Book Review - Right Here, Right Now by Alan Hirsch and Lance Ford

Right Here, Right Now: Everyday Mission for Everyday People (Shapevine)
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 by Alan Hirsch and Lance Ford is one of the most recent additions to the missional library. The book is very helpful as a primer for those entering into the conversation for the first time or for those who are trying to figure out how to move from ethereal to action. This text has a simple structure beginning with a "Briefing" by Hirsch where he summarizes The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church
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 in about 30 pages.  This forces him to be succinct and clear when dealing with the philosophical edge of missional thinking.  The book ends with a "Debriefing" where Hirsch is able to fill in any philosophical gaps that resulted in the rest of the text. The meat of the book is broken into three sections written by Ford with sidebar comments from Hirsch: Putting Our Hearts Into It (Missional Paradigm), Wrapping Our Heads Around It (Missional Analysis), and Doing Something About It (Missional Action). Putting our Hearts Into It covers the perspective or paradigm shift that has to take place for followers of Jesus need to make to really engage in missional activity. The shift is that of seeing the world with a "missionary's eye", the second is that of being people of peace, the third is getting a proper view of the gospel. Wrapping Our Heads Around It contains three chapters that cover issues surrounding our culture and how we ought to relate to it.  Ford adeptly critiques Western culture.  After that he argues for a missional lifestyle that frees us from the trappings of the American Dream.  Finally, he provides insight into how to understand the largely suburban world within which most American Christians find themselves. Doing Something About It looks at the systemic and practical approaches to creating a community wide missional approach. Ford discusses the house church and small group movement, followed by a practical approach to hospitality, and ends the section with a discussion on what it means to be scattered a people of God. Each chapter concludes with practical steps to take to help you activate what you are reading. I found this to be one of the most helpful books on the subject that I have read.  Hirsch and Ford have found a nice balance between philosophy and application.  The writing is down to earth and accessible. The only criticism I have is that in some ways this text can come across as very individualistic.  While community is discussed and the importance of relationships comes through, Hirsch's groundbreaking concept of "Communitas" is largely missing as a word to shape the conversation.  I think an opportunity was missed to bring this concept more into the mainstream.

Book Review - Church Planting Movements by David Garrison

Church Planting Movements: How God is Redeeming a Lost World
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 by David Garrison and published by the International Mission Board is a very helpful text. I thoroughly appreciated this little book in its simplicity. David did not write more than he needed too. He laid out the need, the vision, and the how-to in a way that is easily grasped. This text is perfect for any person who is stepping outside of Western Christendom trying to figure out how engage the world in a more biblical way. Garrison defines Church Planting Movements (CPM) as "A rapid and exponential increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a given people group or population segment (8)." The key words being rapid, exponential, indigenous, planting. If one can grasp these things then we are able to replicate this model. I really appreciated the structure of the text and how succinct it is. He lays out the core components of a CPM in chapters 3-5 with a list of ten components each. He also provides the leader with answers to FAQ's and obstacles. The stories from countries around the world paint a clear picture of how CPM's work. I have two criticisms of the text. The first is that in the definition of a healthy church there is no mention of church discipline. This is a key component to keeping a church healthy in the long run. The absence of such has led to the downfall of most of Western Christendom. The second is that there are no stories of this happening in a Western context. While I understand that David works for the International Mission Board, if this is going to be global then it needs to include examples of this working in all contexts. It may be that this is not happening in the West. However, it seems unlikely since I can think of a number of CPM's that are being developed in metro Detroit, MI. All in all, I would strongly recommend this book. It will be especially helpful for leaders who are moving away from the Boomer Generation's "If you build it, they will come" mentality and the "attractional" mode of church.

