May I have the definition, please? March 27, 2008

I often read Scot McKnight’s Blog. One thing that I reference quite often is his “bloglossary.” This is a page that attempts to define some of the misunderstood phrases that he often references.

One of the “hot” words in the church is the word “missional.” There have been numerous books written on what it means to be a missional believer and how one can make their church missional. This is one of those hip words that everyone uses, but have no idea what it really means.

Here’s how Scot defines “missional”:

Missional: a term favored by emerging Christians for the mission of the Church. It begins with the Mission of God (often called missio Dei) in this world; it is holistic — including both evangelism and social action; it does not divide evangelism from social action. It’s central concern is to incarnate the gospel in a community; it is concerned with reaching out (”How can we help?”) along with attracting folks “to church.” Missional can be used to define a local church while a missionary is one who sent by a local church to another country (to become missional there).

We all know that being missional involves evangelism. Whether it be the door-to-door salesman approach, or the relational method (which is the better way). BUT, what most Christians never consider is the “social action” aspect that Scot mentions. The incarnation of the Gospel is key. The Gospel is not just concerned with the afterlife, but rather the here and now. We have a responsibility to help our fellow man. We must stand up when we see wrong being done somewhere and we must involve ourselves in the solution.

Another aspect of social action that I know Scot is passionate about is the environment. We honor God through caring for and respecting His creation. I was actually quite pleased to read that the Vatican added pollution to its list of “new deadly sins.“

A Catholic bishop said, “You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbor’s wife, but also by ruining the environment.” I commend them for this. I wish more evangelicals would speak out on this issue and mobilize their congregation to become a part of ratifying the problem.

Another hip word that has found its way into the lingo of the minister is “postmodern.” We are now living in a postmodern/post-Christian nation. This is a fact. Christians are now the marginalized. Many churches are hiring ministers for the postmodern generation or have a postmodern worship service. But, what does this mean.

Again, here’s what Scot says:

Postmodern: it’s foolish even to try, but I will. First, it refers to an era: the postmodern era is after the modern era (modernity is roughly Enlightenment, science, rationalism, and the theory of progress in the world). Second, it refers to a philosophy with various levels of commitment and emphasis. Thus, it can refer to the “linguistic turn”: that truth is dependent on the language we use to describe truth; therefore, the language is never the complete grasp of the truth. It has a “hermeneutical turn”: everything we see and make sense of is “interpretation,” and our interpretations are never certain. And there is a “paradigm turn”: that is, we realize that the primary grids we use to interpret reality (science, for instance) involve prior commitment to them in order for them to work. If you don’t believe in science, the scientific explanation doesn’t work. Postmodernity then teaches that you and I, to one degree or another, are trapped in the human condition of language, interpretation, and prior commitments. This means we can never attain perfect objectivity. Some see postmodernity as a blessing for the Christian faith because it unmasks the reality of prior commitments; other worry that it erodes confidence in the truth of the gospel or the Bible.

So, the struggle with postmodernity is going to the battle of absolutes. Most people in my generation do not want to believe in any absolute truth. Therefore, the idea of Scripture and salvation are up for a debate. They do not believe that the Bible is “perfect” or that it contains “absolute answers” about anything. They especially do not want to believe that Jesus, or Christianity, is the only way to heaven. For someone in the postmodern world there must be many answers to each metaphysical question.

Scot McKnight is a genius. I heard him speak at the Emergence 2007 conference at Gateway Church last October. He was amazing. His new book, The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking how you read the Bible, is coming out later this year. He gave a little insight to what it’s going to be about and I know it will be incredible.

Confessions of a Pastor March 26, 2008

Last year I read a book by Craig Groeschel (who’s on my blogroll) called Confessions of a Pastor: Adventures in Dropping the Pose and Getting Real with God. I have probably recommended this book to almost every minister/pastor that I know and I think about it on a daily basis.

I resonate with so much of what Craig says in his book. He talks about getting caught up in the traps of ministry. It really makes you step back and take an honest look at yourself.

“I can’t stand a lot of Christians”

“I hate prayer meetings”

“Sometimes I doubt God”

These are just some of the quotes that stand out to me. Honestly, I think we all feel this way at some point in our life.

The book is a challenge to get real. To be a real person. To be vulnerable to others. To live an authentic life. However, it’s not that easy in ministry.

Sometimes ministry becomes nothing more than a game. It’s a game that requires the use of flashy pastor speak and fancy silk ties. It’s often a game of “who-knows-who” and who had the most at church this past Sunday. I HATE that. That’s not me. I don’t use flowery language and I honestly don’t know any of the “top dogs” in world of the mega-pastor. And I especially don’t like wearing ties, so I’m out of luck.

I just want to be me and use the gifts and talents that God gave me. At the beginning of the book Craig says:

“For too many years my life had been a show—my lines well rehearsed and every performance polished. By college, I played so many different roles I lost track of the real me. I began to wonder if there was a real me. Exhausted from playing the parts, I finally took off the masks—and met a God who loved me unconditionally. Confessions of a Pastor reveals in graphic detail my inner struggles, questions, doubts, and fears—to inspire others to abandon lives of pretending—and to meet the authentic love of God like never before.”

Man…I have felt ALL of that!

