the drum|rob fairbanks

You're Killing My Sheep

By Kirsten

I don’t really have a whole lot to say. This verse came to me as I was trying to think of something to post a blog about. It may seem lazy, but the Word of God speaks for itself. As this Missional Church class has been going on, a deep set conviction has been bothering me, namely, I have been called as a shepherd to God’s flock, yet what have I done to take care of the flock? This may be a passage we can all muse on a little while.

Ezekiel 34:1-10: “The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.”

 

To Hell and Back

By Jeff

It struck me recently that our generation may be devaluing a crucial leadership pre-req, we do not demand leaders who bear the scars of Hell.

It seems that our comfortable Christianity that nurtures itself is too afraid of failure. We do not seem to live radically driven lives full of the Holy Spirit. That is not to say that there are not leaders out there who are full of the Holy Spirit, but they seem to be far and few between! I don’t know about you, but I I want a leader who has experienced failure and pain and quite frankly HELL. I do not want to be led by anyone who has not walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

When did we as a culture forget that Christ did exactly this for us? And, that we are called to take up our cross and follow him! I doubt that means that we are called to be leaders who are so wrapped up in our achievement based culture that we are not willing to bet it all on Christ because let’s face it, that RISK may not promise us fulfillment if we view our lives through the lens of a culture enthralled with achievements. Since when have achievements become a part of our identity? Isn’t sharing in God’s restoration of the Earth enough for us? That should be mind-blowingly exciting, motivating and inspiring! So how have we ended up being leaders who are passive and content with the state of this world? 

If we as leaders do not fail to the point of understanding a new depth of humility at some point, I would challenge that we are not leading in a Kingdom manner. If we as leaders have not entirely laid out ourselves for others, I am not sure that we are worth being followed by those seeking to bring about the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit will guide and protect! My self-imposed stability does not guide and protect me.     

    

As leaders, we should walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death to bring God’s Kingdom or die trying.

 

Frodo and The Kingdom of God

 

By Holly

I think I too often focus on what it means to “be in the world, but not of the world,” rather then trusting God with my circumstances and relationships. Jeremy and I were talking about this phrase the other day and we decided we don’t like that it still suggests a definite separation of the secular and the spiritual. This idea reminds me of the scene in the Two Towers where Merry and Pippin are with Treebeard and they can no longer convince the Tree Hearders to fight Isengard. Pippin suggests that they return home to the Shire

where life is comfortable and beautiful. Merry painfully reminds Pippin that if the evil is not defeated, there will be no Shire. They have to live in the tension of being a part of this reality and fighting against it. They can no longer turn back.

 

 If God’s Kingdom is here and now, how can we be salt and light to the world in dark places? I often struggle with this tension because Christ is calling us to be open to all relationships and to be bold about our life in Christ. We have to take risks with people and be praying about where God can use us in every day life. Too often I think like Pippin and want to turn to what is comfortable and easy but at the same time I know that I would never go back to my old life. This calling is difficult and it is a reality of God’s Kingdom. I think too often Christians clump together instead of scattering ourselves around our cities, to be a part of culture. We are of this world and God is calling us to go beyond it to seek first His Kingdom and to bring as many people as we can with us. When we take risks and trust God, His victory becomes a reality that we have the opportunity to take part in. The Tree Hearders finally decide to fight Saruman because Merry and Pippin decided to persevere and take a stand.  

 

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.

Have We Really ‘Forgotten’ How to Do Church?

By Troy

As a Theology major at Whitworth, I’ve had the privilege of reading a wide variety of Christian literature. I’ve read through the Bible, numerous early Christian primary sources, biblical commentaries, etc.  One consequence of my extensive reading is the tendency to become a literary critic. For me, the older the book, the more weight and authority it carries (this is a generalization). After reading Ignatius, Clement or Irenaeus, it’s easy to see how these works have survived the centuries. But I tend to read contemporary authors more critically. In other words, they haven’t stood the test of time yet.

 

In class, we are reading Forgotten Ways (2006) by Alan Hirsch. After slogging through the book, I was left disappointed by the wordiness and ‘fluff’ of Hirsch’s writing (and the excessive use of charts!). Although Hirsch does offer some valuable insight for contemporary church leaders, I found the book characteristic of ‘emergent church’ literature. Forgotten Ways is full of emergent buzz words such as missional, organic, fluidity, ‘authentic Jesus movement’ that appear to be cutting-edge. At least to me, these words are nebulous and vague. After more than two hundred pages, it’s still not clear to me what mDNA and the Apostolic Genius are! I felt the book was just another attempt to formulate a ‘successful’ 21^st century church.

