Now that God is with us…so what and what now?  Mission.

It seems for many Christians today there are two major thoughts missing in our thinking. I am convinced that if we could re-shape our imaginations around these two truths…it could change the world.

(1) We must understand Jesus’ invitation and our role in the ongoing work of God in this world. Jesus started something..and asks us to join him in completing it. This work is more than proclamation, it is looking at the whole model of Jesus’ ministry and seeing our mission as the same (demonstration).

“The crucial form in which the Great Commission has been handed down to us (though it is the most neglected because it is the most costly) is the Johannine. Jesus had anticipated it in his prayer in the upper room which he said to the Father: “As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (John 17:18).

Now, probably in the same upper room but after his death and resurrection, he turned his prayer-statement into a commission and said: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (John 20:21).

In both of these statements Jesus did more than draw a vague parallel between his mission and ours. Deliberately and precisely he made his mission the model of ours, saying “as the Father sent me, so I send you.” Therefore our understanding of the church’s mission must be deduced from our understanding of the Son’s.” – John R.W. Stott in Christian Mission in the Modern World

(2) We must begin to see our vocation as our missional service. It is an unfortunate reality that often Christians (and even non-Christians) segregate their lives into “sacred” and “secular.” But dividing our lives in this way presents a major issue – we begin to see mission as the role of the church (institution) and Sunday’s as the spiritual part of our week. But the reality is what we do Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday is just as important to the mission of God as what we do on Sunday.

Jesus worked. We often forget that the whole life of Jesus is important for us to model…and he spent the majority of his years as a carpenter. His work was building and improving the life of those around him. He worked to better the lives in a small community called Nazareth.

How does your vocation partner with the mission of God?

The Kingdom of God. For many it is confusing. Their confusion is understandable. Because when we speak of the Kingdom of God we are talking out of both sides of our mouth…we speak of the already present kingdom and the yet to come kingdom. Which is it? It is both. The already but not yet kingdom.

John Wesley dealt with the same tension with his theology of “imperfect perfection.” By the grace of God we have been made perfect, yet we are still being made perfect. That is to say, although we are in Christ, we have not yet fully attained the perfect and final mark of Christ-likeness.

“I realize that many people scorn such a doctrine of “imperfect perfection.” But to deny the possibility of being filled with the Spirit and knowing God’s perfect love, because we are still finite creatures subject to the limitations of an earthly existence, is to miss something which is vital to New Testament Christianity. We therefore subscribe to “the Wesleyan paradox” of Christian perfection. The full truth is not gained by removing the tension between the two poles (“perfect – not yet perfected”) but by holding these two truths with equal emphasis. Only thus does the Christian life flower into Christlikeness.” – William Greathouse. Nazarene Theology in Perspective. Pg. 23-24.

So how do we live in the tension? How do we confidently walk as perfected but knowingly admit we are still deeply flawed? How do we boldly proclaim the reign of Christ but still cringe at present evil in the world? How do we live in these days?

We must live in the tension. See it as a good thing. We must recognize the stretching and the forming of the tension. We must look for the glimpses and listen for the stories of mercy, justice, hospitality, healing, hope and love. We must seek to freely forgive and be forgiven. But we must do more than witness, we must seek to proclaim and become living illustrations of what the kingdom will look like when Jesus returns. And we must pray…earnestly pray for our King to return!

“The kingdom of God is the rule or reign of God. Whatever or whoever is subject to his authority is under the authority of the kingdom. We do not “build” the kingdom of God. Rather, God invites us to enter (Matt. 18:3); receive (Mark 10:15), or inherit (Mat. 25:34) the kingdom. When we enter the kingdom, we also participate with what God is doing in the world (Matt. 10:7-8). The mission of the kingdom is always God’s mission. Our calling in the church is to bear witness to what God is doing in the world, primarily by proclaiming and exhibiting the character of the kingdom in the grace-filled stories of redemption in our lives, in the nature of our relationships together, and in the way we engage the world around us.

Our confident hope as Christians is that Jesus is coming back to earth to establish his kingdom fully and forever. When he returns, the dead in Christ will be resurrected. Faithful saints from every language and every tribe will welcome his return and will be gathered together as one people, reconciled to God and one another, kneeling before him in worship, wonder, and praise. In that day, there will be no sorrow, no sickness, no suffering, no death. As God created the universe in the beginning, the new creation will reflect its original pristine beauty and purity. We will forever be with the Lord.” – Ron Benefiel in Missio Dei: a Wesleyan Understanding. pg. 107.

