A thought about being "missional"

In the book The Shaping Of Things To Come the co-authors' intent is to help readers understand what a missional church is all about...what it looks like, smells like, acts like. I've only gotten a few chapters into the book (man, that's super small type!) but have found a few things that I've really been mulling over.

The thing I'd like to bring up today is the idea of a believer starting a business that is in some way needed by the society in which he or she lives in order to create opportunities to take the Gospel out into the community. This, to me, is a super cool idea and something that more people really need to think about.

First things first. Let's get a real grip on the true meaning behind words like calling, missionary, and church. We, at least as Southern Baptist, like to use that word calling when we talk about people "going into ministry". The traditional meaning would be something like that a person has in some way heard the voice of God which is telling them to make a move toward a career in full- or part-time ministry (in the church, on a mission field, etc). The word missionary often carries with it the thought of going to far-out places like Africa, China, or if you dare, Poland. And the word church (we've talked LOTS about this here) most often brings to mind nice buildings, slick services, staff members, building debt (doh!), etc.

Let me be the next guy (did you think I was going to say first guy?) to say that I think we've missed the boat on these meanings. To just run these down quickly...I think we're all called by God to follow Him by serving with our whole selves every day of our lives. I think that as we serve Him in our communities, being the Gospel to those around us we are being missionaries -- no matter where we are! And the church as defined by Scripture itself is the body of believers. It's you and me. No 1st Baptist Jerusalem in the New Testament. Just fired up, passionate believers living and serving in the unity and fire of the Holy Spirit (ooh, you got me going!).

Ok, movin' on. Understanding our call for the church to be the Gospel to the community where it is (remember "it" is us), it's an awesome idea to think about starting a business in your community that meets a current need. It gives you a chance to make money while constantly seeking ways to minister to the people you are serving. It gives perfect opportunities to form relationships. And the business gives (1) a reason for you being there in the first place and (2) a reason why people will make a connection with you. Without a purpose people will rarely take the time, or have the desire, to connect with you.

I'm just thinking big about how this could look. I'm a mac guy, have been for a long time. What if I had a specialized macintosh repair business and built up a nice-sized client list, made house calls, etc. [I'm not talking about forming a mega-company here by the way.] Think of all the possibilities to get into interesting conversations with people. Granted they won't all lead to ministry opportunities. But if I'm intentional in the purpose I have in life then opportunities will arise. Small groups could eventually be formed as well, from the people you have connected with. Thus the Kingdom continues to grow.

This is much like the things we do on the "mission field" here. :-) We seek ways to get around people, form relationships, "be" the Gospel. Being Americans is oftentimes our platform. But in the states the business could be your platform...starting a soccer team could be your platform, etc. Just a good idea I wanted to bring up and chew on a bit more. Things like this excite me and I end up typing and typing on the blog about them. I'm freak-out passionate about innovative ways to see the Kingdom advance! We need to get serious about that happening. Maybe we can do that when we start understanding that we, the church, are all called to be missionaries to the people God has placed us around!!

I don't get it

Starting reading a book a few days ago that deals with the concept of a missional church. One of the aspects that is discussed is the need for re-thinking the hierarchies we have established in our churches over the past...well, the co-authors say that these have been developing over the past 1,700 years!

Anyway, I was checking out cnn.com and saw this picture and began thinking about what I'd read again. For me there is no better example of this hierarchy than in the Catholic church. We work in a Catholic country. Catholicism is a part of the cultural fabric in Poland...to be Polish is to be Catholic (for most Poles, anyway). But I just can't wrap my mind around all of the "why?" questions I have about the Catholic church.

With respect to this picture, I present a "why?" question. Why does it seem that the pope commands more respect and attention than Jesus Christ himself did? I almost don't even know where to go with this thought because I just sit shaking my head, befuddled. There is something wrong with this. This man, supposedly chosen by God as the continuance of Peter's apostolic line, in my opinion, should be living out the complete character of God in every respect.

I'm sure there are a million and four responses that people could give...respect for the office of pope, maybe he doesn't like all the attention...whatever. To me, it just doesn't add up when comparing "the office" to the concepts presented by Jesus. That's the standard by which we live, Scripture not tradition.

More baseball pics

A lot of you have enjoyed hearing about what we've been doing with baseball lately. I got the rest of our pictures from last weekend's tournament (and fun) up on our phanfare site if you'd like to check them out. I think you can tell the kids really loved it!

