Leaning Forward

Missional Axioms for the Biblically Inept-Axiom XI: Lens

Missional leaders and congregation view the world through the lens of a Christian world-view.

Being culturally relevant can squeeze church people into a mold they would rather resist. The old adage, "it take ones to know one" tempts us to put on cool shades when we determine how to engage the culture, meaning that if we're not careful, we will view our mission through a lens colored by the times rather than through the eternal Word of God and person of Christ. The pressure to identify is so great that many congregations abandon the distinctives of faith in order to gain a foothold in the world out there. What a miscalculation. You see, the mission is lost if the point of reference shifts. Shoot, looking through the wrong lens makes them the mission field, and not the missionaries. Strategic mistake!

Like the term missional, world-view is another buzzword. Basically, world-view is the lens by which each of us views and assesses life. More specifically, it is the framework of ideas and beliefs by which people interpret the world and what is happening. Of course, there are many conflicting world-views, about as varied as there are diverse populations, world religions, cultures, languages, and many other political, economic, and social values. Today, the prevailing world-views as related to American culture are the Biblical world-view and the secular humanist world view. To learn more about world views you can check here or here, and many other useful sites.

The point is very simple. Many individuals and institutions, seeking to be missional and make the connection that engages the world around them do so at the cost of trading their Biblical world-view for something more palatable. This is often both theological and methodological, the core of the belief system that moves them, and the way the mission is attempted as a result of those beliefs. So, today many congregation advocate behaviors and practices that don't sync with Scripture, morphed by the pressure of public opinion and pop trends. So, the ailments of the culture become the diseases of the church. Who's influencing who is the question? 

At the top of this slippery slope is a low view of Scripture. You see, if the Bible is not totally reliable, if it is always under question, and is not the authority in all areas of life, everything else is just fluid, go with the flow, drift with the currents, submerge under the waves.  This is the starting point of the secular humanist world-view, the relativism of life, the Dalmatian theory of Scripture, only authoritative in spots. Congregations  and leaders without a Biblical world-view cannot be genuinely missional. They're just do-gooders. And, we don't need another civic club.

Missionalists see the world through the lens provided by the God who created it.

Missional Axioms for the Biblically Inept-Axiom X: Biblical

Authentic missional leaders and churches understand their cultural relevance and engagement through thorough exposition and application of Biblical truth.

The smorgasbord faith of pop religion is often very selective in applying Scripture to the understanding and prosecution of their Kingdom assignment. This is most visible in congregations seeking to make the Good News of Jesus more relevant to the people entrusted to their care. As a result, many foundational truths of Scripture are softened to make the message more palatable to the loose belief systems of sophisticated moderns.

OK, when the worldly applause subsides, seekers are supplied with a toothless faith, core values built on psycho babble or the gospel according to Oprah. Yes, it's the building of the house on the sand thing, personal faith that won't stand up under the assault of life in mean streets. This may explain several anomalies visible in the church today---the revolving front and back doors, an increase in the number of participants with covenant relationships to the church, the confusing demographics of immoral lifestyles so prevalent in the culture, and the softball preaching that elicits all the applause in the first place.

Street language says, it is what it is! What that means is that the Bible is what it is, says what it says, and we should not bow and scrape before the world about it. To remove the hard teachings of Jesus or the more difficult demands of Scripture from our proclamation is to do disservice to the one who gave us the mission assignment and to the multitudes broken by the realities of life. Glamorizing the costs of following Jesus or placing conditional asterisks beside the less savory parts of the Gospel gathers plenty of groupies and roadies, but does little to make disciples. Gut check time! Ours is a disciple making enterprise. Missional leaders and churches know this and teach the full counsel of God as a result of this mandate.

Recently, a young Christian, eager for spiritual meaning and growth, told me that he only adhered to the red letter portions of Scripture. A previous mentor had told him that only the teachings of Jesus were necessary for developing a Christians world-view and exhibiting Christian morality. Granted, he may have misunderstood the lesson that had been imparted. Still, the selective application of God's Word troubled me. How can we understand the work and ministry of Jesus apart from the Prophets, or the condition of the world outside of the lessons of Genesis, or fidelity to God without the history of Israel. Selective indeed.

Missional is the buzz word. To comprehend it, however, involves preaching, teaching and applying the Word of God from cover to cover, precept upon precept, line by line, Genesis to the Apocalypse. Taught and proclaimed in it's fullness, the Bible never returns void.

Boldness

Talk about a sea of emotions. The followers of Christ had been through one crisis after another: his arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. They were supernaturally endowed for ministry, proclaiming the Good News with authority and power, and then learned the over-powering influence of a changed life. Brought before the religious people after healing a man lame for more than forty years Peter and John were commanded to stop their preaching.

