More reinventing church thoughts

Ok, I've got some more thoughts about all of this today to share with
you...whoever might be reading this. I feel like many things
are...dare I say, evolving in my mind. I think this is healthy,
though. So, if you find it happening to you don't fret! As long as
we stick firmly beside the Word, exploring His truth in humility,
seeking His wisdom as we go along...then we will be ok...more than
that, we'll be better off for having dug into God's character further!!

So, the question has been raised about the modern church and its
ability to reach individuals who are exhibiting these "postmodern"
tendencies that I've (1) experienced myself, (2) seen vividly in
other people -- in the states as well as here in Poland, and (3) read
a lot about both in books and internet articles (it's everywhere
online...just google "postmodern Christianity" or "emerging church"
and you'll find the mother load!).

Trust me, I'm not here to solve the "problem", act like an expert, or
anything like that. I'm just openly exploring this question for
myself and for the ministry(ies) that we're involved in. I say
"openly exploring" because this really can be something that is done
together, if you're interested. Through commenting we can get a lot
of viewpoints going here...something that always happens in dialogue
and conversation. And -- if we play nicely -- we should all be able
to grow from this.

I've just spent the last couple of days thinking a lot about what
beliefs/traditions I have which aren't necessarily rooted in the
Bible...some of which aren't even specifically found...and how Jesus
might have seen the Christian life differently than the way it is
currently portrayed in many churches.

(1) Being saved. Think about this with me...when you think about
this word, "saved" what does it mean? Often it seems that it mean
that one is destined for heaven because of a decision that was made
to make Jesus the Lord of the person's life. I agree with the end
result of that decision...but what about what happens between (a) the
decision to become a disciple of Christ and (z) spending eternity in
the Kingdom? We really place a lot of emphasis on the "getting
saved" portion of the Christian life...at least in my
experience...and not as much on the rest of the story. But do you
think it's possible for someone to be converted through a
process...one in which it's almost impossible to even say "on such
and such day I got saved"? I'm not saying that one of these is the
"right way". I'm just saying that it's possible...and maybe
something that will become more and more likely. We see it here in
Poland often as people are exploring evangelical life...they begin
exploring the Word...begin living out the principles found in the
Word...and one day you hear them talking about how God is at the
absolute center of their lives and they are living sold out for Him.

I think Christianity is definitely supposed to be an entire
lifestyle...everything we do, say, think...EVERYTHING is to be "to
the glory of the Lord". But I think maybe we have placed so much
emphasis on Sunday mornings (and maybe Wednesday nights), on walking
the aisle, on participating in different church programs...that we
have missed the more general emphasis on our Christianity being
something that we live out day-by-day....moment-by-moment. It rocks
our world...everything becomes different because of Christ. We begin
stressing the importance of the entire alphabet...not just A and Z,
which are obviously extremely important.

(2) Watered-down. There's always a fear in especially traditional
churches that if they are going to change to address the needs of the
lost community...those currently not responding to the means of
communication/proclamation that the church is using...they are going
to fight the temptation to "water down the Gospel". I've been
thinking about this as it has even already been mentioned by "Brian"
in one of the first comments made on the blog.

You know, I've had the same question/fear at times in the past. I
was a leader in Willow Creek's student ministry while in college and
was asked frequently by my family about this...as they were concerned
that Willow was watering down Christianity...because how else would
they be seeing such growth and expansion into the community?! Well,
yesterday I had the thought that maybe it's not the new, cutting-edge
churches...those churches who are seemingly attracting all of the non-
believers...who are watering down the Gospel. Maybe it's the other
churches who are doing that already! What do I mean? Well, think
about what's it's like when you reach for a cold glass of
soda...you're ready for something to satisfy your thirst...you take
your first drink and BLAH! it's watered-down. I hate that feeling.

Do you think it's possible that people come to our churches looking
to have their thirst satisfied? They come in ready to "drink"...but
when the "soda" gets delivered it has no flavor. So, maybe they
check out a few more "soda stands" and finally come across one that
has the recipe right. Ok, not trying to write a book on drinking
soda. But what do you think about that? People were non-stop
attracted to Jesus. They crowded him everywhere he went...wanted to
be near him...wanted to touch him...wanted to hear every word he
said. Why is it, if we are really proclaiming the same powerful
Gospel that people aren't doing the same in most of our churches?
Could it be that we've already watered the Gospel down so much that
it is just not touching people the way Jesus intended...have we
somehow taken the power out of it...have we stripped it down to a
decision instead of a transforming lifestyle?