Reblogged from NBConversation:

Do you see Jesus in others? And not just when you see someone do good works or when someone is kind and compassionate. Do you see Jesus in the broken, the sinful, the despised, the angry, and the hated people of the world? As Christians, we are to view every encounter with another human being as an encounter with the image of God. The beauty and profoundness of that reality should override any differences and create space in us to willingly and lovingly embrace the other. All too often we give up on …

The yearly “family newsletter” is a fun tradition in many households. Often included with a family photo, the newsletter chronicles the happenings within a family over the past year, and is sent out so others too may know the stories. The details told might include sadness from the death of a love one, joy from a new birth in the family, laughter from a vacation memory, or even, anticipation of plans for the future.

This year, the family letter for New Beginnings Church would require multiple pages filled with stories of both brokenness and beauty, sadness and joy, division and unity. However, our family newsletter is still being written; the Author has yet to reveal the final pages. Therefore, we are asked not to revel in our brokenness, but to live as a community devoted to living out Christ-likeness. In a way, we are each a newsletter being sent out to tell the world of a faithful God who provides new beginnings.

As we look forward to another year, let us remember to carefully watch and listen, seeking to discern together what God is authoring within our church community. And as you pray, join us in praying for what we believe God has in mind in this next chapter of ministry:

• Strengthened unity. We are praying for clear understanding of the unity Jesus desires for his followers.
• A multiplication of our NBCommunities. May God call and help us equip leaders who passionately pursue planting of missional communities throughout our geographical area. This “scattered” element of our discipleship strategy holds great potential in our hope of being a Christ-like church.
• Continued and renewed partnership with New Generation Christian Church. May God help us find more ways to partner in this Kingdom-minded ministry for the sake of the Lee’s Summit community.
• Maximized resources. We are praying for God to lead us in ways of expanded building usage for ministry.

As we move into January, here are a few immediate opportunities to look forward to:

• Starting January 8^th we will reconvene our Conversation Hour classes.
• January 29^th we will have a combined service with New Generation Christian Center. This will be an opportunity to affirm our covenant partnership and create opportunities for fellowship.
• This year we will provide a daily devotion at www.nbconversation.com. This site will offer daily prayers, readings, and additional resources to help equip and prepare us for our Sunday gatherings.

So, as we celebrate the New Year, let us remember the faithfulness of God who loves us, corrects us, forms us, and sends us. And may Jesus’ words to his disciples in John 17:20-21 serve as our benediction from the year past and an invocation for the next:

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us sothat the world may believe that you have sent me.” – John 17:20-21

Let’s start the year off worshiping together! See you Sunday, January 1^st, 2012.

Pastors Shane, Margaret, and Justin

As predicted, some insisted it is Jesus’ and others suggest the rules allow for Jesus’s. Although there may be a confusing history within the manuals of style, the reality of life is simple…we must be prepared to admit there are things in life that belong to Jesus.

Sometimes churches like to refer to their mission or vision statements. Usually it is some variation of words printed on a letterhead, designed into the header on the website, or printed in the weekly flyer. But biblically, “vision” for the church is seeing the future through the lens of Kingdom mindedness…and “mission” is participating in what/how/where God is at work in His world…it is always about this and not the mission/vision of a local organized church. Jesus’s vision and mission for the Church is paramount…Jesus’s - as in the possessive noun form – the Church is his and for his purposes (and yes, I chose this time to use the allowed version of Jesus’s to make sure the emphasis is heard).

I am also wondering these days if perhaps even strategy for the Church is given to us by Jesus. Perhaps Jesus’ approach to discipleship is what is missing among many of our churches today.

I am reminded of a quote from Billy Graham. Although known for the great crowds that rallied around his preaching; Graham insisted he wished it were different, ”I think one of the first things I would do would be to get a small group of eight or ten or twelve men around me that would meet a few hours a week and pay the price. It would cost them something in time and effort. I would share with them everything I have, over a period of years. Then I would actually have twelve ministers among the laymen who in turn could take eight or ten or twelve more and teach them. I know one or two churches that are doing that, and it is revolutionizing the church. Christ, I think, set the pattern. He spent most of his time with twelve men. He didn’t spend it with a great crowd. In fact, every time he had a great crowd it seems to me that there weren’t too many results. The great results, it seems to me, came in his personal interview and in the time he spent with the twelve.” (Christianity Today, vol.3, no.1, p.5, Oct.13, 1958.)

Today I have spent time praying and pondering over what God has in store for us at New Beginnings Church in the year of 2012. I am dreaming of 20 groups of 12 (get it…2012…cute huh?) that would take serious the vision of being Kingdom people and seek to live out Jesus’ mission. What if this next year we became passionate about being Jesus’ hands and feet in Jesus’ world? What if we intentionally focused on Jesus’ instructions to “teach…and baptize them”?  What would happen? What could happen?

