The Church As An Outpost

"A church which pitches its tents without constantly looking out for new horizons, which does not continually strike camp, is being untrue to its calling... We must play down our longing for certainty, accept what is risky, live by improvisation and experiment." - Hans Kung


On this cloudy, overcast, threatening day, I'm sitting on the balcony overlooking a cemented, bounded swimming pool, and a vast, unrelenting ocean. Both are full of energizing salt water.

Here's what's really random... I'm thinking of the 1990 movie Dances With Wolves. I'm sure you remember Kevin Costner as John Dunbar and Mary McDonnell as "Stands With Fist." It's one of Sherry's favorite movies, and every time we get to the sexy teepee scene, I have sudden urges to go camping with my bride. (And btw, dressing up as Indians would just be icing on the cake.) But I digress...

In Dances Wolves, John Dunbar's job was to pioneer the west as part of a Civil War, American military initiative. His job was to establish a western outpost where soon coming troops would gather and establish a larger fort... which in turn would eventually proliferate an entire town.

As the United States Cavalry pushed westward, the heathens (known also as native Americans) could either find salvation or be killed... it really didn't seem to matter which. They could "become like us or die"... but the real goal was forts, roads, and buildings, or as we would say, "Brick and mortar."

But John Dunbar didn't do things by the Cavalry rule book. He befriended the heathens. He learned their language. John Dunbar, dubbed "Dances With Wolves," sheds his white-man ways and becomes one of a local, albeit smelly, Sioux tribe. Indian causes and concerns became Dunbar's causes and concerns. Dunbar was entrusted with the very lives of the Sioux people. Best of all, he married what we now know as one of the best looking Indian woman of all time!

Guess which tact had more soul influence --- the harsh extractional ways of the Cavalry, or the missional, relational, incarnational ways of John Dunbar? Take one stab at which way Jesus did ministry on earth as God came with skin, pitched a tent, and started an outpost.

What kind of an outpost should the church be? Do we prefer one that forces heathens (also known as God's creation) to become like us... because our real concerns, if boardrooms could talk, are about brick and mortar? Is there really anyone who would raise their hand and say yes to this? But that's exactly what many, many churches do. Churches hope, pray, and cross their fingers for people to be attracted to accommodating buildings, urge they become people who only buy books, movies, and music in Christian bookstores, and trust they plug into all our programs so we can either afford the buildings we have or go in debt for bigger ones.

This is attractional, dualistic (separating sacred from secular), and heirarchial church. In post-Christian and post-modern Europe it's all but killed the church. Did you know that less than 3% of England currently makes any kind of claim of Jesus? We are seeing warning signs in America as well. Only 9% of American Christians live out of a Biblical worldview. If this is true, and I believe it is, the attractional, dualistic, heirarchial church in America seems to be on life support as well.

What if our understanding of how Christ came incarnationally would affect our mission, which in turn would affect how we view and lived out being the Church? Michael Frost, in "The Shaping Of Things To Come," puts it this way: "Christology determines missiology, and missiology determines ecclesiology."

I say we all sit down for a movie and some popcorn. John Dunbar seemed to have it right. Becoming a Sioux affected his mission, and that impacted the very way he lived out his life.

I'm thinking about going for a swim now. I can choose the chemically-treated pool whose depths only go as far as seven feet. At least I would be safe. There are posted rules to ensure this. Currently only three, very white people are in the pool.

I could also choose the ocean, it's only a few steps further. It is riskier, but there are more people there, more life, and the depth is unfathomable. The pool is very controlled and only open til 10 pm. The ocean is vast, constantly in motion, and filled with opportunities to experience the very nature of God.

31 Flavors

"If you understand something in only one way, than you scarcely understand it at all." - Marvin Minsky

Last night we took the family for a nice stroll in the tourist-trappy town we're staying in. We managed to get out of the beach shops with only a mere rubber bouncy ball. Imagine that. (Although I must confess that a t-shirt with a pink Floyd the barber from Andy Griffith... sporting the simple words below: "Pink Floyd"... caught my eye.)

Outside the confines of t-shirt heaven, we spotted an ice cream shop that seem to be the gathering spot for several other gullible northerners with burnt feet. In unison, the kids all said, "Dad, we gotta get some ice cream." It was, I suppose, an unavoidable stop. I had actually spotted the place several minutes before anyone starting noticing the wafting scent of waffle cones.

What intrigued me was how each Scott ordered very different flavors of ice cream. Brooklynn touted "birthday cake." Lauren went for cookie dough. Morgan ordered up some chocolate, fudge brownie. Michael had something called "Superman." Sherry dove into some peanut butter chocolate. I satisfied my bend for Starbucks with a single dip of coffee ice cream. I'm quite curious if there are unique personality traits and meaning attached to each Scott and their particular flavor of ice cream.