Then they had prayer meeting. When Peter and John returned to their faith community, the community prayed. Once again, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, "and they spoke the word of God boldly" (acts 4:31). In your face. They were transformed from timidity and hiding to bold proclamation. It was another of the turning points for the young church, maybe the tipping point that sent them forward to change he world.

Intimidation, fear, cultural mores, legal threats, and a whole long list of phobic influences seek to silence the church and move Christ's followers meekly into the fortress, safe from the world. To understand how those ordinary, simple men and women did what they did two thousand years ago is to discover the impetus that sends us out with the message of Good News.

Today is the final in a series of messages titled WHAT NEXT...? My prayer is that today we'll discover the boldness factors that sent them forward two millennia ago. The "so what"?

That we may find the confidence, direction, bearings, and focus to be bold too.

Now, for my next trick...

Shoot, bring it on. In the past year we've done Wii Fit, digital camera, new Blackberry, FaceBook, Twitter, and all the Blackberry downloads to go with them. Plus the blog thing. Now, Harriet has brought both my feet into the twentieth century with my Father's Day gift---a sleek new silver gray iPod Nano. Now I'm another automaton stalking around with ear buds dangling, in a constant groove.

I'm trying hard to comprehend this level of coolness, you know, the swagger of being so with it. Of course, there may be somewhat of a disconnect as I reposition my ear buds around my clip-on sunglasses and the pocket protector that keeps ink off my shirts.  Still, listening to Sonny and Cher and the Osmonds on my new Nano is a trip, if you know what I mean. Amazing the sounds of high fidelity tunes on a player as small as that. Man, the tapes in that thing must really be tiny. Now, if I can just figure out how to download my eight tracks. Wow!!!

So, today I'm going to enjoy some of the perks of living in this technically advanced world. Early Starbucks on the porch while rocking to the beat of The Partridge Family and maybe some laid back soul from Aretha, then thirty minutes on the Wii Fit with Tootsie, our Wii console, with maybe some Richard Simmons echoing in the background. What a world! What a day!

This evening, in preparation for Sunday, I'll do the spirituals---ALVIN AND THE CHIPMONKS, singing in the ancient Hebrew dialect---ooh-eee-ooh-ah-ah-ting-tang-walla-wall-bing-bang---just what Dr. Luther ordered for a five point ALVINIST like me.

The marvels of the space age. Move over Mr. Gates.

Missional Axioms for the Biblically Inept-Axiom IX: Partnership

Missional leaders and congregations seek strategic partnerships to extend the boundaries of the Kingdom and enhance their Kingdom assignment.

Baptists are usually surprised to discover other denominations and the unaffiliated among the missional cohort. The case for partnership in pursuing Kingdom purpose is compelling, both Biblically and practically. To build the case, however, requires digression and reflection. So, let's digress.

Every human being is wired for life in the womb. In the mystery of His ways our creator knits us individually, weaving personal strengths and talents into the fabric of each life. None of us in the whole enchilada. We need other people. A serious life success strategy is gaping your weaknesses, that is, compensating for your not having every strength through strategic partnership with people who may fill your strength gaps. Of course, at re-birth God gifts each of us according to his schema. From 1 Corinthians 12 we learn that none of us is the whole body, that we need others to bring their gifts to the table of service too. This is the body analogy.

Churches are in fact the same. Every congregation is possessed of contextual particulars---location, vision, congregational strengths and values, financial resources, and a long list of things that make us all unique. Scripture affirms that the church has all the gifts necessary for life and Godliness. In the same way, the "what" of mission is a shared universal, common to all. The "how" functions are particular, defined and shaped by the mission field and resources. Still, none is the ideal. Accomplishing Kingdom  prerogatives involves strategic partnering with other congregations and mission enterprises that may fill some of our gift and strength gaps. This is the heart of the SBC partnership, the Cooperative Program.

Strategic is a good word here. Strategic assumes a level of careful, deliberate, and intentional union beyond casual coalitions or convenience. Usually such partnerships are purpose driven arrangements for accomplishing a specific Kingdom task. Such partnerships, if truly Kingdom initiatives, may move beyond denominational circles to include a wide range of ministry affinities. This does not mean there shouldn't be doctrinal compatibility. The glory of Christ cannot be compromised by partnerships with loose theological bindings, lack of clarity about Scriptural footing, or solid moral expectations.