As a cute play off of the “there was no room in the inn” phrase common in many versions of the Nativity story, no doubt this question has been asked many times by many preachers throughout the past centuries. But wait, what about the fact that an “inn” is not actually mentioned in Luke’s version…a better rendering of kataluma would be “the guest room of the house was already taken.”

Perhaps the Gospel story would shine brighter if we asked the question actually implied in Luke’s words…what if we asked, “Is there room for Jesus in your home?”

Now we have illuminated the implications of an incarnate God becoming flesh. How we respond to the challenge of what to do with Jesus in our homes is the real question of Christmas.

Rather than reducing Jesus to a space in our hearts (private piety), or a borrowed space in the local inn (temporary comfort)…let us invite Jesus into our homes, our intimate spaces, our protected spaces, our “safe” spaces.

Is there room for Jesus in your home today?

For centuries, by following the liturgical Christian calendar, Christians have intentionally meditated on the life of Christ; we stand in awe at the manger, listen intently to the hillside teaching, grieve at the cross, and then, celebrate together as witnesses to the resurrection.

Even in the midst of “ordinary time” within the Christian Calendar (the weeks in-between the more well known celebrations) we are challenged to inspect our lives in the light of the returning King.

For much of my life I was unaware of the meaning and significance of words such as lectionary, liturgy, lent, advent, formation. Perhaps I was unaware because although many churches celebrate the common cultural days (Valentines, July 4^th, Mother’s Day, etc.) they often ignore the spiritual formation and intentional discipleship present within the liturgy of the Christian Calendar.

Today, I am becoming more convinced of the necessity for a common liturgy within faith communities. It offers both a connection to the past and a platform for the prophetic future. It leads us to organize our lives not just around kronos time (calendars, seasons, clocks, dates) but around kairos time (God’s timing…or the fullness of time). It creates common language and prayers. It opens our lives up to the work of the Spirit of God. And by continually reminding us of our place in God’s story, it calls us into anticipation of the rule of God over all creation.

Your thoughts?

Vision. Passion. Motivation. This scene from the tv show Friday Night Lights has it all. The potent moment of motivation at the end of this clip is culminated by those now famous words, “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!”

Equal to the change in the western church these days is the changing role/expectations of what it means to be a pastor. As I too am searching for clarity, this mantra has helped me understand the motivation of a missional pastor in the missional church:

• Clear eyes…the ability to see and respond to the neighbor;
• Full hearts…the will to faithfully live out the ways of Christ;
• Can’t lose…a simple hope in a prevenient and incarnational God who is on a salvation-of-the-world mission.

The missional pastor’s role is to prepare the Church for the kingdom work set before them. How is this accomplished? The role is fulfilled with both demonstration and proclamation. And perhaps our demonstration and proclamation are best motivated with the narratives of neighbor, faithful living, and hope in a redeeming God.  Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

After a short morning hike to break in us newbie’s, the experienced hikers of the group decided to challenge us with a lengthy afternoon hike. The reward, they said, was an amazing view of a waterfall cascading down a massive wall of rock. So off we went, excited by the pictures of beauty ahead. One hour past, then two, and three, each minute seemingly extending to match the slowing pace of our steps. At some point I had the thought to just turn around, knowing the painful three hours of rocks, rivers, and trees would only be matched again on the way back out. But someplace living within the motivation of each step was the image described by our fearless guides. The beauty of the cascading river became my motivation. And finally, endurance and determination were rewarded at the moment of the last turn in the trail. And although the description of the cascade was a bit over-generous, it was worth the effort.

A few weeks ago, when I originally rough-outlined this series, I named this final post “So what?” and “What now?”.  Two short questions peeking into the future and providing a glimpse of what is to come. No, I haven’t built a working time machine (although I might have recently tried), but I do have pictures in my head of what might be ahead. So I will share some of them here…in the timeless typographical form of the bullet point.