Click here.

Islam vs. the pope

I was reading an article on CNN.com about some clerics and scholars in Pakistan who are calling for the pope to be removed. I'm just sort of sitting here shaking my head in disbelief of it all. Evidently the pope quoted an old text which said that some of the teachings of Islam are "evil and inhumane" and referred to spreading Islam "by the sword."

Evidently this has caused a backlash of words and threats from at least these 1,000 clerics and scholars including a warning to the West that "severe consequences" would come if its stance on Islam did not change. I think that this group is sort of cutting their nose to spite their face on this issue. In other words, if someone says that I'm a hothead that yells a lot I'm can't rightly defend myself by going off the deep end and railing on the guy.

Man, this just shows us what we are fighting against as universalism and tolerance become more widely taught, lived, and expected. We're not talking about someone getting angry that the pope referenced history. We're talking about a very significant group of people who likely have a ton of influence in a country making threats against the West (guess that really means the U.S. and the vatican in this case?). Now that's anger!

I don't know where I'm going with all of this at this point. I just wanted to throw out a little editorial before heading to bed tonight. Maybe my next post will integrate thoughts from this along with the question from earlier today about simply being the church. Global dynamics make that question that much more interesting.

"...to simply be the Church..."

From the Pittsburgh Emergent Village Cohort

Gathering at a former church building converted to a brewery/restaurant, called The Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh, a group of growing friends began to ask the question - What would it look like to simply be the Church– nothing more and nothing less?

And though the beer is good, and they greet you at the door with, “Welcome to Church”, the Church Brew Works stood as a stark reminder of what can happen to churches when they become inward focused and concerned more about self preservation than bringing the kingdom of God near.

That quotation is from the most recent Emergent Village e-newsletter. A lot of what I've blogged about over the last several months could be summed up in the question at the end of the first paragraph: What would it look like to simply be the Church -- nothing more and nothing less?

A think that this question would likely scare a lot of people. I'm fascinated by it, though. I want to explore it deeply. I want to be in fellowship with people who feel the same way. But I think that often our uncertainty or fear of extremism, however you want to call it (liberalism, radicalism, fundamentalism), keeps us from questioning the familiar in order to explore the possibilities which lie in the unknown.

The unknown is scary for me at times too. I won't lie and say that it's not. Change is hard...trust me, I am experiencing that reality daily. But change is necessary for growth and development. I am not going to get critical of any church, organization, people, etc. No point in that. We just need to really consider this question (above). Is there or is there not something to this thought? Have we clouded the picture of church that Jesus had when it was established through the his ministry and that of the apostles? If yes, then it's time to figure out what we need to do to restore the picture and get moving toward that goal.

What a conversation this could be. Wish we could all get together for coffee and plod through this one. Man, I miss that kind of thing!

Poznan Little League

We just got back a little while ago from our baseball team's (it's sort of a team) first official tournament. We spent the past two days playing a few games and spending a lot of time on the immaculate fields in Kutno, Poland helping our kids play a little better, have an awesome time, and see more of what this game is really all about.

Kutno is a bizarre place. I've blogged about it before. It's just so strange to play baseball in this little Polish town at this complex that has no rival that I know of in the world. Their fields (four professionally-manicured, game-ready, regulation size) are better than any I've ever played on. And again, we're talking about this little town in nowhere Poland. So, when the kids rolled into the complex they were blown away. That feeling just intensified as they began checking out the dugouts, bleachers, grass infields, etc.

We continue to pray that we keep the momentum going as we want this to be more than just baseball. We want to be good examples for the kids and of course want them to have a good time learning a new sport (man, they catch on quick!). But our real aim is to spread the hope of Jesus through the relationships baseball helps us build...both with kids and their parents.

Maybe next time you see something on TV, in the paper, at one of your kid's games, or wherever you'll think about the Poznan Little League and join us in praying that God will give us opportunities to share His love with the players and their families and that He will be glorified through everything as we "play ball"!

A tree that caught my eye

I see beautiful chaos in this tree. The tree is all over the place...it's limbs almost flailing in every which way. In and of itself it is just a mess of crazy, complex growth. Oh, but when the light hits it the tree begins to shine. My eye goes to the source of the light, albeit somewhat difficult to pinpoint.

You can see where I'm going with this, so I'll just stop and leave it at this.

Still learning from mom...

