09.21.09
metaphorically speaking…
While my last church-planting book for seminary was decidedly fascinating, my current church-planting book reads like a car manual. It basically gives step-by-step painstakingly verbose instructions on how to plant a church in 13 chapters and 8 appendices. Aside from the bore of it all, the author has a knack for cheesy metaphors and uses them to the point of overkill.
But the most unbearable is the overarching metaphor on which the book is founded.
The entire book compares church-planting to giving birth.
Here’s a sampling of chapter titles: We’re Going to Have a Baby!: The Conception Stage; Childbirth Classes: The Development Stage; It’s a Baby!: The Birth Stage; Feed Them and They Grow!: The Growth Stage; I’m No Longer a Kid!: The Maturity Stage; Let’s Have a Baby: The Reproduction Stage.
The ridiculousness of this metaphor is rivaled only by this author’s affinity for exclamation points.
So when I am in public and am reading this book, I feel like I have to hide the title page of each chapter so that people don’t walk by and assume that “I’m Going to Have a Baby!”
Who ever said that babies don’t come with instruction manuals? Have I got a book for them!
And while they’re at it, maybe they won’t mind writing a 7-page summary and critique for me? Pretty please?
09.14.09
An Unstoppable Force
I mentioned in my previous post that I am asking lots of questions right now. Some of my questions are regarding the church. They are primarily the result of the book An Unstoppable Force by Erwin McManus about church growth. It has been a great, challenging read for me. Here are some of the quotes that have made me think the most:
“You cannot wash the feet of a dirty world if you refuse to touch it.”
“We must be willing to die to our conveniences, our traditions, and our preferences – everything that places us above others.”
Referring to actors, musicians, politicians, etc. who claim to be Christians: “The problem has not been that these individuals of significant influence were outside of the sphere of the church’s influence, but that, in fact, they sat in the center of the church and remained unchanged at the core.”
“Fewer people are going to church because of the diminishing influence of Christ on the church itself.”
“We equated being a good citizen with being a good Christian. We lived without persecution and soon found ourselves without conviction.”
“People are rejecting Christ because of the church. Once we were called Christians by an unbelieving world, and now we call ourselves Christians and the world calls us hypocrites.”
“Is it possible that it wasn’t the nation that was becoming dangerously secular, but the church?”
Referring to traditions like hymns v. praise songs or pews v. chairs or casual v. nice dress: “It is one thing to have a preference; it is another to demand that one’s preferences be honored above the needs of those without Christ…Now we have to deal with the reality that, all too many times, we kept our traditions and lost our children.”
“When we believe that God’s purpose, intention, or promise is that we will be safe from harm, we are utterly disconnected from the movement and power of God…If those who prepare for leadership are looking for the safe place, who will lead the church into the dangerous places?”
Referring to martyrs: “We champion their sacrifice and willingness to stand for Christ, even at the cost of their own lives. Yet we consider laying aside our traditions and cultural preferences as an unreasonable expectation.”
And all of those are only from the first chapter, where he presents the problem. The following 9 chapters are devoted to the solution of how to be both relevant and biblical. It’s less “how-to” and more an example of how his church has gone about it.
ALSO
I have been listening over and over to LeCrae’s song “The Bride”:
In case you didn’t catch it from the song, “the bride” is the church (not the building, but the people). Some of my favorite lines:
“Before you diss her get to know her, Jesus got a thing for her, and He died just to show her.”
“The present reality is she was born a casualty and though she’s made alive, she’s still affected by depravity.”
“She’s built on Him, supported by Him, conformed to Him, now she’s a body of bodies who transform through Him.”
“Perpetrating fakes cause a lot of folks to hate.”
Some of my questions include:
What are the “non-negotiables” that the Bible presents about church?
What “negotiable” preferences do I value more than I value those without Christ?
Is my church accessible to people without Christ?
Do I complain about my church? Do I gossip about other churches?
Where is the balance between pointing out areas in which the church is sinful and needs to repent, and complaining about or insulting the church?
How can I help pass these ideas onto other believers, primarily those who refuse to let go of their preferences?
How can I change? What sinful behaviors/thoughts/attitudes do I have regarding the church?
In what ways is my life hypocritical?
See what I mean? Questions, questions, questions…they all require deep thought and lots of processing. Maybe tomorrow I’ll post some more questions on a different topic.
