This challenges me tremendously as an aspiring church planter. It reminds me of  … CONTINUE READING.

So, before yesterday’s post settles too deep, I thought I should follow that idea up with this one:

…when the church becomes about you (or me, since i’m writing), it is not the church anymore…

This one can be a little confusing, because there will be times when the church, to be the church, must go above and beyond to serve you and give to you and to make you the priority… in times of need, mourning, hurting. But, if we begin to see this as the church’s obligation: they are here to meet my needs (read: selfish needs) then, well, you’ve just begun to see the church’s role through “greed-colored” glasses.  Going back to Erwin McManus from yesterday, he wrote a great book on character development: Uprising: a revolution of the soul. He takes the reader on three journeys (he calls them “quests”) of character development, one being a quest for nobility or generosity. Erwin writes: “Greed is narcissistic. Generosity is Christ-like. Greed is the product of self-love. Generosity is the product of selfless love.”

When the church becomes about what it can or cannot do for you, you’re on the wrong quest.  Now, looking for a place to worship that we fit into and a place where the vision and direction connects with us is not greedy. But taking, taking and taking from a [church] and then complaining when it doesn’t meet our needs is greedy and narcissistic.  Period.

A few years ago, a little nugget of a thought dropped into my mind…I like to think that God breathed it into me. I was in a meeting about how pastors and [church] leaders can help others become more like Christ. (simple task, right?) Anyway, I thought of where we traditionally go to get training…and the university came to mind: k.s.U. (Kansas State); a.s.U. (Arizona State) and others.  Then the thought came to me that if we want to become more like Christ then our lives have to become less about us. So, God’s university might be referred to as “Not.U.” because to live God’s life it cannot be about “u” but about loving, serving and leading others in a Christ-like way.  Want to live like Christ? Attend “Not.U.”  What to live a life worth living? Go to “Not.U.” It is my prayer that “not.U.” will be a vital part of day|xii’s  ministry.

What’s the church all about?

Not.U.

Yesterday I promised a critique on the statement I’ve heard quite a bit during church services or at Christian conferences. The statement goes something like this: “We are the church and we are not here for us…we are here for the world!” (insert roaring applause by congregation or crowd here).  Two people I consider friends and mentors, Erwin McManus and Craig Groeschelboth have said this a lot and when it comes to insight into the world of ministry leadership today, these are two of the best.  Now, before I go on..I DO AGREE with this statement and I do think it is a valid and Biblically-based assessment of the church’s purpose.  And, I know it is screamed from the stage because for too long followers of Christ have been way too “inward.”  But, I do think that this statement sends an unintended, limited view of the church’s purpose and might even negatively impact the church’s evangelistic potential. 

Just as that statement is correct so is this one: the church is here for the Christ-follower.  (side note:  before you paint me as the “discipleship” guy and someone else as an “evangelism” guy, I challenge you to think of discipleship and evangelism as two-sides of the same coin. After all, Jesus said, “GO and MAKE DISCIPLES.”  That is one commandment with two parts…without one it isn’t complete.) The picture of the early church is one that we should learn from. For instance, how did the early church grow? Holy Spirit’s movement? Yep. Isn’t it funny sad that we too often go past that. Preaching? Yep. Crazy love early believers showed each other? Absolutely. The book of Acts is full of stories of followers’ great sacrifice and love for each other, which compelled “outsiders” to take note and ultimate come to faith in Christ. Remember what Jesus said when He described the church? “….people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35.

So, here’s my point…the church is here for those not following Christ and for those who are. It isn’t one or the other. How about this as an outreach: we all quit fighting with each other and sacrifically love our brothers and sisters. That might just make the outsider want to be a part.  That might be the most evangelistic (and most challenging!) thing that we could do. Being different than the world..in it, but not of it, laying down our needs for the needs of others…wow, that sounds  like it might work. I know that too often I just haven’t loved my fellow followers of Christ. That breaks God’s heart and limits the church’s effectiveness.

We are the church and we are here for … everyone.

September 30th was my last blog post and, well, it is time to break the silence. If you are reading this post from www.day12.org then you can see the foundation for the new ministry that Gina and I are starting with the help of a local organization and a growing list of partners. [If you are at www.tippingdinosaurs.com , I encourage you to check out the new weblog now.] Wherever you are, we pray that you too may join our effort to take the message of Jesus Christ to a world that desperately needs it.

Over the past 2 1/2 months, we’ve visited lots of churches (more on this word later) and I’ve really enjoyed it. There are some great churches here in the valley of the sun and God is using those churches in amazing ways. I’ve seen volunteers and paid staff who work tireless and give of their gifts and talents to serve others with excellence. I’ve heard stories where love and sacrifice have changed hearts and turned tragedy into a story that only God could weave.  God is good and He is using His people to do awesome things.

Over the next (undetermined when I run out of stuff to say) period of time, I’d like to share some insights into what I’ve learned and re-learned, if nothing else for a journal of my thoughts as we begin to dream of shaping culture for a new [church].  I thought I would start with what a [church] is. Beware, this thought is NOT original. But, my first observation is simply to remind myself daily that the church is not a building or a service. The church is God’s people. If you are a follower of Christ, you are part of the church 24/7/365 (insert corny jingle here).  You can’t “go to church” on Sunday or any other day. That would sort of be like saying, “hey, I am thinking about going to myself today?” What? That sounds weird…and wrong. The church is the “bride of Christ.” I don’t think that Jesus is preparing a building on a corner or an hour on Sunday to be His bride. He’s preparing you and me for that. He’s shaping us. He cares about us.

So, church, what do you say we take back the word? You are the church and you gather with others during the week in corporate worship but you are the church every second of everyday. You carry that banner. Go, be the church.

(Next post…since we are on the topic of what the church is, we’ll talk a little about this statement I hear made quite often…”The church is not here for us. We are the church and we are here for the world.”  hmmm….. but, that will have to wait.)

Faith is the “evidence of things we cannot yet see.” (Hebrews 11:1) Faith is the evidence? Faith is so subjective; so ethereal…not much many empirical qualities to “faith.”  Maybe. But Hebrews 11 certainly does a good job of making the subjective objective.  “By faith Noah built the ark…”  “By faith, Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice…” “By faith, the people of Israel traveled through the Red Sea…” So, by Biblical definition, the ark was actually evidence of the flood. In God’s court, He gives the faithful the evidence of the event beforethe event even happens. Cool. People pay billions every year for evidence of future events when all they really need to do is to put their faith in a God who clearly knows the future.

Through faith, God gives you and I the evidence of future events.  The question is do we have the faith necessary to gain access to the evidence?