the drum|rob fairbanks

The Kingdom Ethic

By Brendan

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. ‘Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters…and multiply there and do not decrease. ‘Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare (Shalom) you will have welfare (Shalom).’” – Jeremiah 29:4-7

This prophetic passage from Jeremiah is one of the more difficult passages of scripture for us to wrestle with. Ultimately God has brought the Israelites into slavery under the pagan Babylonian Kingdom, not exactly what the Israelites had in mind of a “promise land.” I can only imagine what this must have been like, here you are “God’s chosen nation” brought into slavery to this pagan Kingdom. Going from a prominent Kingdom and a particular way of life in Jerusalem to captivity within Babylon. Many people are uncomfortable with change and most hate it when even the smallest wrench gets thrown into their plans. Just imagine being uprooted and transferred to an entirely different city, into an entirely different culture, having to re-establish yourself and formulate a new way of life; not something people generally get excited about (especially later in life). But this is what the Israelites experience, and then on top of that it was God who led them into exile. God uproots them and calls them to live among a pagan people. Strange, or is it?

God calls them to establish themselves and carry on with life as they know how. He calls them to build homes, take wives and multiply, and seek the Shalom of the city. Now, if I were in the Israelites shoes I can imagine myself not super thrilled with this turn-of-events, but as an outsider looking back on this amazing story we can truly see the Kingdom at work. This is God’s calling for us to as well. We are sojourners in our own nation and culture, a people of God called to bring his Shalom to our cities even if we do not “feel a call” to any particular place, Jesus has called us in essence to build houses, take spouses and multiply, pray for those around us, and make disciples as we are living. As we are faithful to this call we will experience the Kingdom.  

 

 

The Elephant in the Room: Paying Attention to an Issue that is not going away

By Kenny

We live in a society where tolerance is king. Everyone is allowed to believe what they want to believe and to say otherwise is worse than murder. We are a progressive culture.

Then there’s the church. The church is above culture. The church tries to adapt within culture. Sometimes there is no difference between culture and the church.

The hot topic for the last decade both in culture and in church is homosexuality. A lot of people have a lot to say on this topic. A lot if it is controversial with varying degrees of conservatism and liberality. The church is stuck somewhere in between. This can be an uncomfortable subject. I think especially the younger generation feels conflicted with how homosexuality fits into the church. Many of us know homosexual people, are friends with homosexual people and respect homosexual people. I know some homosexual people who love Jesus and are incredible followers! But the church, and everyone that makes up the church, have to decide where they stand. The church has to decide whether gay people can be leaders of the church or those people should be taught to turn away from their homosexual lifestyle. For total equality or against it, in relation to the church (to be neutral or undecided is essentially to be against). To believe homosexuality is unnatural, or a perversion of God’s creation, is to say a necessary mission field opens up. I don’t really see a realistic middle ground.
Personally, I have an incredibly difficult time to even think about what being missional in a homosexual community would look like, especially if the people of that community were Christians. Honestly, I find Scripture clear on the subject – homosexual relationships are unnatural and they are not how God intended relationships to be. However, on this front, I want to believe that they can accept Christ all the same, receive salvation and pursue a healthy relationship with God. In my youth ministry program I will undoubtedly have students who are homosexual. Statistically, I already have. I cannot think about trying to turn them from this lifestyle without potentially severing my relationship with that student and potentially damaging how they see God and the church. I continually struggle with how I might teach the subject without burning bridges.  I will inevitably have to take a stance beyond the stance that God loves everyone. Students will have questions and I will have to answer them according to Scripture.

KH

Going out and into the tension

 

In youth ministry, there's no question of whether or not games, social gatherings, or even the occasional all-nighter should be included in the regular run of things. As an adult, you have to be crazy to help out at an all-nighter. Well, if you are not already, you'll become crazy, waking up on an odd-smelling pew in the back of the auditorium around 8am to kids running circles around you, still making use of the Mountain Dew high that peaked around 4 in the morning. That's my experience anyhow. I gave in to the pleading for an all-nighter, which kids might claim to be the true "life-changing" event of our time, because it's one of the events they have always done as a youth group. So who I am to stop it? I mean, I'm sure the parents just love the seemingly useless, zombie-fied status of their post-all-nighter children for the next 48 hours, right?