The partnership thing is, of course, a source of great debate today. For a variety of reasons many congregations are either unaffiliated or loosely attached to the SBC. That's a discussion for another time. In this context, many of these highly visible and seemingly effective congregations fulfill their Kingdom assignment through strategic partnerships that launch them to another level, much like the Cooperative Program does for small Baptist churches. Often these partnerships are criticized because they move beyond the parochial boundaries and methodologies on the approved list of our orthodoxy police. Too bad.

Missional leaders and congregations have the mission in mind, and will strategically partner with others to achieve it.

I always pray with joy because of  your partnership in the gospel...Philippians 1:4

Missional Axioms for the Biblically Inept-Axiom VIII: The Fear Factor

Missional leaders and congregations are not afraid to engage the culture. They understand that what is in them is greater than what is in the world.

Years ago church wags talked about water getting into the boat. That was when the predominate church model was separation from the world, the effort to keep undesirables out of the church and in their rightful place down at the rescue mission or the gin mill on the other side of the tracks. No sir, good Christian kids didn't play with Catholics or children of divorced people, or folks that used colorful language or people under the rule of demon rum (with the exception of uncle Harry, wink and a nod). You see, water might get in the boat. Remember this: the boat is supposed to be in the water, not water in the boat. Yeah right! Whatever.

Then missional leaders and congregations began to understand the spiritual facts of life. Shoot, brethren, it's not our church. It belongs to Jesus. We're not building her or holding her together. He is. Built by him,this church has an immovable cornerstone, and even the gates of you-know-where cannot prevail against her. What is more, she will not sink. She has withstood everything the human species can throw at her and she still is the means of making the wisdom of God known to the world. You see, the bold leaders know that the church has nothing to fear. The church will exist till Jesus beams us all up to our heavenly reward.

And, we don't have to be afraid. As a result, missional congregations have thrown the doors open to alcoholics, drug addicts, unemployed people, the homeless, divorcees, cigarette smokers, ex-cons, carnies, fruit loops, fruit cakes, and all manner of reprobates, sinners, and tax collectors, people needing a little of that amazing grace we sing about all the time. What is more, the missionalists actually minister outside the safety net of the church grounds, you know, out there in the mean streets, back yard Bible clubs in the 'hood, storefront clinics, auto repair services, crisis pregnancy counseling, gang intervention, twelve step programs, resort ministry, and coffee shops. They produce world class movies, sponsor dinner theaters, host concerts, run camps, keep babies, operate nursing homes, and wash cars. Dirty work? Yes. They're not afraid of a little dirt.

And, they are not intimidated by de debil. They know that with God on their side, no one can be against them. They also operate on the knowledge that He will never leave them or forsake them. Assured of His generous and gracious provision, they are not intimidated by declines in the market. Their mission is under girded by the truth that they can do all things through Christ who strengthens them. In short, they are not limited by the sin of unbelief.

Jesus said, Take heart, I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Missional Axioms for the Biblically Inept-Axiom VII: The Human Element

                                                   Missionalists know that the mission is about people.

A couple of years ago Dow Chemical launched a brilliant advertising campaign called the Human Element. They graciously allowed us to use their image and introductory video in a sermon series I did then by the same name. Just as the people @ Dow Chemical were trying to re-focus and reposition their company toward a mission of harnessing the human element in solving global problems, it was a wake up call for your church that mission is primarily a people thing.

You know, some things should be self-evident! Being basically a people enterprise should perhaps be one of those understood realities for the church, an accepted part of our assignment. Of a truth, however, church work often shrinks to glorify the inanimate---buildings, budgets, by-laws, business, and bulletins---just to mention a few. (BTW. That will preach). In many cases the precious resources of local congregations are sucked into a vacuum of inhuman things, with the people formula being lost in the dust cloud of business. Missional leaders and churches know that people matter.  

This is true @ several levels. The basic resource of the body of Christ is people. Incredibly, God gathers people into congregations according to the economy of heaven, ways that belong to God and defy human engineering. Just read through 1 Corinthians 12 to glimpse just a little piece of this tapestry. Recognizing the giftedness and individual strengths of every human, and sensing the hand of God in assembling this Body is liberating to missional churches. Truly, two are better than one, the Body is more than an eye, and God mysteriously weaves the threads together to produce this one-of-a-kind garment called the church. Human element all the way.

What is more, God casts that garment over a particular community or mission field to draw others into the community of grace, the human element being both the means and the target of the assignment. Of course, this human element has been altered from it's original state, a totally new creation changed internally and then externally by a living presence. Remarkable!

Seeking to find purpose and meaning, many leaders and congregations get lost in strategies, purpose statements, vision teams, construction projects, and, our own denominational specialty, programs. Really, there's nothing wrong with any of that, per se. It's when the human element is shunted to a side-track as the outcome that things devolve.

