Archive for August, 2010

27NovHow to be Missional – Long after it stops being cool (Part 1)

Mark Broadbent
Right now, being missional is in. It's the cool thing to do. 

But what happens when it stops being cool? What happens when the next 'church fad' comes along?

For many, being missional is about 'not being attractional'. It's about meeting in a cool venue such as a pub, or a coffee shop. It's about 'a non-institutional form of church'.

But all this misses the point. To me, being missional is about having a missional mindset. 

Here are some shifts that I think we need to undertake in order to embrace and sustain mission…

SHIFT #1
STOP THINKING OF US LIKE A CHURCH, AND START THINKING OF US LIKE A MISSION ORGANISATION

The mission of the church I belong to is 'to lead unbelievers to become sold-out missionaries of Jesus Christ'.

But is that enough? I'm not sure. If we continue to see ourselves as a church, many will mistakenly think that only a select few make it to the end of the journey and become missionaries. But if we see ourselves as a 'mission organisation', then everyone knows that living missionally is at the heart of who we are.

Just as people might sign-up with mission organisations and go oversees as a missionaries, we are calling everyone in our community to sign-up and live as missionaries in Brisbane.  

Rober Schuller said: "You must die as a church and be reborn as a mission."

Erwin McManus put it this way: "At Mosaic we don't have members, only missionaries. There is nothing to join except a community on mission".

Alan Hirsch says: "The church does not have a mission. The mission has a church"

Any thoughts?

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24NovLeadership and Mission (Part 4)

John Sweetman

I have been reading a fascinating book (Nick Spencer and Graham Tomlin, The Responsive Church, IVP, 2005) about Christians and their mission in society. I really am wanting to be a more missional leader. Last week we looked at society's view of Christians. Here are some thoughts on society's views on the church.

What people think about church

Church attendance is falling. In Australia it dropped from 9.9% of the population in 1996 to 8.8% in 2001. While this is not the sole measure of the health of the church, it is important. The church is not popular.

One problem is that the church is viewed as an institution and institutions are deeply disliked. They are seen to limit human freedom and force conformity. Typical criticisms of the church include that it's oppressively didactic, it's a relic of an authoritarian society, it's dull and predictable, and it's inflexible.

A second issue is the perception that church is redundant; it is unnecessary. Now that God is a private issue, there is no need to go to church to have God. He is seen to be available to everyone directly, not mediated through the church. It's much more efficient and freeing to seek God without the trappings of the church.

A third criticism is that the church is seen to be fundamentally about itself. It's an institution that is only interested in perpetuating itself and its beliefs. It is not interested in dialogue but in dogma. It wants to ram religion down your throat. It protects itself and its interests and does not pursue spirituality and the big questions of life.

How Christians can respond

One critique stands out – that the church is wrapped up in itself. People think that what goes on in the church is completely useless for the task of living life in society, that a dogmatic church is only interested in self-perpetuation and conformity.

The key for the church is to teach Christians that theology (right belief) is meant to help us live right in the world. It is so easy for Christians to disconnect their church life and their ordinary life, especially as the gap widens between secular values and Christian values. The call of the church to make disciples becomes increasingly vital. If Christians are not discipled well, most will struggle to connect faith and life, belief and action, values and practice.

In the early church, catechumens (those preparing for Christian baptism) went through a lengthy process of instruction that included doctrinal, moral and spiritual discipling. This extensive training is becoming increasingly necessary if Christians are to live godly, healthy, effective, loving and integrated lives in a culture that pushes very different values.

Doctrinal discipleship is foundational. The success of programs like Alpha and 40 Days, which are really about basic Christian teaching, shows the need for doctrinal teaching. This is where we start. People need to know the story of the Bible and the fundamental truths – especially grace.

But Christians also need moral discipling. That is they need to develop patterns of behaviour that flow from these beliefs; to look at contemporary life in the light of God's revelation. Teaching and theological reflection on issues like sex, marriage, love, parenting, debt, busyness, the environment, stress, guilt, possessions, and rest are vital.

Then there is spiritual discipling – forging a Spirit-filled lifestyle that impacts the way we do life. We need to train people in areas like prayer, forgiveness, grace, trust, hope, generosity, hospitality, and self-control. This requires true honesty and accountability.

Well-discipled Christian will "do life" well. They will view life with a new set of eyes. They will stand out as offering our society the very things that many are looking for – a spiritual life that produces strong relationships, healthy lifestyle, appreciation of values, and significant contributions. There's nothing insular or dogmatic about that.

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24NovFinding Your Leadership Style (Part 9)

From an article by Bill Hybels

Re-engineering leader

Some leaders thrive in a situation that has lost vision or focus, or one that has been staffed inappropriately. This kind of leader says, "Oh boy, I get to re-engineer this whole situation." They find out what the mission was and what it needs to be now. They decide how progress and success will be measured. They love to tune up, heal, and revitalize hurting organizations.

