the drum|rob fairbanks

Is the Church too strong?

By Jeff

I cannot help but wonder if our churches have become too muscular?  Have our churches become immobilized due to overwhelming attendance and the resulting church politics? Is it possible to grow die hard disciples out of a large church? Special Forces soldiers and Rangers are rarely stacked with muscle and yet they are the most effective soldiers in the field. Should we strive to build congregations so full of Christians that they are impressive on the exterior due to mass but rendered ineffective by the very same characteristic that we find impressive?

 

Special Forces soldiers and Rangers are not stacked with muscle for a reason. Too much muscle hinders agility and speed, thus making them a slower target. It seems that we as the Church have placed too much value on well attended services (just as athletes can become obsessed with numbers numerically representing their performance) that we have created congregations that cannot run the race of missions. Unfortunately, since the church has supported the numbers game, the congregants have followed suit. We now have vast amounts of congregants who have overloaded their lives with things that seem to be positive (like muscle) but leave them unable to walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death unless they make some serious sacrifices before they begin their march through the Valley.  We as a church have packed on so much ‘muscle’ that we cannot quickly adapt to the changing currents in the ocean in which we swim.

 

We must become more like Special Forces soldiers or Rangers, we need to cut the excessive muscle and re-gain our agility to navigate through this rapidly changing world.

Marriage and Mission

By Caitlin

If you have ever been to a small Christian college, or know someone who has, then you have probably heard the term “ring before spring.” And it is unusual to find an unmarried seni or pastor at any church. I’ve found that the Christian Church in America definitely emphasizes the importance and sacredness of marriage. Considering that we live in a culture obsessed with sex, this emphasis is probably a good thing. After all, Paul does say in 1 Corinthians  7:9 that “it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”

However, I do wonder if the pressure to find a husband/wife can distract from living out God’s mission. I know many people who, when considering the potential of another for dating or marriage, really only consider whether or not they claim to be a Christian, and if they have chemistry. Both of those are important, but I don’t think it should stop there. Many of  my friends seem to look for that “special someone” first, and consider how they can live out God’s mission afterward. 

We had a group of really wonderful people come into class to talk about living missionally, and two of them were a young married couple who run an organization called Global Neighborhood, which helps refugees from other countries adjust to life in the United States. Both of them had given up everything to follow Christ’s call for their lives, and he blessed them with one another. But I started to think, what if one of them hadn’t listened to this call? Would that have stopped them both from living out Christ’s mission, or just changed the way they do that?

Like almost any other twenty-year-old woman, of course I want to get married at some point. But people look at me strangely when I say, “I’d be okay if I stay single my whole life. ” Especially in the last couple of years, I’ve felt God calling me to the dark places, to work with broken people. I do not really want the American Dream. However, I could see myself being easily swayed and pulled away from following this call if I started considering a significant other’s desires or needs foremost. I think that God plans for some people to serve him as singles, and some as married couples. Why is this such a unheard-of concept to so many Christian college students today?

Tim Tebow: Separation of Church and Life

By Peter

Well I figure that I might as well go ahead and write about the most provocative figures in the country today even though I know more than enough has been said about him already and much more is sure to come.  I just can’t get over how polarizing he is and how obsessed the media has been in creating and fueling the never-ending debates we see or hear about everywhere we go.  Everyone seems to have been sucked into it.  Last week at church the topic was prayer and images we associate with it.  Of course the picture of you-know-who was in there.  More than 42 million people watched Sunday’s game and there were over 9,000 tweets per second about it during and after the game ended.  People are now growing weary of the ridiculous attention he has been getting and wish that there could just be a separation of church and game. 

While I agree that all the commotion is getting a bit overwhelming, I can’t help but be amazed at how this simple act of public prayer and attributing everything he does to God has stirred up this attention.  There are plenty of athletes out there who pray and speak about their faith publicly but for some reason this guy is different.  I’m sure there are plenty of other reasons, namely the actual job he does and the exciting finishes that somehow keep happening. 

A lot of people might criticize him for praying ‘on the street corner’ and being too public about his faith but when Jesus criticized the Pharisees for this it was for being hypocritical and for doing it just to gain attention.  I can’t say for sure that all the attention isn’t perpetuating him further but I do know that he had this faith and prayer habits before getting all the national attention and that his behavior off the field backs up what he is preaching.  (If you are curious you should read Rick Reilly’s recent article about what happens after every game).  I also know that in our culture we really like to separate our work from our play and especially from our religion or faith.  Everything has its place.  Well here we have on the nation’s stage a guy who refuses to categorize his life but lets his faith form his identity, no matter how much criticism he gets for it.

