever Father had for Him.

Somewhere between contentment and ambition is a place Jesus walked day in and day out and it's where I want to be as well. There are times when ambition to do great things for the Kingdom flirts across the canvas of my mind. There are times when contentment with my circumstances could become complacency. The thing that keeps them both in check is a walk with Father. The more I learn about how the goal and purpose of my life can be like that of Jesus, the less I even have to think about balance between ambition and contentment.

So, I applaud my yet unmet brother Jason and his passion to not become complacent (which is what I think he is saying in his post). No doubt the pressure of ambition is not far behind. I pray he will find his place nestled right down into the middle of being where Father wants him to be, when Father wants him to be there, and be attentive enough to do/say exactly what Father has for him to do while there.

Expectations (wrong ones at that)

I'm not really sure where it crept in, but this concept that "Christians" should always be "Johnny on the spot" for every other "Christian" or "non-Christain" is all messed up.

Somewhere along the way what Jesus did (demonstrated in his daily life) and commanded has been warped to the point of insanity.

Jesus had all the power to do literally anything he wanted to as he walked the earth. Anything. There was nothing outside the realm of his abilities. He was equipped to accomplish anything. Anything! (Have I made that point clear enough yet?) He spent everyday walking among person after person, threw crowds of crowds of people who had needs. And not just the obvious needs we tend to be able to see and know.

The other day, in passing, a friend seemed to emphasize that a stranger had offered to go out of his way to help someone with whom I am acquainted. The inference seemed to be, "look how this person I barely know indicated a willingness to go completely out of their way to help me" while you who are my friend didn't make the same offer knowing my situation.

This is so messed up. It probably also fuels much of the discontent on the part of "Christians" with Father not "helping them in their times of need". Jesus who was capable of helping everyone with their immediate perceived needs did not always do so. In fact, if you create an equation of his ability to help vs his actual "assistance in a persons time of need" the result would be in negative numbers so big we could not imagine.

Jesus had a goal and purpose while he walked among us. A purpose he spoke to and demonstrated. A purpose which, if he truly is the example each of us who follow him is to emulate, should dictate our own way of life.

"You've heard me tell you, 'I'm going away, and I'm coming back.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I'm on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life."John 14:28

His goal was not to do good things for the Kingdom or for the Father. He was not here to make our lives easier or to provide relief for those in difficulty. His goal and purpose WAS Father. Along the way, Father would show Jesus people in whom Father was already doing something and Jesus would know that Father would have him partake in Father's own work at some level. It was in those individual's lives where Jesus unleashed the power bottled up inside him. It was not Jesus operating from a "look at all the potential to help I have... now where can I do good things for Father?" It was where would Father have me when and what would He have me do while I am there. Nothing more. Nothing less.

"The Father is the goal and purpose of my life" dictates a great deal about the way we live our lives. It indicates a clear determination to only be doing that which we sense Father calling us to be involved in. It indicates a complete surrender to our creator to only be involved in doing what He indicates we are to be doing. It destroys the mentality that "Christians" are to always be doing everything in their power to solve other people's problems.

So, no, I won't go out of my way to help you like that other guy. Maybe his path has been guided by Father to be that person for you, but mine has not at this point in both our lives. Hence, choosing to be where Father wants me when He wants me to be there, and doing what He wants of me while there will not at this point prompt me to offer to be your wholesale savior of temporal things.

Pain is weakness leaving the body

So it's been a few days (okay months) since my last post. I know... I know... successful bloggers post regularly. Guess that just means I'm not a successful blogger.

A few years back I attempted to get back into the gym for some weightlifting. I learned several things.

1. If you are active in a weightlifting program now, don't quit. Getting started back is a pain... literally, on many levels.


2. I'm not as young as I used to be.


3. As I've gotten older bigger numbers aren't as important as they used to be (age, weights, lbs., etc.)

Probably more if I took the time to contemplate it. But that's not why I started this post. One of the interesting quotes I learned from the guy I lifted with was:

Pain is weakness leaving the body.

