Becoming Missional

Brian Russell has almost single-handedly given me hope that the Wesleyan Church has a chance to give up its addiction to church growth and business models for the church and that it might somehow figure out how to become a missional organization.

In this post, he lists 4 transitions that an existing congregation will need to make in order to become missional:

1. Reintroduce the apostolic narrative of Acts. "In many struggling churches, the people of God have lost the capacity to dream of what God might do in and through the community. One of the first steps in transitioning to a missional model is to help followers of Jesus Christ to begin to dream again dreams shaped by the Scriptures."

2. Move from surviving to living. "The goal of the Church of Jesus Christ is life in relationship to God." Surviving keeps us from living. Sacrificing for the future can also be an obstacle. A church must learn to live in the power of the kingdom in its current circumstances.

3. Move from consumerism to participation in the kingdom. "The people of God shift from consuming to becoming Kingdom-rooted entrepreneurs who seek to extend the influence and reign of God to the ends of the earth. Congregations shift from inviting people to have their needs met to unleashing people to change the world."

4. Shift from attractional methods to incarnational ministry. "The World no longer serves as a threat from which followers of Christ flee. Instead, the World becomes the venue for life and service in God's mission."

Sounds like he's pretty much got it right.

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

That’s My Story

I want to build on a post by Jason Clark: The Stories We Live By.

We instinctively live by stories. There are dominant narratives in our lives, in our imagination, beliefs, values, inner voices and dialogues, childhood experiences, that are the reality we live by.

He then lists three stories that he frequently hears (in the UK).

Here's my list of stories that I hear in our American culture:

1. I'm busy. (Related stories: I'm tired, I'm in a hurry, I don't have enough time.) In our culture, busyness is an indicator of significance. Anyone who is not busy must not be very important. The important people are always on call. They are constantly working extra hours because everything depends on them. Even our kids are busy.

Who has enough time to waste it on something as unimportant as sleep? So we are busy and tired. And we're always in a hurry. It's such a habit that we are in a hurry even when we are not in a hurry. And we complain that there are just not enough hours in the day. (Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein discovered some secret way to squeeze 30 hours out of every rotation of the earth.)

Busyness is an enemy of the kingdom. Can you picture Jesus in a hurry? "Let's go. We have to be in Nazareth by sunset or our whole itinerary will be off. Let's stay focused on our mission, guys."

2. I shouldn't have to put up with this. A slow line at the grocery store. Traffic backups for "no reason." Telemarketers calling during mealtime. These are just a few of the things that annoy us because they are "unnecessary." I find that most of the time that I get angry it is because I am telling myself this story. If anyone ever had a reason to say "I shouldn't have to put up with this," it was Jesus. Thank God, he never did.

3. I'm entitled to . . . This story adjusts to our stage in life. When we are young we tell ourselves, "I'm entitled to have a good time." When we get older and more responsible, we say, "I'm entitled to enjoy myself on the weekends." Then when we have kids in addition to our other responsibilities, we say, "I'm entitled to a little 'me' time." Or another variation is, "I'm entitled to at least one vice." Thankfully, Jesus never told himself these stories.

4. Someday things will settle down. This story has many variations:

Right now things are pretty rough, but in a few days life will get back to normal.

If I make a few sacrifices today, someday I'll be able to enjoy life.

When things get back to normal, I'll attend to all those things that are important.

I'll cut a few corners now, and then, when I get over the hump, I'll do what is right.

I really don't want to follow God's rules, but if do what he says now I'll get to go to heaven when I die.

Many Christians have confused Christianity with stoicism. But Jesus was no stoic, biting his lip and enduring whatever life happened to toss his way. Yet we have trouble seeing him as a man who enjoyed life. This is one reason that the miracle of turning the water into wine seems so out of place. Jesus had a very clear mission. But he knew how to live each day. I suspect that hanging out with Jesus was not all that different than hanging out with Robin Hood and his merry men (except the part about robbing the rich).

Life is what happens while we are waiting for things to get back to normal. Today is "the day God has made." The kingdom of God is not something that we join after we die. Eternal life is not something that is tacked on to our earthly life.

5. Everything would be fine if I could just . . .

be accepted to the right college.

get a good job.

get a better job.

find a good wife/husband.

buy my own house.

go on a nice vacation.

lose a little weight.

make more money.

buy a better house.

But, of course, these things don't fill up what's missing in our lives. Our lives need more than just a few tweaks here and there.