Your GPS is Broken

Missional Map-Making: Skills for Leading in Times of Transition is one of those books that jumped out at me as one that I needed to read. First, it was penned by Alan J. Roxburgh who has been a key player in the missional movement for a very long time. Second, the title alone highlights the fact that Roxburgh is not just talking recipes but is seeking to dive deeper into the heart of what is happening in the church today. The text is broken out into two parts. The first is entitled, "When Maps No Longer Work". In this first part Roxburgh makes a cogent argument that the world is not changing but has changed. The shift has occurred and our culture has moved from the "enlightenment/modern" understanding of the world to the "post-modern". This means that our entire way of understanding the cultural terrain is broken. Roxburgh uses maps as his key metaphor. He argues that each of us have internal maps to help us navigate our daily meanderings through life in this broken world. This is the primary function of worldview. They are to provide us the means by which to make sense of the world around us. But what happens when the world is no longer what it once was? What happens when the maps no longer work? This is catastrophic when it comes to leadership. Roxburgh makes great connections from the business world and from the world of philosophy to make his point that leaders must not use the old maps but must be willing to change their maps so that they can lead the community of God's people toward reaching a lost world. I think one of the best arguments he makes is in chapter 7 where he discusses the development of the internet and compares it to the culture at large. The internet was initially a linear connection of a handful of super-computers. It is now an interconnected web with no beginning or ending. This is true of our culture. The boundaries are being erased and as a result we struggle to even speak "multi-culturalism" or "pluralism" because inherent to both are boundaries. The boundaries are disappearing, so argues Roxburgh, so what will the church do about it? Part two, "The Map Making Process" seeks to answer that question. There are four key components to building a new map that Roxburgh discusses. The first is to assess and understand the changes that have taken place in your community. Unless we have a firm understanding of the lay of the land it will be very difficult to draw a new map. We must become surveyors of the new landscape. The second is the cultivation of a core identity. This core identity is developed from the Biblical narratives and calls people to a renewed confidence. It is a pushing down to the "regular folks" the mission of God and removing it from the hands of the "pros". The third is the "cultivation of parallel cultures in the kingdom". This means that we must ease change into being by living out the new culture alongside those in the old. As more and more people live off the new map the old map will give way. While this is requires patient and slow change it is the way of love. The fourth are "partnerships between a local church and neighborhoods and communities." Roxburgh argues for the church to partner within its neighborhood to meet real needs and to care for the community within which it resides. These partnerships will help the church to ask the right questions and begin to draw an even more proper map for it's world. Conclusion This is a great text. It's strength lies in the critique of contemporary church culture's ability to engage with a changed world. It's weakness lies in application. While Roxburgh provides some good stories, the reader is left wondering, "How?". I was expecting this from the start (thanks to a very well done introduction). The truly engaged leader will be spurned on to creativity and thoughtfulness.

Figuring It Out...

[caption id="attachment_1246" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="It's not good if the baby goes with..."]
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[/caption] For the last few years I have been on a journey.  It's a journey that has cost me friendships.  It's a journey that has caused me to look pretty deep and it has caused me to evaluate my understanding of "church".  This week I had an epiphany.  It's both/and and not either/or. You're thinking ,"That's pretty cryptic." You're right.  Let me clarify. The journey that I have been on has been the journey from thinking of church as primarily a "come and see" to that of "go and tell."  As per usual I have taken the pendulum of my life and swung it from one end of the spectrum to the other. I didn't even notice. Passion does that. This week I met with a group of pastors from the area for a planning time.  We were meeting to plan what our churches would do together as we participate in "E.A.C.H.", a city-wide movement of churches that are seeking to give "everyone a chance to hear" during the first forty days after Easter.  We prayed and it was amazing. Then we started talking. Fairly quickly the debate began: proclamation OR service. The battle lines were drawn. The combatants were unwilling to budge. Then an image I used for many years with Campus Crusade for Christ (and I had used in a recent worship service) popped into my mind:

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Now, what struck me was that I had forgotten something that had been drilled into me for ten years on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. A simple truth that brought clarity to my journey:

There are three relational modes: Ministry, Body, Natural.

I want to quote Keith Davy at length here:

As God works through believers in seeking to save the lost, there are three different types of relationships, or relational modes. These modes of witness are delineated by the nature of the relationship between the believer(s) and the unbelievers. God always seeks to work through our witness as a body, through our natural relationships, and through the relationships that result from intentional ministry outreach. A ministry’s evangelistic impact is increased as it expands the influence of each relational mode. Evangelistic momentum is achieved as synergy is generated between all three modes. Understanding these modes will enable us to align our methods with God’s work more effectively and expand the impact of each mode more fully.

