Posted by Chris on Sep 17, 2010 in
Life 
I write this post from Flipnotics, which I think of more as my living room than a coffee house. The rustic patio bar nestled in the hills of 78704 is a refuge for those trying to hold on to the hippie lifestyle, an office for freelancers and the hope of the open mic scene.
Recently, I ran into an old coffee friend here who asked me, “so, are you still religious?”
The other night I met a pastor’s prodigal son who has left behind his religion, but has embraced the teachings of Ken Wilber. As we discussed the differences between the concepts of integral spirituality and the claims of Jesus Christ, another friend chimed in “I respect religion, you know, culturally.”
It’s hard to respond to these statements. The more learn about Jesus, the more dangerous I see religion. I don’t claim that I’m some “spiritual but not religious” type, who strike me as wanting to feel something without having to live in community, tradition or authority. The “not religion but relationship” line sets up for an individualism at the expense of the surrounding world.
These questions took Jesus three years to answer, and when he did, it got him killed. You can know God, traditions are helpful, personal practices are transformative, and community is necessary. But that can be very different than religion: culturally bound, guilt inducing, creativity damping, and, most dangerously, a tool of the state.
Jesus spoke of a kingdom, demonstrated a deep love for others and cared for the poor. He had a deep respect for the stories of the Hebrew tradition, but not the religion of his day. His followers responded with a new way of living: a humble, communal lifestyle where you give everything away.
Joining the Kingdom, rejecting the trappings of your world, yet loving it deeply is fundamentally different than being religious. It’s also requires years of demonstration, something you can’t share over a beer.
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Tags: Austin, flipnotics, Jesus, mission, Missional, religion, spirituality
Posted by Chris on Jun 18, 2010 in
Culture,
God 
I’m not really a sports guy. I’ll attempt to play almost anything, and enjoy an occasional day at the ballpark. But I can think of a million things I’d rather do than spend two hours watching a game.
Not surprisingly, I’m even less interested than the average American in the world’s most popular tournament.
The other day at work, I witnessed two friends watching a game. One was clueless, and asked a series of questions about how the tournament worked and the rules of the game. Now, he has something new that he enjoys, and the bond between them has grown.
My attitude is a far cry from that of Jesus, who was born poor and spent thirty years as an average Jew and manual laborer. This earned him the credibility for three years of meaningful ministry.
I might not get the World Cup, but I do claim to care about my co-workers and neighbors. Doing so means learning to express interest in what they love and care about join them in that, and celebrate with them.
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Tags: futball, Incarnational, mission, Missional, soccer, world cup
Posted by Chris on Jun 4, 2010 in
Church 
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?
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Tags: Alan Hirsch, disciple making, Forgotten Ways, Missional, missional church, missions, Neil Cole
Posted by Chris on May 28, 2010 in
Church,
Culture 
Since it’s release in 2006, Alan Hirsch’s The Forgotten Ways has catalyzed conversation across Churches striving to become missional. I’ll be reviewing the book as I read it over the next few weeks.
The Forgotten Ways is an attempt to answer the question How did the early church go from being a ragtag collection of outcasts to the dominant social force in the Roman Empire? The impetus behind the question is to discover what it is that the early church had, along with seeming unstoppable movements like early Methodism, Pentecostalism and the underground church in China. The common thread between them is what Hirsch calls “The Apostolic Genius.”
Chapter 1 focuses on Hirsch’s own story of being enveloped into a band of Christ-followers, whose lifestyles had focused on drugs, fornication and prison. This eventually became the South Melbourne Church of Christ, and the South Melbourne Restoration Center. For personal reasons, I find it tremendously encouraging to know that one of the most influential thinkers of my time came out the Restoration Movement.
The chapter shares about successful and failed attempts to help lead his church to 1) engage with non-Christians in their community, and 2) transform passive churchgoers into active missionaries. This led them to determine what their most basic values were, and attempt to restructure their organized church down to a loose network with shared values.
Chapter 2 encapsulates much of Hirsch’s reasoning. Without getting lost in philosophical meanderings, he addresses the big changes in our culture we’re all dealing with, from Christendom to post-Christendom, and from modernity to postmodernity. Unlike many thinkers who seem to stop at deconstruction, Hirsch uses these concepts to help define what it means to live as a missionary in the 21st century western world.
His most helpful concept is a scale showing the openness of outsiders to the gospel. The scale goes from m1 (cultural similar, but non-christian) to m5 (ethnically and culturally dissimilar non-Christian.)
The big idea? We’re having a hard enough time reaching the people most like us. If we even want to consider reaching those different from us, something drastic must change.
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Tags: Alan Hirsch, apostolic genius, Missional
Posted by Chris on May 24, 2010 in
Church 
A recent post was rightly accused of being accusatory toward what one might call “practical atheists.” This is a person who might claim to be a Christian, but whose life shows little practical difference from those who do not.
Where did these people come from? I blame myself for two reasons:
I blame myself for two reasons:
1. I’m often a practical atheist myself. Sure, I never miss a Sunday, but I am guilty of living in a way that does not reflect the teachings of Christ. I need to lead by example.
2. As a Christian leader, I have helped propagate a system that often fails to offer a vision of life that is no different than the world around us–only with more rules and less fun.
The message of Jesus Christ was and is extremely counter-cultural: Poor minorities being given power. Racial enemies providing for each others needs. Forgiveness, no matter what the wrong.
When applied by his first followers, Jesus teachings led to lives lived out in intense community and adventure. They sold their belongings to take care of each other. They traveled the world, lived through assassination attempts and shipwrecks, knowing they might some day be fed to wild animals or burned alive.
What would a church look like that stopped manufacturing practical atheists, and instead created individuals who give their lives up for others with wild abandon?
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Tags: Missional, practical atheism
I write this post from Flipnotics, which I think of more as my living room than a coffee house. The rustic patio bar nestled in the hills of 78704 is a refuge for those trying to hold on to the hippie lifestyle, an office for freelancers and the hope of the open mic scene.
