Post-Christendom October 20, 2006
Posted by fuelbox in Books.add a comment
One of the striking things about Murray’s book is his argument that Christianity moved form the margins to the centre in fourth century
Rome.
Constantine was drawn to Christianity’s ethical monotheism and its seeming ability to bring unity across the Empire. Adopting it as the official religion of the Empire, Christianity was no longer the movement from the margins that had been the hallmark of its success, but was now in the centre of both power and control.
Murray argues that this shift effectively robbed Christianity of its ability to be a movement.
The shift to the centre brought about a number of changes. Congregations and buildings grew in size and in number. The clerical caste emerged with its enhanced status, power and wealth. A hierarchy appeared among the clergy that seemed to model that of the Roam Empire. The clergy took over more and more of the services reducing the laity to an almost entirely passive position. The move to clerical performance bought about the dominance of monologue preaching and the practice of church discipline.
Mission was seriously affected as the church was more concerned with protecting the institution than practicing evangelism. This reduced the roles of leadership to pastors and teachers, as evangelists weren’t needed and apostles and prophets were dangerous because they rocked the boat. And finally the gap between church and culture was highly diminished because of its high level of influence.
Yet
Murray argues there were always small groups of people protesting from the margins.
Murray draws attention to the Donatists, the Lollards, the Waldensians and the Anabaptists as key examples of these voices from the margins who questioned the status quo. Their reading of the Bible caused them to be suspicious of how the scriptures were being interpreted and they observed that a number of the church’s beliefs and practices were at odds with what they were reading. This of course drew persecution from the church as it sought to protect its power and position.
Murray argues that this is the stream that we need to be coming from if we are to survive in a Post Christendom world. We can’t just go back and draw on the way the church operated before the Christendom era because our culture is not the same as theirs. But we can follow on the tradition of those who have gone before us and operate from the margins. He argues for simple church that recovers friendship, as our relational paradigm, that eats together and laughs together. He asks us to imagine a community stirred by poets and storytellers, to imagine the church as a monastic missionary order, and to imagine churches as safe places to take risks. He argues that in a world that is sick of institutional Christianity, Jesus still commands interest and respect. Our priority, says Murray, is to rediscover how to tell the story of Jesus, how to present Him as a friend to sinners, good news to the poor, defender of the powerless, reconciler of communities, pioneer of a new age, freedom fighter, breaker of chains, liberator and peacemaker, the one who unmasks systems of oppression, identifies with the vulnerable and brings hope. To do that, he says, we need to encounter Jesus afresh ourselves.
The Gospel in a Pluralist Society October 16, 2006
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When you live in a world that has little or no interest in matters concerning Jesus, and argues that all faiths are equal and valid, you have to find ways that can become an apologetic for you, a reason for your faith. In reading this book I realised that I have never given much thought to the structure of how you can build arguments for the Gospel in the world we live in. I found Newbigin to be very helpful in helping me to get some clarity about the way people construct their arguments both for and against the claims that Jesus makes about Himself and the Kingdom.
I found Newbigin’s treatment of knowing and believing to be particularly helpful. Newbigin contends that we are pluralist in what we call beliefs but we are not pluralist in what we call facts. The former are a matter of personal decision while that latter are a matter of public knowledge. If it is science/knowledge it can be taught, if it is religion it may not be taught. The problem is that even so called facts that are public knowledge are interpreted, collected, analysed and so on by those who have gone before and are able to instruct those learning. Knowing doesn’t happen automatically. Newbigin argues that you if you observe a machine, you can do all the analysis that you like on how it is constructed, what it is constructed of and so forth, but that analysis is never complete until you can factor in what it’s purpose is.
Another key construction from Newbigin is his discussion on the claims that Christianity is arrogant and exclusive. Part of his argument is that if we reduce the comparison of religions to “where do people go when they die” we miss the importance of the grace and glory of God. Firstly he says we should expect, look for, and welcome all the signs of the grace of God at work in the lives of those who do not know Jesus as Lord. Secondly we should be cooperating with people of all faiths in projects that are in line with God’s purposes. Thirdly, as a result of this shared commitment we will discover the places where our ways must separate and that is where real dialogue can begin. And fourthly, this will give us the opportunity to tell the story of Jesus. The story, Paul says, is the power of God for salvation and our role is to tell the story. It is only the Holy Spirit that can touch the hearts and consciences of others so that they can trust Jesus too.
