2008s
- Disciplemaking
- Missional-Incarnational Impulse
- Apostolic Environment
- Organic Systems
- Communitas NOT Community
- Together we follow (community or togetherness)
- Engagement with Scripture (Integrating Scripture into our lives)
- Mission (The central discipline that bind the others and integrates them)
- Passion for Jesus (Worship and prayer)
- Transformation (Character development and accountability)
- A covenanted community — people bound together in a distinctive bond.
- Centered on Jesus — he is the epicenter of the Christian faith, this community is not a God-community it is a community centered on the second person of the Trinity.
- Worship — the offering of lives back to God through Jesus.
- Discipleship — following Jesus and increasingly becoming like him.
- Mission — extension of redemptive purposes through the activities of his people.
The Forgotten Ways, Part 3
Hirsch gets going into the “heart of it all” in chapter 3. This chapter lays out the necessity for Jesus to be Lord. This is the center of mDNA, oh, wait, I am ahead of myself. What is mDNA? This is the organic coding for Apostolic Genius. What is Apostolic Genius?
Well, it’s the results of mDNA.
Enough playing around. mDNA is comprised of the five key principles along with the driving story that “Jesus is Lord.” mDNA it is argued is found within each believer and when it is unleashed the result is Apostolic Genius which is best understood to be the ability to live out what it means to be the church.
The five key principles:
The next few chapters will be focused on these six concepts. So, let’s begin with the driving story that Jesus is Lord.
The heart of Chapter 3 is this controlling story that Jesus is Lord. Hirsch provides the technical term of “Christocentric Monotheism.” This story is the one that defines who we are as men and women that seek to follow Jesus. The monotheistic concept, Hirsch argues, takes form only in tension with the polytheistic worldviews that existed in the Older Testament accounts and in the Newer Testament accounts and in our own time.
It is easy for people to think about the story in tension with the Baal worship of the pagan Ancient Near East. It is easy to think about the Greek and Roman gods creating tension. But, what about now? What about in the contemporary West? Sure, there is Hinduism and certain forms of New Age religion, or even Buddhism (which in its truest sense is atheistic). But, these religions don’t seem to create the tension that we see in the Bible.
Hirsch argues that it is consumerism in our time. Consumerism the critical story in conflict with the Jesus story in our day and time. The gods of Consumerism create the conflict with other religions, within our own religion, and with one another.
The reason that Christocentric Monotheism is in such conflict with the gods of Consumerism is because at its heart this radical monotheism is not a theological perspective but is an “existential claim that there is only on God and he is Lord of every aspect of life (Hirsch, 89). This concept gets fleshed out further in the following chapters as it plays into the five principles.
Hirsch also argues that there is no secular/sacred division for the follower of Christ. This is critical. He states unequivocably that as Christians divide their space then they become practicing polytheists. One god for Sunday, one for Monday, one at work, one on vacation (go to spring break in Panama City Beach or ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’).
I was deeply challenged by this chapter and it has caused me to again consider what is at the heart of my relationship with God. Why am I Christian? Do I live daily in the reality that Jesus is Lord? Am I a practicing polytheist? I know I am not a practicing atheist. But am I a polytheist? Or am I fully committed to the one God. For the LORD is our God and the LORD is one.
Is Jesus the heart of it all?
The Forgotten Ways, Part 2
As it turns out chapter 2 is all about the role of Christendom and institutional Christianity. Who knew? So, again I will outline the chapter and then give you my thoughts on it.
Hirsch begins by arguing that the natural way of things is to default back to that which is comfortable and known. He quotes the great philosopher Bono from U2, “stuck in a moment and now [we] can’t get out of it”. Whenever we seek to try something new we invariably default back to what has proven to work.
This is especially true in Christendom where the institutional concept of what it means to be a Christian is so deeply ingrained in our minds and limits our imaginations.
Therefore, the way that change can come about is by not simply adjusting the programs but stepping into the very heart of what it means to be the church. Hirsch provides a great illustration, that of the the computer. It goes like this: programs (interface with user) -> operating system (mediates between programs and machine) -> machine language/hardware (basic code). He then parallels the church: programs/ministry -> theological ideas -> ecclesial mode.