It seems to really understand my family, one scoop of vanilla would just never do.

To really understand what's happening in our churches, one scoop of vanilla will never do.

Many are asking, "What will the church look like in the future?" I loved how Francis Chan recently told his church, "I don't know what our church will look like in the future." Chan boldly told the church he serves how gathering on Sundays was a good thing, but it wasn't necessarily church in the purest, Biblical sense devoid of our preconceptions. Wow.

Though thousands may still be going through attractional church doors, the days of Willow, Saddleback, and Northpoint models seem to be fading. Attractional, Propositional, and Colonized (or Attendance, Buildings, & Cash) churches have stopped infiltrating culture and transforming lost people into disciples of Jesus. This might seem threatening to some, and we might see a valiant scramble to reincarnate past success (and God DID use these models), instead of doing whatever it takes to experience a fresh incarnate Jesus.

It's extremely interesting for me to look back at last year's study break blogs. I was reading, praying, thinking, and writing about how off track the westernized, one-flavor, vanilla, American Church was. I remember one good friend needing the balm of IHOP to help him tell me that I'm just so negative about the Church. I was seeing it as half-empty. I was a real downer, apparently. But as Sweet suggests, you really only have the right to criticize what you love if you truly love what you criticize. I so love the Church.

So far on this glorious study break, my time has been pointing to answers, hope, and the future. I believe God has glorious intentions for his bride that move way beyond my upbringing and preconceptions. That's not threatening, that's exciting. God promised to do more than we can ask or imagine... even if we've been stuck in the one flavor of "sameness" for decades.

I believe "church" will, in the near future, be very local, organic, messy, quirky, and unique. Excellence will no longer be how tight the band is, but rather how original art, and song, and poetry, and the stories are. Some of this might even include Sunday mornings. Franchising, attendance bragging, building sizes, the word "mega," and target audiences (that one has split many leadership teams) will give way to missional living, relational lifestyles, and the resulting incarnation of Jesus again in us... the Church. Some of this might even include Sunday mornings. I would bet the ranch (if I had one) you'll be hearing about MRI churches (missional, relational, incarnational) the way we were indoctrinated with "seeker-targeted" churches. I can only pray that MRI would remain something of an alive organism without falling into the box of a lifeless organization.

We, the Church, will grow and become a better bride as we missionally learn the character and personality quirks of people who prefer 31 or more flavors of ice cream... and not just plain vanilla. Who knew how the more we begin to rub shoulders with non-vanilla people to be Jesus to them... the more they become Jesus to us.

Charles Peguy penned these words as from God: "If there were no Frenchmen, some things I do would not be seen."

I would say, if there were no "birthday cake" ice cream... no chocolate fudge brownie... no "Superman"... no cookie dough... no peanut butter chocolate... or no coffee ice cream --- you just wouldn't be able to enjoy and understand my family as the unique and wonderful creatures we are. Why would anyone attempt to force these wonderfully made people into vanilla, single-dip, regular cones? Maybe you could sell a lot more vanilla ice cream, but you would sure miss something deeper and better.

Maybe we've built bigger, efficient churches, but we seem to have missed something deeper and better.

power, love, and self-discipline

God didn't give me a spirit of timidity, but rather one of power, love, and self-discipline. (II Timothy 1:7)

Will I ever get these three qualities down in perfect harmony, balance, and measure? The leadership gift in me has pursued the power of vision, relationships, teaching, and team. This use of power has seen some success through my ministry career. Some would say a leader who isn't tapping his own power, is a leader who isn't leading. I think I read that in a powerful book somewhere.

The love thing within me, quite honestly, get dismissed like an early-round American Idol contestant. Everyone knows good leaders have obviously low compassion and love quotients... and so others in the church are supposed to make up for this deficiency with their own unique gifts of encouragement and hospitality. That's just how the system works.

Self-discipline can be such a roller coaster of ego, pride, and mustered humility. I am acutely aware of how a leader must exercise disciplines that are widely espoused in most over-priced conferences... like: rise early, run, read, recreate, untuck your shirt, and load your ipod with really hip music. Self-discipline is that "have-to" thing that left alone will die and cause a severe lack of progress and production.

So there you have it. I'm not timid. No way. Too type-A for that, and I have the personality test scores to prove it. God's given me power, love, and self-discipline. I'm good to go. Right?

However, I'm thinking through this a little deeper. Why doesn't God want me to be timid? Why does he want me to have HIS version of power, love, and self-discipline? What if it's really not about the life of a leader I want to live and the success of followership I want to achieve? What if this all goes back to God's mission, Jesus' relational pursuit, and the Holy Spirit's incarnational qualities? Missional, relational, and incarnational life as prescribed by the Author.

