SimpleChurch Journal

Are You Writing or Blogging on Christmas?

If you are writing or blogging on the theme of Christmas/Advent and want to share your thoughts with others, feel free to post your links on our Advent Conspiracy Facebook Event page.  First, see if it fits in with the theme of the event, then feel to post your link or share your musings there directly!

Loving the Voice of Jesus -- the Irreligious Way of Life

The irreligious love the voice of Jesus.  And they love following His voice wherever He leads.  And as the world becomes filled with this type of follower, the most explosive things will happen.

I find that religious people (I know from experience) love the voice of routine, and church events, and predictable services, and knowing what’s coming next.  We often love Jesus but, really, we love even more our comfortable religious boxes, our titles, our roles, and our programs that others appreciate us for.

Not Virginia.  This friend of mine loves the voice of Jesus and knew that He was nudging her toward India.  One of her sons had moved there but this was way outside of the box.  She knew no one where she was going and she was not being sent by any organization or church.  She had no backing, no plan B, and no clear idea of what she would be doing there.  She simply believed that Jesus had spoken and she went.

For 11 months she wondered what she was doing in this strange land surrounded by needs that seemed overwhelming.  She served where she could, but mostly she got sick and recovered only to get sick again.  She prayed and begged God to show her more, but there was little direction and it seemed that her life was making no sense.  Finally, her trust began to crumble and she huddled on her knees on the floor of her small apartment crying out to God.  She said, “I was set to stay in prayer until I heard from Him no matter how long it would take.” 

Virginia went on, “I wasn’t on my knees but a few moments when I heard His still small voice say to me,

‘Go to the mountains.’  That’s all He said.”

The only mountains Virginia knew about were the Nilgiri Hills nearby where there was a Christian school.  She had never been there, but knew the school cared for the children of missionaries as well as Indian students.  To make a long story short, the school had been praying fervently for an Art/Bible teacher because of a recent vacancy.  And, yes, that is exactly what Virginia has a background in.  As this unfolded, she said, “I find I love teaching.  Love the kids, the challenge, the stimulation and being part of this dedicated and serving, God-centered community.”

One can only imagine the impact Virginia is now having in India (not to mention future generations) because she was living outside of religious boxes but married to listening and following the ever-creative, world-impacting Jesus.

The Art of Risk

Have we lost the art of risk when it comes to our faith?  Are we settling for play-it-safe, cookie-cutter religion that has no life, teeth, focus, or power to it?

I know risk and faith can be used by irresponsible people to do irresponsible things.  Quitting a job, for example, because “God told me to.”  But is this necessarily being irresponsible?  Without a doubt?  I have a young friend who recently did this.  Honestly, I don’t know if God has spoken to him clearly or not.  But in our play-it-safe world, I’m excited to see what will happen!

It’s almost impossible to see God-things happen while we are playing it safe.

Most churches are playing it safe.  Many Christians are playing it safe.  Yes, risk can sometimes bring with it the element of danger.  But, then again, not risking when faith calls us forward could be even more dangerous!

So, today might be a great day to pray about getting out of the boat, burning that play-it-safe bridge, starting that new God-venture or God-inspired adventure, going after that dream even though the stakes are high.  Really, what do you have to lose?  Really?  And, really, what might you have to gain?

Proselytizing vs Inviting People to Follow Jesus

Religion asks members to proselytize people to that religion; Jesus asks people to repent and follow Him.

I have done much of the former: inviting people to a religion.  Here is the way it worked:

1. Explain the basic precepts of the religion: Jesus died on the cross to forgive your sins and give you eternal life. 
2. The entry point into that religion: pray a prayer asking for forgiveness and inviting Jesus into your life
3. Join the club of church-goers, read your Bible, follow Jesus AND follow the way of religion as prescribed by your fellow-travelers and church-goers.

The result is that people are sometimes caught up and in love with Jesus but, even so, often become club attenders and religion-subscribers over time.

It’s interesting that Jesus did not do this.  His way was quite opposite:

1. Tell people to repent of the sin and death that was destroying their life and their communities.
2. Invite people to follow Him.

I am seriously reflecting on what this looks like.  The former approach is much easier and less threatening.  It does not even really call people to change their lives, just get the club membership ticket.  “Come to our church, hear a good message, ask for forgiveness, receive Jesus.”  Oh, yeah, change will come over time.  But, we know the church today is not much different than the world so… it really doesn’t.

The latter approach that Jesus used is quite confrontational: “These things in your life that are destructive and that you know are destructive?  Well, yeah, they really are.  And the only way that you can step out of those things is to turn from them and turn to life by following a life-giver.  The Source of all Life.   Yes, that would be Jesus.  No, you don’t receive or accept Him, you trust and follow Him.  You give your life to Him.  You exchange your ways of death for the way of Jesus.  No I don’t have a formula for you.  He will reveal Himself directly to you.  He’s a Person, God of all Creation, incarnated through His Word.  Life comes as you turn from your own ways in order to hear and follow… Him.”

