Masquerade by Seventh Day Slumber

Yesterday I was running around doing some errands related to Veritas and while running around I was listening to an album by the Christian rock band Seventh Day Slumber.  A song came on and the lyrics struck me in a way that they hadn't in the past.  The song talks about just giving everything over to God, being real with him and others, and putting him first in your life. Lately I have been really struggling with my emotions, my feelings of worthlessness, anger that pops up quickly, stress, and defining myself by what i do, and not as a child of God.  Veritas has not been worked out (so far) the way that I imagined it.  It is the hardest thing I have done in my entire life and many days (almost every day) I feel like chucking it all.  But God continues to speak to me about his call on my life, not as a pastor, church planter, etc... but just as a child of the King.  While I am all concerned about whether I am a "success" or not, or whether Veritas will ever make it...he is more concerned with my inner life and whether or not I am faithful.  "Success if faithfulness to God" is a line I remember from my seminary days.

Anyway driving down the road, the words struck me to the song and called me back to Jesus and his love for me.  I want to follow Jesus even if I lose it all.  I am thankful that he takes me in his arms and that he makes my feelings of worthlessness disappear.  Here are the lyrics to the song...

I don't know what to think about me anymore, Cause I am still the same as always. Here I am again, that same old broken man. I can't make it on my own. I need You.

Chorus: And I am not afraid of anything anymore. And I am not ashamed, the masquerade has ended. And I will stand for You even if I lose it all. Cause nothing really matters, You are all that matters, Lord.

As messed up as I am, still You bring me in. You take me in Your arms and hold me. The worthlessness I feel, You make it disappear. You are always there, You're endless.

(Chorus)

I don't know what to think about me anymore. Cause I am still the same as always.

(Chorus)

Chasing Francis (#ChasingFrancisSpeakEasy)

The other week I received the novel "Chasing Francis" by Ian Morgan Cron through my friend Mike Morrell (was in charge of the Ooze Viral Bloggers and is now starting another one called Speak Easy).  This is new territory for me as I have never blogged on a work of fiction.  But I thought the book sounded interesting.  So I agreed to read the book and write a response on it.

The book is a modern day journey in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi.  It is a novel about a Pastor Chase Falson who "loses" his faith and sets out on a pilgrimage to find it again.  The novel reminded me a lot of the New Kind of Christian series by Brian McLaren.  The interesting twist is where Chase ends up finding this faith again...in the life, ministry and footsteps of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Chase goes to Italy and take a pilgrimage to various places that are connected to the life of Saint Francis of Assisi.  He spends most of his time with Friars from the Franciscan order, one of which is his uncle.  As he reads, writes, visits various places, and talks with the friars, Chase begins to see the life and faith of Saint Francis as having huge traction in our postmodern world.  He then begins to find his faith again, albeit a "different"  or should I say deeper, richer faith then the one he lost.  He then puts together a plan to develop a church that reflects the heart and ministry of Saint Francis in the postmodern world that we live in.

I would say the best part of the novel is when Chase lays out his 5 points in developing a church that contemporizes Saint Francis Rule of 1221.  Those 5 points are:

1.  Transcendence- more of a holistic faith then a head knowledge.  Spiritual practices learned from our brothers and sisters in our times and faith traditions.  Moving away from an apologetic that is only about the head to an embodied apologetic, a lived out faith.

2.  Community- dealing with things like peacemaking, being a blessing in the world, realizing that all of life is sacred, life and ministry that is about the Kingdom of God, and taking care of the poor and needy.

3.  Beauty- dealing with the arts and being a supportive place for artists, musicians, poets, etc.... Using art to create dialogue around spiritual issues.  Care for Creation.

4.  Dignity- seeing everyone as made in the image of God and worthy of love, respect, and care.

5.  Meaning- Seeking meaning in the world and not labeling people and not being labeled.  Being a "come and see Christian" meaning come and see if I am a Christian or not but how I live my life.  Come and see church....come and see if our church is living out the kingdom.

As I read this book I realized a few things.  First that Saint Francis was probably the first "postmodern" saint.  Secondly, that even though Francis was Catholic, I think he would fit very nicely in Anabaptist circles.  And lastly his life and ministry resonated strongly with what Veritas is seeking to be and become.  So the novel is a good read, a fast read, but one that has some deep meaning and relevance to being a follower of Jesus in our emerging, postmodern world that we currently find ourselves in.

Post-Christendom

The other week, as I had mentioned before, I got the opportunity to hear Stuart Murray Williams, author of The Naked Anabaptist: The Bare Essentials of a Radical Faith, speak at Elizabethtown College.  It was enlightening, challenging, and gave me hope that Veritas is moving forward in the way that it should.  Stuart shared 7 Core Convictions of the Anabaptist Network in the UK, of which I wrote about late last week.  I want to take this space to share the other significant part of the seminar that Stuart gave while at Elizabethtown, that of Post-Christendom.Here is what Stuart talked about in regards to Post-Christendom; it's definition and transitions:

"Post-Christendom is the culture that emerges as the Christian faith loses coherence within a society that has been definitively shaped by the Christian story and as the institutions that have been developed to express Christian convictions decline in influence."

Post-Christendom includes the following transitions:

• From the centre to margins: in Christendom the Christian story and the churches were central, but in post-Christendom these are marginal. • From majority to minority: in Christendom Christians comprised the (often overwhelming) majority, but in post-Christendom we are a minority. • From settlers to sojourners: in Christendom Christians felt at home in a culture shaped by their story, but in post-Christendom we are aliens, exiles and pilgrims in a culture where we no longer feel at home. • From privilege to plurality: in Christendom Christians enjoyed many privileges, but in post-Christendom we are one community among many in a plural society. • From control to witness: in Christendom churches could exert control over society, but in post-Christendom we exercise influence only through witnessing to our story and its implications. • From maintenance to mission: in Christendom the emphasis was on maintaining a supposedly Christian status quo, but in post-Christendom it is on mission within a contested environment. • From institution to movement: in Christendom churches operated mainly in institutional mode, but in post-Christendom we must become again a Christian movement.

I believe that while the US isn't on the scale of say Europe in relation to this shift to Post-Christendom (except in areas like the Northwest- Seattle, and Northeast- New England) we are definitely headed that way.  And I believe we can learn alot about how to do mission, church, and worship in the midst of our Post-Christendom society by looking at the 7 Core Convictions that I shared in one of my last posts.  I believe that going forward from here means for us (Veritas) that we need to, in some way, dive deeper into those 7 Core Convictions of the Anabaptist Network, and move fully live out the tradition of our forefathers and foremothers in the Anabaptist Tradition.

Stewardship of the Environment-November 14, 2010

After working for a while trying to upload the audio from last week's message and realizing that it is too big to upload onto this site, I thought I would just put the sermon text and questions on the blog instead......(starting this Sunday and running all throughout our Phase 2, we'll have recaps of what our bible conversation was on in the blog but not any audio). We are at the end of our A Generous Life sermon series and also our time meeting at English Presbyterian Church.  We’ll be gathering from now on at Kim and my house for worship, deeper prayer, bible study, discussion, discernment, and planning for outreach, service, and mission.  Over the last few weeks we have looked at the concept of stewardship.  We have looked at stewardship of finances, of time, of relationship, of talent, and this final week we will be looking at the stewardship of the environment.  Taking care of God’s creation and being a good steward of it.