Newbigin sums up the book by stating that we should have confidence in the gospel, because the gospel is more than capable of standing up for itself in a pluralist society. That the appropriate response to the question, “why start with Jesus?” is “why not?”. That the more we learn how to operate in a pluralist society the more we are enabled to learn more of the length and breadth and height and depth of the love of God. And to have confidence that God knows what He is doing and we can trust Him.
Emerging Churches October 5, 2006
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There is much in this book that sounds like people that are disaffected with the church that they are in trying to reinvent a new way of doing church. The real value of the book was the attempt by Gibbs and Bolger to sum up what they saw as a definition of emerging churches. They assert that the church universal is an emerging church, for as the body of Christ here on earth, it awaits with eager anticipation the return of its Lord. (p43) They then outline three core practices which combine to create other practices that they find are common in these emerging churches.
The three core practices are (1) identifying with the life of Jesus, (2) transforming secular space and (3) living as community. They define the way of Jesus as His life and His engagement with His culture, as embodied in community and given expression in the Sermon on the Mount. It’s not just His death and resurrection that needs to be concentrated on but the way that He lived out His life. They then argue that modernity created the scared/secular split back in the fourteenth century and that emerging churches are attempting to address that split as they pursue a sense of holism. The third of these core practices is based around the fact that the members of emerging churches lead highly communal lives, more like extended families and work hard at developing a community that expresses the Kingdom.
Gibbs and Bolger then expand the definition. They see emerging churches are communities that practice the way of Jesus within postmodern cultures. They expand the definition to include nine practices. Emerging churches (1) identify with the life of Jesus, (2) transform the secular realm, and (3) live highly communal lives. Because of these three activities, they (4) welcome the stranger, (5) serve with generosity, (6) participate as producers, (7) create as created beings, (8) lead as a body, and (9) take part in spiritual activities. The book then goes on to unpack each of these practices with anecdotal form various emerging churches.
The defining of these nine practices was the most useful part of the book because I think that it allows for a conversation to begin with existing churches about these practices. One of my frustrations is that much of what is written about the emerging church precludes any hope that an existing church can operate in a postmodern world. What I think is valuable about Gibb’s and Bolger’s offered definition is that an existing church can begin to envision how it might introduce these nine practices into the life of it’s ministry and mission. It will mean a lot of work but I can see that it is within the reach of a congregation that is serious and willing to have a go.
What’s our core business? September 5, 2006
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George Barna when he was here recently asked the question “what business are we in?” It’s a great question. Are we in the evangelism business? Or are we in the discipleship business? Are we in the social justice business? Are we in the church business?
I think we are in the transformation business. We are in the business of transforming our world. That means the people, the culture, the secular realm, everything!! Now if we are in the transformation business and it is our core business, do all the things that we do support our core business? Does the way we do ministry support the fact that transformation is our core business? And what about church planting? Does the way we plant churches support the view that we are in the transformation business?
I like the question, and I like my answer, but I am not sure that I have even remotely begun to understand what it looks like. If I pass every ministry task and operation through the grid of “does this bring transformation?” what gets through and what gets cut? What feeds transformation? What is it’s seedbed? What are the elements of transformation? Is community a key component? I’ll keep thinking, feel free to join in.
What sort of churches should we plant? September 5, 2006
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Here is a great insight from Steve Addison.
Whenever I share the vision for the next1000 Aussie churches I get asked, “But what kind of churches?”
To answer I’ll use an analogy from science.
According to Austrian astrophysicist Erich Jantsch, every living thing is both constantly changing and constantly remaining the same. If an organism doesn’t do both it will cease to exist. A living organism is ‘a never resting structure’ that constantly seeks its own self-renewal. He uses the Greek word autopoiesis to describe this principle of self-organization.
There are two implications for the church. First, the body of Christ is a living organism that must retain its essential identity or cease to exist as the church. Second, the body of Christ is a living organism that must be constantly changing and renewing itself or it will cease to exist. That’s why we need 1000 “autopoietic” new churches.
