Exponential Part 2 of 3 - Missional Church

When Jesus was asked by his disciples which is the greatest commandment, He replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it; 'Love your neighbor as yourself'. Everything hangs on these two commandments."

Jesus modeled for us the perfect church, the perfect leadership style. He loved God with all of His heart. He loved people so much that he suffered on their behalf. And to prove it, to show God and people the endless bounds of His great love, He did what few are willing to do - He made himself second.

As the church, we should be gratefully thankful that we've been invited into God's family and given an opportunity to work in His Kingdom. We should respect and honor what has been given to us, this abundant life and Kingdom work. And we should be responsible with how we handle it and with what we do with it.

We've geared our weekends and outreach ministries as "in-house", "all-you-can-eat buffet", "one-stop-shop service centers".

Interesting Jesus never chose a mountain or hand-picked a temple to make His job easier by sending mass emails and posting giant billboards along the donkey trails to get the people to come to Him. If anyone could have been successful at one-stop-shop ministry, Jesus could have certainly done it.

Fish & bread? Jesus will hook you up!

Prosthetic leg? Forget prosthetic, He'll get you the real thing!

Trouble with Demon Possession? One word and out they go!

Jesus didn't make the people come to Him. Not to say our churches can't be attractional. Jesus certainly knew how to both attract and wow a crowd. But He was always on the move. And He expected his followers to do the same.

So what does missional look like? That's simple. It looks like loving God and loving people - all people.

Ed Stetzer summed up the Missional Church as movement - A missional church should 1. Serve Locally, 2. Send Nationally, and 3. Adopt or Serve a People Group Globally.

Movement. Action.

If Satan had a strategy to derail the church, what could that strategy possibly be? Perhaps it could be to get the church more internally focused than externally purposed - buildings over people.

If we really walked our city streets, I think it would be nearly impossible not to become missional. Problem is, we don't. We walk the halls of our churches instead. If we truly became outward focused and asked God to break our hearts for what breaks His, I think He'd do it. Problem is, it'd mess up our schedules and suddenly Sunday School classes and softball tournaments would seem a bit irrelevant.

People need Jesus. They also need some practical needs met. And they need to see Jesus in action, through us, His church.

If we really loved our neighbor as much as we love ourselves, what would life suddenly look like for us? What would we keep for ourselves? What would we demand be given away? How would our time be spent? Where would our money go?

Francis Chan said it best when he addressed the financial commitment he and his church had made - If we truly loved others as much as we love ourselves, we'd give as much to others as we keep for ourselves. The church Francis Chan pastored now gives 55% of it's entire budget away. That wouldn't even cover facility expense in most churches! That surely wouldn't cover staff and salary expense in most churches either. Yet, they're doing quite well.

Jesus met both the physical and spiritual needs of the people he met while traveling. He didn't make people come to him. He went to them. And whether it was food for the hungry, healing for the sick or counsel for the emotionally troubled, Jesus did it all.

I guess the point is this.

Remember how Jesus first officially introduced himself to the people of Jerusalem- He rode into town on a donkey.

Then what did He do?

He got off his donkey and got to work.

I think it's time we did the same.

Exponential Part 1 of 3 - Move & Multiply

Katie and I spent the last week in Orlando at the Exponential Conference. It was amazing. There were more than 3,000 church planters present. What a joy to stand along side these men and women who are stepping out into cities across the nation to plant churches. It's a surreal feeling to be apart of such a family.

If I had to narrow it down to three things we heard more than any other during Exponential, here they are: (I'll post the first today and two and three later this week)...

1. Move and Multiply. You're running late. You finally found a parking spot. You're running with luggage in hand and stand in the long line to get your boarding pass. Finally, pass in hand, you step almost immediately into the next line, only this line is moving even slower. You're looking at your watch, hoping you'll catch a break and actually be able to board your flight on time. It's not looking good. The person in front of you sets off the alarm. Security is called. Everything is delayed. Clock ticking, you finally make it passed the security and continue running to the terminal. You've got less than 5 minutes before the plane is supposed to depart. You arrive at the terminal with just a minute to spare. You fear it's too late. You pause for a moment and notice that the room is quite full, actually packed, and no one seems to be rushing. You glance out the window and notice your plane is still sitting and no one seems to have boarded. Actually, the tarmac is full of planes. No planes are taking off. The terminal is getting more crowded by the minute. People are beginning to get angry. It's getting stuffy. Frustration swells. Every seat is taken. People are standing against the walls and in the isles. It's chaotic. You now wish you hadn't rushed. You're angry too.