His argument is simple. If you simply change the software on an out of date computer you don’t actually fix anything, if anything you make it run SLOWER. However, if you change out the hardware (improve the processor, RAM, HD, etc…) that’s when real change has taken place. This is the same with Christianity. We must speak to the central issue to provoke real change. The missional church is one that doesn’t simply change behavior or programs to become missional one must change the very understanding of what it means to be the church (ecclesial mode).
This central core is called the Systems Story. Basically, one must step in and change the entire story that a community is operating on to bring about any kind of change. This means the very heart and motivation of what it means to be the church has to change in the heart and mind of those IN the community. When the story or the driving concept of what it means to be the church changes then a community is freed up to imagine a new (old?) paradigm.
Hirsch then argues that the Christian faith was never intended to be an institution, a Christendom but that it was always intended to be in “holy rebellion” against the elemental principles of this world. He argues that Jesus, Paul, and God the father himself are all holy rebels.
This he says is the heart of “prophetic religion”. He quotes C.S. Lewis to summarize the section, “there exists in every church something that sooner or later works against the very purpose for which it came into existence. So we must strive very hard, by the grace of God to keep the church focused on the mission that Christ originally gave to it.”
The chapter closes with a look at the state of the Western church using a model of missionary engagement, m0, m1, m2, m3, m4. These markers represent the barriers that exist for a people group to authentically engage in the gospel.
m0–1 represents people who can understand the gospel, speak the same language, are of the same class, nationality, and so on. These are people who are most likely your friends.
m1–2 is the average person who doesn’t know Jesus. These people run the gamut from being somewhat spiritually interested to not at all. But have some experience, good or bad, with the church. Hirsch says that you should stop by your local pub to meet these folks.
m2–3 is the group of people who have no idea about Jesus or have been severely marginalized (i.e. the gay community). This group of people is definitely antagonistic.
m3–4 is the group of people that are ethnically or religiously opposed and seriously hinders meaningful dialogue (i.e. Muslims or Jewish people).
The central question of this chapter is simple: If the world has changed since 313 when Constatine came to power (and it has) why does the church engage with the world as if it hasn’t?
Many will say that they church has changed over the years. But, not really. It’s just gotten bigger, bigger, and bigger. The promotion has gotten better. But the western church really isn’t that different from what it was 50, 100, or 500 years ago. It is institutionalized religion where nothing radical for the most part happens.
We live in a new world with new rules and an emerging culture. Francis Schaeffer spoke about this reality in his text, The God Who is There. The amazing thing is that this book was written in the late 60’s. The book is relevant for today. Please read it.
I for one want to figure out what it means to be the church instead of how to do church.
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Now playing: Coldplay — God Put a Smile Upon Your Face
via FoxyTunes
The Forgotten Ways, Part 1a
So, I realized that there was one other thing running through my mind from the introduction and first chapter. Hirsch begins to make a distinction between Christianity and Christendom. This is what he calls the difference between institution and organic growth.
The thing that caught my mind was the role of the institutional church. Doug and I were talking about this on Wednesday at the Bean and then reading Hirsch some thoughts began to crystallize. This idea of the institution is pretty powerful. Around 310ish is when the Church went from underground to large and in charge so to speak. Then something happened — an institution was born.
I run in some different parts of the Christian sub-culture and one in particular is a large parachurch organization. A favorite phrase is, “a movement becomes a monument overnight”. I think that there is some truth to this. Almost that fast the underground church became an institution. The faith that was demonstrated by a crucified and resurrected messiah became an empire.
I am beginning to think that this empire brought about many of the struggles that we are facing today because no matter how hard we try we are unable to throw off the shackles of this empire. Hirsch explores this in his story about his church in Melbourne, the most recent edition of Leadership Journal describes this in relation to The Next Level Church in Denver, it can be seen drastically in the Methodist church (could you imagine what Wesley would think of the current configuration?).