But when the group is running on eight cylinders, re-engineering leaders may not want to lead over the long haul. Often, rather than manage what they've re-engineered, they look for another project to overhaul. When they find one, they salivate. "Would you look at that train wreck? I'd love to get my hands on all that twisted metal and human carnage. I could really sort that out and make something great out of that."

Link to the original article

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24NovCatalyst One Day – Gaining & Sustaining Momentum

Andy Stanley

When we ask churches that are experiencing momentum, "Why?" they will often respond, "God is just blessing." Now that is a good answer, but that is not a helpful answer. The follow-up question needs to be, "what is God blessing?"

Momentum: Forward motion fueled by a series of wins.

What if there is a formula and commonality for momentum that God created?

3 COMPONENTS OF SUSTAINED MOMENTUM: NEW, IMPROVED & IMPROVING

1. NEW

  • New triggers momentum.
  • Anything new by definition, generates some kind of momentum.
  • The momentum can be positive or negative.
  • Organizational momentum is often triggered by one of three things:
    • new leadership
    • new direction
    • new product

 Momentum is never triggered by tweaking something old. It is triggered by introducing something new!

2. IMPROVED

  • The new must be a noticeable improvement over the old.
  • Ask, "is this a significant improvement over what we had before?"
  • If you are in a situation where there is not enough money to do something new and improved, you are doing too many things.

3. IMPROVING

  • Momentum is sustained through continuous improvement.
  • Continuous improvement requires systematic evaluation.
  • Continuous improvement requires unfiltered evaluation.
  • Evaluation must be rigorous and on-going and done by the people who helped create it.

APPLYING NEW & IMPROVED & IMPROVING

  • NEW: personnel, programming, season, series, look, venues.
  • Look for ways to upgrade your presentation
  • Visit other organizations
  • Attend other churches

MOMENTUM STOPPERS

  • Disengaged leaders
  • Overactive management
  • Complacency
  • Complexity
  • A breach of trust

 Link to original article here

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24NovCatalyst One Day: Busting Barriers

Craig Groeschel is the senior leader at LifeChurch.tv. Quotable from Craig's session…

The longer your ministry has been stalled, the more likely you'll have to do something drastic to break out of it. What got you to this point is not likely to get you to where God wants you to go. It requires a different mindset to grow to a new level for your organization. Whatever you blame on your people, you need to blame on your leadership.

  • "Our people won't give" – No, you haven't led them to be generous.
  • "Our people won't reach lost people" – No, you haven't led them by your example.

We think we have to do more to reach more.

We eliminated everything except 5 things. We do…

  • Weekends
  • Small Groups
  • Missions
  • Kids
  • Students

Are you about your mission…or are you about guarding people's feelings?

Some church cultures communicate that they can't leave the church. To grow your church, sometimes you need people to leave. People say, "God guides by what He provides." Sometimes God provides by what He does not provide. Don't ask people what they do – find out how they think.

Link to the original article

 

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23NovWhat if Starbucks ran like the Church?

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20NovCommon Misunderstandings about the Gospel (Part 8)

Mark Broadbent

MISUNDERSTANDING
> Your life will stay the same

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17NovLeadership and Mission (Part 3)

John Sweetman

I have been reading a fascinating book (Nick Spencer and Graham Tomlin, The Responsive Church, IVP, 2005) about Christians and their mission in society. I really am wanting to be a more missional leader. Last week we looked at society's view of Christian beliefs. Here are some thoughts on society's views of Christians themselves – what people think about us.

 

What people think about Christians

Most people seem to have a love/hate relationship with the word "Christian." On the one hand, they will call themselves Christian, and on the other, they will criticise Christians. It's as though they have two different concepts of a Christian. One is the unofficial Christian who they want to identify with, and the other is the official Christian who they dislike.

They see the unofficial Christian person as a good person and a solid Australian. Christian in this unofficial sense means kind, caring and, most of all, tolerant and accepting. Any sign of judgementalism or intolerance is seen as unchristian. There is also a nationalistic edge to the term. Australia is seen as a Christian nation and the majority who live here are positive about their Christian roots. For example, they are happy to call themselves Christian in a census.

Conversely, the official Christian person (that's us) is seen as religious and is associated with stuffiness, legalism, hypocrisy, war, naivety, Bible-bashing, extremism and intolerance. The interesting thing is that even when people have actually experienced the love and generosity of real Christians, they still tend to retreat to their stereotypes of Christians, viewing their personal experience as abnormal. They presume that the official media and community perspective must be right.

Christians are not seen as being truly Christian for two main reasons. First, we are intolerant about the wrong things (that is, the things that most people are tolerant about like sex, morals, personal freedom). Second, we are hypocritical because we proclaim a moral code that we don't keep. Actually, unofficial Christian people pride themselves on their own moral code but it's personal and private so they can never actually be accused of hypocrisy. Only those brave or stupid enough to pronounce their moral code can be pronounced hypocritical.