When I came on staff at my current church I felt that I was supposed to act this way. I thought I had to tie my tie just the right way and make sure my shoes were shined and my pants had a perfect crease. I soon became exhausted with this. It made grow tired of ministry because I wasn’t allowing myself the opportunity to be authentic.

I am still learning to drop the pose. It’s a daily challenge. If people don’t like who I really am, I guess that’s not my problem. I just have to be real.

I would encourage any believer to read this book. It might let you in on some of the struggles your pastors and ministers face and you can learn how to pray for them and encourage them to “drop the pose.”

This Is Love March 25, 2008

This cracked me up!

The Revolution of the Reformation March 25, 2008

The History Channel has been playing a two hour documentary called The Protestant Reformation. It begins with the obvious in Martin Luther’s revolt against the Catholic church and the papacy. There were a few new insights that I did not know about Luther’s story. They talked about how once he was excommunicated from the Catholic church, he essentially lost his “identity” and ceased to be a citizen. Therefore, no crimes could be committed against him. Essentially Luther was fair game. If someone were to kill him, they would not be punished for their crime, etc.

Also, it was pretty amazing to see that Luther basically took on the government through his dissension. The Pope and the Catholic church controlled the government in Europe at the time, so Luther was not just fighting against the Catholic church, but the whole of Europe.

However, the most intriguing part was the hour that dealt with the world post-Luther. This documentary rests on the idea (or fact) that Luther is responsible for the scientific revolution of Isaac Newton and the enlightenment. The industrial revolution was also an outflow of the reformation. Basically, before Luther, science was discouraged as it was seen as something that could cause one to question God. However, for example, Newton was a great man of faith and saw science as something that only made God more glorious.

The only disappointing part of the documentary was the segment on Calvin and the Puritans. Sure, the Puritans were a little over-the-top and Calvin was a very serious and austere man. But, the History Channel pretty much butchered his theology. They also made the mistake of saying that Calvin and Luther disagreed on predestination. Essentially, Calvin saw everything as an outgrowth of election while Luther saw everything as flowing into the doctrine of election. They both came to the same conclusion at the end, but they just got there in a different manner.

It’s definitely worth watching.

Currently Reading March 24, 2008

• Adventures in Missing the Point: Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo
• They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Dan Kimball
• Breaking the Missional Code: Ed Stetzer and David Putman

All three books are very, very good and deal with a similar topic.

Adventures in Missing the Point attempts to answer the questions: What if there is more to our faith than just getting our souls into heaven? What if there is a power in the gospel thats been kept under lock and key because of our culture-controlled church? If we placed our beliefs and their origins under the microscope, what would we see?

They Like Jesus but Not the Church deals with the very touchy issue of the “emerging generation’s” view of the church and churchgoers. Kimball has the premise that people are generally open to talking about Jesus, but want nothing to do with the church. They see Pastors as “creepy” and feel that the church is full of hypocrites. I would almost agree with them.

We are reading Breaking the Missional Code as a church staff and although it’s taken about a year to get through, I think that Ed Stetzer has given a great prescription for the church. Stetzer and Putman address the growing gap in the church in the 18-45 year old bracket. They also discuss why the younger generations have become disenfranchised with the church and denominations.

We’re finally near the end of BTMC and we’re reading about church planting, which is of great interest to me.

A $2 Cup of Coffee is Priceless March 24, 2008

There are a few things that I treasure doing each day. Seeing my wife after work, playing with my dogs, taking people to school on Call of Duty 4, etc. However, I’d be hard-pressed to find something that I treasure more than coffee with my dad.

I’m extremely lucky to be able live in the same area as my family. My parents, sisters, and nephews all live in Austin and I get the chance to see them quite often. I’m also very blessed to work with my dad!

My dad is my mentor and best-friend. He’s invested his life in me. I’ve been able to learn so much about marriage, ministry and life in general from him in the 28 years that I’ve been around.

About 2 or 3 times a week I’ll get a call around 8:45 am from dad asking if I’ve “had my morning coffee.” We usually head over to Starbucks and get a Grande cup of their “bold” blend of the day. We’ll grab a table and just talk for 10 or 15 minutes before heading back to the church.

I’m sure he doesn’t know, but this time is priceless to me. No matter if we’re talking about Texas football, the weather, my bulldog, or theology, it’s an awesome way to start off my day.

I’m really looking forward to becoming a dad. I’ve had the best coach.

Bracketology: An inexact science March 24, 2008

So, this time last week I was sitting at my desk basking in the glow of my newly filled-out ESPN NCAA tournament bracket. It’s funny how every year I allow myself to buy into the delusion that I am going to be that one guy who has the perfect bracket.

I mean, I must be a genius for picking Georgia over Xavier. They’re on a roll even though they are the lowest seeded team in the tourney’s history from a major conference. Forget what all of the “professionals” say, I know my stuff.

Well, here I sit a week later a humbled man. After the buzzer rang in the first game, my bracket was “busted.” How could Georgia let me down! How could Georgetown (the team I picked to lose to Texas in the finals) fall to Davidson. I don’t even know where Davidson is!

Texas better come through for me! But…I’ve already got that special feeling. Next year I’ll get that perfect bracket…