Forgotten Ways, Chapters 3 & 4

Check out part 1 of my thoughts on Hirsch’s The Forgotten Ways here.

Reading through chapter 3, I found myself almost giddy considering the simple core truth of the Christian faith: Jesus is Lord.  Tradition is nice.  Theology is helpful.  But the core element that catalyzed the first century Jesus movement, is spreading throughout China and has been at the center of all great Jesus movement is the life changing confession that Jesus is Lord.

Hirsch unpacks just how powerful this would be in a polytheistic society, where one is living in constant fear of upsetting one deity or another.  He compares this to the false claim of Communist state as Lord, as well as exposing America’s own polytheism, the worship of money, power, health, etc.

He also points out the tendency of Christians to a dangerous syncretism.  His example of how the false god of comfort and power got mixed up with the Church in South Africa to create apartheid is a chilling reminder of what could happen to us.

Chapter 4 makes the argument that powerful Jesus movements are little more than disciple making systems.  He quotes Neil Cole of Church Multiplication Associates saying “we want to lower the bar of how Church is done and raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple.”

The primary barrier to disciple-making is consumerism, both inside and outside the church.  Our culture is set up to make us disciples of consumerism, we consume food, art, and even identities.  We take this mindset with us, expecting to be “fed” at church.

Secondly, our current system of religious education also inhibits disciple-making.  Unlike Jesus disciples, who met with him day in and day out, we remove a select few and pump them full of book learning, then return them to the church.  This may help them learn how to think, but it often does little to help them live more like Jesus, and lead others to do the same.

Hirsch’s accusations are clear: we have added so much to the gospel and so much to the way we teach about Jesus, that it impossible for our current way of being church to spread.

What do you think?  Have you seen a simpler, more effective Church?

Tags: Alan Hirsch, disciple making, Forgotten Ways, Missional, missional church, missions, Neil Cole

Verge Reflections, Day 3

The Verge Conference ended with a rally.  Local boy John Burke led off by saying “if the formerly unchurched are not leading the church, the church is dying.” Compared to some of the cutting edge thinkers that show up at these conferences, John’s methods may seem a little bit traditional.  However, the fruit, Gateway Church, fits his description perfectly.  All talk of missional-ness doesn’t really matter if you don’t have the fruit.

Jeff Vanderstelt said what should be obvious: do life the way you do normally, just with gospel intentionality.  It’s not that tough.  Hang out with your friends-including those who don’t know Christ.  Dave Gibbons suggested that we walk through crowds slowly, seeing the blessing of God on each person.

Francis Chan ended the conference by marching through each book of the New Testament, showing how pain and persecution are unavoidable when living a missional life.  Having accidentally stumbled into more than one fox holes, I know this to be very true.  I just hope that the people of Christ represented at Verge are ready for the pain, because the world needs us.

Tags: Alan Hirsch, Austin, Dave Gibbons, Francis Chan, Jeff Vanderstelt, John Burke, Matt Carter, Missional, missional church, Missional Communities, Verge 2010

Jesus: An Alternative to Being Missional

I was all for being missional before it was cool. I led a ministry in college designed to help students think of themselves as “domestic missionaries,” and have tried to approach my ministry in a way positions Christ following as a radical way of life that must be translated into the pluralistic, postmodern, pre-Christian United States.

Many great discussions about God’s mission in the world, and the purpose of the Church are helping to refocus the church, however, like any other terminology, missional has been quickly co-opted to mean whatever you want it to mean. For some it means rebranding seeker-driven formats of the 80s and 90s.  For others it means rationalizing a focus of social justice at the expense of personal morality and evangelism.

Ever since being blown away by Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy I haven’t been able to get past the idea that Churches should exist to teach people to live as Christ would if he were them. What if we just took simple ideas like “don’t hate other people” or “trust God” or “eat with people who don’t look like you” and formed sermon series, youth ministries and Sunday School classes around them?

Call me simplistic, but I’m operating from the belief that important doctrinal issues can only be worked out once you really love Jesus, are following him, and are being transformed into his image.  Focusing on the life of Jesus and his teachings would, in turn, make us naturally missional, and maybe even take the focus off some other arguments we Christians keep having.

Tags: Dallas Willard, evangelicalism, evangelism, Jesus, Missional, missional church, postmodern, social justice