May 2007
"the way it is... the way it could be... the way it should be"
Tuesday, May 29, 2007 Filed in: deep thoughts
| random
musings
it started about four
years ago. i've been going to church for my entire
life and just accepted the way it was. you go to
church on Sunday... you get some great message and
learn what it means to be a good Christian... you get
involved in other areas of the church to "give
back"... (this is what separates you from those who
just go to church to mooch or be social)... but it
was pretty "me-focused." four years ago, i started
thinking that maybe church should be
different.
it was at this point that my friend and pastor, Matthew Cork, asked me to read two books. one was called "An Unstoppable Force" (written by a guy called Erwin McManus) and the other was "The Purpose Driven Church" (written, of course, by Rick Warren who wrote "The Purpose Driven Life"). suddenly i realized that the church was not what it was supposed to be. the church, which had begun as a movement of epic proportions, had turned into a monument with no movement. what had started out as a living and growing organism had become a static and boring organization. what was supposed to be a powerful force in changing the world had evolved into an inwardly focused group of self-righteous and impotent people. (no wonder so many people hate Christians!) this got me started on a search to find out more about what the church should be.
last summer, i had the privilege of hearing Bono speak at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. he talked about Africa (of course) and about how the church couldn't simply sit by and let the horrible things happening in the world happen anymore. he talked about how the church and the teachings of Christ were all about service to the "least of these" and how the church, for a long time, had seemed to forget these things. **
as i left the summit, i was talking with a friend of mine. i wondered what a church dedicated to being outwardly focused might look like. we talked about how exciting and different it would be to start a church that was all about giving back. all about using what it had to change the world. all about training up the people of God to take Him to the world not through preaching and bible-beating, but through acts of service. "a church like that," i told him, "i would want to be a part of!" ***
having studied it further, that's exactly what the church has been called to be. recently i came across Ephesians 4. i've read this before (probably many times) but the implications of it never hit me until now...
verses 11 and 12 say "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up..."
Paul is talking about what the purpose of the church is. he says that God gave different people different gifts but all for the purpose of building up the church so that they would be prepared for works of service. sounds like what Bono was getting at. (sometimes i hate that it takes an Irish rockstar to get people to figure things out and pay attention.)
so, yes... the church is supposed to build up its members. they are supposed to grow and support one another. they are supposed to be a community and a safe-haven for each other. however, this is only so that they can be healthy and strong (spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically) so that they can go and serve the people of this world.
imagine if even 1/2 of the churches in the world started living this out. even if 1/4 did, the world would be a very different place. Jesus was with the poor. Jesus ministered to the prostitutes and the tax collectors and the fishermen and the sick and the homeless and the rich and the people who lived lifestyles that didn't match up to Christian ideals. we should really be more like Jesus if that's who we're trying to serve. people might not hate us as much. who knows? they might even want to be a part.
- matt
** Bono also spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast last year and shared many of the same sentiments. you can read the very short book "On The Move" which is basically his speech that day with pictures. (pictures always make books better!)
*** a month after my friend and i were pondering these thoughts, ROCKHARBOR launched their "Give Yourself Away" vision which is all about training the church to go out and serve the world. their plan was almost exactly what we had been talking about (even down to some of our ideas and the details behind it all). he now works there.
it was at this point that my friend and pastor, Matthew Cork, asked me to read two books. one was called "An Unstoppable Force" (written by a guy called Erwin McManus) and the other was "The Purpose Driven Church" (written, of course, by Rick Warren who wrote "The Purpose Driven Life"). suddenly i realized that the church was not what it was supposed to be. the church, which had begun as a movement of epic proportions, had turned into a monument with no movement. what had started out as a living and growing organism had become a static and boring organization. what was supposed to be a powerful force in changing the world had evolved into an inwardly focused group of self-righteous and impotent people. (no wonder so many people hate Christians!) this got me started on a search to find out more about what the church should be.
last summer, i had the privilege of hearing Bono speak at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. he talked about Africa (of course) and about how the church couldn't simply sit by and let the horrible things happening in the world happen anymore. he talked about how the church and the teachings of Christ were all about service to the "least of these" and how the church, for a long time, had seemed to forget these things. **
as i left the summit, i was talking with a friend of mine. i wondered what a church dedicated to being outwardly focused might look like. we talked about how exciting and different it would be to start a church that was all about giving back. all about using what it had to change the world. all about training up the people of God to take Him to the world not through preaching and bible-beating, but through acts of service. "a church like that," i told him, "i would want to be a part of!" ***
having studied it further, that's exactly what the church has been called to be. recently i came across Ephesians 4. i've read this before (probably many times) but the implications of it never hit me until now...
verses 11 and 12 say "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up..."