By the way, church emerges quite naturally (and simply) as Jesus-followers gather and go in the way of Jesus.

Quasicrystals, Nobel Prize, and the Church

Something always resonates in me when I hear things like this:

Shechtman's discovery (quasicrystals) in 1982 fundamentally changed the way chemists look at solid matter. It initially faced strong objections from the scientific community, and even got him kicked out of his research group in the United States.

Now 30 years later, including years of ridicule, Shechtman has just received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

I believe that God is continuing to shake up the way we view and understand His church.  It is by definition a living organism filled with all of the wonder—and more—of all living systems throughout the universe.

What does this have to do with quasicrystals that shook up scientists understanding of matter?  Here is the description of the clusters and atoms within quasicrystals:

“It is perfectly ordered, it is infinite—and yet it never repeats itself.”

“The atoms… congregate in patterns which are not reproducible and are unpredictable.”

Prior to this, it was assumed that matter only contained elements that could assemble in specific predictable patterns.

Okay, so I’m no chemist, but I still think there is something wonderful about this that speaks to all living things including the church.  It does not take a scientist to stand in a forest, have one’s breath taken away by the overall order of the foliage while still realizing that every tree, shrub, and blade of grass is completely unique and even unpredictable.

In contrast, we tend to look at everything through the lens of the industrial age: reproducing patterns of things (from automobile assembly lines to Big Mac kitchen lines). We have learned to design patterns and then replicate them.  We have done this in traditional churches, mega-churches, and yes, even in simple/house churches.

My contention is that we still have not tapped into the full wonder of the living Body of Christ which is meant to express itself in a wholly unpredictable and infinite way while still being ordered because of its organic connection to the Creator and King.

Authentic Connections are Better Than a Hallelujah

  Some of the most difficult people to like are religious people with religious fronts.

“Hallelujah, brother. God is good and I am blessed. Are you walking in his blessing today and everyday?”

It’s not that I can’t love this guy or even appreciate his sincerity on some level, it’s just that I can’t touch him.  I can’t connect with the person who is behind those religious words and who is really like every other human.  Deep inside we are all conflicted: both needy and fulfilled, happy and sad, faith-filled and fearful, victorious and defeated… human.

Unfortunately religion creates barriers between people because it is posturing, it is a face to wear and it’s not real.

Jesus spoke of his followers as being poor of spirit and those who know they need a doctor.  Humans who are real can connect on a deep level with other human beings and that is the dynamic through which the Good News of the wonder of Jesus is can be deeply shared and communicated to others.

Amy Grant sings a song, Better than a Hallelujah, that expresses this well (excerpts here):

Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah…

God loves a drunkards cry,
The soldiers plea not to let him die
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes…

The woman holding on for life,
The dying man giving up the fight
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
The tears of shame for what's been done,
The silence when the words won't come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah…

May our communities be filled with something better than a hollow “hallelujah!” so that the love of Jesus can flow from one honest heart to the next in a world that deeply needs Him!

This Is Discipling

The Church of the Future

It’s important that the church continue to dream and have visions of what we—the Bride—can become.  I don’t claim prophetic insight here, just a longing to see the church fulfill her destiny.  Note that these thoughts relate mostly to the church in the “West” where it has been long established but vitally in need of renewal.

What the Church of the Future Looks Like:

The church of the future continues to throw off its religious garb that has robbed it of its impact and lulled it into sleepiness.  Intimacy with Jesus becomes a reality, not just a cliché, and Jesus begins to shape His own church in His own image: irreligious, daring, caring, compassionate, out-of-the-box, person-impacting, regional-impacting, adventurous, incarnational among the poor, without bounds, and full of power.

The church becomes known more for its works than its rhetoric.  The Good News that is proclaimed as a result of this is simply the person Jesus.  His presence and work is expressed, not just with words, but with actions that demonstrate the compassionate love of God.

Discipleship movements spring up naturally and regularly in workplaces and neighborhoods as people seek out authentic life with Jesus.  Followers of Jesus present a counter-cultural way of life that challenges yet attracts more and more people who have become disillusioned with the so-called American Dream.

New monastic communities continue to spring up that take on more and more of the social responsibilities in many needy areas.  They provide many services that otherwise would no longer available: rehab and sober living homes, medical clinics, elderly care, support for the disabled, and counseling for the emotionally distressed.

At the same time, social entrepreneurs are inspired to start more and more non-profits as well as for-profit ventures that address social ills and poverty through creative innovations.  And Jesus is given the glory for this.  These ventures create jobs while providing solutions for people’s needs whose lives are impacted by a declining world economy.  Radically creative innovations are given to these new breed of entrepreneurs who live personally for the Kingdom and do not buy into the excesses of materialism.