Wrestling with God

By Corey

As of late, my favorite story from Scripture is found in Genesis 32. Jacob is beginning to make his way back to Esau to ask for forgiveness. The story continues on when Jacob is left alone at night and “a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day” (Genesis 32:24 ESV). As morning arrives the man tells Jacob to stop wrestling but Jacob holds on and will not let go of the man. And as we know, Jacob is blessed, his name is changed to Israel and his life delivered.

            I love this passage because it demonstrates two aspects of faith. First, it shows that it is okay to wrestle with God. I think this is a crucial part of faith, which is often avoided as often as possible. However, I know from my own experience that I grow the most when I am struggling or confused with what God is doing in my life. I further see this in our class, Missional Church. Take for instance the four pastors that came in and talked with us. One of the things that I saw in common between the four was that they all got to where they are through trials and times of questioning. Colby had been stopped from going to China two times and the other three all had really discouraging experiences with the Church. Through these struggles, it became clear that each one was grateful for what they had gone through because it brought them closer to Jesus. 

            The second idea that is demonstrated in this passage is that in order to wrestle with certain ideas one needs to be determined to stay faithful and find the answer. For me, this idea resonates more firmly because anyone can struggle or doubt, but it takes faith and determination to work through that struggle. I am most amazed at how Jacob held onto the man fighting him and demand that he blessed. This is what I want to do; I want to hold on to God so that I can bless others through God’s blessing on me.

What about the Spirit?

By Josh

In class we have been talking about and reading so many things about becoming a “missional church”. But I have noticed a lack of recognition and dependence on the power and guidence of the Holy Spirit in both the discussion and the books. Everyone has so many good ideas of ways to reform the church and make it into what God intended it to be…..which is not a bad thing in itself; the problem lies in the fact that Christians often take an American entrepreneurial approach in this reforming, and I can’t help but wonder where the guidance and submission to the will of the Spirit is in all of this.

 

It is important to remember that even Jesus, the incarnated Son of God, was led around by the Spirit much like a child is led around by his mother (Matthew 4:1, Mark 1:12). We must also remember that Paul was led and directed by the Spirit in all of his missionary ventures (Acts 13:4, Acts 20:22). In Romans it declares that the Sons of God are led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14). Should we not as Americans, who often have very little in depth vision into the will of God, not rely on the guidance of the Spirit much more than these men did?

 

Yet we see Christian after Christian pursuing missions or pursuing the ministry without ever have consulted the Spirit for guidance. Christians need to be constantly submitting themselves in prayer to seek to know what the will of God is as revealed to them through His Spirit. And until we figure this out, the majority of our church plants will continue to fail within the first few years.

A new perspective of the Lilac City

By Troy

Yesterday in class, four local pastors stopped by to give real-life examples of the missional church in action. Colby Ivey from Inland Church in downtown Spokane, Justin Byreans from Kaleo Church in Otis Orchards, Dave Wilkenson from the Porch in West Central, and Eric Blauer from Jacob’s Well in East Central.

 

 I’ve always seen Spokane as just a pit stop in the grand scheme of my life, but this class (and especially this session) has given meaning, roots, and a new perspective of the Lilac City.

 

Some of my favorite thoughts from the morning:

 

- Church planter Dave Wilkenson expressed some regret that he started The Porch with a focus on the worship service instead of ‘doing mission.’  He said if he were to start over, he would have put less focus on gathering for a service, but focus on serving the neighborhood. This angle on church keeps reoccurring in the readings. Healthy churches seem to emerge from people doing mission in a particular neighborhood/setting rather than beginning with a worship service.

- The Church will persevere through this age. Despite difficulties, struggles, and persecution, God is Lord of the Church. In light of this fact, church planting becomes less nerve-racking. The God of the universe is fighting with you. My friends and I have semi-fantasized about starting a church, but the odds seem stacked against us. Yet I was encouraged by the words of Colby Ivey: “What if Jesus really gets a hold of this thing!?” We are called to be humble and faithful witnesses of the Gospel and it’s exciting to see how Jesus works through us.

- Eric Blauer compared church planting to the bench press. Starting a church is like benching heavy weight. When it becomes too heavy, you have to call for help. We need to continue to increase our weight, challenge ourselves, and get stronger.