In the bulk of my world, timidity (otherwise known as safety) has plenty of room to breathe. However, timidity and living life God's way are two fish that cannot swim in the same gulf. God's mission to reconnect his creation to Himself requires power not found in many of the leadership books found bragging in my office. Required amperage is nothing short of Holy Spirit, divinely-enabled power to bring Jesus to the many vacant-eyed people around me.

Connecting to people relationally so they can know Jesus requires a love way beyond my deficiencies, and doesn't allow for any of my DISC profile excuses. Thankfully God is love, and he offers himself without reservation.

Self-discipline in time, prayer and absorption of the Holy Scriptures is the only way I know the Holy Spirit can live incarnationally in and through me so that others are impacted.

What if power, love, and self-discipline weren't Oprah-esque qualities used to make us better Christians or more successful churches, but rather God's specific tools for mission, relationships, and incarnation?

Funny how one little, often-read verse out of II Timothy can grab you again for the first time.

Decompressing and Deconstructing

It's hard not to decompress with the white sands of Siesta Key tickling your feet, and the swimming pool-blue ocean water beginning to change the rhythm of your own breathing.

It's also not hard for me to think about some deconstruction on this day-one of my summer study break. God is up to something within His Church, and to accomplish His mission, there must first be some deconstructing.

I'm sure the auto industry has some of the same issues. Our old, out-dated, oil-dependent, fossil-fuel guzzling dinosaurs don't look to have much of a future right now. Doesn't it seem like the automotive hand-writing is on the wall as GM and Chrysler struggle to keep a pulse through federal life support? However, at the same time, there are new, innovative companies (i.e. - Tesla Motors) springing up who are creatively deconstructing the once-thought indestructible automobile industry with new ideas and new fuel sources.

While I remain tired of rising gas costs and welcome new innovations, I'm confident the deconstruction of our hallowed Chevrolet will be a rocky and rough road at best. It might take some time, and initial costs may be extravagant. In the end, it will be a worthy road to travel.

And in the Church, many of us have seen, lived through, and survived deconstruction seasons in the past. The worship wars that defined the 80's were a part of deconstruction that eventually led us to deeper waters of experiencing God. Vivid memories are etched in my ministerial mind of those who clung to traditional/hymnal worship as the absolute and only way to worship. A younger, hipper generation fought for the freedoms found in contemporary worship. Looking back now... it seems there was truth to both, but a little deconstruction became absolutely necessary for so many of us to see worship as truly a lifestyle and not a musical style.

Annual revivals to preach the gospel and save the lost, gave way to the deconstruction of churches being seeker-targeted each and every Sunday. There are truths and gems to be found in both approaches, but both approaches have since undergone even more deconstruction to simply bring Jesus to a lost and hurting world.

Deconstruction is not death, it's pealing back layers of what was effective to get to what God is currently up to and doing. Deconstruction is actually a revealing of what really should be... if not how things originally functioned or were intended. Yet... we fight deconstruction because it threatens our facade of stability and security. Funny how without deconstruction we are doomed like the Edsel.

Still more corporate, spiritual deconstruction seems to be happening.. Serving Jesus outside the walls of a church, seem to be deconstructing how we are looking at our walls inside the church. While some are condemning any and all corporate church meetings inside the walls, and others are stuck in a prison that can't let them see out --- I'm confident that riding a new wave of deconstruction will in the end result in a better, stronger Church. After all, it IS Jesus' church and bride, and he said She would always prevail.

I never want to be stuck on either side of a legalistic and rigid wall when it comes to deconstruction. I want to be right in the thick of the mess, dirt, scaffolding, and noise of any kind of deconstruction that God might be doing. If the sledge hammers on our church walls help us to see God's mission, Christ's longing for relationships, and the Holy Spirit's ability to live within us, then bring it on. If deconstruction continues to bring us back to mission, relationships, and incarnation, then why would anyone want to stand in the way?

According to Leonard Sweet, the attractional, propositional, colonial church is giving way to missional, relational, and incarnational. The APC church achieves members, believers, and consumers. The MRI church maintains missionaries, disciples, and world changers. If this is the result of more deconstruction, let the dirt fly. We might even have to lovingly and compassionately put the current church on life support for a while in the process. It might take some time and the initial costs may be extravagant, but the end result will be a PREVAILING CHURCH.

I'm in.


Note: Many have asked what I'm reading on this study break. Here's my list:
- So Beautiful by Leonard Sweet
- Organic Church by Neil Cole
- Sitting At the Feet Of Rabbi Jesus by Lois Tverberg
- The Shaping Of Things To Come by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch
- Starving Jesus by Craig Gross & J.R. Mahon
- Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller
- Rescued by John Bevere
- My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers
- Experiencing God Day By Day by Henry Blackaby
- II Timothy by the Apostle Paul

I also have several video sermons to watch from Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, Francis Chan, Timothy Keller, and Mark Batterson