I got a call from my mom yesterday. She had an MRI yesterday to check out what was going on with her back. After asking her how bad it hurt to have the dye injected, she told me about what she'd said to the people as they were preparing her (I guess they were nurses, med-techs or something). I've been thinking about that this morning and that I'd share it with you.

My mom's been going through a really neat spiritual transformation as she's been studying the book of Daniel with some other ladies from her church. And I've seen her taking chances like the one yesterday (ok, not seeing...hearing about them) more often than before. She told them that when it comes to pain and suffering she is trying to learn to always think about what Jesus did for us on the cross...the amount of pain and suffering he went through and how what she was about to face paled in comparison to what he did for her when he died.

It's not easy to talk to people about spiritual things, at least for me. Especially here we're always wondering about how people will respond, whether they'll question our denominational affiliation (it happens...many times people are done when they find out you're not a catholic), or whether we'll ruin future opportunities with a person by sharing something too quickly. Obviously there is a balance that we seek all the time, tempered by past experience, looking to the Holy Spirit for guidance, and getting to know people through relationships with them.

But it's hard to beat plain 'ole bold sharing. What mom said was not confrontational but it was certainly plain truth that undoubtedly made those people at least take pause and consider what she'd said. That's what we all need to be doing. And I just appreciate the example she gave me to think about today.

Thanks mom for your commitment to Christ and the example you are to me in that!

God's will, our calling, and more mystery

This morning I was reading in John. I read the prayer that Jesus prayed before going to the garden where he was arrested. These few lines are what grabbed my attention:

I glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned me to do.

I wonder how many details I have missed through the course of my life. Jesus didn't miss one. Not a single one. And I go back to thinking how he was 100% man. He "set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human!" (per Phil. 2 ~ MSG). Facing all of the same struggles, temptations, attacks, etc that we face he still completed down to the last detail of his purpose on earth.

I also continue to wonder about the thought from yesterday, God's will. Maybe today it pops up again in the thought of an assignment(s) from God. I just find myself wondering how specific God's assignments are for us. I know that for some it appears that He leads them down a very specific path, like be an evangelist or missionary for the rest of your life. But for others, it appears to be much more general, like be a Christ follower where you are in the workplace (obviously the implied meaning in this is enormous...I'm not shrugging it off).

That brings to mind another point. Why is it that we only talk about someone being called when they're going into some sort of full-time Christian ministry? Can a Christ follower be called to be a CFO (surely not a CEO - haha), doctor, chef, soldier, secretary, burger slinger, or even a lawyer? Further, do you think a Christ follower is given freedom to pursue his or her passions (one could argue they've been placed their by God in the first place) in whatever field so that the light of Christ can be carried to others with similar passions?

Don't know if I'm making sense. I'm just working through this question that I've had in my head since college. I'm coming to think that we really limit ourselves by thinking that God has some kind of one-track life in mind for us. Maybe it's not that narrowly focused but more of a general calling to live out our relationship with Him wherever we are, whatever we're doing, around whoever we're working-living-recreating with. Maybe we're all led in some kind of specific direction at various points in our lives...but maybe those are just points and not the whole.

Wow...a lot of maybes and another long post. I'd love to actually be talking to you all about these things instead of pondering the endless mysteries of God with my beautiful 20" imac...although it does listen well!

May we figure out what are assignments are today and do what we can to complete them to the very last detail!

Today's reflections on life

I say "today's" because as we have different moods, experiencing the ebbs and flows of life our take on it all morphs, giving us different perspectives on our meaning, purpose, significance. Not to say that the foundation for our lives changes. I believe we're here to give our lives in worship of our Creator. This is done through our surrender to Him and our following Jesus' as our primary example/standard for life. Crazy to wrap it all up in one sentence like that...but consider it the thesis statement which could be expanded through the rest of the essay.

Anyway...life. I remember having conversations that started like this with a Bible study class I taught back in TX. Don't know if they were into those conversations or if they just rolled their eyes (unbeknownst to me) and thought "here he goes again". But sometimes I just get reflective and begin to think about the big picture, my/our existence on this big chunk of rock.

Life's hard...really hard, isn't it? I mean sometimes you just think "how can I do this?". Sometimes the stress and pressure is so overwhelming that it just doesn't seem like it should be this way. I find myself evaluating the decisions I've made which have brought me to this place, trying to determine if I've messed up somewhere along the way or if this is just the way it has to be. In those times I think about whether or not I've truly followed God's desires for my life. Boy is that a big can of questions!