Coffee shops continue to become more and more pronounced as places where followers of Jesus can be found.  Some type of discovery Bible study is taking place around the clock in almost every place where God has empowered Starbucks (and other coffee companies) to build space for this to take place.

Discipleship movements are taking place through social networking and ipad-type video conferencing.

Traditional churches continue to exist but those that thrive look more like para-church organizations than churches that we see today as they involve themselves in the real needs of the community they are in.

At the same time, most of the “real” church is less visible apart from its service to the community.  It is organized at a grass roots level using social media as the primary means of communication and coordination.

Self-sustaining leadership “hubs” have developed that connect relationally to regional and cyber networks.  These hubs are apostolic in nature, selfless in the way they function, require no formal allegiance, yet serve the organic movements of the Spirit.

I believe that, as we walk forward with vision, faith, and a deepening love for Jesus, we will see the church become more of what we are meant to be than ever before.  It’s an exciting time to be His!

Why Evangelicals Should Stop Evangelizing

I wrote this in a recent post:

“We don’t need evangelists, just Jesus-people who live and act in a way that brings about change, that lifts the hopeless, that cares for the tired, that releases the oppressed and that simply says—“this is Jesus at work.”  “Follow Him!”

Someone challenged my statement, rightly so, that we “don’t need evangelists.”  From a strictly Biblical use of this work, he was correct.  I was trying to challenge the non-Biblical use of that word (converting people to the religion of Christianity) and re-define it as the Bible intends.  I don’t know that I accomplished that in those few words that I wrote.  But the following article, by Carl Medearis, should help add to this conversation:

Here is an excerpt from his post entitled “Why Evangelicals Should Stop Evangelizing”

What if evangelicals today, instead of focusing on “evangelizing” and “converting” people, were to begin to think of Jesus not as starting a new religion, but as the central figure of a movement that transcends religious distinctions and identities?

Jesus the uniter of humanity, not Jesus the divider. How might that change the way we look at others?

This is more than just a semantic difference.

When I used to think of myself as a missionary, I was obsessed with converting Muslims (or anybody for that matter) to what I thought of as “Christianity.” I had a set of doctrinal litmus tests that the potential convert had to pass before I would consider them “in” or one of “us.”

Funny thing is, Jesus never said, “Go into the world and convert people to Christianity.” What he said was, “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

Encouraging anyone and everyone to become an apprentice of Jesus, without manipulation, is a more open, dynamic and relational way of helping people who want to become more like Jesus — regardless of their religious identity.

Just because I believe that evangelicals should stop evangelizing doesn’t mean that they should to stop speaking of Jesus.

I speak of Jesus everywhere I go and with everyone I meet.

You will enjoy reading the full article here.

It's Not Enough to Get the Church Out of Its Walls

We have now said, for years, that the church needs to get out of its walls and into the street.  The problem is: this is not enough.

We have people leaving churches, changing church expressions, meeting in homes and workplaces, but the life of Jesus is still not seeping into the world, at least not enough.

We need more from “the church.”  We need “the church” to begin living their unique destiny as followers of Jesus audaciously.  We need people who are not sleep-walking in religion or incapacitated by the franticness of our Disneyland culture.  We need people who know who they are, who love Jesus more than life, who are willing to bring fresh and new ideas and innovations that change society.  We need people who influence, not toward religion or church-going, but toward Jesus, and life, and hope, and faith, and transformation, and the power of the Spirit.  We need people who have passion and are not afraid to step out and speak up about those things (including Jesus) that are burning on their hearts.

We need Change Agents for Jesus.  We don’t need evangelists, just Jesus-people who live and act in a way that brings about change, that lifts the hopeless, that cares for the tired, that releases the oppressed and that simply says—“this is Jesus at work.”  “Follow Him!”  Those that need to and want to, will follow Him.

We need a church that does not look like “church” in any way, shape, or form.  We need an uprising of “heretics” who break all the rules but glorify Jesus’ love and presence in the process.

We need people who are authentic and real and without the need for pretense.  We need people that others can relate to and see Jesus through—weaknesses and all.

We need to become the trend setters.

Religious people follow the traditions and rules.  Our culture mesmerizes us with faulty ideas of success and security.  We don’t need more of either of these.  Instead, we need people who lift others through their love for Jesus, their willingness to step out and do risky, compassionate things, and because of their new ideas, fresh ventures, and radical investment in the needy and in the needs of our world.

We need trend-setters who know how to manage resources for the Kingdom: make more money (sometimes), spend less (always), and funnel funds in a way that glorifies Jesus.

We need a church that’s out of the walls, out of religion, out of our culture’s drivel, and sacrificing everything to become everything that Jesus is.