Paul is talking about what the purpose of the church is. he says that God gave different people different gifts but all for the purpose of building up the church so that they would be prepared for works of service. sounds like what Bono was getting at. (sometimes i hate that it takes an Irish rockstar to get people to figure things out and pay attention.)
so, yes... the church is supposed to build up its members. they are supposed to grow and support one another. they are supposed to be a community and a safe-haven for each other. however, this is only so that they can be healthy and strong (spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically) so that they can go and serve the people of this world.
imagine if even 1/2 of the churches in the world started living this out. even if 1/4 did, the world would be a very different place. Jesus was with the poor. Jesus ministered to the prostitutes and the tax collectors and the fishermen and the sick and the homeless and the rich and the people who lived lifestyles that didn't match up to Christian ideals. we should really be more like Jesus if that's who we're trying to serve. people might not hate us as much. who knows? they might even want to be a part.
- matt
** Bono also spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast last year and shared many of the same sentiments. you can read the very short book "On The Move" which is basically his speech that day with pictures. (pictures always make books better!)
*** a month after my friend and i were pondering these thoughts, ROCKHARBOR launched their "Give Yourself Away" vision which is all about training the church to go out and serve the world. their plan was almost exactly what we had been talking about (even down to some of our ideas and the details behind it all). he now works there.
|
"new clips"
Tuesday, May 29, 2007 Filed in: public
service announcements
i’ve been working as a
consultant with the hispanic church Amigos de Cristo
on their new vision called “Prueba y Ve” (“Taste and
See”).
part of that has
included putting together some teasers for the launch
in July. the first two teasers have been posted in
the “clips” section. (it will help if you can read
spanish!) :-)
"encheapened* (yes... i know it's not a word!)"
Sunday, May 20, 2007 Filed in: deep thoughts
| my life
being taken advantage
of is one of the worst feelings in the world.
the reason for this is that the person being taken advantage of is encheapened* (still not a word, i know) to the point that their value is only as great as that for which they are being taken advantage.
in other words, if you pretend to be my friend so that you can ride in my car, for example, my worth is suddenly equal to that of my car. (not in dollars or anything, but you get the idea.)
people are worth more than cars. people are worth more than a lot of things. in fact, i'd like to think that people are worth more than anything else there is. i mean, what else do we have that is worth what people are?
anyway, so it sucks pretty bad to realize that you're only worth something you have to somebody (even if it's only one person. even worse when it's more.) definitely the downside to having lots of things. it just means that more people can find something you have to equate your value with and therefore, devalue you as a person.
i'm going to try to stop encheapening people to the value of what they have. we all should. it's not nice to do. it's not a good feeling. nobody likes it.
"goodnight... and good luck."**
-matt
* the word "encheapened" was coined by the creators of Strong Bad and Homestar at www.homestarrunner.com
** that quote is not, as you might suspect, from the movie "Goodnight and Good Luck" or from Edward R. Murrow on whom that movie is based. it is from Michael Scott from the season finale of "The Office." just wanted to clear that up.
the reason for this is that the person being taken advantage of is encheapened* (still not a word, i know) to the point that their value is only as great as that for which they are being taken advantage.
in other words, if you pretend to be my friend so that you can ride in my car, for example, my worth is suddenly equal to that of my car. (not in dollars or anything, but you get the idea.)
people are worth more than cars. people are worth more than a lot of things. in fact, i'd like to think that people are worth more than anything else there is. i mean, what else do we have that is worth what people are?
anyway, so it sucks pretty bad to realize that you're only worth something you have to somebody (even if it's only one person. even worse when it's more.) definitely the downside to having lots of things. it just means that more people can find something you have to equate your value with and therefore, devalue you as a person.
i'm going to try to stop encheapening people to the value of what they have. we all should. it's not nice to do. it's not a good feeling. nobody likes it.
"goodnight... and good luck."**
-matt
* the word "encheapened" was coined by the creators of Strong Bad and Homestar at www.homestarrunner.com
** that quote is not, as you might suspect, from the movie "Goodnight and Good Luck" or from Edward R. Murrow on whom that movie is based. it is from Michael Scott from the season finale of "The Office." just wanted to clear that up.