1. Churches that remain the same
There are some things about the church that we must never change. John Wimber called them “the main and the plain”—belief in the Trinity, the Incarnation, Atonement, and the Resurrection, Salvation through faith in Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit and the authority of the Scriptures, Christ’s Return, the Final Judgment.
In addition there is the call to follow Christ in costly obedience; the Great Commandment to love God with all our heart, mind and soul, and to love our neighbour as ourselves; and there is obedience to the Great Commission to take the Gospel to the world.
The Lausanne Covenant expresses both the need to adhere to biblical orthodoxy and the need to live out our faith in loving obedience.
These are non-negotiables. But don’t worry, there are plenty of other issues we can disagree on!
Autopoietic churches are united by their commitment to biblical orthodoxy and loving obedience to Christ. That’s the first half of the autopoiesis equation. These churches remain the same in the midst of a world that seeks to squeeze them into its mould.
2. Churches that are constantly changing
The church needs to constantly change primarily because it must live out its mission in a changing world. The church must also constantly change because it is forever drifting or even running from the authority of the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit.
The dynamic of constant change is manifested in the variety and diversity of ministry models and expressions of Church.
This is why Australia (and the rest of the world) needs more house churches, mega-churches, contemporary churches, emerging churches, evangelical churches, Pentecostal churches, charismatic churches, traditional churches, multi-site churches, campus churches, workplace churches and forms of the church we haven’t even discovered yet.
We are all called to love the church we’re in, but we must not confuse what we are called to, with the totality of what God is doing in the body of Christ. Unity is not uniformity. It is partnership in mission.
Autopoietic churches: they know what unites them and they affirm the diversity of what God is doing in the whole body of Christ. They affirm their unique expression of biblical orthodoxy and they work in partnership with the whole body of Christ to reach this generation.
Amazing Success May 30, 2006
Posted by fuelbox in Church Planting.1 comment so far
Yes it's ignition time again. Think about this for a moment – how big would your church be if the only people who were able to become "members" were those saved through the church's own ministry?
Well, that's exactly the philosophy Pines' Graduate OH (not his real name) is embracing as he seeks to win his nation for the Lord. He doesn't want to attract Christians from other churches – they're already saved! His heart is for the perishing.
Nothing like setting a really tough goal, huh? Who's up for a little bit of church planting Asian style, then?
This issue of ignition is dedicated to effective ministry to "own kind", or tribal groups. There's the article about the phenomenal success of OH's church planting movement in Asia, one about Tribal Groups, another on the Kingdom of God…. and make sure you don't miss the update on Corinne's journey of healing. In her words, "It will blow your socks off!"
The weather is cooling (for those of you reading this in the Southern Hemisphere), so you're allowed an up-sized mug of hot chocolate with not one, but two! fluffly floating marshmallows bobbing on top as you read.
If you've been blessed by ignition, please feel free to pass it on to your friends.
Enjoy.
Dean
You can read more by following the link below. This article is in the newsletter section.
Coaching May 30, 2006
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Steve Addison has posted a great resource on his blog for those of you who are interested in coaching. It's a startup guide and is available as a download. Click on the link to check it out and have a good look at his blog, it is excellent.
Church planting lessons from the Southern Baptists May 22, 2006
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A few years ago Ed Stetzer surveyed 600 Southern Baptist church planters and corelated their growth over four years with their answers.
His study hasn’t become a best seller despite it’s catchy title: An Analysis of the Church Planting Process and Other Selected Factors on the Attendance of SBC Church Plants
Here’s a few insights:
• Planters who had been through a Ridley church planter assessment went on to plant churches that were on average 25% larger after four years. Even better, they saw 100% more conversions.
• Planters who had weekly—yes weekly—mentoring or supervision, led churches that were 25% larger than those who had none.
• When the planter had a parent church that sent a core group, the new church was 25% larger after four years.
• High expectations of members in the new church—tithing, membership class, membership covenant, ministry involvement, small group involvement—resulted in larger attendances.