The questions really focus on one word...a word which I really don't like very much. Will. Specifically, God's will. I don't like that word because I spent many years of my life (as if I'm that old) thinking that if you make a choice which is out of God's will then you're done...game over. That understanding of God's will was definitely one-dimensional. You either do this or you're not in My will (says God). It's tough to live with that kind of pressure and honestly I've come to believe that this is not really the message that was taught through Scripture (which should be our standard, right?).

Instead of the 1-D approach, I've come to see much of life as multiple choice. Providing we are really following Christ - longing to give everything we've got to serve and worship Him - then there are many times that we are presented with multiple options which all fit into this thing called God's will. He will be pleased with any of the choices we make because they are all in line with His character, they all bring honor and glory to Him, they give us opportunities to live out our relationship and show others that they can experience Life as well. It's sort of like those "choose your own ending" books we read as kids. There are definite pieces that are sort of concrete but others which are in flux as we are given the opportunity to stretch our proverbial muscles and make wise decisions for ourselves without having to worry constantly about veering off course and getting spiritually thumped on the head by the Mighty Disciplinarian.

Of course this is not to say that we're going to have it easy...even when we're in God's will. Just pick up a copy of the latest revision of Fox's Book of Martyrs and you can see that following God will not always have an earthly happy ending. That's definitely a misnomer that modern evangelism has perpetrated on many (follow Christ and everything will be magically better).

What's the point, Shattuck? I guess it's this. Life is hard, no matter. But just as I blogged the other day about the first "beatitude", God is there with us in big proportion when we feel like we're at the end of our rope. I really have got to learn, though, that He doesn't just push or pull us up. He supports us as we climb. Man do I have trouble with that. I'd rather just go limp and let Him do the work. But when I do that I just fall off the rope completely and then have to work that much harder to get back to the place from where I fell!

See, I'm doing it. Just being reflective and typing. Better stop now while there's at least one set of eyes reading (thanks mom, haha). I pray that each of you has a great day with Jesus today. I pray that you draw so near to Him in order to hear His every word that you can feel the breath of His whisper on your ear. And in doing so, that when you come to the point of desperation...when you feel the bristled end of the rope brushing against your palm, you will not have to look far for your Rescuer.

Walk to the park today

Vicki was meeting with someone this morning, so Maciek and daddy took a walk down to the park. It's a pretty nice place and super close. I took a few pictures that I thought I'd share here with you all. I saw the guys sitting on the bench (above) and thought about turning it into the kind of picture you see there. Seems nice and tranquil huh?

There's an alright playground in the middle of the park that Maciek likes a lot. Walking into it, we stumbled upon a big grasshopper that posed for a few shots (none here for you though). And then Maciek struck a nice pose on the swing...then decided he'd had enough and that it was time to move on to acorn collecting.

And finally, as we were walking through, we came across the trash can that you see here. I thought that it was a really good illustration of much of the country. They are really doing a lot to try to clean the country up (of trash, corruption, and other such things that are holding them back). Yet it is difficult to get people to "play by the rules". People will often throw their trash down on the ground, even if it might be right in front of a trash can. So, while progress is being made, only so much can be done without people joining in and doing what they can (like actually putting your garbage all the way into the can!).

End of the rope

The past few days I've had this verse from Matthew (5:3) in my mind. Here it is: "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule."

Lately we've been feeling like we're at the end of our rope. It's interesting because especially after big victories, like the one we experienced at the end of last week, we seem to get completely drained, depleted of all energy and exuberance for life (the way the Message renders one of the fruits of the Spirit).

Life has been pretty stressful here for, oh..., around 8 or 9 months now. Because of all of the legal stuff that has been going on we have not wanted to put any time or money toward a vacation, thinking that we really don't have either of those in large amounts. Man does that lead to stress issues, though, especially when combined with the general things that go along with life and ministry in a foreign culture. Yikes!

But we are told that when we are at the end of our rope...as we feel often...that God is there in a big way. We've been figuring out that this doesn't mean, though, that we're just to go limp and wait for Him to pull us up to the safety of the ledge above us (I'm thinking rock climbing here). But rather that He is there to support us as we continue to climb. Oh how we need to make use of that support and not just dangle here on our own...in our own [lack of] strength.

