Mark Conner shares some interesting thoughts on how to be relevant in the world we live in
When it comes to culture, including media (TV, movies, etc), there are three different approaches that Christians tend to take:
1. Reject Culture.
Some Christians see the world as ‘evil’ (and at times, rightly so) and therefore all culture is to be rejected. Christians are called to be ‘holy’ which means to be ‘separate’ from the world. Christians end up living in their own sub-culture – with Christian communities, Christian bookshops, Christian TV, and even Christian jewelry! The danger with this approach is that Christians end up very ‘different’ from the world but because of their isolation they have ‘no audience’ and therefore no positive ‘influence’ on the world.
2. Embrace Culture.
Other Christians go the other way – they fully embrace culture in response to Jesus command to live ‘in’ the world. The danger with this approach is that if we uncritically embrace everything in our culture, we can end up no different than the world we live in. As a result, we have no message to offer them, despite the fact that we have relationships with them. We aren’t isolated, as in the first approach, but we are so immersed in the culture that we lose our distinctiveness.
3. Engage Culture.
A more balanced approach, modelled exceptionally well by Jesus, is for us to ‘engage’ with our culture. We are to be ‘in’ the world, but we are also called to be ‘not of’ the world. Jesus’ used metaphors for this – ‘salt’ and ‘light’. Both of these things make an impact but only when there is proximity. Salt in the salt shaker has no affect and light only helps if it is shining in the darkness.
The first two approaches are easy - they are 'black' and 'white'. The third approach is much more difficult - even risky. It's 'grey' ... but it's well worth the effort.
Jesus spent a lot of time with people far from God and, amazingly, he never got angry or aggressive with them (‘sinners’). The only people he did get angry with were extremely religious people, especially the Pharisees who were very legalistic.
Which way do you lean? Do you tend to reject culture too easily? Do you tend to embrace culture too much? How could you engage with culture more effectively this week?
January 26, 2008
Engaging Culture
January 25, 2008
They like Jesus but not the Church
Found a great article on the website "missional church network"
Raises some good thoughts
I have been reading Dan Kimball’s new book “They Like Jesus But Not The Church.” I have found several insights from the book to be helpful. One section I found funny (in a sad kind of way) is titled “The Transformation From Excited Missionary Into Citizen Of The Bubble.” In this section of the book Kimball shares his observation concerning what happens to many believers as they “mature” in their Christian walk.
Phase 1: We become Christians
In this phase Kimball reminds Christians of the time they first placed their faith in Christ, understood the grace of God, and experienced the excitement and joy of learning new things from the Bible. He writes, “Remember that burst of understanding God’s grace and joy in Jesus as you told your non-Christian friends about your faith? Probably this occurred in a natural way, since you were friends rather than strangers. . . This is only natural because generally everyone in a new Christian’s circle of friends is outside of the church.”
Phase 2: We become part of church life
As we get involved in the life of the church, we make Christian friends and participate in all kinds of church activities with them. New believers tend to slowly lose touch with non-Christian friends and become more and more immersed in Christian activities. The reality is that the longer we are Christians the fewer the number of friends we have who are not Christians. Again Kimball writes, “Even though Christians often work alongside non-Christians or have non-Christian neighbors or sit next to non-believing students in class, we generally tend not to actually befriend them, or pray regularly for them, or get involved in their lives so they trust us and we can be salt and light of Jesus to them.”
Phase 3: We become part of the Christian bubble
“As we slowly withdraw from ongoing relationships with those outside the church and focus on relationships with those inside the church, something happens. Once, it was more natural and even exciting to share life with people at work or at school, with relatives, or with neighbors. But slowly we begin to see evangelism as something the church does, primarily through events. We get more excited about going overseas to the mission field on summer trips than about the mission field we live in every day.
We start to see evangelism as inviting people to go to a church, where the pastor will do the evangelizing and explain Christianity, instead of spending time with people and talking with them and being the church to them. . . . During this phase, we stop praying daily for those who don’t know Jesus and instead pray for our church’s latest building project or latest program.”
