“According to God’s will Christendom is a scattered people. . . God’s people remain scattered, held together solely in Jesus Christ, having become one in the fact that, dispersed among unbelievers, they remember Him in the far countries.” “But they remain alone in far countries, a scattered seed according to God’s will. Yet what is denied them as an actual experience they seize upon more fervently in faith.” “It is by the grace of God that a congregation is permitted to gather . . . They know that visible fellowship is a blessing.”
Deitrich Bonhoeffer
in Life Together
diaspora common
time unwasted
Spending time is an attribute of healthy relationships. The one we know as Jesus Christ was not shy about spending time with others. He was not shy about spending time with those for whom the religious leaders had no time for. His time spent often lead to a healing of some kind. Does time spent lead to healing? In my rushed world I do not even slow down to find out any possible answers to this question. A sent people cannot hide themselves away but must spend time with those near them. This time does not have to be spectacular. By itself, time spent IS spectacular to a world that sees most people as objects in the way of their goals. We are a different sort of people, however, when we take on the attributes of Jesus. These attributes are to slow down and spend consistant time with particular people whom God sends into your life.
Craig S. Oldenburg
sending cultures
Comiskey, who we have been quoting throughout many posts, also writes in Cell Church Solutions that if a Cell Group is going to authentically grow, and not simply stagnate like many of our churches to, is must be involved in outreach. This confirms for me my own statement that:
All disciplieship leads to mission or it is not discipleship.
Joel writes: “Research and experience show . . . that better, more biblical community develops when a cell reaches out to [those who Jesus misses most] non-Christians. . . . The friendhsip and love (community) develops in the process of reaching out as a group to non-Christians.” (p. 108-109)
Essentially, the group’s goal of becoming closer only comes when it is sending people out. The more closed in a group becomes the less likely it’s goals of becomming community will be met. Not only that, they begin to lose one of the most prominant attributes of Christian community – that of reaching out to others outside of themselves. This is an incredible journey into a satisfying darkness.
Risk is vital to healthy groups.
utterly reconciliatory
“So if the whole church comes together . . . and . . . some unbelievers come in . . . he will be convinced by all . . .” (parts of 1 Corinthians 14:23-25 NIV)
“The visible church is the whole number of those who use the Word of God and profess the Christian faith, but among whom, beside the true Christians, there are also unbelievers.” (Martin Luther, Luther’s Small Catechism, Question #177 p. 157)
The early church and the church of the 1500s understood that unbelievers would be part of their assemblies. There is no way around this if we take to heart what Paul wrote to the believers in Jesus from Corinth and what Luther wrote in his Small Catechism. A friend mentioned that Luther’s thought may have been that there would just happen to be unbelievers in the crowd and that the church does not need to pursue them. None-the-less, both passages show a sensitivity to the fact that unbelievers could be present, they are an essential part of the visible church, and the language we use within our assemblies needs to be in their common laguage so that they can hear the Word and be transformed by the renewing of their minds.
When we make minor habits of the church into non-negotiables in order to please believers and tickle their ears and souls with pleasantries, we go against God’s desire for our behavior and message to be one of reconciliation. If there are no unbelievers in the crowd then how can we even have a message of reconciliation? The visible church, the one we gather in weekly as believers, needs to be inclusive, attractive, linguistically trained in the language of the culture, and utterly reconciliatory.
body faith
My limited Spanish helps me at least know that Carne means meat. Wiktionary defines this Spanish term as: flesh, the soft part of a body which covers the bones. OR, an animal’s meat, or by extension the edible “fleshy” part of a fruit or vegetable.
Likewise, the definition of incarnarion is: act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas. OR, time past in bodily form.
The incarnation is a mystery, but so interesting. The abstract being in human form. The God beyond our complete knowing entering into human form through interaction with a young girl named Mary in a baby she is told to call Jesus. But there are other incarnations as well. there are other fleshy becomings. Other abstract ideas emodied in flesh.