The only story that truly satisfies our souls is the story of the Gospel: The story God is telling. The story featuring Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, and Isaiah. The story staring Jesus the Messiah. And God invites us to participate in his story.

The story of the kingdom should be the substance of our self-talk.

We should be living that story. We should be aware of it developing all around us. We should make it the dominant narrative of our lives.

So what do you think? Are there any stories you are hearing that deny the reality of the kingdom?

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

The Ultimate Mistake

I could continue this series indefinitely, but seven is a good number to end with. So this is both the last and the most serious mistake.

Before I explain what this mistake is, let me warn you that this one is tricky.

It is very easy to read what is here and say, "Well, of course." It is very easy for a preacher to think, "I would never do that." I know, because I used to think those things while I was making this very mistake.

The worst mistake a preacher can make is not relying upon the Holy Spirit in the preparation and presentation of the sermon.

I can remember a guest lecturer speaking to a homiletics class. He joked that Mark 13:11 did not apply to sermon preparation:

Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

He said that Jesus was talking about speaking before enemies. Then he added, "But in some churches that might be an accurate description of the sermon." I laughed along with everyone else.

But I'm beginning to think that this has more in common with preaching than we realize.

Let's get one thing out of the way right away: This is not an argument for laziness or a lack of preparation.

But what is Jesus saying here? He is saying:

"When you are up against it. When everything depends upon what you say and how you say it. When the stakes are high. Don't depend upon your intelligence, eloquence or charisma. Instead, depend entirely upon the Holy Spirit. And he will give you the words to say and will use those words to accomplish his purpose."

I have found myself in a similar situation preparing to preach. I had the choice to hang out with people (doing incarnational ministry) or to head to my office and prepare the sermon. I felt that it was more important to take advantage of the opportunity to build relationships, knowing that I was going to be under-prepared for Sunday morning.

Instead of panicking and worrying about what profound things I was going to say, I prayed and trusted the Holy Spirit to "come through for me."

And with the little time I had left on Sunday morning, God gave me something significant to say. And he gave me a peace, reminding me that the impact of the sermon depended upon his activity and power rather than mine.

I then realized that the most important part of the preparation process was for me to depend upon the Holy Spirit.

(This is where you think, "Well, of course. That guy sure is a slow learner.")

But I'm not talking about saying a prayer for guidance at the beginning of the research phase. I'm not talking about reminding myself that my efforts are worthless unless God blesses them. Nor am I talking about doing the "holy huddle" right before the service and praying for God to work through me.

I'm talking about really trusting God. I'm talking about taking the pressure off me in the preparation and presentation of the sermon. I'm talking being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit the whole time. (For me this usually comes in the form of thoughts or feelings.) I'm talking about letting God speak out of what he's doing in my life.

This is almost impossible to communicate in words.

For years I thought I was "trusting God." But I was really depending upon my research, my communication skills and my natural empathy.

I have found that it wasn't until I had nothing else to put my hope in that I found out what it really means to trust God.

It's working without a net.

God is perfectly happy to use my abilities. He gave them to me after all. But they are useful only after I have learned to trust him, really trust him.

I think I am actually starting to understand what Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 2:4:

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power.

He didn't mean that he was lazy or sloppy. Rather, he had learned to speak with the power that only comes from complete dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

May God so equip us all.

(Remember, Jesus' words in Mark 13:11 don't apply only to people who get paid to preach sermons in church buildings.)

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

Preaching Blunder 6

It is a sin to bore people with the Gospel.

But many preachers confuse engaging their audiences with entertaining their audiences.

Entertainment is big business in North America. Movies, concerts and sporting events draw large crowds every week. Some of the highest paid individuals are entertainers (actors, musicians and athletes). Pop culture has enormous influence on the lives of most Americans (including preachers).

And so it is tempting to use the strategies and techniques of entertainment in the sermon.

There is also something seductive about applause. Having an audience "in the palm of your hand" is a powerful feeling. Telling a joke or funny story that connects produces a high that is addictive.

It is not easy for a preacher to tell the difference between engaging a congregation and entertaining an audience.

The purpose of the sermon is for people to know God. If people leave thinking that I am clever, smart or "hip," then the focus was on the wrong person. However, if they leave bored and disconnected, then I have probably proclaimed something that was neither good nor news.

So what do you think? Have you ever gone to a church service and thought you were at a taping of The Tonight Show?

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

Incarnational Ministry

Brother Maynard has an excellent series of posts about the Incarnation.

He argues that the Incarnation is more than simply an antidote to the disease of sin. It is more deeply an expression of who God is and what he was about from the very beginning of creation. If this is true, then it seems to have implications for the Church, the Body of Christ.