Missional congregations thrive in the human element. Sometimes it's subtle. Let me illustrate. A while back a member of our staff and I attended a large conference at what I would describe as a missional church. You could identify their building from a great distance, their name being displayed on the buildings prominently from every angle. However, there were no signs once you turned into the parking lot. Nothing, Nada. Zip. Nil. However, we had barely opened the rental car door when we were welcomed by a real live person who showed us the way. This was the human element, people being guided by people, and not be inanimate signs. We also noted that our parking attendant/greeter made us feel like they wouldn't be able to stage the conference if we had not attended. Ahhhh! The human element thing again. We also noted that everything that happened in that mission locale was geared to people. Time for a disclaimer. They didn't glorify or worship people. They engaged them in glorifying and worshiping God, teaching truth to people who were eager to hear it in a way that engaged them further. It was a WOW experience.

MIssion is lost when the things become more important the One, and when stuff subsumes people in the ministry of the church. Missional leaders know this.

Missional Axioms for the Biblically Inept-Axiom VI: Scorecards

Missional leaders assess their effectiveness by a scorecard customized to their congregational strengths and values, and not denominational standards or professional peer pressure.

Even in ministry, success is the ultimate intimidation factor. Trouble is, nobody today really knows what qualifies as successful. Is it adherence to a confessional statement or theological position? How about percentage of gifts to the Cooperative Program? Yes, the number of baptisms? Average attendance? Education of the ministerial staff? Number of ministers and support personnel on the staff? Amount given to special offerings or missions? Associational involvements? I mean, the check list to determine how well you are doing or if you stack up in comparison to other ministries is as endless as the line at the LifeWay convention picture kiosk.

Of course, human standards are always shifting and the bar is about as fluid these days as doctrinal orthodoxy. Missional congregations, however, not only resist the temptation to superimpose a foreign ministry template over their congregational assignment, they will also have an intrinsic allergy against measuring their effectiveness by an alien scoring system. This is because when you get to the heart of missional enterprise you discover the contextual element, the standards and expectations constructed around the particulars of that mission field.

Assessment of effectiveness is an on-going evaluative process in missional congregations. Strategic is a common strength among missional leaders and their congregations are usually very precise in allocating resources and measuring effectiveness. The DNA of missionalists includes genetic cells of autonomy, inner wiring that expresses the individuality and singularity of the congregation. Follow the link and you cannot avoid the outcome: the scorecard must reflect the vision, mission, strengths, values, and resources of that particular locale.

What is more, congregations that influence and change their world are not primarily using an internal checklist to determine mission accomplishment. Instead, they carefully teach and monitor the witness of the dispersed community, the church unleashed, the mission field of each and every member. Hold it! The shift from members to missionaries is another of those missional distinctives. Understanding the mission in light of the churches spread and reach is just another of the shifting tektonics of entrepreneurial missions and therefore, measurement.

The core is redefining success. What is it? Really, it is very simple. Read the parable of the talents through a more corporate lens. What has to happen to earn the reward, "Well done, good and faithful servant"? We must use what the Master has entrusted to us, where he entrusted it, in a way that yields return for his Kingdom.

Don't use other templates. Don't use other scorecards.

Missional Axioms for the Biblically Inept- Axiom V:Templates

There is no standard template for building an effective Kingdom outpost. Every congregation exists in a unique ministry context and must be on mission in the singular manner of that assignment.

Some lessons are just hard to learn. Ask the pastors and church leaders who have tried to clone Willow Creek or Saddleback, or any number of effective missional churches, in their particular mission field. I mean, this isn't quantum physics. It's really quite simple. What soars in Southern California or the Chicago suburbs may be a lead balloon anywhere else! What is more, to try to superimpose a tight, custom design template over your mission is to ignore several important theological and ecclesiological realities that define effective ministry.

You see, every congregation is different, diverse at more levels that most of us know exist. Missional congregations understand the multiple layers of diversity that make them each distinct and therefore will not expend any precious resources to mimic the playbook of others. This diversity is multi-faceted---congregational strengths and values, doctrinal positions, geographical peculiarities, the human element, demographics, facilities, cultural influences, leadership, tradition, and any number of other distinctives that define every mission field. Cookie cutter service just isn't missional.

Missional leaders also affirm and rely on God's generous and gracious provision for their specific mission assignment. Imitation may be flattery, but copy-cat ministry often stretches the resources of of a local congregation, resulting in several serious malfunctions---cheap counterfeits, lack of authenticity, bad archi-texture, schizophrenia, and worst of all, activity beyond the resources provided by God. Of course, the Bible word for this is worldliness. Missional churches are culturally relevant and connected, a mission in the world. But, not of it.