An airport is not the destination. In this case though, it appears that they think they are. An airport is a means of getting people to where they want to go. When an airport becomes the destination, planes grounded and terminals full, people get angry.

What a picture of the church. The church is not the destination, yet it appears that many churches believe they are. All of the effort goes into attracting people to our churches, rather than sending them out. And even though the airport scenario plays out much more directly, people in churches that have become the destination will in time become just as frustrated, even if they are unable to pinpoint the exact reason. Why? Because we were made to multiply. It's deep inside the heart of every Christian, this thing that says, "It's not about us; it's about them." The disciples were called to take the gospel into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and into all the earth. When they didn't, when they seemed to be content just sticking around Jerusalem - welcome persecution. That created movement. And guess what, no one looked back either. It's what we're called to do. Move & Multiply.

Things get ugly when we stop moving and multiplying. When our focus becomes centrally geared around attracting people to our church, more than making and sending out disciples, be ready for a holy shake up. Persecution is right around the corner. If we don't send out, God will stir things up and get the job done himself. Church split? What!

It's impossible to remain comfortable. We must be about the Father's business. It can't be about us. It has to be about them. Them, who are out there. Them, who must be reached by sending, not building bigger buildings and hoarding resources and gifts placed within our churches. Most likely, they were given us in the first place to give us the opportunity to join God in His movement and be apart of sending those gifts and resources into the world for His Kingdom's sake, not ours.

The Art of Suffering

Awkward? Just a bit. Francis Chan, the keynote speaker at the Exponential Church Plant Conference just resigned from his church days earlier. Yes, awkward. And everyone wanted to know the exact same thing. Why?

First, he quoted Amos 6:1. "Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come."

Then he began to share the thing that was most stirring in his heart. The thought, the coming moment when each one of us will fall before God while He looks down upon us and says, "Well Done, my good and faithful servant".

Along with probably everyone else in the room, I'm still waiting for the answer. Why? Why walk away from sixteen years of leading a growing and successful church? Why walk away from a position of worldwide influence? Why now?

His answer didn't resonate with me until I returned home from the conference. I have to credit my 3 year old little girl for actually helping daddy see what Francis was trying to say. His answer - a lack of Suffering.

A lack of suffering? Anti-prosperity gospel?

Do we have to suffer to hear God say, "Well Done"?

The night I returned home, after having been away from my daughter for almost a week, the revelation of suffering captivated my heart. And it came most unexpected.

The night before we left Orlando for home, while getting ready for bed, I was moving a large industrial sized fan into the doorway of our bedroom to create the kind of white noise that helps Katie and I sleep well. To my dismay, the large, round, sharp, heavy base wasn't very well attached. And, at the most inappropriate time, most likely when the base was at the highest elevation possible above my bare and naked foot, it dismantled and dropped - right on my big toe. I'm still amazed at how well our bodies can respond to pain when inflicted on such a tiny extremity. It hurt. Bad.

After walking in the door and being greeted by my 3 year old, I felt it necessary to take off my shoes and socks and give my newly black and blue and bloodied big toe a bit of refreshing air. Morgan said she wanted to see what was underneath the bandaid. So I thought, sweet, she'll love this. Doesn't every kid love the sight of a big black bloodied toe? Um, NO!

She was mortified. She grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go. She wept and wept and wept almost like I have never seen her weep before. She was shaken at the core. I was a bit surprised actually. She was in turmoil. She kept saying over and over, "Daddy, I don't want you to have a boo-boo". And no matter how much I tried to convince her that daddy was okay and that my boo-boo didn't hurt (even though it most definitely did), her concern only seemed to worsen.

All throughout the night, while reading a bed time book with mom, while enjoying a fun episode of Dora the Explorer with dad, she would look at me with an exaggerated quivering lip and pouty face and say, "Daddy, I don't want you to have a boo-boo". And then she'd cry. What in the world did I just do? I think I scarred her for life!

Then, some time late into the night, while I lay in bed, it hit me. I finally made the connection between comfort and suffering, between suffering and love.

I don't think the suffering Francis spoke of had much to do with success, money or good health. Suffering doesn't mean we have to be poor, afflicted or sick. It means we hurt. It means that in us, love and suffering are one and the same, they're connected.