This issue, taking care of the creation, is one of those hot button issues, that I believe for all too long the Christian church has neglected or actually been on the “wrong” side of.  Faithful followers of Jesus have left this issue to others, who are labeled tree huggers, liberals, radical environmentalist, and you fill in the blank.  But I believe that taking care of creation is a mandate of all people but especially followers of Jesus.  And I believe it came from the very beginning and is fundamental to God’s call on his people. Let’s look at some Scriptural basis for stewarding God’s creation that is all around us and let’s have a discussion on how this text has been misused and abused in the history of the Christian church.  And let’s talk about how we can, as followers of Jesus, begin to seriously live out this idea of stewarding God’s creation as individuals and as a community of faith.

The text that I am speaking of is found in the very first chapter of the very first book of the Bible.  The book of Genesis.  Genesis 1:26-28 says, “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Our world is messed up and we haven’t lived out this biblical mandate very well, and in fact, as a sign of our own brokenness, have actually taken this text and used it as a basis for using the creation however we see fit.  James Watt, secretary of the interior under President Regan said, “"God gave us these things to use. After the last tree is felled, Christ will come back."  I believe this is a misuse of our text that we are looking and a problematic view of God and his mandate to all people, especially followers of Jesus.

So before we go any further regarding the text of Scripture that we are looking at today, let’s talk about this issue of the environment.  Maybe you are sitting there saying “Well the environment is in good shape, we don’t need to do anything.  The hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, climate change and global warming are not true, and don’t we have more important things to spend our time talking about and being involved with?”  Maybe you think, “What does it matter?  Jesus is coming back, rapturing his people, and destroying the earth so let’s use it for whatever we want.”  Well let’s first look at some statistics about the brokenness in our world and see where we are as a people in our stewardship of creation.

Each Minute

• At least 51 acres of tropical forests are destroyed.
• We consume almost 35,000 barrels of oil.
• 50 tons of fertile soil are washed or blown off cropland.
• We add 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Each Hour

• 1,692 acres of productive dry land become desert.
• 1,800 children die of malnutrition and hunger (that makes a total of 15 million each year).
• 120 million dollars are spent for military expenditures (making a total of one trillion each year).
• 55 people are poisoned by the pesticides they use; 5 die.
• 60 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the United States alone (that makes a total of 500,000 each year with 20,000 leading to death).

Each Day

• Over 230,000 babies are born.
• 25,000 people die of water shortage or contamination.
• 10 tons of nuclear waste are being generated by the 350 existing nuclear plants.
• 250,000 tons of sulfuric acid fall as acid rain in the Northern Hemisphere.
• 60 tons of plastic packaging and 372 tons of fishing net are dumped into the sea by commercial fishermen.
• Almost 5 species of life become extinct.

So we see in these statistics some rather disturbing problems and issues.  But how does Scripture speak to these issues, or does it?  Well let’s go back to Genesis 1.  The first verse we looked at says this, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  The word that I want to focus sometime on in our discussion is the word rule which in other translations of the scripture is translated dominion.  I believe we need a proper understanding of this word to adequately move forward.  I think way too often people take this word to mean domination.  But that isn’t what it means.  The word dominion here is the Hebrew word radah.  It is a word that is used only a dozen times in the Old Testament, and thus is rather special in its meaning. We have taken it to mean 'dominate over' just as a mediaeval ruler or potentate would dominate over his subjects, using them for his own ends, his own pleasure, his own prestige, his own wars, etc. But an examination of 'radah' shows that this is NOT the type of 'dominion' that we are called upon to have over the creation. For example, 'radah' is used in Ezek 34:4, which shows the wrong type of 'radah'. The use of 'radah' there shows that God condemns such an attitude:

"Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled [radah] them harshly and brutally." (2-5).

While we might argue precisely how this applies, I am here referring to it at a higher level, namely that it shows the heart of God, whose image we are made in. And that image is tied up with our 'radah' of the creation.

Our 'radah', of the creation, is not to be with harshness and cruelty and selfishness. Our 'radah' is to be, not for our own sake, but for the sake of the one ruled, that is, for the sake of the creation. We should heal those parts of creation that are sick, bind up those parts that are injured, bring back those parts that are straying, search for those parts that have become lost, as it were.

So we 'radah' creation to represent God to it, to develop and refine and beautify it for its own sake, rather than for ours. (cf. the notion of Love: giving for the other. God is Love.)

Note: This Creation Mandate has never been rescinded. It is still in force for us, even in this gospel period.

God has given us radah over creation, but ultimately the earth is the Lords, just like ultimately everything we have has been given to us by God and he just charges us to steward it well.  Look in Psalm 24:1 and we see this, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;” So the creation is God’s and we are called to be good stewards of it.  We are called not to “rule over it and subdue it” in the way that a tyrant rules over and subdues his people.  If we are, as the other part of our main Scripture says, made in the image of God, then we are called to model the same love, same care, and same devotion to the creation that God has.  We are called to see the creation in the same way that God did and does, as good.  Broken, crying out for redemption, fallen, but still good.  And that we as followers of Jesus are called to do the hard work of working towards the wholeness, redemption, healing, and fullness of not only the people all around us but also the creation itself.

But what does that look like?  What does it mean to do the hard work of bringing wholeness, redemption, healing and fullness to the creation?  And what does it look like to live out the mandate that God has laid out for us from the very beginning of Creation?  That is what we will spend our time focusing on in our time of discussion.\

1.  What thoughts, comments, insights, ideas, disagreements, wisdom, etc... do you have in regards to the Scripture text(s) we looked at and the idea of stewardship of the environment?

2.  How can you and I individually take seriously our role as radah over God's creation?  What ways can you and I better steward God's creation?

3.  How can we as Veritas take more seriously our role as radah over God's creation and what steps can we take to make that a reality within the life and ministry of Veritas?

The Naked Anabaptist

The other week I had the privilege of attending a session, dinner, and public lecture at Elizabethtown College with Stuart Murray Williams, the author of the book "The Naked Anabaptist: The Bare Essentials of a Radical Faith."  During the session and the lecture Williams gave out a paper dealing with Core Convictions of the Anabaptist Network (in the UK....but could be affirmed by all Anabaptist) , on one side and thoughts on Post-Christendom on the other.  I wanted to take the next few blog posts looking at the Core Convictions, Post-Christendom, and my thoughts in reading his book. Here are the 7 Core Convictions of the Anabaptist Network of which I resonate deeply with.

1. Jesus is our example, teacher, friend, redeemer and Lord. He is the source of our life, the central reference point for our faith and lifestyle, for our understanding of church and our engagement with society. We are committed to following Jesus as well as worshipping him.

2. Jesus is the focal point of God’s revelation. We are committed to a Jesus-centred approach to the Bible, and to the community of faith as the primary context in which we read the Bible and discern and apply its implications for discipleship.

3. Western culture is slowly emerging from the Christendom era when church and state jointly presided over a society in which almost all were assumed to be Christian. Whatever its positive contributions on values and institutions, Christendom seriously distorted the gospel, marginalised Jesus, and has left the churches ill-equipped for mission in a post-Christendom culture. As we reflect on this, we are committed to learning from the experience and perspectives of movements such as Anabaptism that rejected standard Christendom assumptions and pursued alternative ways of thinking and behaving.