• So what? Anyone can point out the flaws within the current practices of many churches. Almost every day I read a blog post, sit through another conference, or see a newly published book detailing the error of the church’s ways. But I don’t want to just be another voice settling in the throes of criticism or cynicism; I want to be a practitioner who patiently but yet passionately re-aligns the practices with the biblical purposes. I want to remain faithful in the lineage of the apostles; fulfill the call of prophet by challenging the oppressive evils of the world; effectively evangelize through the proclamation and demonstration of the Kingdom way of life; sacrificially live out the role of pastor through a shepherding narrative; and teach with the intention and expectation of sending out other practitioners to do it all over again.
• So what? Because it matters!  It matters that we take every painful step to get it right. Our introspection should be tedious and our interior motives must be exposed. It matters that we respond to the call for “radical obedience that goes well beyond Christian platitudes or our comfortable weekly worship services” (Brueggemann). The Church matters because God has given us the ambassador assignment; we are His representatives in the world. Think of it for a moment…God has chosen to use you to demonstrate Himself to the world. We must make every effort to get it right. God is on a mission to redeem all of creation and we are invited to be a part…and God’s description of the beautiful life at the end of the trail won’t leave us disappointed.  We will be completely overwhelmed and overjoyed with what God has in mind.
• What now? This is where it gets tricky. Obviously, none of us completely know the answer to that question. I certainly don’t know all the twists and turns in the path ahead, but as long as we continue to walk together on the trail, eventually we will arrive.
• What now? We must recognize the forms used to effectively proclaim and demonstrate the Gospel are changing (I could easily argue they have already changed). There are many who are bravely leading the way into new paradigms for the Church. It will take a willing attitude and brave ambition to walk through the change. It will also require remembering the cascade…living with hope.
• Attraction to incarnation. One of changing forms is how we will choose to evangelize our culture. For many years the church has defined evangelism through the lens of advertisement. We created outreach events in order to move people into our primary proclamation environment (a Sunday morning church service). Today, for a myriad of reasons (broken trust in the witness of the Church is a major player) this strategy has lost its effectiveness within culture. We must re-form our evangelism strategies to include opportunities for others to “taste and see” an authentic witness and living out of Christ-likeness.  As disciples we must be willing to extend our lives and invite others into our lives to witness for themselves a different way of living. Our witness must become incarnational (an embodiment…or living-out) rather than simply dependent on words and cute gimmicks. People still long for a gospel that works, people long for the tree of life, and people long for people who will show them the way. Are we willing to create space in our lives for others? Are we willing to open our dining rooms, spare bedrooms and empty basements? Are we willing to expose our lives to others?
• Experience to discipleship. We must shift our definition of “church” from being a two hour, once a week experience to a people seeking to live out the ways of Christ. Biblically, it is an impossibility to go to church…we are the church. And we need to be willing to see our careers, homes, and everyday relationships as the church in action. We must move away from the tendency to create the next program or the next big event and begin to see everyday moments as an opportunity to “make disciples.” We must take seriously this command of Jesus. He wasn’t talking to only organizations, or non-profits, or just pastors…Jesus was talking to every follower. We are each responsible for passing along Jesus to others. Who are you discipling? And who is discipling you?
•  Obvious note: If our lives are not reflecting Jesus, it is impossible to disciple others in his ways. If our lives are filled with the sins of anger, gossip, greed, or lust…we will only produce more of the same. Discipleship starts with Jesus, extends to us, and then to others.
• The “what now?” in my life is also coming into view. Last week the nbc church board and church membership voted to affirm the re-election of my pastoral role, and I have accepted. It is a strange recipe of emotions: a gallon of hope, a cup of joy, a teaspoon of sorrow, and a pinch of excitement. Stir it all together and it creates a batter of resolved determination to love well, lead well, and live well. In a few more weeks we will gather with the body to re-affirm our covenant. For this opportunity, I am extremely grateful.
• In these days away, I have spent my time primarily twofold: renewing the spiritual disciplines in my life (including Sabbath) and studying the what/how of discipleship. I am eager to share some insights and put into practice some new efforts. But I equally desire to re-enter the pastoral role with respect and appreciation. I do not have the words to appropriately express my deep gratitude to the nbc pastors (Justin Roach and Margaret Tyler) and nbc board leaders for the efforts in leadership over the past few weeks. For now I will simply say, Thank You.  And to the people called New Beginnings…I pray we may live up to our name.

Since I was knee-high-to-a-South-Dakota-grasshopper I have acknowledged God’s call in my life. That call has not changed. But I have. Being a father of two growing children has changed how I understand and relate to God. The spiritual weight of pastoring within a lead role has changed the way I respect the pastoral office. The challenges in leadership have changed my awareness of the role of pastor. And witnessing disunity within a church body has inspired a longing for change to a deeper and more faithful Church and Gospel.

I love looking over the shoulder of experience and recognizing God’s forming work in life. But there are still many areas in my pastoral leadership in need of significant transformation. Max DePree once wrote, “We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” And I know I must further change in order to be what God wants me to be. Here are three patterns in my leadership I am seeking to change.