• The new church was less likely to grow if it relied on special speakers and big events as its main strategy in evangelism. New churches that relied totally on prayer or on “letting the Holy Spirit do the work” were smaller. Looks like God needs us after all.
• If training people in evangelism was the main strategy in evangelism, the church plant was smaller.
• Surprise! Those who consider “Unchurched Relationships with Church Members” to be the key factor in evangelism were significantly larger than those which do not.
• “Seeker sensitive” services helped with evangelism but only if they were a contributing factor rather than the main strategy in evangelism.
• Stetzer found that leadership is key. What kind? The best church planters are suggestion-oriented: they lead by making suggestions rather than issuing commands. They dream big dreams. They are knowledge-oriented: they lead by knowledge and understanding rather than just example. They are task-oriented: they make things happen and get things done.
The great thing about the report is that if you don’t like the findings you can always say, “Those Southern Baptists are different!”
Post courtesy of Steve Addison in World Changers (see link)
Here’s 20 suggestions of what to do while we’re not multiplying churches. May 22, 2006
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Here’s 20 suggestions of what to do while we’re not multiplying churches.
- Call yourself an apostle. Have some business cards printed. Hand them around.
- Throw lots of money at subsidizing unhealthy, declining churches.
- Throw money at “experimental missional initiatives” and never evaluate their effectiveness.
- Set goals for multiplying new churches but don’t make it clear who is responsible.
- Make someone responsible but don’t give them any real authority, discretionary time or sufficient funding. Change the appointment every two years. After ten years, save money by retiring the position and making everyone responsible.
- Appoint a committee to undertake a study and write a report for the leadership group. Wait three years, then do it again.
- Hire a consultant to undertake a study and write a report. Wait three years then do it again.
- Appoint the wrong people to plant churches. When they fall over say, “Church planting doesn’t work.”
- When you see a healthy church plant say, “Yes it’s growing but it’s not really a Reformed/Baptist/Assemblies of God/Presbyterian/Methodist/New Vine/etc (choose one) church.”
- Require pioneering leaders to be theologically trained before they can plant a church.
- Throw your best leaders at your biggest problems, not at your greatest opportunities.
- Watch pioneering leaders exit your movement and comment on their lack of commitment.
- Reward pioneering leaders with promotion. Get them away from the front line. Harness their drive to keep the institutional wheels turning.
- In the 1960’s change the word “missions” to “mission”. To usher in the new millennium change “mission” to “missional” . Around 2010 plan to change “missional” to “postmissional”.
- Agree to plant new churches when: (a) You’re large enough (b) You’re healthy enough (c) You have the leaders to give away (d) You have the money to spare (e) God has clearly shown you it’s time (f) When the cow jumps over the moon (g) Any or all of the above.
- Run workshops on church planting. Hold conferences on church planting. Offer a course at your theological college on church planting. Do nothing to follow up the people who show an interest. Make sure only experts like me get to teach. Keep the practitioners away from the students. Keep the students in the classroom.
- Grow your church, its facilities, staff and budget as BIG as you can. Let your vision stop at your car park. Let church history end with you. Let the Kingdom dream die.
- Set ridiculous but catchy sounding goals like 500 in 5 years, or 2,000 by 2,000. Three years after the target date expires set new goals. Don’t forget to change the dates!
- Modernize your theology then PostModernize your theology. Remove evangelism and church planting from the centre of God’s mission in the world. When decline hits make sure the paid professionals are the last to feel the pinch.
- Lastly, set up a blog on church planting. Link to other bloggers on church planting. They link to you. Add smoke and mirrors.
This post courtesy of Steve Addison's blog – world changers (see link)
Vision April 6, 2006
Posted by fuelbox in FUEL.add a comment
FUEL is an initiative of Churches of Christ in NSW. It is all about church planting. We want to FUEL a church planting movement that starts in all Churches of Christ in NSW and fans out to wherever God takes us.
This movement that we want to FUEL will be based onsound, practical strategies and principles that will allowus to deliver dynamic, viable and sustainable Churchplants that will plant other churches.
FuelBox is all about providing an interactive platform to talk about church planting issues. We will try to bring you ideas and information that will make your church planting life a little easier ans more satisfying.