4. The frequent association of the church with status, wealth and force is inappropriate for followers of Jesus and damages our witness. We are committed to exploring ways of being good news to the poor, powerless and persecuted, aware that such discipleship may attract opposition, resulting in suffering and sometimes ultimately martyrdom.

5. Churches are called to be committed communities of discipleship and mission, places of friendship, mutual accountability and multi-voiced worship. As we eat together, sharing bread and wine, we sustain hope as we seek God’s kingdom together. We are committed to nurturing and developing such churches, in which young and old are valued, leadership is consultative, roles are related to gifts rather than gender and baptism is for believers.

6. Spirituality and economics are inter-connected. In an individualist and consumerist culture and in a world where economic injustice is rife, we are committed to finding ways of living simply, sharing generously, caring for creation, and working for justice.

7. Peace is at the heart of the gospel. As followers of Jesus in a divided and violent world, we are committed to finding non-violent alternatives and to learning how to make peace between individuals, within and among churches, in society, and between nations.

I especially liked number 5 in relation to multi-voiced worship, something we have done since the beginning of Veritas, and something others are resonating with in the emerging, missional discussion.  In fact I just finished a book called "Free for all: Rediscovering the Bible in Community" by Tim Conder and Daniel Rhodes from the Emmaus Way community in NC, in which the whole premise was about this ideas of multi-voiced worship and a communal exegesis and hermeneutic.  I finished that book and thought just how Anabaptist their book really was.

Veritas has been founded from an Anabaptist understanding of the faith and we are trying to live out these same core convictions in our individual and corporate life together.

Give Me Your Eyes

Give Me Your Eyes I"ve been thinking about this song lately.  On Sunday morning Veritas will be going into downtown Lancaster and prayerscaping around the town.  Basically prayerscaping is praying that God would "Give Me Your Eyes" exactly the thing that this song is about.  May these words be more and more in our prayers and our lives and then when we have his eyes we'll be moved with compassion, love, grace and mercy and will seek to be a blessing in our world.

Music and Art Fundraising Night

The above poster is for our Music and Art Fundraising event to be held on Saturday December 11.  It will be a great night of great drinks provided by Prince Street Cafe, great desserts provided by Geneva Bakery, great music provided by the Veritas Worship team, Matt Wheeler and other musicians.  There will be great art that you can bid on via silent auction.  You can pick up a copy of the Veritas: Music and Art from our Community Volume 2.  There will also be testimonies from people involved with Veritas about what God has done in their life through Veritas.  There will also a time of sharing about the mission, vision, and dreams of Veritas with an opportunity to partner with Veritas in prayer, people, and finances.  So consider this your invitation to this event and invite any one that you might have interest in learning about Veritas and supporting church planting.  Just RSVP to me by December 8 so that we know how many people are coming.  Hope to see you there.

The 4 P's of Missional Life and Ministry

Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 04:49PM

Last night while driving from my house to Franklin and Marshall College to speak at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship I was listening to some seminar given at Dallas Theological Seminary by Michael Frost.  In the seminar Frost was talking about the missional life and he laid out 4 P's of missional life.

The 4 P's are:

Proximity-  This is based off of John 1:14 where Jesus takes on flesh and blood and moves into the neighborhood.  This is being in close relationship and close space to those who Jesus misses the most.  This can mean to move into a new neighborhood that God is calling you to move into, or to just spend more time in the relationships and neighborhood that God has already placed you.

We step into the experience of those we seek to win and serve. We need to step out of our comfort zone and move into proximity of those who would not be in our normal circle of friends. Ministry happens in the neighborhoods.

Presence- When we spend time in the world we are litterally the presence of Christ in the world.  We are the hands and feet of Christ.  We will be with people in relationship and in the midst of that relationship Christ will be present.

We are to practice the presence of Christ in the midst of the world. We should be doing what Christ would have been doing if he was still physically walking in this world.

Powerlessness- This is probably one of the hardest thing from the perspective of a white middle-class educated male who at times doesn't realize that he has always been on the side of the "power" dynamic.  But what Michael Frost is getting at was shared in the context of a story about 2 Texans who were teaching english to some burmese refugees.  Frost said to ask the refugees to teach them something, like cooking to change the power dynamic.

Proclamation- This is one piece that all too often is missing in the missional conversation.  We react so strongly against the "evangelism" that is about manipulation, hell-fire and brimstone, and lacking in relationship that sometimes we just let our actions speak for us.  (especially from the perspective of an anabaptist).

Should we actually tell people about Jesus? If we move into the neighborhood and build relational proximity and are the presence of Jesus, going empty handed and naked as the powerless ones, sooner or later someone is going to want to know who you are and why you do what you do. The answer to that question is of course the proclamation of the person of Jesus. Without this proclamation we will be seen as just another good person. Of what value is that?

So I am digesting what this means for my family and I as we discern our next steps together and also as leaders within the Veritas community.  I also am wondering how Veritas might live out these 4 P's in our communal life.  How are you or your community living these 4 P's out?  I would be interested in hearing comments, thoughts, and suggestions..

Oops...take 2

Monday, November 8, 2010 at 01:40PM

When you leave me in charge of the technical aspect of stuff..like what happened yesterday....you end up with nothing recorded......So here is the text from the message from yesterday and the questions we discussed.

We have two more weeks left in our sermon series entitled “The Generous Life” and until we transition into Phase 2 of Veritas.  This week we’ll be covering the Stewardship of Talents and next week we’ll wrap it all up with discussion centered on the stewardship of God’s creation.

So as I was working on developing this series I knew that I needed to do one week on being good stewards of our talents.  And I knew that I needed to use the Parable that we are going to look at this morning.  I knew this because this parable is one that led me to planting Veritas, calling me to take a risk and use what he has blessed me with.  God spoke so strongly to me through this parable and continues to speak through it to me.  And I am sure that he will speak to you through it as well.

The parable that we are looking at together today is found in Matthew 25:14-30 and is called the Parable of the Talents.

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.  So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.  “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’  “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’  “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.  For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.  And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

This is one of the better known parables that Jesus told during his ministry here on earth.  But what was the point of the story for his hearer’s?  And what about us 2,000 years later?  Is the point of the story the same and an even deeper question, is the story and the point of it even relevant in our time?  Let’s spend some time this morning discussing the parable, its point made by Jesus, and the relevance of it in our modern life.

The first thing that we need to look at together is this word talent found in the parable.  In the English language we commonly use that word when we say people have received talents of music, business, leadership, and the like.  That use of the word is derived from this parable.  But what was a talent in Jesus’ day?  It was originally a measure of weight and later the word came to denote a fixed amount of gold or silver.  A talent was a unit of money which in modern terms equal roughly 1,200 dollars.  So while we may think that the third servant wasn’t given that much in the way of talents, we see that it was significant nonetheless.  Servants of God are not all endowed with equal gifts and talents.  But it’s not how much the servants were each given, but what they did with it once that had it that truly mattered.  Just look at the Master at the end of the story, what did he look for?  Goodness and faithfulness in his servants.  Whatever financial success these servants enjoyed came because they were good and faithful.  The Master looked first for these things, not the bottom line.