I don’t have any answers about this but, I am really beginning to be aware of the deep seeded institutionalism that pervades the church. Alright, that’s it for now.
The Forgotten Ways, Part 1
I have a direction for this blog which is exciting. This summer I am interning at my local church. Currently our church is going through a transition from a “come and see” model to a “go and tell” model. Our pastor and has been encouraging our elders to consider deeply what it means to be the Church. In the midst of this transition I am coming alongside Doug (my pastor) and seeking to learn what it means to be a pastor and in so doing I am learning what it means to be missional.
Therefore, I am reading the text, Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch. What I am going to do is take a few posts and summarize each chapter and then write a bit about what is running through my head as a result.
The introduction and first chapter Hirsch sets the stage for what he desires to talk about in the text. I need to go out of order in my summary because of what I want to focus this post on.
The first chapter lays out Hirsch’s own story of leading and doing church. He began as a young pastor in Melbourne and saw God do some amazing things as he participated in the revitalization of a church there.
This church quickly became filled with people from the margins. In ministering to these people Hirsch learned about organic, authentic ministry. He developed a sensitivity to what was going on in the world and culture around him. The church tried all sorts of different things to plant in the various sub-cultures in the city. Some went well, others not so well.
The kicker was when they attempted a cafe that ultimately failed because two thirds of the church did not embrace the vision. This led them to think through what it means to be missional and what exactly are the principles. They broke the key DNA to five things (Hirsch, 47):
This DNA points back to their definition of an ekklesia (Hirsch 40–41):
I think that summarizes chapter one pretty well. The key question that I want to interact with is from the introduction. How did the early church grow from 25,000 in AD 100 to 20,000,000 in AD 310?
Think about this — the faith was illegal, there was no technology, there was no buildings, there was no “Bible”, and there was no church institution. How could they grow without these things? How is it possible that they grew that much?
Hirsch argues that in this episode of church history we should be able to find the authentic heart of what it means to be the church. He also argues from the perspective of China and yet the persecuted church growth concept does not hold serve in places like the Soviet Union or Albania.
Now, the key thing that I am thinking about is the necessity for the faith to push down to our everyday lives. What do I mean? I mean that in the early church and in China there was no place for the faith to “be”. There was no collection place the way we think about it today. The believers had to live their faith out loud in a sense.
The first century believers lived out their faith in every conceivable way. They were forced to walk outside their doors and follow Jesus in the fields and marketplaces. There was no place to hide.
How often do we hide? “Personal faith” is the disease that most of face. We can no longer have personal faith. We must live our faith at the coffee shop, bar, front yard, and ball fields. How else will anyone hear and see the gospel lived out? We must be about the redemption of all aspects of our lives and creation.
Everything and everyone longs to be redeemed.
Why do this?
There is a strange phenomenon that has taken place in the world today. Not very long ago there were little girls with diaries that had locks and keys. Now, they have been replaced by Blogger, Xanga, Myspace, and Facebook Notes. The world is invited into our minds, memories,thoughts, concepts, and ideas. So why do this? Why invite people in?
A friend of mine, Ken, said that blogging was cathartic and that in it this generation finds hope for community and connection. I think he is right. There is something cleansing about writing your words out. Sending your ideas into the universe and to possibly have them read one day by someone. In past times people wrote books. Well, nobody reads anymore. I am struck by the fact that Jonathon Edwards, a Christ-follower from an earlier time, seemed to be aware that his journals would someday be read. He had an eye to the encouragement and edification of future people.
My hope is that through the posts on this blog I will find some aspect of this cathartic enterprise. I have attempted blogs before. The first began well. Then devolved to YouTube posting and pictures. The images took over. This time I hope there will be a difference. I hope that the posts here will be the kind reminiscent of earlier generations with an authenticity that cleansing requires and an eye to the reader who in some way might possibly be edified.
A friend of mine wants to know the meaning of the title of the blog. Well, quite honestly most other “cool” names were already taken. I was thinking about CS Lewis and Narnia when I opened this one and his whole thing about sneaking in behind the dragons of this world. That along with the image of a back porch. So, slipping in the back…