For us to be as a higher priority than to do makes many people nervous, but it must be observed that in the sense we're considering, being results in things getting done, but in a much less stressful or labour-intensive way. Perhaps the best approach is not the tool kit version where we show up to fix, but where we show up to be, and to help draw people toward becoming the great healer. To be among not because those poor people need our pity, pathos, profundity, or proximity. But to be among simply because in doing so, we are expressing the God-ness of God to be among. Is it not perhaps in part the desire to show up and fix that we express in our worst moments of colonialism? Hubris, perhaps, to imagine that we've got the answer in our efforts… rather than in simply expressing by our presence the being-ness of God? If we were to, I don't know, "Love God and love our neighbour" or to "Live our faith and share our life," would that not be an expression of God's being that draws people to the fix rather than casting them as objects to be fixed by us, the great handyman now on the scene?

Preach it, Brother.

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

Preaching Mistake 5

This one should stir up a little controversy.

A common mistake that preachers make is saying, "Thus saith the Lord."

We preachers like to speak with authority. We think of ourselves as proclaiming God's truth. And we have the idea that our reading of the Bible is its "true" meaning.

But this view ignores a few inconvenient facts.

• It is not possible to avoid interpretation when reading the Bible. One does not have to subscribe to post-modern philosophy to realize that any text is open to multiple interpretations. What did Jesus mean when he said, "You must be born again" (John 3:7)? Many preachers would react to that question with confusion. To them the meaning is obvious. The process of interpretation is completely transparent. They are not aware of it. But even the most objective statements of the Bible require a degree of interpretation.
  
• If there are multiple interpretations, it is dishonest to offer my interpretation as the only possible interpretation. If I know that other Bible scholars (assuming that I am one) have differing interpretations, I cannot say, "Thus saith the Lord" with any integrity. Now, I'm not arguing for a confusing delineation of every conceivable interpretation. That is to confuse the sermon with a lecture. (See mistake number four.) But it is necessary to maintain a certain humility when explaining "what the Bible means."
  
• If a preacher is not aware of the process of interpretation, then that person is not qualified to preach a true sermon. An untrained person can speak with great power about what God has done and is doing in his or her life. Such a person may even become an expert in the process of Christian spiritual formation. But that should never be confused with being an expert theologian or Bible scholar. This type of person should follow the example of the formerly blind man in John 9:25, "I don't understand all the fine points of theology. I don't have the Torah committed to memory. I cannot explain exactly what is and what is not permitted on the Sabbath. The oral law is confusing to me. But one thing I'm sure of: yesterday I was blind and today I can see" (my paraphrase).
  
• There is no "method" of preaching that is free of personal opinion. Many have the idea that expository preaching is completely objective. (I have addressed this here at some length.) But an expository sermon is filled with subjective interpretation. What is worse, it claims to be the "unvarnished Word of God."
  

Of course, the first step is to properly understand what the Bible has to say. Rick Warren is not the only preacher who twists the meaning of the Bible while claiming to speak with divine authority. He is only the most visible. (Why haven't more Christian leaders spoken out against his misuse of the Bible? My guess is because he is "successful.")

But even after we've done our best exegesis, we preachers must be honest and humble enough to admit that our sermons are not the Word of God.

Now that I've gored just about everyone's ox, let me know what you think.

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

Preaching Mistake 4

This mistake is significantly deeper than the first three mistakes. In fact, it is largely responsible for the existence of the first two. This mistake is one that I made just about every week for more than 20 years. It is made in nearly every pulpit in nearly every church in North America.

It happens because of how our pastors are trained. It is also caused by a basic misunderstanding of the purpose of the sermon.

This mistake is treating the sermon as if it were a lecture.

This misunderstanding has several layers:

• The preacher feels the need to put as much "content" into the sermon as possible.
  
• The preacher believes that the criteria of academia should be used to evaluate the quality of the sermon.
  
• The preacher has been trained that it is important to "show your work."
  
• The preacher thinks that the primary purpose of the sermon is to transmit information to the listeners.
  
• The preacher assumes that the real impact of the sermon will be felt as the listeners digest what they have heard and "put it into practice" in their daily lives.
  

One of the most obvious results of this misunderstanding is a sermon that is "over the head" of the listeners. Preachers have traditionally been trained by academics to produce a treatise that is robust enough for the scholastic world. In this context it is especially important to demonstrate that he has done his "homework."

But there is a deeper problem here. The purpose of a sermon is not to pass on information.