In this parable Jesus points out that talents are given to be used, and not buried in the earth.  These talents are to be used, shared, and given to help others, and not keep it to ourselves (whether we are talking about money, time, or talents).  It reminds me of another passage of Scripture which talks about the reason for our gifts.  1 Peter 4:10 (a letter written by an early Christian leader named Peter) says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”  Any gift that we may have received from God (money, time, talent, etc..) everything that w have should be viewed as being entrusted to us, not for ourselves, but to be used for ministering and serving the body of Christ and the world.  Our possession’s are not ours in a selfish sense, for we are just stewarding them for God, as he has given us them to further his kingdom with.

This is where the connection lies between last week’s discussion and this weeks.  Each of us have different talents (music, teaching, art, athletics, dance, drama, etc..) and so we desperately need each other in order for the body of Christ to be complete and whole.  No one’s gift is more important than any other in the body of Christ, all are needed.  Whether we feel that we have been given 5 talents, 2 talents, or only 1 talent, we need to use those talents in concert with others within the body of Christ to further the kingdom.  Again it’s not how many talents that you have been given, or how you are using those talents to further your own kingdom, but it is how you are using them to further the kingdom of God that truly matters the most.

I’ll tell you what messed me up the most when I read this passage about 4 years ago.  It was the ending of the parable in the Message translation that God called me to jump ship and take a risk in planting Veritas.  In the Message version the ending of the parable goes like this, “The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest. "'Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.'”

Did you catch the difference between this ending and the one from the New International Version?  The issue that the master had with the servant was that he didn’t take a risk, and the one who received the most was the one who took the greatest risk.  We must venture with Christ at risk.  We can’t be content with “things as they are.”  We must break new soil.  We miss the point of this story if we fail to see that Christ requires of his followers the hazard of the untried road.  Or as Charlotte Bronte put it, “Better to try all things and find all empty, than to try nothing and leave life a blank.”  So when all is said and done regarding this parable, the central thrust and meaning of the story is that it is a plea that we live in courageous faith.  Willing to take risks for the kingdom of God.  When we are good stewards of the talents that we are given, that means we will take risks in using them to spread the Good news of Jesus and seek to further his kingdom.  To use our talents means risk.  Listen to this poem regarding risk….

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out for another is to risk involvement. To expose feeling is to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd, is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return. To live is to risk dying. To hope is to risk despair. To try is to risk failure. But the risk must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live. Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave, he has forfeited freedom. ONLY A PERSON WHO RISKS – IS FREE

So how can you and I be good stewards of the talents we have?  How can you and I risk for the kingdom?  And how can we as a community of faith take risks to spread the good news of Jesus and seek to further his kingdom?  That is where we’ll seek to talk about in our discussion time.

1.  What thoughts, ideas, comments, disagreements, insights, etc... do you have in regards to the passage of Scripture and in being a good steward of our talents?

2. What is one talent that God has given to you, and how have you been a good steward of it?  Or how could you be a good steward of it?

3.  How has God called you to risk for the Kingdom of God?  In the next week what risks might you take for the Kingdom?

4.  What risks might God be challenging Veritas to take for his Kingdom?  In what ways can we as a community risk for the Kingdom?

The Generous Life-Stewardship of Relationships

Monday, November 1, 2010 at 12:46PM

Due to technical difficulties, (the message wasn't recorded yesterday) I'll be copying my message below along with the questions that we discussed.  Would love to hear your thoughts, comments, ideas, etc...

So we are in the midst of a new series called “The Generous Life” looking at the issues of stewardship.  Stewardship of finances was our first week, last week we did stewardship of time, this week we are covering stewardship of relationships, and the final two weeks we will cover talent and the environment.

As we look at the stewardship of relationships I want to start with a story/cartoon that is found in the book that some of us have probably read called Blue Like Jazz.  The story is called Don the Astronaut and goes like this….There once was a man named

Don Astronaut.  Don Astronaut lived on a space station out in space.  Don Astronaut had a special space suit that kept him alive without food or water or oxygen. One day there was an accident.  And Don Astronaut was cast out into space.  Don Astronaut orbited the earth and was very scared.  Until he remembered his special suit that kept him alive.  But nobody’s government came to rescue Don Astronaut because it would cost too much money.  (There was a conspiracy, and they said he had died, but he hadn’t.)  So Don Astronaut orbited the earth again and again, fourteen times each day.  And Don Astronaut orbited the earth for months.  And Don Astronaut orbited the earth for decades.  And Don Astronaut orbited the earth for fifty-three years before he died a very lonely and crazy man—just a shell of a thing with hardly a spark for a soul.

So what is the point of this story?  I believe it has to do with the importance of relationship and community in the existence of humankind.  God made humankind as a social creature and without relationships; we dry up and become “just a shell of a thing with hardly a spark for a soul”.  Miller says more about relationships and gives us more insight into Don Astronaut when he says, “I thought faith, mine being Christian faith, was something a person did alone, like monks in caves.  I thought the backbone of faith was time alone with God, time reading ancient texts and meditating on poetry or the precepts of natural law and perhaps, when a person gets good and godly, levitating potted plants or pitchers of water.”  But, in reality, God has made us for relationships from the very beginning.  Let’s look at a Scripture found in the 1^st book of the Bible, a book called Genesis.  Let’s look together at Genesis 2:18 and see what it might say to us regarding what it means to steward our relationships.

Genesis 2:18 says, “The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."  I find this text extremely interesting.  In the first chapter of Genesis we see this literary rhythm taking place where God creates, and then calls his creation good and the rhythm continues.  The only time that rhythm in the first two chapters of Genesis is broken is found in this verse.  For the first time, God seeks something that is not good: the aloneness of the man in the garden.  God never intended us to be alone.  But have you ever thought about it?  In a very real sense Adam was not alone; he had God to walk with him very literally.  But God knew that Adam needed someone that was like him to make him fully complete.  Humanity, in the state of being alone, is incomplete, unfulfilled and lacking in much that we were created to be.  Perfect solitude would turn the Garden of Eden (paradise) into a desert, and a palace into a dungeon.  To be alone in the world is a depressing condition.  The writer of the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes says this about being alone vs. being in relationship, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.  But how can one keep warm alone?”  In this text we see the necessity of relationships and I believe to be fully human and to fully live out what God calls us to, we desperately need each other.  In our best state in this world we have need one another’s help, for we are truly connected to each other.

This interconnectedness that God calls us to reminds me of the story of the redwood trees.  The huge redwood trees of California amaze mankind. They are the largest living things on earth and the tallest trees in the world. Some of them are 300 feet high and over 2,500 years old. One would think that trees so large must have a tremendous root system that reaches down hundreds of feet into the earth. But not so! The redwoods have a very shallow root system. If one was to get down on his knees and examine the redwoods' root system he would find that all the roots intertwine. They are locked to each other. When the storms come, the winds blow, and the lightning flashes, the redwoods still stand. They are not alone for all the trees support and protect each other. Each tree is important to all the other trees in the grove.