One of the things I've been learning on my journey is the concept that any growth in my walk is usually associated with pain. This is a huge conundrum for those who don't know Father. Most folks seem to hold a view that if there is a "god" he, she, or it would always have everything rosy in the lives of that which he, she, or it created. A god who allows, even initiates pain in the lives of those who are dedicated to follow is not only foreign but to them a major stumbling block to any belief.

What makes this even more interesting was a recent Facebook post by a friend who is trying to find her way on a path of spiritual enlightenment and is grappling with God vs all other "systems". Here's two posts that appeared almost back to back:

I was talking to my friends about the various thoughts regarding GOD and my Friend said if God was really real, why would all those people in Haiti be suffering so much... I was speechless and Like DA I dont know??

And then...

If you look at the Mystic law of the universe suffering is a necessity in order to awaken compassion and enlightenment ~?~ but why with out no food and water??

Of course this line of questioning was all brought on by the tragic earthquake in Haiti but it did make me realize something very important. I'm not 100% sure where the last quote comes from but I'm guessing it's some alternative-to-God system of spirituality that's out there. As I contemplated what I was reading I realized often people hold the "one true God" of their perception to a different standard than any other religious teaching they explore. It's not okay for the God of the Bible to allow or cause bad things to happen to good people... in fact, in their thinking that's why "He" doesn't really exist, yet, it's noble and natural in other spiritual systems they often consider viable for suffering to bring about maturity. Have you encountered this before?

Obsessions

While traveling the other day I heard all sorts of people talking about all kinds of stuff that occupies their conscious thoughts. I don't remember the precise topic of the conversation that pulled it all together for me, but I do remember I was sitting on a plane overhearing the person behind me explaining how brilliant his business prowess was to the captive audience in his row. I pulled out my phone and wrote a reminder to myself of this simple thought:

Obsessed with controlling things you can't control.

It was a theme I overheard often in conversations on this trip - both conversations I had and had not participated in. In that one moment overhearing the conversation (which could hardly be called a conversation as it was very one sided, but nonetheless...) behind me on the plane Father spoke a quiet phrase that caused all the little subtle things He had been highlighting to me throughout the trip to come to rest on this one simple statement.

It's something we all struggle with at some level and in various ways. Father's been teaching me the lessons of manna from heaven and the feeding of the five thousand over the last year and I had not really put one plus one together to get this one yet (I know, one plus one equals two, but I'm learning this new math that doesn't always add up like all the math I grew up learning).

How amazing is it that we can become so obsessed, even as those who profess to follow Christ, with controlling things over which we truly have no control. Well, maybe some of you reading this may feel more comfortable if I tag on "no control except that which Father permits", but then is that really in our control at all?

Jesus walked the earth for three years totally out of control. (that should stir some head scratching) He was very careful to emphasize that:

John 5:19 (MSG)
19 So Jesus explained himself at length. "I'm telling you this straight. The Son can't independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does.

John 5:30 (MSG)
30 "I can't do a solitary thing on my own: I listen, then I decide. You can trust my decision because I'm not out to get my own way but only to carry out orders.

John 5:36 (MSG)
36 But the witness that really confirms me far exceeds John's witness. It's the work the Father gave me to complete. These very tasks, as I go about completing them, confirm that the Father, in fact, sent me.

John 5:44 (MSG)
44 How do you expect to get anywhere with God when you spend all your time jockeying for position with each other, ranking your rivals and ignoring God?

And perhaps the most interesting snippet nestled in this explanation by Jesus is:

38 There is nothing left in your memory of his Message because you do not take his Messenger seriously.

39 "You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me!

A large majority of well meaning ministries across the world are geared to teaching "principles" from the Bible, that if you follow them precisely you will be in control of things in your life. I believe Jesus would say "poppycock!"

Checklist Christianity

The churchETHOS blog has a really good article about checklist christianity vs following Jesus.

“Checklist Christianity” is that form of religion that teaches, either directly or indirectly, that our spiritual growth, or even our worth as a Christian, is tied up in what we do. Specifically, the more bible studies you attend, the more extra-curricular “Christian” activities you are involved in, the more you read your bible and pray on your own, the more you are growing spiritually.