How Christians can respond

This is not a new problem. The early church faced similar image difficulties and was unfairly criticised and persecuted. Yet the Bible emphasises the importance of reputation (1 Tim. 3:7; Rom. 12:17-18). Christians need to work on their image. We strive for good reputations.

We will always be liable to charges of hypocrisy if we proclaim the difference Christianity makes and then live in much the same way as everyone else. There has to be a noticeable difference.

We need to make the Kingdom of God visible so that Christianity will be aligned with goodness, compassion and generosity.

This is the biblical emphasis. Peter says: "For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people" (1 Pet. 2:15). Real Christianity is not just the absence of evil but the presence of good. Christians need to be known for what they do, not just for what they oppose.

We also need to let our Christian faith and identity be known. This is how we show that the gospel is more than a private choice. We need to be more public about our faith and to adopt a more conscious sense of Christian identity. We don't force our views on others, but are open about our Christian faith – talking about God, reading our Bible publicly, speaking openly about our church or the ways we are serving others, praying for people. The Christian faith has to be far more visible in people if perceptions are to change.

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13Nov6 Misconceptions about Missional Church

From Jason Salamun's Blog

The missional church is a new idea
Perhaps the word, "missional" is a recent discovery to our vernacular, but it's been around for a while (since the 1800's). However, the command to "Go and make disciples…" has been around for a couple of thousand years. And the missio dei, the mission of God, has been around since the fall of humanity. It's not a new idea. It's a return to an ancient call to be the church Jesus had in mind. No trend here, just obedience.

The missional church believes gathering for worship is unnecessary
The misunderstanding here is the shift in thinking, "it's all about Sunday" to "it's all about everyday including Sundays." A church that doesn't worship Jesus is no church at all. But let's not limit worship to an hour a week. That kind of dualistic thinking and lifestyle is a dangerous pool to swim in and doesn't mesh with Scripture. The truth is missional churches do worship Jesus by assembling together- it just doesn't end there.

The missional church is about raking leaves and hanging out in homes
Well…actually…that's true. But it's incomplete. The missional church intends to advance the gospel abeit through public gatherings, house parties, loving thy neighbor, serving their city, or having coffee with a friend. Whatever it takes to love God and others. Missional church doesn't need a leaf-raking church program to help the elderly couple across the street. They just do it.

The missional church isn't attractional
Imagination flows heavy in missional church. So does creativity. I'm not sure where the idea came from that missional church can't (or won't) have compelling environments. Perhaps the notion came from the correct rejection of reducing the church to being a big show or a building. Maybe it has something to do with replacing language like "we go to church" with "we are the church." Nonetheless, missional church believes the most attractive environments are created when they are filled with compelling people.

The missional church isn't concerned about church growth
Any missional church that doesn't intend "to go and make disciples…" isn't missional. Any missional church that intends to be a holy huddle (i.e. us 4 no more) isn't missional. Actually, the opposite is true. All missional churches want to reach people far from God. As many as possible. And if that's happening, the Church will grow. You can't make disciples without people believing in Jesus in the first place. But with missional church, it doesn't end there. Missional church is about two things: first steps and next steps. Getting thousands to an event isn't church growth (concerts can do that), but making thousands of disciples is. That's what missional church is committed to.

The missional church is a church model
Cookie cutter approaches are rare in missional church. What works in one city, may not work in another. True missional churches know their context. They've studied their culture and the rhythms of the people in their city. They look at the streams of people who aren't connected to Jesus (or a church) and ask, "How can we meet them where they are?" The answer to that question will result is various methods, approaches, and styles. And the missional church has to continually pay attention to the ever-changing rapids of their culture- which means their methods will change as well. That said, my hope is that missional churches not just change with culture- but that we change culture. That's our challenge.

Read Jason's Blog here

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13NovThe difference between Good and Great churches

From the Reveal Study

According to the Reveal Study, there are five things that all great churches have in common…

1. They Get People Moving
> They set an enormous expectation that people become fully-devoted disciples of Jesus Christ
> They get people moving early
> They create a clear path for people to move through
> They only offer one first step option (not a smorgasbord)
> After the first step, they offer a smorgasbord of options

2. They Embed the Bible in Everything
> Not just sermons. But everything they do.
> The Bible is taught every week
> They start with the Bible, and then move to application (not the other way around)
> They make the Bible accessible through classes, devotionals, seminars, etc

3. They Create Ownership
> They believe that we all have a role to play
> Creating a sense of belonging is not enough. They need to know that they are the church.
> They give permission for people to step up
> They train people to lead and to disciple other people

4. They Pastor the Local Community
> They don't see themselves as pastoring the flock. But rather meet the needs of the local community.
> They create high expectations for people to serve outside the community.
> They form partnerships with outside organisations
> They use serving as a platform to share the gospel

5. They have Leaders who are Consumed with Making Disciples
> They themselves are on a journey
> They share their journey with their congregation
> They are relentless in their pusuit.

Watch the Video Here
(It is worth the watch. You will need to scroll down to bottom of page)

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