So it's a regular occurrence for students to ask me what the next fun event will be or to give me new ideas for one. In a sense, this is good because, of course, kids want to do fun things together and they are investing their thoughts and ideas in the youth group. But when does it become too much? At what point do we have to say, "Alright, hold up, what about us carrying out the calling of Christ outside these four walls? What about living a life of service and reaching out to the poor, the broken, or our next door neighbor?"

Recently, I heard a pastor say that a church's greatest mission should be to get people to move OUT, to live out the Gospel. He followed that by clarifying that this might mean saying no to the kind of programs that essentially keep people IN. So there's a tension in youth ministry, between the building of relationships through fun, highly-social events (which also can hopefully satisfy the cravings of the wild teenage spirit) and the pursuit of living a missional life outside of these events. Perhaps one of the greatest goals any youth ministry could have is to direct the wild teenage spirit to be poured out and into mission, thus relieving the tough balancing act of the time we spend inside of and then outside of our four walls.

Pegs and Holes

By Josh

Imagine a machine that is designed to carry large chunks of marble up out of mine shaft where it can be packaged and shipped off. Now imagine what people would say if the miners suddenly struck oil and the man in charge decided that they would use the exact same machine to elevate the oil to the surface.

People would declare that the man is insane! They would say that his system was built for a different purpose and for a different environment. They would say that the oil they are dealing with is uniquely different than the marble that they have dealt with in the past. Therefore it is only logical that a new machine must be built; one that can conform to and handle this new material.

In the same way, western missionaries are moving into countries and establishing church organizational structures that were built for an entirely different “substance”. It is ludicrous to expect a church system designed for a mega church in Seattle, filled with wealthy middle class Americans, to work for a nomadic tribe in Central Africa. The very “substance” that we are dealing with is different. All cultures are not the same, and the church or machine must therefore be modified or changed in order to handle different types of cultures. The machine is still doing the same thing, but simply by a different process and means.

When you look at foreign missions from this perspective it seems obvious that the organization and way that the church functions must be very different from what is common in America; however, sadly, it is still very common for western missionaries to go into a country and try to conform that countries culture to his system of church organization. We might as well try to put a square peg in a round hole. With enough pressure the square will fit into the hole, but it will no longer be the square that God uniquely created to be a square. Westerners have fallen into the trap of thinking that God only makes round pegs and round holes. We think that God has made everyone like us, and that those that are not like us need to change.

-JS

take off the skinny jeans and put on your carhartts

There was a philosophy that I heard stated in different ways when I was in youth ministry and every time I heard it, it always drove me a little crazy. That philosophy was something along the lines of “if you can win the quarterback, you will win the school.” And whether stated or unstated, it was the basis of most of the youth ministries I observed. Tons of energy was poured into reaching the cool kids.

via theycallmepastorbryan.com

This is a fantastic blog (my opinion) from a good friend on frustrating trends in church planting.

Do you think he is accurate, is he missing something or is he just a frustrated "hipster"? :)

rob

Church Planting Among the Catalan - my time in Barcelona

A month ago I got the amazing privilege to wander around Barcelona with one of Christian Associates missionary families, Justin and Jenn Powell.  I was deeply impressed with how they lived and how they intentionally connected with so many people.  While we walked, it was remarkable how many people Justin knew by name.  This came about as a result of them taking the time to, what we in our church planting lingo call, “embed” in their context.  That simply means for us the first step for every missional church planter is not to plan or start a worship service, but to actually make friends…I know that is an amazing concept, but you’d be surprised if you knew however many people just don’t get the habit of listening and learning the culture they seek to bring the Gospel to.  We use the phrase “listen for the joys and laments of a particular context.”  Jenn and Justin do get it and it shows.