Martin Luther, while exploring the meaning behind John 15:19, explained that there are people filled with the devil incarnate who try to keep us from doing good. Luther, as a matter of fact, writes often about the devil incarnate in this way. (LW 24:271)
Luther also writes about another incarnation when he is exploring the meaning behind Galatians chapter 3 through Galatians 4:5. He writes that concrete faith is not abstract. Faith is always working through love. Faith causes faithful works. (LW 26:264) Later he writes that, ” . . . [faith] is incarnate and becomes man, that is, it neither is nor remains idle or without love.” (LW 26:272)
Faith incarnate. In the theological texts I have seen that explore Luther’s thougths, none spoke about the three incarnations: God incarnate, devil incarnate, faith incarnate. Most of them simply use the term incarnation and assume the readers know it is talking about God incarnate. God come in the flesh. Jesus Christ. Luther, however, in his writing, explores all three quite abundantly. He identifies them clearly. Each being important to know.
Luther shows how faith incarnate plays out in the commandments when he gives the commandments explanations. He writes about the commandment thou shalt not steal and says that it actually means that we not just sit on our hands and succesfully not steal but that we actively help others to protect what is theirs. Incarnational faith does not measure itself against the law but excells beyond the law, hardly knowing the law exists.
Luther goes on to write about the command that says, thou shalt not bear false witness. So should we sit on our hands and tape out mouths shut in order to measure ourselves agains the law? No way! He writes that we actually get active and defend other’s reputations. This is faith incarnate.
John 1:14 talks about the word becomign flesh and dwelling among us. In the original languages this actually means, God tenting among us. Look it up. The incarnation is a dwelling in the flesh. It is a tenting among us. Tenting is temporary. Incarnational living . . . is it temporary? Maybe not temporary as much as it is always on the move. Incarnational faith is always on the move.
Merry Christmas – God with us, Immanuel – the incarnation.
abandonment
This morning the group of men I meet with was small . . . but effective. They drive me to think beyond what I am comfortable with, which actually is becoming quite . . . comforting! I shared with them a small theme that arose recently in my reading.
In the book called Hurt, by Chap Clark, it says, “For the adolescent who is trying to hold on to something, at times anything, that is stable and safe, societal choices concerning divorce, adult sexuality, and the experimentation of living together even while children are in the home, have had a strong effect. In the course of my [Chap's] study, I found that this effect has been powerfully destructive.” (p. 34) He refers to a youth as having been abandoned by an adult culture that seeks to meet its own needs to the neglect of their children. It is this very abandonment that becomes the opportunity for us to be church to a community and culture.
As my friend Tim said, this means that in being in ministry with youth we need to be in ministry for the sake of their parents as well.
Who are the abandoned? In an article by Deborah Welsh Landers about orphans and widows, she explains the Greek and Hebrew meanings behind both words includes those who have been left without providers for any reason; the state of loneliness, abandonment, or helplessness. (Focus on the Family Magazine, January 2007) How is it that we can break out of our chains of restraint which fear had created and live freely – even wildly – with God’s love for the abandoned?
My recent reading in Isaiah revealed the ways of God. The Lord says,
“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
I said, ‘Here am I, Here am I.” (Isaiah 65:1 NIV)
Our God breaks the law we perceive to bind us. The law that says “play it safe.” “Don’t look out of place.” Our God breaks the law we perceive a perfect God would live by. Incarnationally choosing to live with the lost instead of the self proclaimed found. Abandoned to the cross to end all abandonment.
Finally, The Cell-Driven Church reading I have been doing takes us to one more thought on abandonment and security. It says that “we must learn to be willing to release others in the group to pursue their ministry callings and quests for leadership.” This is the sending. We are a sending people. Where are we sent? To whom are we sent? Is it to those who have not asked for Him? Is it to those who are utterly alone? Abandoned in this world?
What would it look like if our focus was off of our own fears – killed on the cross – and raised to new life and focus for the abandoned? What would the future look like? What would be the words that describe this sending?
mercy
“Where there is a spark of longing for mercy, there is faith; for faith is nothing else than longing for mercy.” C.F.W. Walther
the 2nd story
” . . . successful brands [organizational logos] develop reputations for telling a certain kind of story that addresses the identity desires of a particular constituency.” (p. 211, How Brands Become Icons by Douglas Holt, Harvard Business School Press)
Everyone’s life has a story. Many people have a second story more important than the first. A person can tell a story or they can live their story. Out of our second story we have a new view of life and the world in which we live.