I'd add "Goes to church" to his list of items. Many folks won't even count the items he has listed until they know you are going to a certain church... and ultimately if you don't attend a church at all nothing you do on the checklist matters.

It's sad, and unfortunately probably has its roots sometime in the stuff we have recorded in Acts-Revelation, but somewhere along the lines walking with Jesus turned into going to a church rather than being part of the body of Christ. At some point by, no doubt, some well meaning religious individuals, the body of Christ was conceptually split up into "local" and "global" yet if you read all the gospel accounts very carefully you'll discover this never seemed to be on the mind of Christ. He always spoke of His body in the global sense.

What if following Jesus takes you away from attending church as we have always known it and introduces you to something very different... something I'm beginning to see may be more like what I believe Jesus had in mind as He walked among us. Something where He, not an organization, provides the relationships with other believers who will build you up and whom you in turn can build up in return.

Several have asked...

Several have asked and others want to know but don't ask. I'll answer anyway. The question is something like, "Why don't you go to church anymore?" While I won't spend time rehashing the journey that brought me to where I am (read the rest of the MyWalkBlog entries if you are interested in that), I'll instead answer the question for those who will to some degree admit they at least partially agree that "church" as we have always known it does not accomplish the mission that Christ left with His followers, but who would challenge that I should be "inside" applying what God has shown me as a fix for the "church". Today I was catching up on some blog reading and came across the following section of a post titled Is Deconstruction Enough? Wayne, being challenged whether he really wanted to be known as one of the guys who convinced people not to go to church on Sunday morning says as part of his response:

The reason church life grows stale is because we’re looking for institutional solutions, not relational ones. If we equip people to live loved of God and live as lovers of people, the church will spring up all around us. It probably won’t be contained in a specific meeting or building but will grow wild and free and bear fruit in the interconnection, collaboration, cooperation and submission of brothers and sisters who are being changed by Jesus. That can look like a hundred different things. But once I begin to describe some of those things, I know our tendency as humans to prefer replicating a model to following the Head! We love to construct things, not build up people. The New Testament points us to building up people in Christ and seeing what expression that takes. I don’t think it works the other way around. (emphasis mine)

And there you have in a nutshell my answer. I remember several years ago, when following God on my journey brought about some interesting developments in our own group. The church we were attending immediately wanted to find a way to replicate what was going on in our group through months of praying and following by putting together a handbook, having a training session, and watching the Spirit of God take that group exactly where we were headed because we were following God.

One of the key questions I remember the church leader asking after I told him our off-shoot groups followed no curriculum was "but how do we control what goes on in the groups." My response? "If you think you control the groups that meet on campus because they all meet at the same time each week and because you put approved curriculum in the leaders hands your nuts." Do you see it... "But once I begin to describe some of those things, our tendency as humans is to prefer replicating a model to following the Head!"

Other than the simple fact that Jesus, the Head, has not led me back to an institutionalized gathering, I'm confident that any attempt to change the institution, as others have suggested, from the inside out though it would be the result of a small group learning how to walk in intimacy with God, would be subjected to tendencies and efforts to replicate the model and not the following of the Head that truly brought about the change. Besides, ultimately, those who have "gotten it" begin to struggle with being inside the institution themselves and we all know how that "movement" would sit with those who lead the institutions.

Pursuing Christ Outside the Walls!

Counter Assumption

In his article, The Cult of Mac: Neuroscience shows Apple's impact on the brain is the same as religion, the author Skye Jethani cites research and opinion based on that research toward addressing what he sees as consumerism affecting the church.

"Apple is (as we've proven using neuroscience)...a religion. Not only that--it is a religion based on its communities. Without its core communities, Apple would die--it is already facing strong pressure as the brand simply is becoming too broad (losing) its magic. What's holding it all together is the hundreds if not thousands of communities across the world spreading the passion and creating the myths."