We must have all three.  I am not suggesting that we go back to a model of church that is driven by programs and that everything is done within the four spiritual walls of the building.  What I am saying is that there must be strategic placement of all three modes in the life of any congregation and in the life of the church as a whole.

It's coming together.  The journey is still long and I am sure there will be many twists and turns along the way, but this is a significant piece that has come together.

Maybe I should take another look at some of those other models that I used to make fun of? I suppose I should.

A New Kind of Christianity

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I have been reading Brian McLaren's newest book, A New Kind of Christianity.  It has totally engaged me.  My mind is wrestling through the challenges that he has laid out.  I am about half way through the text and I am very frustrated that he end-noted instead of foot-noted, I have a callous now from marking my place at the end-notes (OK not really, but you get my point). I am going to write ten more posts on the book and in each one I am going to interact with the question that McLaren proposes. Here's your chance to look into the future:
  • What is the overarching story line of the Bible?
  • How should the Bible be understood?
  • Is God violent?
  • Who is Jesus and why is he important?
  • What is the gospel?
  • What  do we do about the church?
  • Can we find a way to address human sexuality without fighting about it?
  • Can we find a better way of viewing the future?
  • How should the followers of Jesus relate to people of other religions?
  • How can we translate our quest into action?
These will be my next ten posts.  I hope that you will interact in the comments and that we can have a good and lively conversation about what McLaren is bringing to the table.

Ethan's Wish...

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At the turn of the New Year we all make resolutions. When Ethan, my eight year old son went to school after the turn of the new year he and his classmates did a project where they made a wish. The teacher got the idea from the Japanese Daruma Doll. Here's a quick second grade summary of the Daruma Doll:
"In Japan, one way to make a New Year's wish is to buy a daruma doll. This doll has no arms, legs, or eyes.  It does have a heavy bottom.  If the doll tips over, it rights itself. The doll is a reminder to never give up! When a wish is made, one eye is drawn on the doll.  When the wish comes true, the second eye is drawn.  The doll is kept until the end of the year."
So each student colored a doll and then responded to three questions:
  • My wish for the year 2010 is...
  • One way I can help make my wish come true is...
  • Another way to help my wish come true is...
Ethan is eight. He is in second grade.  When he was baptized, our pastor Bob Smart, prayed that Ethan would become an evangelist.  He asked God to use him to lead many people to Jesus.  We talk to both of our children (we also have a daughter Libby who is 6) about their "bapitisms" (as they say it) often.  We show them how God is making good on his covenant promises that he made to them and to us on the day of their baptisms. They are embracing these promises too. Back to the story. Ethan brought his daruma doll project home a week or so ago and here are his responses to the questions (his spellings, not mine!):
  • My wish for the year 2010 is... to teach more people about Jesus's ways!
  • One way I can help make my wish come true is...to meet more people that dont belive in god!
  • Another way to help my wish come true is...get my friend's togeter that do belive and tell people that don't belive!
Our kids go the neighborhood school.  They meet kids who are Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Atheist, and anything else you can imagine.  They both come home regularly and say, "We have to pray for so and so because they don't believe in Jesus." Ethan and Libby long for their friends to know Jesus. I have to tell you I am learning more about what it means to be on mission for God from my "Beast" and my "Princess" than I ever did in seminary or in any of my training as a missionary. In the world of an 8 year old Christ follower there are people who believe, there are people who do not. If you do not believe then you are missing out on so much love, fun, and friends! He can not understand why anyone would not want to know Jesus. How about you? Oh, in case you think I made this up, the picture on the left is Ethan's daruma doll.

What is Community?

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Community. It's a buzz-word. It's a television sit-com.  It's a longing in our hearts.  But what is it? What does community mean?  There have been books, long books, written on the subject.  There have been many sermons preached.  There have been many university seminars given.  I have to be honest with you, I have talked about community and thought about community and yet I do not think that I could define community. Community. Community. Community...

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