This is a great picture of what it means, to me, to be a good steward of the relationships we have.  To intertwine together so that when one experiences the blowing of the wind, the storms of life, and is threatened to be blown over, that we help support that person.  We do what the Apostle Paul (an early follower of Jesus) says we should do in the New Testament book of Philippians, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  Stewardship of relationships requires that we look at others through the eyes of Christ. Jesus can help us see past the outside layer– whether that is a false bravado or a false “lone ranger” attitude– and see the hurts and pains that are really common to all of us.

Not everyone will respond nicely to us, but we can let them all know that the door is open. We want to share life with them just because they too are special, unique persons of worth created in the image of a loving, gracious God. No hidden agendas, no “check marks” on a list, no “brownie points” for inviting someone to church– just loving them because God loved them first.

I believe that understanding the sense that we truly and deeply need each other, that we need to put others first, and that seeing others through the eyes of Jesus, means that we will become better stewards of the relationships that God has given to each of us.  That we will begin to realize the amazing beauty of relationships and community.  God continues to challenge me, encourage me, convict me, and amaze me through the community that we are becoming together and I want to be a good steward of this community by loving each of you, by challenging each of you (and myself), by supporting each of you (as you support me), and by putting your needs and the needs of the wider community and world before my own.  That we would make decisions as a faith community that we be more focus on others needs than our own.  I don’t believe you can be a good steward of your relationships until you can put the needs of other before your own.  That is a foundational step to being a good steward.  Or as Donald Miller puts it in Blue Like Jazz, “If we are not willing to wake up in the morning and die to ourselves, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether or not we are really following Jesus.”

How do you and I steward the relationships that God has given to us?  What does it look like to steward the relationship between husband and wife?  Between parents and children?  Between friends, roommates, co-workers, neighbors, etc..?  How do we die to ourselves and put the needs of others before our own?  Let’s take some time and discuss together what stewardship of relationship looks like, times we have blown it, and times we have gotten it right and what it might mean in the midst of our Veritas community.

Discussion Questions:

1.  What comments, thoughts, ideas, disagreements, insights, questions, etc.. do you have regarding stewardship of relationships?

2.  How do you or could you steward the relationships/people that God has given to you?  What practical examples can you give in this area of stewardship?

3.  How have we or how can we as a community, be good stewards of the relationships within our community and also in the wider community/world?  Where have we done a good job and where do we need improvement?

Adrian Plass-Amen

Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at 04:50PM

Today while working on some artwork for a series called Echo the Story I was listening to some messages given by Michael Frost at Dallas Theological seminary.  Michael always knows how to smack you around about mission, the Kingdom of God, and living out the Missio Dei in the world.  On the second message that I listend to he quoted a poem that I have heard before (from other Frost recordings).  But it again struck me regarding the call of Jesus on my life (and on all of our lives).  So I thought I would take this space to share the poem called Amen by Adrian Plass.  Read it, digest it, struggle with it, pray and discern what God might be calling you to, and how he might use you to further the kingdom of God.

When I became a Christian I said, Lord, now fill me in, Tell me what I’ll suffer in this world of shame and sin. He said, your body may be killed, and left to rot and stink, Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen - I think. I think Amen, Amen I think, I think I say Amen, I’m not completely sure, can you just run through that again? You say my body may be killed and left to rot and stink, Well, yes, that sounds terrific, Lord, I say Amen - I think.

But, Lord, there must be other ways to follow you, I said, I really would prefer to end up dying in my bed. Well, yes, he said, you could put up with the sneers and scorn and spit, Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen - a bit. A bit Amen, Amen a bit, a bit I say Amen, I’m not entirely sure, can we just run through that again? You say I could put up with sneers and also scorn and spit, Well, yes, I’ve made my mind up, and I say, Amen - a bit.

Well I sat back and thought a while, then tried a different ploy, Now, Lord, I said, the Good book says that Christians live in joy. That’s true he said, you need the joy to bear the pain and sorrow, So do you want to follow me, I said, Amen - tomorrow. Tomorrow, Lord, I’ll say it then, that’s when I’ll say Amen, I need to get it clear, can I just run through that again? You say that I will need to joy, to bear the pain and sorrow, Well, yes, I think I’ve got it straight, I’ll say Amen - tomorrow.

He said, Look, I’m not asking you to spend an hour with me A quick salvation sandwich and a cup of sanctity, The cost is you, not half of you, but every single bit, Now tell me, will you follow me? I said Amen - I quit. I’m very sorry Lord I said, I’d like to follow you, But I don’t think religion is a manly thing to do. He said forget religion then, and think about my Son, And tell me if you’re man enough to do what he has done.

Are you man enough to see the need, and man enough to go, Man enough to care for those whom no one wants to know, Man enough to say the thing that people hate to hear, To battle through Gethsemane in loneliness and fear. And listen! Are you man enough to stand it at the end, The moment of betrayal by the kisses of a friend, Are you man enough to hold your tongue, and man enough to cry? When nails break your body-are you man enough to die? Man enough to take the pain, and wear it like a crown, Man enough to love the world and turn it upside down, Are you man enough to follow me, I ask you once again? I said, Oh Lord, I’m frightened, but I also said Amen.

Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen; Amen, Amen, Amen, I said, Oh Lord, I’m frightened, but I also said, Amen.

"About You" by Dick Staub

The latest offering that I received from The Ooze Viral Bloggers is the book "About You" by Dick Staub.  The subtitles to the book are probably one of the best parts of the book and cover exactly what Staub is getting at in the book.   The one subtitle is "Fully Human, Fully Alive."  and the second one is "Jesus didn't come to make us Christians; Jesus came to make us fully human."

That second subtitle is actually a quote from Hans Rookmaaker, a theologian and author.  The other day while being interviewed by a seminary student about Veritas, I was asked the question, "What gets you excited in ministry." and my answer must have reflected this reading when I said, "Someone who becomes fully alive."

There are lots of great stuff in this book about how we have settled for the mundane, ordinary existence but we were, in the words of Switchfoot,

"We were meant to live for so much more Have we lost ourselves? Somewhere we live inside Somewhere we live inside We were meant to live for so much more Have we lost ourselves? Somewhere we live inside"

We are meant to live a life that Jesus calls the "abundant life."  Or what St. Irenaeus said, "The glory of God is man fully alive."

There are a lot of great thoughts in this book and I needed to hear it as I have often been guilty of just settling, of going through the ruts and routine, and missing the beauty, the majesty, the deeper, fuller life that Jesus calls us to.

Here are some quotes that I especially resonated with:

"Jesus' authenticity and vibrant humanness attracted people and intriqued them."

"The Jesus would jumped off the pages was a radical thinker who was actively present in his culture (not withdrawn from it), was a loving presence (not hostile), and was a transforming presence in his culture (not a conformist).  He clearly marched to the beat of a different drum.  And I was relieved to see he did not carry the baggage associated with the religion that bears his name.  He did not demonize, alienate, and demean fallen people; he loved them.  He revealed to everybody- from the smug religious tyupes like Pharisees to social and religious outcasts like prostitutes and drunkards- that there was a more abundant and full life available t othem now, not just in the future."