My little three year old taught me for the first time in my life what it means to love and suffer because of love. Jesus, help us all if we don't get this! Woe to us who feel complacent and secure in Zion...

My daughter so loves me that even the thought of daddy hurting was enough to overwhelm her soul. For her, daddy's hurt was her hurt. Daddy's pain was her pain. For her, love and suffering are naturally connected. Even if she wanted to, she can't separate the two.

After a bit of reflecting, I took a deep hard look at my own heart, the heart of a church planter. When have I loved someone so deeply that I suffered because of it? Do I suffer because of the pain in my family, in my neighborhood, in my community, in my city?

Do I suffer for the lost, the broken, the hurting, the spiritually restless, the orphan, the widow, the abused, the addict, the hungry, the poor, the rich, the depressed, the outcast, the sick, the oppressed?

Could Jesus have endured the physical suffering that he had to endure on the cross without first enduring and embracing the spiritual suffering so intimately connected to his ever-abounding love for us?

Oh, that we could have faith like a child, eyes like a child, the heart of a child. Oh, that our hearts could break for the lost and the broken, hurt for the pain in our world so much so that out of our deep and gruesome suffering would rise a compelling and divine resolve to offer hope and healing, restoration and reconciliation with the Creator God.

Are you willing for God to break your heart? Are you willing to love so deeply that the rest of your life will be filled with the suffering that Jesus feels for every single man and woman, boy and girl?

There's a camel on the highway!

It is nearly impossible to put into words the sheer devastation and hopelessness that has gripped the poor nation of Haiti. Nearly every structure has been destroyed or severely damaged. Very few have been able to return to their homes. Most live in small shanties constructed by debris and scrap metal. Clean water is hard to come by. Food is even scarcer. The corruption of the government continues to cripple the people. Food and supplies donated and sent from around the world remain undistributed in mass storage units. Very little has reached the people. People fend for themselves. There is very little aid reaching the people. What the media portrays is not what we saw during our short stay. The need is simply too great and the workers, too few.

In a nation where voodoo devil worship clearly reigns, it is not surprising to see such oppression and affliction. Yet, there is hope. As we traveled through the ruin, we were captivated, as are many of the Haitians, by what we saw. Homes, schools, businesses, government buildings, the presidential palace...all lie in ruin. Block after block of broken concrete, most of the nation's infrastructure destroyed.

Yet, to see a church in ruin was like spotting a desert camel on a well-traveled Ohio interstate. Not every church survived, but most did. Clearly, among the structures that survived, churches are at the top of the list. It has been the church of Haiti, not the government, meeting the needs of the people. It has been the church of Haiti, not the international aids groups, providing medical care and treatment, food and clean water for the people.

The church we worked with is called Light Ministries. It's pastor and his wife have lived and ministered in Haiti for 28 years. Of the more than 1,200 members of their local church, only two people lost their lives to the earthquake, though most of their member's homes were leveled. Five days a week they hold worship gatherings at their home with several hundred participants. They have seen multiplied hundreds of new converts since the devastation took place. God is on the move. There is, in the midst of great despair and hopelessness, an unexplainable hopeful and healing current sweeping through the nation. The standing churches are offering hope. It is not difficult to see that God is at work and people are noticing.

Our project was to reinforce Light Ministries' worship center, which houses the free medical clinic and weekly worship gatherings, paving the way for even more Haitians to discover the hope of Jesus in a time when most hope seems permanently lost.

I'll leave you with one last thought. A thought I have carried with me since experiencing the raw, abandoned, pure praise and worship of a people who have lost what little they had -

Perhaps they are not the unfortunate ones. Maybe we are. Have we pushed God aside to the kingdom of our comfort? Is our worship pure, abandoned and exuberant or luke-warm, second-thought, filling a weekly time slot?

Our fortune has blinded. Their misfortune has enlightened.

Haiti has a unique opportunity. They have little to lose. Oh, how blessed they are, that God would shake their nation at its' core in order to draw their attention to Him. You say, "How can you say God caused such a terrible catastrophe?". I say, "How can you say He didn't?".

Either way, He is capturing the attention of a nation. There has begun an outpouring of His Spirit. A regeneration of a people.

Shall we even consider crying out to God,

"Oh God, would you shake America?"

"Would you bring us to our knees?"

"Would you get the attention of this people?"

"Would you restore what is lost and hopeless?"

How desperate are you?