I was glad to see he came back and explored the opposite side of things... as he puts it "If brands have become religions, is the opposite also true? Have religions been reduced to brands?" Skye affirms that he does believe this to be true. I have to admit I was already thinking in this direction as I began his article (but then, that doesn't surprise those of you who know me, right?).

Could it be the same thing that makes humans in general vulnerable to consumerism in the first place is the same thing that contributed to the rise of a religion out of the relationship focus Jesus lived and taught while He walked the earth?

What's really intriguing about this study, and about Apple being dubbed "a religion", is more what it says about religion than it is an indictment on Apple or any other strong brand, right? Does the study show that people are generally pre-disposed to a system of belief about something? And, if so, could it suggest that when Jesus left the disciples without a religion per se, that in the absence of one, the people who by nature are predisposed to systemization rather than relationship, unknowingly began to layer the system, or religion, back onto that which Jesus spent three years striping away?

Not alone out here in the uttermost parts...

One of the interesting parts of my journey has been the initial isolation you feel when you begin the trek down a different path. The further I go down the path the more I come across others who are on the similar journeys. Today I discovered the blog of Jim Palmer. Just reading his current post, "you can't get there from here (or can you)", I found myself excited. One of the sentences that got me really excited was this one:

i don’t feel the need to cling to the label “Christian,” and i am okay with people who don’t think i am one.

I too have gone through a period where I was not quite sure what I had become and didn't know how to answer the question "are you a Christian"? I can say that the only folks I've come across who question my relationship to God are those who are typical church goers. Especially those with whom we attended church or served on their church staff at some point. Most think we've had some deep hurt from the church and have turned our backs on it. We get that blank look that comes after you tell them and it's obvious they are hoping we'll get over it at some point and return. But when you've had steak you can't settle for SPAM any longer when you don't have to.

On the other hand, when we come across unbelievers or others going down this same path we are on, we don't get those questions or the stares. And oddly enough, the unbelievers just notice something "different" about us and because we're not all "churchy" they actually open up and pour out their souls to us. The opposite of the reactions we used to get, and never noticed before because we were too church-strung, of the blank stare and obviously trying to think of an answer that allows them to slip away from the encounter never to have to see us again.

So, as Jim I don't cling to, and actually shy away from, the term "Christian" these days because of the association that it conjures in the mind of others. I've landed on the term Christ Follower. It's much more descriptive of where I am and where I am headed.

Attending Meetings Does Not Equal Church

So today I came across several interesting blogs. One of which led me to lifestream.org - I continue to be amazed how prevalent this movement of God is. In fact, I remember around Feb or Mar of 2007 thinking I was the only one out here struggling with whether what I had come to know as "church" was really what Jesus meant for His followers to be doing. One of the watershed moments in the journey was looking around the room at a group of folks whom I had led in Bible study for several years after making the comment "You have to take personal responsibility for your own spiritual growth. Not your spouse, not me, not the pastor, or the church. But you reaching out to walk with Jesus day by day, moment by moment." What I noticed would best be described as the deer in headlights look from all but three faces. It was then I realized God was calling me to invest deeply in the three who understood. So, reading the lifestream.org blog/site today I found this comment:

Don't be tricked into thinking that just because you attend its meetings you are experiencing real body life. That only comes as God connects you with a handful of brothers and sisters with whom you can build close friendships and share the real ups and downs of this journey.

From Why I Don't Go to Church Anymore! by Wayne Jacobsen

There you go! Reflecting back after my own watershed moment, I remember the numerous times I or someone else would speak of walking in the Spirit and sensing the leadership of the Spirit to do, say, or whatever, and seeing those same looks. The funny thing was the family-ship that the group had. Probably the most unified group I've ever been a part of. Yet, the experience of being in touch with God through the Spirit mostly absent. I believe a vast majority of those "attending church" today, even those who experience a great "fellowship" of friends and having incredibly moving spiritual moments, are not experiencing a genuine, Spirit-led walk. In fact, the pastor of the church (deemed a highly successful and exploding church by all standards of ministry in today's mainstream understanding) we were attending at that point even said in the same message which prompted my comment about personal responsibility for one's own spiritual walk that he stayed awake at nights lamenting that over 90% of the folks who sat listening to him each week would spend eternity in hell.