For starters, I am an extreme people-pleaser. It isn’t a desirable trait. It is rooted in pride and arrogance. I want people to like me so much that when I disappoint someone I then see myself as bad, unworthy, a failure and deserving to suffer. Doubt and an unhealthy dose of self-criticism quickly consume my thoughts. And those self-hate thoughts can lead to temptations of laziness, lust, anger, over-eating and carelessness words. They become attractive sins to ease the pain of failure.

People-pleasing in a pastor can affect many areas and responsibilities, even the ability to preach. When fear of offending has enslaved the mind, how does one preach a gospel that runs so counter to human tendency and desire? If people-pleasing is in control, how does a pastor fulfill the mandate to instruct and correct? And I am not alone in this disease. Many pastors, although we know it’s impossible to please everyone, become ensnared by the emails, conversations, and rumors of discontent. The seeds of worthlessness get planted and then watered by the next email, phone call or conversation…and eventually the forest of frustration is too dense to find our way home.

How am I changing this tendency? Dallas Willard, speaking to a pastor struggling with the tension of expectations, once gave the advice, “You need to decide if you are the minister of the people or a minister of Christ.” He understood we can either be controlled by what people think and feel, or, if we are ministers of Christ, we can realize he the one in charge and we serve people on his behalf. I am learning to be a minister of Christ, and to let my service to him find its place among his people.

Second, too often I have a “poor me” attitude. When faced with consistent criticism I allow my thoughts to warp into, “Why are they always picking on me?” It might make me feel better in the moment, but obviously it isn’t true. I am not the only target nor am I exempt from deserved criticism. There are serious consequences in believing the irrational thought of “I deserve better than this.” It creates an attitude of bitterness, judging of others, and the tendency to withdraw from relationships. I am learning to more objectively evaluate and receive the hidden truth found in every criticism (It is important to remember that not always are the hidden truths about the criticized subject. Sometimes it reveals truths about the criticizer).

Both “people-pleasing” and “poor-me” are immature thoughts and part of conforming to the patterns of culture. The Apostle Paul said in Romans (12:2), “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you” (The Message). As I continue to seek transformation by the renewing of my mind, I am determined to think different thoughts…to dwell only on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8).

Third; as a pastor, I am too tolerant. Perhaps there is nothing more dangerous than a tolerant pastor, especially if the tolerance gives way to lessening truth. Too often in the church, people come to expect tolerance for their sinful behavior. When it becomes more “wrong” to acknowledge sin than it is to sin…we have made tolerance more important than truth. While we do not want to become arrogant holders of truth; we must stop being tolerant of the sinful behaviors of the church.

An alternative to tolerance is biblical discipline (warning in love, speaking truth in love). And part of the biblical role of the pastor/elder is the spiritual discipline of the flock. Obviously, discipline isn’t a popular conversation these days and certainly it has been abused throughout the history of the church. But a church body will not stay healthy or on mission for very long without discipline. As a pastor, it is hard to confront people in patterns of sin. People don’t often desire accountability and they certainly don’t want to face the embarrassment of being called out. And there will be occasions when the discipline is flatly rejected. But none-the-less there is a biblical expectation of pastors to admonish (warn) fellow believers (Colossians 3:16).

One specific leadership challenge I failed at nbc was providing proper pastoral discipline for the sinful behaviors evidenced in the church (I wrote of these in Parts 2-4 of this series). As a church, we are first and foremost called to be one, it is our primary witness (John 17:23). So the theologies, thoughts, behaviors, and sins distracting the church from oneness must be confronted and admonished in order to protect the unity of the body and thus the witness for Christ.

Eugene Peterson, in an interview with Leadership Journal said, “The role of the pastor is to embody the gospel. And of course to get it embodied, which you can only do with individuals, not in the abstract.” This is a great truth and deeply personal challenge. Rather than people-pleasing, pouting, or tolerantly living in the abstract, we must embody Christ and lead others to embody the Gospel. Certainly it will require a renewed identity as a shepherding pastor, sincere humility, intense courage, and discipline.

An unrelated and random note: A couple days ago someone asked, “Shane, what are your reasons for writing this series?” It’s a good question and I suppose there are three answers: First, I think best in words. Writing helps me process and really establish my thoughts. And it is important for me to understand what has happened, why it happened, and how I am going to respond. Second, I want others to know what I truly think and feel. And if you were to crawl into my head and look around, these are the thoughts you would find. There are no hidden dark corners of bitterness or chained-up angry words. Third, as God leads me toward whatever is next, I want to have said publically everything I have said privately. I desire accountability and transparency, and if I am nuts I would like someone to tell me.