Theology is important, very important. But the purpose of the sermon is not to indoctrinate the listeners in systematic theology. It is not to increase their store of theological facts. Nor is it to help them organize those facts into a comprehensive, coherent scheme.

I am convinced that this particular mistake is one of the main reasons that so much of our preaching is ineffective.

So what do you think? Do you agree? Do you have an idea of what the purpose of the sermon should be?

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

Preaching Mistake 3

This one should be more obvious and less controversial: Misusing humor.

This takes many forms:

• Starting the sermon with a joke that is so funny that the listeners are still chuckling about it halfway through the sermon.
  
• Telling a joke (funny or not) that is not germane to the point of the message.
  
• Using humor to ridicule a person or a group of people.
  
• Telling a joke that is not funny (because it is old, for example).
  
• Telling a joke that requires special comedic skills that are beyond the ability of the preacher (impressions, for example).
  
• Using humor for its own sake (without it contributing something substantial to the content of the sermon).
  
• Using no humor at all.
  

Humor is an effective means of communication. But just like any tool, it can be misused. The preacher must stay focused on the purpose of the sermon and make sure that every part of the sermon serves that purpose.

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

What He Said

Alan Hirsch has an excellent post about Existence Communication. He quotes T. S. Eliot:

"The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief."

Missional living is the most powerful apologetic for Christianity. It is the only truly effective method of evangelism. It is the only authentic expression of Christianity itself.

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

Preacher Mistakes 2

Another big mistake that many preachers make is using clever outlines.

The most common example is the use of alliteration in the outline (the key words all start with the same letter). Another device is using the first word of each point to spell a word (acronym). Another type of clever outline is where each point has the same basic structure with just one or two words changed.

Here's an example of the latter from The Maxwell Leadership Bible:

1. Moses was alone with God.
   
2. Moses was honest with God.
   
3. Moses was hungry for God.
   
4. Moses was broken by God.
   

These are rhetorical devices. They have their place in a stirring motivational or persuasive speech. But they are usually out of place in a sermon.

Alliteration is often used as a "memory aid," but it renders a sermon almost impossible to remember: "It was some word that begins with P."

Acronyms have the same inherent weakness. In addition, they usually require at least one of the points to be forced into the structure.

The outline with a strong parallel structure looks impressive as an outline, but it results in a sermon that is too "self-conscious."

I know that this last point is rather controversial and that I haven't made a convincing case for my position. I'm more than willing to discuss this in the comments. But the focus of the sermon should not be the outline, but the text itself.

Sometimes the first mistake and the second mistake are made together. The result is a complicated, cunning, convoluted cacophony.

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

Mistakes Preachers Make 1

I have expressed some of my opinions about preaching in previous posts. But I thought it might be helpful to list the mistakes that preachers tend to make in preparing and delivering sermons.

Let me make it clear that I am not setting myself up as the paragon of perfect preaching. But over the past 30 years, I have given more than 1300 sermons. And I've listened to hundreds more. As a student of the process of communication, I think I have learned a few things along the way.

Most of these mistakes I have made myself. Some I still may make from time to time.

Most of these mistakes are philosophical. That is to say that they are not errors in implementation. They are errors in thinking, mistaken ideas about preaching itself.

The first mistake is both philosophical and practical. Many preachers try to cram too much into a single sermon. It is connected to a misunderstanding about the purpose of the sermon and trying to "accomplish" too much in one sitting.

I will address the philosophical aspect of this in a latter post. Practically, most "speeches" should not try to communicate more than one main point. When a speaker tries to "transfer" too much information, the listeners go into cognitive overload and remember nothing.

As a young preacher (in my early 20s) I would try to "cover" the same "material" that later would result in three or four sermons.

Now, I am not talking about the length of the sermon. I am talking about the informational density of the sermon.

If the preacher thinks of the sermon as delivering information in a way similar to how a freight train delivers goods (which has its own problems), then the train should have very few cars (ideally, one).

I have much more to say about this, but I will save it for when I address the underlying philosophical problem.

So what do you think? What mistakes would you like to nominate for this series?

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

I’m Back

For the past several days I have been on vacation with my family. Unfortunately, there was no Internet access where we were staying.

Now that I'm back, I'll get back to my regular (irregular) schedule.

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

This Blog is Rated R

Check this out. I saw a link to mingle² over at BHT. So I ran this site through the blog rater.

This was the result:

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

• death (9x)
  
• dead (5x)
  
• kill (2x)
  
• torture (1x)

OK, then.

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"