Involved in church's ministry = serving God?

Okay, so this just illustrates the point. It amazes me how easily we accept this rhetoric. At the big Shift event going on this week Kara Powell, the executive director of the Center for Youth and Family Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, had the following to say:

If there is one thing that everyone in youth ministry seems to be talking about it’s how to keep students following Christ after high school....

Her data reveals that 50% of high school students who had been deeply involved in a church’s youth ministry will not be serving God 18 months after graduation. And that’s not counting the many other high school students who are only going to church because their parents are forcing them.

She said this standing in front of a mountain of "youth resources" making the point that there are more resources available than ever before and yet students are walking away from God after High School. Then, she poses four critical questions for youth ministry. I'll only highlight one here:

4. How can we train students to feed themselves after graduation?

Doesn't that establish a bit of an oxymoron? On the one hand she laments that teens in alarming rates are not coming to church, then out of the other side of her mouth she prods how those same teens can be trained to feed themselves. If they are feeding themselves and out amongst the unbelievers but fellowshipping intentionally with believers in some manner isn't that awesome!? That is, unless someone has embraced the myth that dragging oneself to the table is synonymous with feeding oneself.

So, here are some questions that come to mind:

1. If the churchites can keep them there, does it really mean they are growing and serving Christ?


2. When exactly was it that attendance replaced personal contact (discipler to disciplee) to determine growth?


3. Isn't it kind of presumptuous to assume that someone participating in a program is engaged personally?


4. If the youth ministries we rabidly defend are doing their jobs maybe the teens are just the first new generation of self-sustaining Christ Followers going out into the world to fulfill the Great Commission. Maybe they get it that the Great Commission cannot be fulfilled hiding away, in-breeding in our super-structures.

Okay, like that was not jarring enough, this will be really unpopular. While it may not be at the forefront of the thinking of these "ministry professionals" I do believe an underlying concern they have is the realization of the lost revenue after the business has spent so many resources to raise up future foundational support. They know if they cannot keep them they cannot sustain the super-structures they built on "new believers" alone. How can I say such a thing? I just reflect on my own meetings applying formulas which divided the total giving (revenue) by the number in attendance to arrive at a per person figure which can be applied to the increase in attendance to get a increase in available funds to "grow the ministry".

Skye Jethani, the author of the article and managing editor of Leadership poses his own questions as he closes out the article:

48 year olds may not be leaving the church the way 18 year olds are, but are they really growing? Are we feeding them a Red Bull gospel? Are we teaching them to be self-feeders?

What is needed is a complete re-evaluation of what serving God truly means; a re-evaluation of what personal growth is; a re-evaluation of what the Church is. One of the most common concerns I've heard among staff members about believers or groups of believers feeding themselves is the issue of "control". Control only becomes an issue when the numbers become so big that personal involvement can no longer be maintained. This is when rules and structure become necessary. It amazes me that in statements like the ones in this articlt the writers look right past the obvious laying in front of them... isn't teaching church-goers to be self-feeders and expecting them to be dependent on the super-structure for food (I know, this is not what we say going to church is about, but really it's part of how the necessity of the institution is protected) a great oxymoron?

Where, O where is the outrage at statements such as this? (truth is, folks will be more outraged that I've said what I've said than they will that these speakers and writers have equalized serving God with going to church activites)

Bursting the Christian Bubble -- The Cart Running Over the Horse

It appears that Dan Kimball, author of They Like Jesus But Not the Church, speaking live at the Shift conference shared some thoughts on "Bursting the Christian Bubble".

In an increasingly post-Christian culture fewer people have contact with real Christians. We’ve hidden ourselves in a Christian sub-culture bubble.