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.

Missional living --> as we are going make disciples

 By Brendan

The concept of missional living has been brought to the forefront of my mind as I have entered into this New Year. My paradigm of missions has been forced into a place of reflection and rediscovery. My own concept of missions seems to be evolving as God is faithfully opening my eyes to His very nature and character.

I have at one time or another thought of missions as supporting—whether financially, or through prayer—someone else. I have also at one point or another treated missions as something that one does through short-term trips (somewhere else) of relief or encouragement. And finally I have thought of missions as something that is lived out through love for those I am in community with, essentially attractional community—John 13:35, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." But all of these conceptions of missions seem to fall short of the incarnation. Christ’s ultimate example.

The nature of God is characterized by His sending of His own son, Jesus. In doing so Jesus left the comforts of heaven and stepped down from his position of authority into our world and experienced all things as we do. Another aspect of the nature of God is apparent in Jesus’ life as He lived relationally. Jesus reached out to the “unlovable” those who were on the fringes of society, lepers, widows, prostitutes, “sinners”, the poor, and the unreligious. He set the ultimate example of love as he interacted with sinners, healed the sick, and called fisherman, and tax collectors to join Him on His mission.

Missional Living, as exemplified by Jesus seems to be the example of both go, and as you are going. What I mean by that is Jesus came to our world, and as he was going (living) He made disciples. So He was both sent and was obedient to live in a way that cultivated The Kingdom right where He was.

Jesus example has caused me to reflect on my understanding of missions and how it is practically acted out in my own life. Am I loving those who culturally are “unlovable”, those on the fringes of society, or those who I rub shoulders with daily? Am I following Christ example? Am I ultimately following Christ’s call for my life?

 

United: One Mission

 

By Jannah

We talk about being one body in Christ, a body made up of Christians all around the world. Despite this, it’s easy to get caught up in distinguishing ourselves by our various locations, denominations, and styles. This serves to divide that unified body into smaller subgroups. Churches spend time forming that perfect mission statement, trying to distinguish themselves from the others. I realize some competition is natural as churches try to grow and maintain stability. However, I also feel that this division reinforces the idea of singularity in the body of Christ instead of encouraging community between churches.

What would happen if all churches shared one mission statement? In reality, we do in God’s mission for the church, the original purpose of the church. What if churches stuck to that as the mission that all churches acted under instead of trying to distinguish themselves from each other with little nuances in their professional statements? Many churches move away from the ultimate purpose God has for the church and I think the focus then becomes on the church and what it does for people rather than God’s work through the church body. Darrell Guder writes, “The oneness spoken of here is a matter of obedience to the Lord of the church, obedience that centers on his mission.” I know there’s much more to unity than this, but I think if all churches made a bold change by identifying themselves together under a single mission, God’s mission, it could be an important step towards breaking down the walls we’ve built up. Granted, churches would also have to be willing to move towards unity together, but that’s a whole other level to this discussion.

Kids in Sunday School?

By Laura

It is interesting to me that family is such a central part of the Church, and yet families often do not go to church together. Well, they go to church together, but once they get there the kids are put in the care of others to have their own time of age-appropriate biblical learning, while the adults attend the main service without ‘distractions.’ As I have grown up, I have seen both positive and negative aspects of this practice in the church. Personally, I went through children’s Sunday school as a child, and later participated in multiple youth groups as a teenager. These were all great places to grow in my faith in fun ways with people my age, while my parents were able to have more in-depth teaching with older adults. This was good.

But at the same time, I think much could have been gained from eliminating such a big separation of age (and often gender). Parents are the ultimate role model that kids look up to and learn from, and I believe that I could have learned a lot from attending church services with my parents, even as a child, and observing how they worshiped, learned, and interacted with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. There are times when I am under the impression that parents send their kids to child-specific programs to learn about God, and they feel that their duty to raise their children in the faith for that week is complete.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with having programs formatted for kids and others for adults, but I agree with Hugh Halter when he says, “Discipleship of the whole family must begin by handing back the primary ‘teacher’ role to the parents. Church-based ministry should augment- not replace- what they receive at home.” I don’t know if this means including children more in the main ‘adult’ life of the church or finding a better way to merge the two groups to incorporate families more, but I do know that children are likely to mature in their faith as they see their parents growing and living out their faith not just on Sunday, but on everyday of the week.