(Still wanting to dialogue with someone about Tim Burton’s 9.)
09.02.09
school
People keep asking me, “How is school going?” which is actually quite a complicated question for me due to the volume of school in which I participate. So here’s the long answer:
School has been a lot of fun so far this year! It is so easy – I already know 7 of my 11 kids because I had them last year, and the new ones are pretty low maintenance. I have the big picture of the curriculum in my mind, and already have lessons written from last year that I can use again. I am way more organized because I spent the last two weeks of school last year prepping for this year. I am so glad that I did!
Also, I just printed pictures of my students (which I wish I could post here, but since I can’t you’ll just have to see them in person!) and realized that I have a really cute-looking group of kids! I just love them. I am especially attached to the kids I had last year, and feel really blessed to get my students two years in a row. AND, my kids from last year who moved up to the Junior High for this year all have Amanda (my carpool friend) as their math teacher this year, so I still hear from & about them.
Yes, the fish is named Rico and I may or may not have added more than a few votes into the mix to make it happen. You’ll never know.
I am going to be our campus UIL coordinator this year. I don’t even know what UIL stands for, and I wasn’t involved with UIL last year, so I am pretty much a UIL idiot. But I have a meeting about it tomorrow, so maybe I’ll learn something. My reasons for taking on this position are 3-fold. 1) There is a pretty nice stipend, and I unexpectedly had to purchase a new laptop for seminary that really set me back; 2) the teacher who had this position last year took a job at central office, and teacher who took her position didn’t want to do it; 3) The position is basically organizing people, and you know how I feel about organizing.
The other school in my life, seminary, is going full-force. Lots of reading, writing, and deep thinking. Right now I am taking a class about church planting which is proving to be very thought-provoking. I just finished the first book, about which I had mixed feelings. I might share some random deep thoughts on that later, but I haven’t had enough time to process it all yet, so we’ll see. Later this semester I will take Systematic Theology 1. I’m a little terrified about that one, so I try not to think about it.
The other other school in my life (kind of), Sunday school (except we don’t call it that), will really begin next week. My friends Wesley, Geoff, and I will be leading the break-out group for college freshmen. I am excited about this – a new area of ministry for me that will hopefully give way to another ministry next year, which I have mentioned before in the most vague of terms, and am not yet ready to reveal…
How is school going for YOU?
08.19.08
Remembering Camp Arka
Two summers ago during my stay in Poland I had many wonderful experiences. Here is just one of those that I was able to share on my seminary discussion board. (Yes, I started seminary yesterday!) I thought I would share it here:
I spent a summer teaching English to Polish adolescents for the purpose of evangelism and discipleship. During our stay we would occasionally encounter Mariusz, the owner of the campsite on which our team lived. At first he seemed to go out of his way to avoid our group. After a few weeks, Mariusz began making eye contact and returned our greetings. By the third week his toddler came out to play with us, and eventually the formerly elusive Pole invited us all to watch the World cup matches with him each night. He began to observe the dynamics of our group, which was unified by our common love of the Lord, regardless of mixed nationalities, ages, and backgrounds.
During these late nights, Mariusz saw the way we related to one another, to the adolescents we were teaching, and to his own family. One particular evening the unbelieving man looked at a Polish woman on our team and exclaimed in shock, “You people really are Christians!” Taken aback by the tone of his declaration, she asked him exactly what he meant. Mariusz explained that year after year groups have come to his campsite, claiming to be Christians. After seeing the leaders of these groups bicker with one another, ignore the campers, and drink the nights away, he decided that Christians must be no different from himself. He concluded his story with, “I see that you all love the campers and love one another. You must be real Christians.” Our teammate then shared the way into a true relationship with the Lord with our curious host.
That night as I reflected on our conversation with Mariusz, I was reminded of Jesus’ words recorded in John chapter 13: “Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Because of the community that existed between my fellow believers and the relationships formed with those who do not know Him, we were given the opportunity to share the truth of the Gospel in a very personal manner. McRaney states, “Jesus clearly communicated that the reality of Christ rested to a large degree in how the disciples and other believers related to one another” (41). In today’s society, people place high value on credibility. If we are obedient in communing with other believers and building genuine relationships with non-believers, we become increasingly credible witnesses, which God uses to draw people to Himself.