I would totally agree with the sub-culture bubble concept. We emerged from that bubble last February and ever since folks think we have backslidden (one of those sub-culture terms used to help protect the organization and keep people inside) and "lost our faith". In fact, just the opposite has happened since we purposefully stepped away from that social bubble which demanded way too much time for us to be out impacting the lives of those outside the bubble. In fact, a friend with whom we've become reacquainted with since returning to the Denver area, tells us about the stealth inquisitions she often undergoes from those in the church we formerly served on staff at while here. Yet not one of them has picked up the phone and called us to ask what's going on. Wonder if that means life outside the bubble is way weird to those inside.

In one of my first mywalkblog posts was The New 80/20, I reflected that "my time was so tied up in good things at church and in ministry [that] I spent little time engaging with people outside my church in the community or my even my own neighborhood."

Inevitably the cart gets before the horse and before too long the cart actually begins running the horse over and killing it. Of all the things I reflect back on of value during my years serving the organization it's the relationships with precious people that I am most fond of today. Those don't require the institution itself to exist. In fact, those relationship often thrived and were most founded from any time we spent apart from the bubble.

Now almost two years later I'm going to propose something that will be very unpopular to those inside their bubbles... I don't believe it's possible to have the organized institution which is called church without that bubble inevitably becoming a dominating reality. I'll concede that in some smaller communities in secluded areas where the "churches" themselves are small, I believe the bubble-syndrome is less likely to be as crippling to true Christ Followers. But that's where it stops. Even as those institutions increase in size it will require more resources to keep them going and ultimately there won't be enough time to serve Christ and their church any longer. (ouch... I can't believe I just said that) The very nature of the organizations we've created and called "church" (given, Christ established His Church as the global body of all who profess a faith in Him but I'm less inclined to say the establishments find ourselves slaves to today and call church are what He had in mind at all) will inevitably turn inward in focus and create a sub-culture of isolationism because of what they strive to be. Maybe that's why the disciples were scolded when they asked Jesus about having a position in His future organization.

Love it!

He makes some good points:

Sometimes I wonder if we have so confused these two entities—the church and the institution—that our mission becomes the growth and advancement of the later rather than the former. When attendance at a church program is large we say, “the church is growing,” and when attendance is poor we say, “the church is failing.” But is that really accurate? Is the church growing or failing, or merely the institution? Can we even tell the difference anymore?

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2008/03/they_love_the_c.html#more

I would say the majority of those who use the term "church" cannot make the distinction or trust the listener to make the distinction when talking about it. It is truly sad, but most supposed Christ Followers today passionately invite people to church (institution with all it's social network and mission to grow the social network) with little real passion for the true bond which binds Christ Followers together. The social network is the bond unconsciously promoted with little knowledge or consciousness of the Spirit of Christ which truly binds those who believe together. Hence I call myself a Christ Follower now rather than Christian. When the definitions lose their meaning in the context of culture it's time for new words... especially when the words we use are so watered down and have lost their meaning like "church" today.

Out of Context: Tim Keel

There's a lot of talk and buzz these days about simple church. Numerous people and organizations are making a significant amount of money talking and teaching about it as the answer to getting more people to church. Yes, to church. Whatever they call it or however they organize it... church. Action and reaction. Pendulums go one way and swing back the other.

This quote was posted the other day on a blog I read occassionally.

In the modern world, we tend to reduce the complexity and diversity of the Scriptures to simple systems, even when our systems flatten the diversity and integrity of the biblical witness.

So now, there's already a reaction beginning to build on how the teaching of the church has been oversimplified. The pendulum swings are getting closer and closer together.

I find it amazing that my own back to the words of Jesus approach actually un-veiled a very simple message.

From there he went all over Galilee. He used synagogues for meeting places and taught people the truth of God. God’s kingdom was his theme—that beginning right now they were under God’s government, a good government!

Matthew 4:23

So, this brings us back to Mr. Keel's quote from the Out of the Ur blog and the position that churches have oversimplified the Bible. Perhaps as man, we tend to look for systems. Complex or simple, we need a system so we know what we do and do not have to do. So we can keep a little book about whether we've fulfilled our religious duty each week. I read somewhere that when relationships fail rules are required. God in the flesh required three years of life on life living with the twelve chosen to carry the message to the uttermost parts of the earth. Three years. Nearly 24/7/1095 (3x365).