"For centuries thereafter it was Christians who created a better and richer culture, writing the best music, creating the best art, and cultivating a rigorously intellectual life.  They also rolled up their sleeves and served society in practical ways, providing care for the physically infirm, offering community to the lonely outsiders and financial assistance to the poor.  They pursued science as a way of understanding the universe and harmonized their theology to fit the facts they discovered in their no-holds-barred scientific inquiry.  It became obvious to me that Jesus calls us not to become entrapped in religious practices that make us less human but rather to a dynamic, zestful, fully alive and fully human experience."  (This is a great quote and really connects with what I feel the calling is for Veritas).

There are a lot more quotes that I could share but I will end with a quote that spells out the book and the reason for it, and one of the reasons that Jesus, I believe, came to earth.  John 10:10 says, "I have come that they may have life and have it to the fullest."

Missional Church Planting

Tuesday, October 12, 2010 at 09:48PM

As Kim and I walk through this journey of church planting, and specifically missional church planting, there are days (like today) where I am feeling depressed, tired, burnt out, frustrated, and wondering why we aren't growing by leaps and bounds (or even wondering if we are growing at all).  Then I begin to think of all the "clever" gimicks that I could do, the 4,000 dollars I could spend on a series of mailers, and a bunch of other ways to get people to come to Veritas.  And then I always run into something that stops me in my tracks and helps me focus on what we are really about.  Today it was a post called "Transitioning from Traditional to Missional" and while the name doesn't describe what we are doing or trying to be about, the blog certainly spoke to me and our situation.  Here is the blog:

Transitioning From Traditional to Missional

Posted by Brad Brisco May 20

Over the past few months I have had an increasing number of conversations with pastors and church leaders about moving existing churches in a missional direction. I have been asked what key issues or topics need to be considered when attempting to transition a traditional church. The following list is certainly not conclusive or comprehensive, but here are nine elements that I believe need to be considered when making a missional shift:

1. Start with Spiritual Formation

God calls the church to be a sent community of people who no longer live for themselves but instead live to participate with Him in His redemptive purposes. However, people will have neither the passion nor the strength to live as a counter-cultural society for the sake of others if they are not transformed by the way of Jesus. If the church is to “go and be,” rather than “come and see,” then we must make certain that we are a Spirit-formed community that has the spiritual capacity to impact the lives of others.

This means the church must take seriously its responsibility to cultivate spiritual transformation that does not allow believers to remain as adolescents in their spiritual maturity. Such spiritual formation will involve much greater relational underpinnings and considerable engagement with a multitude of spiritual disciplines.

One such discipline should involve dwelling in the word, whereby the church learns to regard Scripture not as a tool, but as the living voice of God that exists to guide people into His mission. If we believe the mission is truly God’s mission, then we must learn to discern where He is working; and further discern, in light of our gifts and resources, how He desires a church to participant in what He is doing in a local context.

2. Cultivate a Missional Leadership Approach

The second most important transition in fostering a missional posture in a local congregation is rethinking church leadership models that have been accepted as the status quo. This will require the development of a missional leadership approach that has a special emphasis on the apostolic function of church leadership, which was marginalized during the time of Christendom in favor of the pastor/teacher function.

This missional leadership approach will involve creating an apostolic environment throughout the life of the church. The leader must encourage pioneering activity that pushes the church into new territory. However, because not all in the church will embrace such risk, the best approach will involve creating a sort of “R&D” or “skunk works” department in the church for those who are innovators and early adopters.

A culture of experimentation must be cultivated where attempting new initiatives is expected, even if they don’t all succeed. As pioneering activities bear fruit, and the stories of life change begin to bubble up within the church, an increasing number of people will begin to take notice and get involved.

3. Emphasize the Priesthood of All Believers

Martin Luther’s idea of the priesthood of all believers was that all Christians were called to carry out their vocational ministries in every area of life. Every believer must fully understand how their vocation plays a central part in God’s redemptive Kingdom.

I think it was Rick Warren who made popular the phase “every member is a minister.” While this phrase is a helpful slogan to move people to understand their responsibility in the life of the church, God’s purpose for His church would be better served if we encouraged people to recognize that “every member is a missionary.” This missionary activity will include not just being sent to far away places, but to local work places, schools and neighborhoods.

4. Focus Attention on the Local Community

As individual members begin to see themselves as missionaries sent into their local context the congregation will begin to shift from a community-for-me mentality, to a me-for-the-community mentality. The church must begin to develop a theology of the city that sees the church as an agent of transformation for the good of the city (Jeremiah 29:7). This will involve exegeting each segment of the city to understand the local needs, identify with people, and discover unique opportunities for the church to share the good news of Jesus.

5. Don’t Do It Alone

Missional activity that leads to significant community transformation takes a lot of work and no church can afford to work alone. Missional churches must learn to create partnerships with other churches as well as already existing ministries that care about the community.

6. Create New Means of Measuring Success

The church must move beyond measuring success by the traditional indicators of attendance, buildings and cash. Instead we must create new scorecards to measure ministry effectiveness. These new scorecards will include measurements that point to the church’s impact on community transformation rather than measuring what is happening among church members inside the church walls. For the missional church it is no longer about the number of people active in the church but instead the number of people active in the community. It is no longer about the amount of money received but it is about the amount of money given away.

A missional church may ask how many hours has the church spent praying for community issues? How many hours have church members spent with unbelievers? How many of those unbelievers are making significant movement towards Jesus? How many community groups use the facilities of the church? How many people are healthier because of the clinic the church operates? How many people are in new jobs because of free job training offered by the church? What is the number of school children who are getting better grades because of after-school tutoring the church provides. Or how many times do community leaders call the church asking for advice?

Until the church reconsiders the definition of ministry success and creates new scorecards to appropriately measure that success, it will continue to allocate vital resources in misguided directions.

7. Search for Third Places

In a post-Christendom culture where more and more people are less and less interested in activities of the church, it is increasingly important to connect with people in places of neutrality, or common “hang outs.” In the book “The Great Good Place” author Ray Oldenburg identifies these places of common ground as “third places.”

According to Oldenburg, third places are those environments in which people meet to interact with others and develop friendships. In Oldenburg’s thinking our first place is the home and the people with whom we live. The second place is where we work and the place we spend the majority of our waking hours. But the third place is an informal setting where people relax and have the opportunity to know and be known by others.

Third places might include the local coffee shop, hair salon, restaurant, mall, or fitness center. These places of common ground must take a position of greater importance in the overall ministry of the church as individuals begin to recognize themselves as missionaries sent into the local context to serve and share.

In addition to connecting with people in the third places present in our local communities, we need to rediscover the topic of hospitality whereby our own homes become a place of common ground. Biblical hospitality is much more than entertaining others in our homes. Genuine hospitality involves inviting people into our lives, learning to listen, and cultivating an environment of mercy and justice, whether our interactions occur in third places or within our own homes. Regardless of our setting, we must learn to welcome the stranger.

8. Tap into the Power of Stories

Instead of trying to define what it means to be missional, it is helpful to describe missional living through stories and images. Stories create new possibilities and energize people to do things they had not previously imagined. We can capture the “missional imagination” by sharing what other faith communities are doing and illustrate what it looks like to connect with people in third places, cultivate rapport with local schools, and build life transforming relationships with neighbors.

Moreover, we can reflect deeply on biblical images of mission, service and hospitality by spending time on passages such as Genesis 12:2, Isaiah 61:1-3, Matthew 5:43; 10:40; 22:39; 25:35; and Luke 10:25-37.