Phase 4: We become Jonah
After being citizens of the bubble for several years we begin to complain and point out the terrible things happening in the culture. Like Jonah we don’t want anything to do with those who aren’t following God as we are. Like Jonah, we may even have a secret sense of delight thinking about how God will one day punish all those sinners in our towns and cities. “And like Jonah, who, even after God gave him a second chance and he saw the people of Ninevah repent and cry out to God, complained about not having shade over his head and being uncomfortable, we complain about how well the church is providing what we want and grow numb to the fact that people all around us need the love and grace of Jesus.”
At this point Kimball makes reference to the Talking Heads song “Once in a Lifetime” when David Byrne cries out “My God! What have I done?” Or in our case maybe “My God! What have I become?”
How much of an accurate description do you feel this is?
How can we turn this pattern around?
Interested in your comments
January 24, 2008
A Great Question
I am on a blogging roll today
Romans 8.31
For what shall we shall in response to this?.If God be for us who can be against us .
Do you believe God is for you always?
If not why not and when isnt he?
Does it matter?
Interested in your thoughts
Prime the Pump
ONCE THERE was a man lost in the desert, near death from thirst. He wandered aimlessly through the burning sand for many days, growing weaker by the moment. At long last he saw an oasis far in the distance. !. But then he noticed something strange about this particular oasis.Instead of a pool of water, or a well, or a spring bubbling up from the ground, the man found a pump. And beside the pump were two objects—a small jar of water, and a parchment note.
The note explained that a leather gasket within the pump must be saturated with water for the pump to work. Within the jar was just enough water for this purpose.The note also warned the reader not to drink from the jar. Every drop must be poured into an opening at the base of the pump to soak the heat-dried gasket. Then, as the leather softened and expanded, an unlimited supply of sweet water would be available. The parchment's final instructions were to refill the container for the next traveler's use.
The man faced a dilemma. He was dying of thirst, and he had found water. Not much, of course. Maybe not even enough to save his life. But it seemed the height of folly to pour it away, down the base of the pump. On the other hand, if the note was accurate, by pouring out the small quantity of water, he would then have all he wanted.
Our own personal pumps must be primed every day, lest they run dry.
If your output exceeeds your input ,Your upkeep will be your downfall!
How do you prime your personal pump?
Great quote
Churches that don’t get hit while crossing the street of true effectiveness don’t look both ways they look three.
They look upwardly to God (worship), inwardly to serving the needs of the body (servanthood and the use of spiritual gifts) and outwardly to reach the community for Christ (outreach)
Weakness
Jesus consistently taught about laying aside our rights, becoming weak like children, and rejoicing when we were under-appreciated. He identified with those who were outcasts and powerless. He taught that the tiniest of seeds becomes the haven of birds. His entire ministry was predicated upon God’s strength showing up in weakness.
Yet I find myself consistently impressed with the strong. I do not naturally like the way of weakness.I praise God for large and strong churches, but I worry that we often think that God needs powerful churches and important people to do his work.
Scripture shows us that some of the most powerful and influential people in redemption’s history squandered their influence, while God has used humble nobodies to change the world.
Iit’s important to remind ourselves of the strength of weakness. Perhaps God is most at work today in people and churches that will never be written up in books, and will never make the conference circuit. God’s strength still shows up most powerfully in weakness.
January 23, 2008
January 18, 2008
January 16, 2008
Prevailing Churches
PREVAILING CHURCHES
Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Church listed the five qualities of prevailing churches.
1. Prevailing Churches are those where lost people are being found. "The only thing worse than a church where no-one is finding Christ is a church where no-one is finding Christ and no-one is really bothered by that."
2. Prevailing Churches are those where found people are being discipled into the likeness of Jesus.
3. Prevailing Churches are those where lonely people are enfolded in a community of love. One of the highest values in the New Testament is that of community.
4. Prevailing Churches are those where spectators leave the stands, find their spiritual gifts and start serving in the church. "You would never ask anyone in our church if they serve in the church. That's a terrible question. It's unthinkable that you wouldn't serve Jesus in your local church. So we never ask if they serve but where they serve."
5. Prevailing Churches release resources to the work of God in the church and among the poor. "Budgets are moral documents. Tell me you care for the poor and then show me in your budget."