Maybe I'm off base...maybe not. I'm just thinking through some
things out loud. What do you all think? I realize that you can't
give criticism (even constructive) without giving thoughts or insight
toward making changes to address the "problems". I have some
thoughts that I'll share shortly. Just wanted to throw this stuff
out there first as it's been rolling around in my mind.

Happy Saturday!

Cycle of evangelism

I'm posting an email I sent to a missionary friend this morning. We're really exploring these questions. How do you reach "seekers" that don't know they're seeking...who are perfectly content with their current lifestyles? We're doing everything we can to move past the thought that the local church is responsible for reaching the lost...it's just too big of a job and that method is just not working any longer. I thought I'd post this message to you all and see if any of you have any ideas...if you've thought about this before.

-- Message --

Hey,
I've been thinking this morning about how things work traditionally and maybe how they should/could work now as far as personal/church evangelism goes. I know that traditional it was sort of like this:

- i have a friend
- i invite friend to church
- church presents the Gospel
- friend might accept then, maybe not
- if friend is interested he keeps coming back for "Gospel nuggets"
- one day (hopefully) friend is saved and integrates him/herself into church "system"

Do you agree with that pretty much?

So what's the ideal?? We both agree that nothing can happen outside the walls of relationship. So, i know that we need to be more proactive when it comes to actually "seeking" the lost. But what then. I'm just thinking about our conversation yesterday and what it will take to turn the corner with (for example) the soccer guys. and then what's next? Just invite them to [church] even though most of us say that it's not really for them?

I'm just trying to think practically here. Any thoughts??

Michael

Reinventing church

Does that topic title get your attention? Maybe it makes you a little stressed thinking, "what's this guy going to say?" Or maybe you're sitting there thinking "I'm all for that!" I don't mean to freak anyone out...but it's something that we are asking ourselves pretty much daily lately...how does the church need to change in order to reach the unreached??

You see, in Poland we have a pretty serious situation when it comes to the state of the evangelical church. Some people, unknowingly, might think that this country is a Christian nation simply because there are a lot of people going to mass on Sunday mornings. [Poland is not like most of western Europe where churches remain empty...in Poland it's standing-room-only at many Catholic churches on Sunday mornings.] But when you get past the religious-looking exterior you will find that people maintain their connection to Catholicism most often because it is so tightly woven into the fabric of their culture. In other words, to be Polish is to be Catholic....period.

Why the state of emergency? Poland is starting to go the way of western Europe. Especially with younger generations, youth and young adults are wanting less and less to do with organized religion. They are sick of being forced to attend religious events: religious education class (mandatory in Polish public schools), 1st communion requirements, mass every week -- or at least on major holidays, etc. They are tired of being told that they need to submit to some personally unknown authority -- the priest, the church in general, and especially the authority of God. All of this leads to a complete disconnect from spiritual things.

Does any of this sound familiar...close to home? Our website is being featured this week by student.org. It would be interesting to know if any of the students who frequent that site are familiar with these kinds of attitudes as seen in so many of the young people in Poland.

More on this soon...

NWP Blog...the genesis

Well, here we go. The day has finally come when I decided to enter into the world of blogging. Maybe one day I'll share with you all "why" I decided to do it.

I've been reading some very interesting, challenging books lately. The latest title is The Church on the Other Side by Brian McLaren. The book deals with postmodernism and basically how the church is really lagging behind as culture/society continue pushing ahead. I find myself nodding my head most of the time for two reasons...either (1) I'm agreeing with the author about how we have been missing it for awhile now or (2) because I'm getting more and more excited about the creative possibilities found in this new way of doing things.

All that to say that I thought maybe this could be a place where we get together to talk about some things...things that are on our minds (ok, at least on my mind)...things that might be going on here in NWP...things that might be interesting that God has been showing me/us lately. As the world gets smaller and smaller because of technology, it's easy to have these conversations even when you're thousands of miles apart.

So...welcome to the conversation (as the folks in the emerging church movement would say)!!

michael