That's it for this morning. I was thinking through these things and thought it might help me to talk about them. Life goes on. We'll "vacate" at some point and hopefully relieve the stress. We'll reach the ledge and muster up the strength to tackle the next leg of the climb...certainly not because we're so strong and able...but because of Who we have supporting us through it all!

First day of school

Time warp back about two years and jump into my mind (I know, scary place at times). Guess what mental picture you would have never found? My two kids, ages 11 and 12, heading out of the house bound for their first day of school. Come to think of it, you probably wouldn't have found anything about two kids...let alone them going to school with their 4-year old brother waiting for them back at the ranch!

Isn't it amazing how God works in our lives? A couple of years ago we began feeling like we had finally come to that point where we would start considering the kiddo questions. You know, how many, when to begin the quest, etc. Soon after, we began really considering the possibility of adoption, something that had been in the back of our minds for many years without even having discussed it. It seemed like God had really put that desire on our hearts so we began looking into the possibilities.

Fast forward to today and it's just astounding to think how quickly things have happened. We're still waiting on this process to be completed (who knows, but we're guessing 2-3 months)...but that hasn't stopped us from becoming a family already. Sure there are tough times. But seeing those kids walk out the gate this morning I just felt so proud and so thankful.

Many of you have been a part of this since the beginning. Thank you for coming along with us as we have been looking forward to this day and the kids having the opportunity to really begin re-establishing life here with us.

Ultimate Pictures

We went back to the field yesterday for awhile. The kids and Vicki played and I had a good time talking to people and trying to get some good shots of the action. I ended up snapping around 180 pictures and got some hum-dingers (IMHO). I like the above shot a lot because of the symmetry...looks like a dance, huh?

I invite you to click here to see a bunch more when you get the time and inclination.

Have a great beginning of the week!!

Ultimate Frisbee Tournament

Yesterday as she was leaving to bring Maciek home for a nap, Vicki told me she was thinking about how strange, yet cool, it is that we have found ourselves a part of this interesting community of frisbee players in Poznan. And actually it's not just Poznan. The tournament this weekend has teams from all over Poland and Germany. Pretty amazing that we just stumbled upon this group trying to arouse some attention for baseball one afternoon at the Cytadel Park!

The tournament has been a ton of fun so far. I think I must have played 6 or 7 games yesterday, basically sprinting around a soccer-sized field for near 40 minutes per game. After game one my back began bothering me yet I pressed on, battling for the team (Uwaga Pies - Beware of Dog). Of course this battling has led to me hardly being able to walk today! But that's nothing for the good of the team, right?

The sport is very action-packed, full of long, dramatic passes, daring dives to catch that perfectly-placed pass, strategy as teams jockey back and forth looking for holes to take advantage of. We have also found that, again this word, community is a big part of the game. When these teams get together it's like a big family reunion. Everyone knows each other, they spend time encouraging each other (newbies and veterans alike). At the end of each game both teams huddle up (picture above) to thank each other for the game and to encourage each other by pointing out the positives of each other's play and to give *very* constructive criticism on how the teams could take their game to the next level. The huddle finishes by a round of applause and with everyone slapping hands.

Of course our ultimate (no pun intended) goal is to be able to share the love and grace of Jesus with these people...and we had a few opportunities to do some of this yesterday through words - many more opportunities through actions. And with this in mind I was thinking a lot about how I wish that our churches would involve this incredible aspect of community to even a small degree of what was seen yesterday on the fields. I wish we would spent time together battling on the field, sacrificing ourselves for the cause, encouraging each other with positive observations and very constructive criticisms which would help us all take our game to the next level.

Obviously the Christian life is not a sport. It's not something we do for fun, although there's no reason we shouldn't have fun as Christ followers. But it does need to be something we are extremely passionate about. It's through that passion that we are bonded together with other Christ followers who are looking to give their all in pursuit of finishing well. And it's then through those passionate bonds that we are energized and encouraged to keep on moving forward, no matter how much pain we might be experiencing (as I wince from a back spasm - haha).

We'll be going back this morning for the last day of play. Vicki and the kids will be "suiting up" today as I take care of Maciek and try to get some good pictures of folks diving (just sounds fun trying to capture those moments of glory!). Enjoy these few pics and I'll try to get more up on our Phanfare site later.

Think about this aspect of community...if you don't have it wherever you're fellowshipping then try to figure out a few ways you might be instrumental in seeing it begin!