The Cause Driven Church
The early church existed with a dynamic tension: it was both expanding and consolidating - growing and unifying. The Bible tells us that first century believers “shared everything in common” and that “the church was being added to day by day.”
We want our church to live in this same tension.This tension is illustrated by two biblical images - the body of Christ and the army of God. The body of Christ is centered on community; the army of God is centered on cause.Healthy community flows out of a unified cause - not the other way around. Jesus called his disciples and said, “Follow me. I’ll make you fishers of men.” This was not an offer of community. “Follow me and I will give you something worthy of giving your life to” is a statement of cause. But the neat thing is, when they came to the cause, they found community like they never knew could exist. That’s the power of the church.
One danger of the American church is that we often try to offer people community without cause. Without cause, you’re just another civic organization. You don’t have life transformation.Jesus said, “I have come to the world to seek and to save that which is lost.”
The cause of Christ is accomplished by expanding the kingdom of God.Communicating the gospel in a postmodern context can make us feel forced to compete with the entertainment industry. You might be able to compete if you have millions of dollars and that level of expertise. Most of us don’t. We have only one advantage that neither Hollywood nor MTV has. We have the presence and power of the living God!Why in the world would we eliminate God’s power from our core strategy and actually move to a deficit rather than to an advantage?
January 15, 2008
Followers
So many blogs, books and seminars talk about "How to be a Great Leader" and rightfully so.
If we are going to see people come to Christ, we must be leading them, but what we as leaders often miss is in order to be a good leader, you must first have good followers. With all that is written about being a leader, this week I'm going to post a few thoughts on "Followership" (the counter to leadership!).
Anyone who wants to jumpstart in and offer a few comments before I start, feel free
January 8, 2008
Theme Verse
I decided to begin the New Year buy reading John 15 ,and one verse has become a theme verse for this year.
John 15vs 5
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing
Let me make a confession: I don't feel like I spent enough time abiding in Christ this past year.
As a Christian I have always valued prayer and bible reading, but through my actions showed that it was more important than essential
If I am reading this verse right it would suggest that in wanting to live a fruitful life abiding in Christ is more essential than important.It could not be more clearer,than the word saying without me you can do nothing.
As a leader , Bible study can become a professional endeavor. It is so easy to study the Bible for the wrong reasons. I can study it looking for what God wants to say through me instead of what God wants to do in me.
When thinking about values I quess the continual challenge for us as Christians is to ensure that there is congruence between what we say matters most and how we’re really living. Are our preferred values our actual values? The truth is that often we’re disappointed with ourselves.
Most of us feel some pain because we realise that the way we are living does not fully match what we say really matters most to us. It’s like our lives are out of sync. There is a “gap” between what we really value and how we are living
The good news is that the gospel is not just about eternal life in the hereafter but about another kind of life available to us right now. It’s about “transformation” – you and I changing and growing to become more like Jesus, someone who knew what mattered most and lived in total harmony with it every moment of every day (Gal.4:19. Rom.12:2. 2 Cor.3:18).
So This year, I will spend a little less time"Keeping up with the Joneses" and a lot more time "Keeping up with Christ".
Heres to a successful 2008!
January 1, 2008
The Peril of Success
Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself."
It is usually when we are struggling and things are not going well that we need to find time by ourselves with God. Our spiritual reflexes are to wait until something is going wrong relationally, vocationally or physically and then we find some time alone with God.
Not Jesus.
The crowds are swelling to an all-time high. They are wanting to see him do miracles and listen to his teachings. Things are so out of hand that it looks like they might make him their king whether he wants to be or not and what does Jesus do?
He withdraws to a quiet place all by himself to spend time with the Father. This is a great reminder. The time when we need God the most is not just in our desperation, but also in our success. In some ways it is during our times of great success that we are most vulnerable.
We tend to think we have done this on our own and that if we just continue to do what we have done more and more success will come our way. Success is a kind of drug that keeps us from feeling the spiritual pangs in our life.
I need to withdraw from it all to be with God everyday. Success or failure I need to hear from God everyday!