9. Promote Patience

The greatest challenge facing the church in the West is the “re-conversion” of its own members. We need to be converted away from an internally-focused, Constantinean mode of church, and converted towards an externally-focused, missional-incarnational movement that is a true reflection of the missionary God we follow.

However, this conversion will not be easy. The gravitational pull to focus all of our resources on ourselves is very strong. Because Christendom still maintains a stranglehold on the church in North America – even though the culture is fully aware of the death of Christendom – the transition towards a missional posture will take great patience; both with those inside and outside the church. Many inside the church will need considerable time to learn how to reconstruct church life for the sake of others. At the same time, the church will need to patiently love on people, and whole communities, that have increasingly become skeptical of the church.

Good stuff but very hard to live out, especially the patience part.  Praying that we can live out this type of missional life and faith in the midst of our church plant.

Is the COB doomed (and does it matter)?

Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 02:40PM

The other day I came across a blog from Jeremy Yoder where he asks the question, "Is the MCUSA doomed?  (And does it matter).  MCUSA is the abbreviation for Mennonite Church USA.  In the blog he lays out some amazing points, points which if we just changed the abbreviation from MCUSA to COB (Church of the Brethren), we would get an accurate picture of where the COB is as well.  So I thought I would post his blog on mine, and everytime you read MCUSA or Mennonite (for all your COB people) just change it to COB and/or Brethren and tell me what you think.  Does it accurately deal with our reality as a denomination?  Would love to hear your thoughts...

Is MCUSA Doomed? (And Does it Matter?)

September 29th, 2010 – by Jeremy W. Yoder, Editors Blog

This post emerged out of a number of on-line and off-line conversations I’ve been having over the past several weeks about the status quo and future of the church. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Christianity in the West is ‘in trouble’ as the center of the church shifts from North America and Western Europe to the Global South due to growing secularization. For Anabaptists, the end of Christendom should be a moment of opportunity due to our own historical place at the margins. Yet MCUSA is experiencing some of the same challenges and problems as the rest of North American mainline Protestantism.

As a result of these conversations, I started to ask myself whether MCUSA is ‘doomed’ to shrivel up and disappear. I’m not exactly an optimistic person, so as I mulled over these questions, I realized that doom might not be the right word to describe the current situation. However as I mused, I did come up with a list of what I think the biggest challenges that MCUSA faces during the post-Christendom shift.

Note: this is my list based on what I’ve observed and experienced as the current state of the Mennonite Church. It’s not an exclusive or exhaustive list. Feel free to disagree with me and please let us know what you think are the main challenges the denomination faces in the comments section below.

Do we know what it means to be Mennonite or Anabaptist? When I attended Goshen College a decade ago, I remember the never-ending discussion about Mennonite identity, particularly by those ethnic Mennonites (like myself) who no longer considered themselves Christian. Mennonites in North America have long associated Mennonite faith with a particular ethnic and cultural heritage — what happens to that heritage when we no longer have faith? Is it possible to be “Mennonite” without being Christian? What does that even mean?

It also appears to me that when my parent’s generation in the 1960′s and 70′s rejected the cultural particulars of conservative Mennonite dress, they bought into the generic American Protestantism of mainstream culture. As secularization sidelines Protestant Christianity from a position of privilege, what does that mean for us?  At a time when more and more Christians (i.e. Greg Boyd and Stuart Murray Williams) are interested in the Anabaptist tradition of being the church on the margins, why do many ‘cradle’ Mennonites feel uncomfortable about being Mennonite?

Are we really committed to following Jesus? I have observed an element on the liberal side of the Mennonite Church that has a deep commitment to peace and social justice, but only a nominal commitment to Jesus Christ. I do think that social justice is an important component to the mission of the church, in the sense that the Bible depicts justice with social, political and corporate dimensions along with the emphasis on personal salvation. However, I am concerned about a Christ-less Christianity that I see among some of my fellow travelers who embrace the pursuit of social justice, but seem unsure or indifferent about following Jesus. The church advocates for justice as a response to who we believe Jesus Christ is. Without that foundation for the mission of the church, I believe the church ultimately ceases to be Body of Christ and instead morphs into something else. What do we do when our concepts of justice conflict with the exclusive claims of Christianity?

Is MCUSA prepared to be an urban denomination? MCUSA is in the middle of a demographic shift in which many Mennonites are changing from a rural context to an urban one. A survey by Ryan Ahlgrim last January in The Mennonite noted that along with “racial-ethnic” congregations, urban “Anglo Anabaptist” churches constitute a growing edge of MCUSA. This shift occurs either through migration to urban centers like Philadelphia and Denver (or in my case, Baltimore) or by the development of rural areas. The sprawl of Lancaster or Elkhart Counties mean that many traditional rural Mennonite areas are no longer rural.

And yet many of our churches continue to have a homogeneous rural culture. While there will always be rural and small town Mennonite churches, I also believe that MCUSA’s future also lies with the non-Anglo and urban congregations that may better reflect the theologically diverse and multicultural world that many of our young people grow up in. In other words, the ‘typical’ everyday experiences of Mennonites are dramatically changing, and it remains to be seen whether our conferences and agencies are willing to invest in building the kind of church infrastructure that will minister to Mennonites in these new contexts. We need urban church planting. We need an urban presence for Mennonite agencies and institutions. Last year’s move by MCC East Coast to Philadelphia was a step in the right direction. Will the rest of the denomination follow?

How Serious Are We to Sharing the Gospel? Evangelism and evangelical are dirty words in some Mennonite circles because they carry connotations of the Religious Right and the so-called ‘Culture Wars’ of the past thirty years. However, I wonder whether in our rush to prove that we’re not one of those Christians, we have failed to present the Gospel story in our churches and our communities in a compelling way. At a time when many churches face dropping membership numbers, evangelism may not only be a biblical mandate, but also necessary for survival. I recognize, of course, that traditional evangelism makes many of us deeply uncomfortable (myself included). At the same time, some of the most innovative thinking I encountered at seminary involved evangelism, due to a growing recognition in some circles that the traditional methods no longer work in a post-Christian culture. But regardless of the type of evangelism we do, they all involve getting out of the comfort zones of our churches and developing relationships with our neighbors and communities.

I also believe that part of the current crisis is a result of our failure to evangelize our own children. I was struck by an article in Mennonite Weekly Review over whether Sunday School is “becoming extinct” as it fails to compete with other activities. I’m not a fan of the Sunday School model, but I do believe that if the traditional methods no longer work, we need to deliberately explore and find others. Biblical literacy is an extremely important part of developing faith in the next generation. Do we need to view our own churches as part of the mission field as well?

But I also believe that the mass evacuation of the Mennonite Church by its youth also has cultural reasons. We have long expected the culture of the church to do our heavy evangelical lifting for us. We expected that our children would become Christians because we were Christians and dragged them to church every Sunday. While that approach may have worked in a predominately Protestant culture, I don’t think it works anymore. Christianity is now only one option among many and we must do a better job at telling the story of our own particular tradition in the cacophony of voices that bombards us from every direction. Cultural Christianity is not enough — how do we help our young people encounter the risen Christ in an authentic and compelling way?

