Is There Openness to Think Differently?
Alan Hirsch is hopeful:
"Certainly I see a newfound, system-wide, willingness to really rethink and even question some of what up to now we have considered sacrosanct. I have been an activist for missional-incarnational church for a long time now, and I have never before experienced such radical openness and real engagement with the ideas. Even more exciting is that many are willing to really try them out...to experiment and perhaps innovate new forms of church. Another thing that excites is is the talk about exponential. Why I get excited about this because when you really begin to take this seriously, it serves as a catalyst to think missionally about the forms of church, mission, and discipleship. It effectively forces us to take issues of how we are currently doing church seriously and sends us on a journey of discovery to find out new ways of being more effective--this is very much part of the missional journey."
What do you think? What signs of hope have you seen? Is there more openness in your churches and with other 'established' leaders?
posted by Dan Masshardt at 7:50 PM
3 Comments:
Dan,
Here at Faith we are experiencing a shift in a way that we 'do' (Yikes! I hate that!) church. But, it has come at a great cost.
What I'm trying to sort out in the openness that Hirsch says that he sees is how much of it is heartfelt, humble repentance before the Lord of our internal, institutional Christendom-based traditions and how much of it is desperation that comes from a growing awareness that what we are doing no longer works and that budgets are shrinking.
I'm seeing some repentance and some desperation.
I pray every day for the CGGC that the Lord will call us to repentance. We need to give our hearts to Him.
About once a month I get together with some other pastors and church leaders and other sojourners at a pizza pub in Wheaton, Il. Just last week we were discussing the lonely factor that some of us are experiencing as we redefine this thing.
Two people spoke about how they had a mentor who taught them how to think outside of the box, but when they thought outside of the mentor's box, they were abandoned when they still needed mentorship.
Others have lost congregants and friends as they take this journey. In some ways it becomes a lonely path, but at the same time, everyone at the table agreed that despite the costs, it has been the most rewarding road they have been on. So overall I would find that hopeful.
Along the way, my little monthly band have been inviting other leaders to meet with us who are curious and are just dipping their toes into this emerging pool of missional life.
As my little community is less than a yeah and a half old, transition has been easier for us than most established churches, but it came with a cost. When we were first starting with our core and has nice missional words, it was easy for people to get excited about it. But as we started acting on those words and seeing the fruits of our labors, many of those people who originally waved the flag with us needed to find safe harbor in the nearest evangelical church with a nice contemporary vibe and consumer experience. The unfortunate part is that most of those peeps were the big tithers. Our first six months we had more than enough money to cover expenses, now I personally shoulder two thirds to three fourths of the monthly expenses and we are a month behind in our rent, but with all those challenges, the people that are in our community are so precious and we are doing so very much with so very little.
This path of discipleship comes with a cost that is understandably too pricey for some, but it is such a worthwhile road and I am seeing and meeting some good people who are willing to pay the cost.
Reading Cap't Tux response reminded me of a verse in Nehemiah that I return to every now and then, ".And I consulted with myself...." Neh. 5:7 (KJV and NASB).
We don't talk about this much but pastors are often lonely. There are some benefits to that--concentration, focus etc. but also a downside, including a Messiah complex and other emotional problems.
We really should let our colleagues know we are there for them even when we disagree.
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