God arranges the members of his body exactly as he wants them to be (1 Corinthians 12:18). This means that he strategically places each of us in a unique mission field, shaped and prepared exactly for our gifts, strengths, and spiritual leadership. That is, unless we are operating out of His will and in our own. Being missional is to recognize and appreciate the distinctives of our setting and to engage that situation with the Good News of Jesus.

Only one template will work in your field. That would be God''s. Find it soon and pursue it diligently. You cannot duplicate what someone else is doing in another mission field. Rick Warren's sermons, style, and pointof reference work in his setting. Most probably they won't work in yours. So, ask God for the ministry pattern that works where you are.

He has plans for you, you know!

The Chester

OK, it's Father's Day and time to pay tribute to dads. So, let's unpack the dusty satchel of urban legends, fish tales, and exaggerations that we keep hidden in the closet for the rest of the year, stuff that actually nourishes the generations and keeps us all chuckling about the skeletons often found there. Of course, these reflections move us in several directions. Yes, I relish the joys of being a dad myself. Words cannot express my gratitude to God and to Harriet for allowing me the privilege of being father to Elizabeth and Brian. My memories of them as children and pride in them as adults brings indescribable contentment and fulfillment. Being a grandfather adds another delicious layer.

Mostly today, I am thinking about The Chester, father to Christie, Mike and I, patriarch of our family, the dad we have always loved and respected. The Chester is the loving moniker that brother-in-law Durwood (his name is actually David) applied to dad several years ago. Now, we are all fearfully and wonderfully made, unique in every way. Still, some of us are more unique than others, and The Chester is one in a million, one of a kind, the man I most admire in this life, the father that nurtured us, taught us most of the life's lessons, educated us, guiding us even now. He's done pretty well too. None of us have been to prison or the insane asylum and we just register medium on the wacky scale.

So, I'm the preacher and, yes, there are three points and a poem. My thoughts today are relatively simple: what I admire most about The Chester; what I appreciate most about The Chester; and, what I attribute most to The Chester.

What I admire most is dad's devotion to our mother, Esther. For nearly sixty years they shared life, and even to this day, nearly a year after her death, his fidelity to her memory still warms my heart. He has cared for her things and preserved her special touch over their home and life in so many small but loving ways that the thought of her still lingers so gently over our lives. While there this week I sensed her closeness, not in a morbid or ghoulish way but in a way that inspires and comforts. Then, today I realized that Harriet and I have been blessed with 36 years of marriage in great part because of the devotion of our dad to our mother. Yes, also because we were always too poor for Harriet to afford a good lawyer, and because of God's grace in abundant measure. But, The Chester was a good model. Thanks, dad!

The Chester's imprint on us is indelible. Work ethic. Personal accountability. Stewardship. Faith. Strong values. Honesty. Nuclear family. And, much more. But, what I appreciate most about The Chester is that he taught us how to laugh.  Humor around the Holmes household took a turn toward the weird on occasion (ask Charlie Ingram about the chicken livers), and sometimes sent one of us over the edge (ask Christie about the hand binoculars). Still, The Chester taught us the value of a good laugh, how to tell a joke, and the importance of taking a lighter view of things when the temperature went up. He could take a joke too. Ask him about the day of Christie's wedding, when Mike and I substituted a size small tux shirt into his rental package, or when we hid one of his golf shoes, or yes, one of the endless Christmas pranks we've enjoyed over the years. Then, there was the boat horn thing---never mind. It may be a small thing to some. But, the abiltiy to laugh and enjoy life is a treasure that The Chester entrusted to us. We're all grateful.

Personally, what I attribute most to The Chester is my love for books, affinity for words, and ability to communicate publicly. Whether these gifts were part of the gene pool or learned at his knee, they have served me well, as if he knew God would eventually call me into the ministry. On many occasions I have used illustrations, sermon starters, and quotes that dad shared with me over the years. He helped me write many a journalism story in high school, and always had books around for us to read. In a most practical and yet spiritual way I attribute much of my joy as a minister to the skills and passions that The Chester instilled in me.

So, today I'm thanking God for Liz and Scott, Brian and Katie, and John Lewis, our wonderful children. More than anything though, I'm thanking God for The Chester and the special way he influences us even now. Thanks, dad.

Oh, yes. The poem. Roses explode, violets burst. I wouldn't be a dad, if Chester wasn't one first.

From all of us---Snoz, Bones, and Goop.