So is MCUSA doomed? Probably not — the word doom carries an idea of finality to it and I don’t believe that the denomination’s future is written in stone. But we are facing a period of contraction, when the church will not have the same amount of resources to embody and live out the mission of God in the world. We do have some hard and painful choices ahead of us. But we also have the opportunity for creativity and innovation — to find new ways of being church in this complicated world. After all, we come from a long tradition that has often greater challenges than what MCUSA faces today. If the worse case scenario happens and MCUSA ceases to exist, I am also convinced that someone else will pick up where we left off.

Finding God in culture- U2

Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 01:06PM

We just wrapped up a series at Veritas called Finding God in Culture in which we took a long at a TV Show, a Movie, and a Band and ask the question, "Where is God in the midst of culture."  This past Sunday we looked at the music of U2.  You can listen to the audio from the message but below you will find the discussion questions (which we did before the message) and the message.

Discussion Questions:

1.      What stands out to you as your read these lyrics to these 2 U2 songs?

2.      What do you think they mean?

3.      What connection is there between the two songs and our Scripture for today?

So today we wrap up our 3 week series entitled “Finding God in Culture” in which we have looked at various forms of media within our culture.  Hopefully we have seen where these forms of media from our culture have connected with our faith journeys, as individuals and as a community of faith.  Two weeks ago we looked at Desperate Housewives and the idea of being the kind of people and community that is safe for people to explore faith and spirituality.  Being open to questions, doubts, and struggles.  Last week we looked at the movie Avatar and the connection between the movie and the main character Jake and the incarnation of Jesus.  We also talked about the idea of followers of Jesus incarnating Jesus in the world today, being the hands and feet of Jesus seeking to bless people that we meet each day.

Today, as you know, we are and have looked at the music and the lyrics of the seminal rock group from Ireland called U2 (maybe you’ve heard of them).  We have looked at the lyrics of two songs from them, one from earlier in their career (Rejoice) and the other one a more recent addition to their musical catalog (Magnificent).  I believe there is a thread that runs through both of these two songs and straight into the Scripture that we are looking at together, that being Romans 12:1-2.

Let’s take another look at the Scripture together, what the Apostle Paul was trying to get at regarding our lives as Christ Followers, and where the lyrics from the two U2 songs connect.

In Romans 12:1-2, the Apostle Paul (an early follower of Jesus who planted many churches) wrote these words to the early followers of Jesus in the church in Rome, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

The first thing that Paul brings to the readers mind is the root of why we should follow Jesus and live out the meaning behind these words, that being God’s mercy upon us.  We should desire to follow after Jesus, laying down our lives as an act of worship, because of the many mercies that God has bestowed upon each of us every day of our lives.  Mercies both large and small, ranging from even waking up this morning, taking a deep breath, and looking at the Creation all around us, and going to the love of Jesus, his death on the cross for the redemption of each one of us, the renewal of all of creation, and the forgiveness of our sins.  In other words, our response in living a life of worship is based on God’s mercy towards us.

Paul then goes on to say that once we have rooted everything in God’s mercy, there is something that we need to do in response to that mercy.  Our response to God’s great mercy, shown the most prominently through Jesus, is to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.  The readers of this letter in the first century, both Jewish and non-Jewish, knew first hand what sacrifice was all about.  To beg that they make themselves a living sacrifice was a striking image.  Both Jews and Non-Jews understood that you brought something living to the altar, and you killed it as a means of worship.  So Paul was taking something that his audience understood (a metaphor if you will for following Jesus), and changing it a bit.  The difference is that the sacrifice Paul was talking about was a living sacrifice.  The sacrifice is living because it is brought alive to the altar, and then it stays alive at the altar, it is an ongoing sacrifice.

Now the question comes to my mind is “when Paul says that we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, what does he truly mean by body?”  Are we literally to put our bodies on the altar?  I think it is best to see that body is a reference to our entire being, our body, our will, our emotions, our mind, our everyday life, and everything that we have and are.  A non-Jewish person reading these words in the first century would probably never have thought of presenting their body to God.  The thought of the day was that the body was unspiritual and that God was unconcerned about it.  Paul shows here that God is concerned with our bodies as well.  The body is the chief instrument of the person and is to be presented to God through service to humanity, by preaching, teaching, ministering, and helping people, and not merely for some space of time but throughout all of life.

We are to be a holistic living sacrifice.  We are to offer our entire selves to God.  No other offering can be such that God will approve of.  When someone presented a sacrifice to the altar, especially a burnt offering, all of the offering was to be used; nothing was to be held back.  It is the same with us, nothing should be held back from God.  All of our lives should be a sacrifice to God.  Our reasonable service is a life of worship according to God’s word.  Or in other words all of our lives are to be worship unto God.

I love how Eugene Peterson, author of the Message (a version of the Scriptures) puts Romans 12:1, “So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.”

Now the next part of the verse is crucial for us to understand, because without verse 2, we wouldn’t want to live out verse 1, laying our lives down as a living sacrifice.  In order to live a life of worship to God, and being a living sacrifice, our lives must be transformed by God, and not conformed to the world around us.  We need our minds to be renewed everyday through the reading of Scripture, spending time in a renewed community of Jesus followers, prayer, meditation, fasting, and worship.  Then as we are transformed on the inside, the proof of that transformation will be evident on the outside, as others will see what the good and perfect will of God is through our life.  When you aren’t conformed to the systems, power, and thoughts of this world, but transformed, your life will be in the will of God and will be a living worship service to God.  Or as Paul puts it, a living sacrifice.

This idea that all of our life is worship to God, and not just an hour on Sunday morning is where I believe we connect our third core value (authentic worship expression) with our scripture for the morning, and also where we find God in culture, through the lens of the lyrics of U2.  The Apostle Paul calls us to a life of worship, and Bono sings about seeing all of life as worship.

In the song “Rejoice” Bono sings these words, “This morning I fell out of bed.  When I woke up to what he has said.  Everything's crazy.  But I'm too lazy to lie.  And what am I to do.  Just tell me what am I supposed to say I can't change the world.  But I can change the world in me.  If I rejoice.  Rejoice...”  To me what Bono is getting at is that no matter what is going on, good or bad or what, we can change how we view everything if we view everything through the lens of worship.  Through the lens that we are a living sacrifice called to rejoice and worship God in the mountaintops and the valleys of life.  The everyday life, ordinary life that Euguene Peterson talks about in his translation that I mentioned earlier.

In the other song that we looked at called Magnificent, Bono sings this, “I was born, I was born to sing for you. I didn't have a choice but to lift you up.  And sing whatever song you wanted me to I give you back my voice from the womb.  My first cry, it was a joyful noise, oh, oh”  Here I believe, Bono could be referring to the idea that his voice all the way from now back to the womb was his living sacrifice, his gift back to God to be used however God would see fit, and that it is and was a joyful noise of worship.

So my prayer is those words from the song, “I was born to sing for you.  I didn’t have a choice to lift you up.”  That we, like Bono, could realize that we were born to worship God.  Worship God with everything that we are, everything that we have, and everything within us.  That we would take our life to God’s altar, lay down on the altar, surrender our entire selves to God’s fire, then get up and be a living sacrifice for God.  Dying to what you want and living to God’s life in you and living through you, as you go out into the world and live a life of worship to him.