 

Hirsch confidently asserts: “the Apostolic Genius lies dormant in you, me, and every local church that seeks to follow Jesus faithfully in any time. We have quite simply forgotten how to access and trigger it” (22). This seems to suggest thatwe possess the keys to unlocking the Apostolic Genius; and when/if we find it, the Church will flourish. There is little mention of the working of the Holy Spirit or God as Lord of the Church. And have we really forgotten how to do church? I agree that the church-growth and attractional-church models aren’t healthy, but the church has managed to survive two thousand years. There is no magic model to success, as “unlocking the Apostolic Genius” suggests.

 

I agree that mission is a critical aspect to the Church, but I also affirm the importance of true worship and diligent study of Scripture. Mission is not superior, but rather goes hand-in-hand with worship, theology, liturgy, and sacrament.

 

Like other contemporary ‘emergent’ authors, Hirsch is simply offering a new model for “doing church.” New
styles of doing church come and go like many other fads and trends. Well we have not ‘forgotten’ how to do church, Hirsch does offer excellent insights, provoking critiques, and challenging applications. But in my opinion, Hirsch is neither a diligent biblical exegete nor a careful historian. Hirsch  is no Irenaeus, but we can add his opinion (with grace) to the Christian melting pot as we progress towards renewed expressions of the Church.

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

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.

Creative Tension

By Brendan

Learning to embrace tension and walk the narrow road of the middle ground is necessary as we grow spiritually. Whether we are experiencing situations relationally where we need to speak truth into someone’s life or extend a little grace, or whether we are discussing missional models within a Christian community. We must prayerfully allow the tension to stretch us and drive us into deeper relationship with Christ.

Practically speaking this concept works it way into almost all facets of life. Say you are a Christian who is seeking to develop community within your own apartment complex or neighborhood. How will you go about initiating relationships? Will you post flyers or send invitations to everyone in the neighborhood inviting them to a party or game night? Or will you just shovel the snow off someone’s driveway or mow someone’s lawn hoping that through serving your neighbor you can create an in for relationship? Both of these questions have to do with whether we are trying to attract others to ourselves or whether we are going to reach out to others and meet them where they are. Both scenarios could be effective in certain contexts but in order for us to be effective within our own context we must strive to be prayerful in our outreach. We must ask the Spirit to be at work in our hearts giving us insight and directing our course of action.

Another example of how we can live with in this tension that pushes us to Christ is within conversations with long-time friends or with new people we meet. We can live within the tension of relationships by learning how to be honest with people and unafraid of what they will think of us because of something we believe; although we must also attempt to be gracious to people in the midst of our conversations, because all people are created and love by God. Living within the tension seems to be a continual confession of not my will, but yours be done, which drives us further into relationship with the Father.

 

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.

Consumerism: Who to blame?

By Corey    

       One of the things that I love about Missional Church is that I have an opportunity to be around people with different fields of study. Being a marketing major I often take classes with economics students, future accountants, and other business students. On the other hand, Missional Church is filled with theology majors, communication majors and myself, the lone student from the business department. As we have talked about consumerism and materialism in our class it seems that marketing and advertising get accused for much of the blame. This is something that I hear often and don’t take any offense to. However, I do think that the marketing gets an unfair share of the blame and I want to suggest that we shift that blame elsewhere. 

            The first thing you learn in business school is the law of supply and demand. Grounded in Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand” theory, a business student learns of the inverse relationship between price and quantity on the demand side and the direct relationship between price and quantity on the supply side. All that to say, each business student is taught that to keep the doors open a business must sell products that the customers actually want. Therefore, the customers are the driving force of what is sold, not businesses.

            I believe that businesses sell benefits not products. When this approach is taken the customer, once again, holds all the power. Take for example, a new pair of shoes. A person does not buy a new pair of shoes just to have them; a person buys a pair of shoes for the benefits. Whether it is to improve one’s self image or to keep one’s feet dry, consumers look for these benefits when deciding what product to purchase. Further, it is the marketer’s job to make sure that the customers’ desired benefits are met. As a marketing student I am not interested in making sure our country is more obsessed with consumerism, I am interested in giving people what they want.

            It is not the marketers and advertisers that are behind the unhealthy consumerism, it is our culture. The business side of consumerism is a by-product of our culture and therefore at the mercy of what our culture wants. I suggest that we begin to shift the blame to ourselves for a culture that is fascinated by individualism and consumerism. And as our culture begins to shift away from consumerism the marketing and advertising will as well. After all, the first rule of business is supply and demand.

-cz