An ancient passage states: “He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (See Hebrews 10:1-10) The sacred second story brings wholeness.
John Maxwell, in Be A People Person, writes that: “The happiest people are those who have invested their time in others. The unhappiest people are those who wonder how the world is going to make them happy.” (p. 15) The view from the second story is out to the world. We know that our foundation is taken care of by Someone much bigger than ourselves.
Who knows? The second story may keep on going.
belly fishing
When I was 13 years old, I began fishing in Cole Creek. I fished it for years without ever catching a fish. Sometime after I began driving, my friend Glen came fishing with me. I took my usual spots and Glen went upstream. Twenty to 30 minutes later Glen came walking back with 2 or 3 fish – I don’t exactly remember how many. I do remember he caught fish – in Cole Creek.
I said to Glen, “There are no fish in this creek.” After a bit of discussion, Glen taught me how to fish for trout in Cole Creek. He didn’t walk along the edge like I did for 3 plus years. He walked far away from the stream. He made sure no fish could see him. When he saw a deep whole in the creek where fish like to live (or if the water flowed under the bank), he would approach the stream. He got low and pretty much slid on his belly to the creek’s bank – just up stream from the hole. He would cast down and let the lure go through or past the spot. Pretty soon – bam – a bite and a fish.
I began to practice belly fishing and it worked. I caught fish – in Cole Creek. Glen taught me how to know the environment where the fish lived. I gained insight into the fish culture.
Just recently, I was remembering this event in my life when I was sitting by a stream talking with God about something John wrote: “My prayer is not for [my disciples] alone, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message . . .” I was talking with him about this verse and about some man-made ponds upstream that a group wanted to spend a great deal of money on so that they could stock them with fish. I started thinking: stream, pond, stream, pond. Why should we spend thousands of dollars for a pond.
Everyone knows why you make ponds in the Rocky Mountains (where I was at) of Colorado. This is not a plea for the environment (although that was part of my discussion with God). What happened, or what I think God spoke to me, is what this story is about. Because I asked him, and myself, is this what my church is like?
Is my church like a man-made pond where I pay someone else to go to the streams, catch or trap the fish, artificially raise their young, throw them in a pond and then – only then – fish for them? Is this how I see living out a life of faith to be? Or am I willing to go to where the fish are at, get on my belly, get dirty and in the culture and living environment in order to get the job done? I am afraid I lived life with the first way of thinking but believe it is time to start belly fishing.
Jesus prayer was not for just his disciples. It was for those who will believe because of a message we bring to them in their culture and environment. It is not about suits and ties, or about buildings and lawns, or the right size parking lot (although that helps). It is not about comfortable ponds – even though I want it to be. It is about going to the streams. It is about belly fishing.
unscripted leadership
“Congregations in the emerging digital culture are hungry for leaders who are approachable, touchable, accessible, transparent, and real. They want to connect with someone who is unscripted, unrehearsed, and not ‘on’.
“An impartational leader teaches not by exhortation but by example. In a way this harks back to an oral apprenticeship model: the student or follower absorbs character and identity from a vital relationship over time. Interaction and connection place a new premium on understanding and building vital relationships. Without leaders who value, practice, and model relational leadership, these growing desires will become distorted. In a deeper way, this model reflects family relationships between parents and children.”
ADDIN EN.CITE Miller20046
155, 15666Miller, M. RexThe millennium matrix : reclaiming the past, reframing the future of the churchChurch.2004
San Francisco
Jossey-Bass0787962678 (alk. paper)http://www.loc.gov/catdir/bios/wiley047/2004002663.htmlhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/wiley041/2004002663.htmlhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0414/2004002663.html M. Rex Miller, The Millennium Matrix : Reclaiming the Past, Reframing the Future of the Church (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004), 155, 156.