Here’s a video of their project in Barcelona.  You can catch right away that Justin has become a keen student of his city and as a result has fallen in love the Catalan people. 

BARCELONA from Christian Associates on Vimeo.

 

 I would be interested in what you think of their work.  Maybe doing something like this is in your future.  If it is, click the CA Join the Movement link.  Thanks!  That will get you started.

Peace!

Crossing the Line - Serve the City in Brussels and Beyond

Here is a clip featuring one of CA's churches in Brussels as they mobilize to bring true Shalom to their city.  The pastor is Carlton Deal explaining how it came about.

 

"Crossing the Line" - An Untamed Example of Missional Engagement In Cape Town

Did you catch the line they shared about how they viewed the poverty and hardship of the township they minister in?  They were told to, "Look at the gap - what it is now and what it will be when Jesus returns."  I don't think we can do mission adequatley unless we have both a clear Kingdom theology and and a mature eschatology (beliefs about the end times).  

After spending time with these two this last summer, I was humbled and inspired to look at and live differnently in the city I reside in.  

What are your thoughts after watching the video?

To find out more about Lourens and Elsa check out their webpage at: The Maritz Duo

 

"Being Missional" in Scotland

via vimeo.com

In this video, Chris Mckenzie, of the church plant Mosaic talks about how to make God's name beautiful in a diverse and beautiful city like Glasgow, Scotland.  Chris is a friend and thoughtful practitioner of the Gospel with Christian Associates International.  

Let me know what you think about his thoughts.

Contextualize This

Attempting to contextualize the Gospel is a very acute and sensitive endeavor. Push the envelope too far and you will be lost in the ocean of syncretism, or really just pervert the Gospel until it is no longer the good news of Jesus Christ, but the good news of whatever culture or society you are in. On the contrary, if you fail to contextualize at all, or just contextualize too little, evangelism really just becomes assimilation and or socialization unto the church culture – or Christian imperialism. Stanley Hauerwas seems to insinuate in his book Resident Alien that the first apologists in the early church were inadvertently (it should be noted that Constantinian Christendom was also a major contributing factor) laying the groundwork that would perpetuate into modern theologians fruitless attempts to accommodate or make the Gospel – perceived to be ancient and outdated due to its ancient near eastern Hebraic roots - seem relevant and intelligible to the post-modernity, post-enlightenment, and increasingly anti-Christianity intellectual realm of the current times. (There is obviously more to be said and more to explain, but for the sake of the brevity of the blog post, and retaining your interest, I must go on.) This, Hauerwas goes on to argue, “transforms it [the Gospel] into something it never claimed to be – ideas abstracted from Jesus, rather than Jesus with his people.” 

So how then do we go forth and contextualize the Gospel? That is of course, if you do not believe that contextualizing is a necessary theological discipline, then you have no horse in this race and should go read a different blog. I am starting with the basic underlying assumption that it is necessary to contextualize the Gospel. After all, God did it – the Word became flesh. Anyways, I am not trying to hint that Hauerwas is suggesting that we give up trying to contextualize the Gospel (Hauerwas is a boss, he would never suggest such a thing), I am merely attempting to intelligently express and publicly vent a frustration that I have over contextualization. I believe it is not just important, but it is absolutely necessary. But I am also very put off by all the implicit dangers that come with, if it is not done properly. Rene Padilla argues and points out that it is not a science, but an art, to which I whole-heartedly agree. Unlike science, Scripture is not to be read, studied or translated with an indifferent disconnect between the object and the subject. There is an undeniable, subjective, and emotive relationship between the two.

Does this make anyone else uncomfortable? Because I find myself desperately wanting there to be some sort of universally objective science or technique for contextualization. But maybe I should just repent and allow God to be God.

Jessemac