I contend that Jesus' message was very simple. So simple in fact, he had to untrain them from the religious way of thinking so he could re-orient their thinking to the simplicity of the central theme of his message. More simple than the books and seminars on simple church have made it. I contend that Jesus continually showed the difference between living with the temporal things of the world at the center of your life and living a God-life with the Kingdom at the core. What we've built the systems around, simple or complex, are what I have discovered and call the contexts of which he took advantage to illustrate his simple message. His message can truly be applied to any context and illustrated by uncountable stories and realities (14 When outsiders who have never heard of God’s law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. 15 They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong. Romans 2).

I contend that our fallen and corrupt nature alone cannot allow us to understand the vast simplicity of what he taught, and, most importantly what he lived and showed us through how he lived. I contend that religious systems, in order to thrive, must propagate a system upon which they can be built. Jesus left no system. Here's a great quote I read yesterday:

What has become a maximum of organization with a minimum of organism, has to be changed into a minimum of organization to allow a maximum of organism. Too much organization has, like a straitjacket, often chocked the organism for fear that something might go wrong. Fear is the opposite of faith, and not exactly a Christian virtue. Fear wants to control; faith can trust. Control therefore may be good, but trust is better.

Houses That Change The World by Wolfgang Simson

And here's what Paul had to say about it in Romans:

What we’ve learned is this: God does not respond to what we do; we respond to what God does. 28 We’ve finally figured it out. Our lives get in step with God and all others by letting him set the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade....

31 But by shifting our focus from what we do to what God does, don’t we cancel out all our careful keeping of the rules and ways God commanded? Not at all. What happens, in fact, is that by putting that entire way of life in its proper place, we confirm it. Trusting God

Romans 3:27-28, 31

"Our lives get in step with God... by shifting our focus from what we do to what God does." That is the simplicity of living as a Christ Follower. That is the foundation upon which any sense of structure in the life of a Christ Follower should be built. Unfortunately, we've traded a visible structure (he goes to church, he teaches, he tithes, he serves) that looks like it has the right foundation for the true foundation itself (we respond to what God does). As long as what we see "looks right", according to the simple or the complex structure outlined by man, we assume the whole is in line with God. Unfortunately, what we have is people in step with checklists, and when those checklists happen to line up with what God is doing we're in line, but when they are out of line... so are those who follow them. Because we are focused on the list, on our own agendas, it seems simpler to follow that checklist than learn how to look intently for God, simpler to see a page of do's and don'ts than truly see God.

Think honestly for a moment. When was the last time you saw God, and responded to what you saw? I'm not talking about an emotional or intellectual response based on stimulus provided by another person. I'm talking about you seeing God up to something and responding. Sadly, I'm afraid few of those today who claim to be Christ Follower have ever seen God and responded to that glimpse apart from someone else's stimulus. God did not mean for it to be this way. It's not what Jesus showed his closest followers while here walking among them, and it's not what those follower's encouraged in the years immediately following Jesus' ascension.

Yes, since stepping away from the busy-ness of structure conscious religious life, which I used to think was the God-life, I've not "done" as much. However, waiting on and responding to what God is doing... I'm amazed at what I've seen God do. The life-change that was sadly missing from 100's of lives weekly invested in according to the checklists God allows me to see every time I simply follow Him. That's the complex simplicity of being a Christ Follower. I would re-write Mr Keel's quote thusly:

In the modern world, we tend to complicate and compartmentalize the simple message and example of the life of Jesus into formalized systems - complex and simple - even when those systems and their checklists become our focus rather than simply walking in step with God like his son showed us.

UGH! No wonder people look at "us" the way they do.

This quote was in an article used to bait me by my good friend Andrew. It worked. The article is in the Tennessean titled "Church brands draw members: Faiths market themselves by taking on names that define their beliefs, message"

And for a new church, he added, brands like McDonald's are the competition.

My response: Perhaps you are "selling" the wrong thing then!