Simple Church Journal

I received the following email from Mike Lyons several years ago that bears repeating:

I have made a promise to myself. I will stop inviting people to my church.

Hear me out now.

I spent nearly a decade with my well paid job in the church trying to get people to come to church. We would develop strategies, advertising through TV, radio, print, internet, marketing plans… wowing them with worship experiences, video, dramas, amazing sermons, direct mail strategies.. on and on..whew. all designed with one aim. That when you would invite your friend, they would say yes and go to church with you. All you would have to do is invite them, they would respond to the engaging message and multi-sensory worship, become curious, eventually come to Christ, and eventually become a part of our church. The problem is, it didn't work very well.

Sure some came, just enough to make us think we were being effective. But still as the Barna Institutes research shows " The unbelieving world remains unconvinced.", and each year the Church continues to loose ground and a credibility voice in our communities.

(Disclaimer Note: I still love, support and honor any church that is doing all it can to reach out to others. God will still work through imperfect people as well as strategies.)

Allow me to be very honest. I see too many of us in the house church falling into the same trap and pattern of fruitlessness. And some are suffering unnecessarily from disillusionment. I hear the same words over and over, "If only we could get more people to come to our house church." Sound familiar? The benefits we offer are different, but the hope is the same. Please come to my church.if we could get them there they will be so captured by our Jesus through our community, intimacy, casualness, or great food… that they will accept Him and become a part of our church. Old habits die very hard don't they.

We can no longer afford to be "come here" people, we must be a "go there" kind of people.

I can honestly say that I have never invited someone to join me for coffee, lunch or breakfast and had them say no. Not ever, not once.

I'm slow but I'm learning.

Here's to forsaking old habits.

May His presence dwell in you richly,

Mike Lyons

I have found that the key to our gatherings is to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit– all of us.

In my past life, as a pastor of a traditional church, I felt the responsibility to hear what God is saying and to pass that word along to "the people."  Of course, God's word is always God's word and it will always bear fruit.  But how much more fruit is available when every Christian discovers his/her gifts and his/her ability to hear the "rhema"– the living Word through the written word– and to be able to share those gifts and His word with one another.

The  shifts the responsibility for hearing from God to each person– to everyone— and that takes some getting used to. But what an explosion can take place as the church worships and listens. Jack Deere (Suprised by the Voice of God) shares this:

The New Testament church was not only the dwelling place for the presence of God, it was also a learning center for the language of the Holy Spirit. People not only worshipped God in church, but they were equipped to hear him, and after hearing God, they were able to give something to someone that would build them up.

In preparation for this, Jack challenges us to consider why we gather as a church. It's not about tickling our spiritual ears or getting a little spiritual lift (though these may well happen), rather he suggests that we gather for four reasons: 1. To hear Jesus and be healed by Him, 2. To worship God together, 3. To be equipped to do the work of ministry, and 4. To be built up in Christ. He contends that all of this can take place only as every person gest involved– bringing something edifying to share, learning to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying, and ministering to one another.

If you lived in the New Testament times, you prepared your heart to come to church, you prepared your heart to worship, you came expecting to be equipped for ministry, and you asked God to give you a gift to bring with you so that you might be used to strengthen someone else. This was the New Testament way of going to church.

Excerpts from James Barron:

Religion is of this world.  Jesus is from heaven.

Religion is all about the outward and seen.  Jesus is all about the inward and unseen.

Religion tries to repair and fix the old creation.  Jesus made us a New Creation!

Religion’s yoke is hard work.   Jesus said His yoke was easy.

Religion uses fear to manipulate people to act.   Jesus’ love compels people to act, with joy!

Religion is proud.  Jesus is humble.

Religion is boring.  Jesus is an unexpected journey and adventure!

Religion is insecure.  Jesus is confident and secure.

Religion is competitive and envious.  Jesus is a rest.

Religion thinks itself wise.  Jesus thinks Religion is foolish.

Religion is a dead end.  Jesus is an open door to endless possibilities!

Religion is man-centered.  Jesus is God-centered.

Religion wants to control other men.  Jesus wants to set men free to live by Him.

Religion is death.  Jesus is Life!

Religion is depressing.  Jesus is joy unspeakable and full of glory!

Religion keeps people in a boat that is sinking.  Jesus empowers people to walk out of the boat onto the water to Him!

Religion needs money to exist.  Jesus’ life needs no silver or gold to live and prosper!

Religion is mean to you when you do not agree with it.  Jesus is kind even to those who nailed His hands and feet.

Skye Jethani explains how our culture's growing mistrust of large institutions is especially true of the Millenials' generation and how that will continue to impact the church of the future.  This is a generation that wants relationship and authenticity, not big programs.  Interesting… 

Sometimes simple truths are the most profound:

A virgin birth

One life (His) given in exchange for another (mine)

A love relationship that He initiated

Coming home

Living wholeheartedly for the One who first loved me

Following hard after Him

No turning back

Just come home… to be the church… in this… and in every season… and the world will know Him.

(Picture is from Pinterest, THe ProdIgAL SOn)

 

Most of us have experienced paradigm shifts that have radically changed our thinking:

• From seeing the church as a building/organization to a living, organic system
• From honoring a special class of clergy to seeing that all are priests and ministers
• From viewing the church as a come-and-sit service to a go-and-incarnate movement

But, we, as Christians, often like to camp out where we are and smugly declare, “Now I have the truth.”

Yet, Paul clearly states that we all see through a glass darkly.

Perhaps what we need to learn, more than anything else, is to stay open to learning WHATEVER the Holy Spirit wants to teach us next.  Perhaps the best thing we can do is pray the prayer of openness: “Lord, help me set aside everything I think I know that I may hear You more clearly.”

I believe we have seen a profound movement, over the past decade or two, of people metamorphosing out of religious mindsets and structured church settings into a greater freedom in Christ.

However, I sense that many who have become butterflies do not fully know how to use their wings. There could be a host of people who are no longer caterpillars, whose wings are full of life, yet continue to walk because, for a variety of reasons, they are not ready to embrace the purposes God has called them to in their freedom. They are the walking butterflies.

Just a thought.

Here are some possible reasons why people may not yet be flying.

1. Some are still looking for another butterfly to hand them the external model for ‘how to do church.’ We are so accustomed to others showing us ‘the way’ that we continue looking for the ‘simple church manual’ or the ‘organic church step-chart’ that will give us the exact system to follow. In other words, some are not ready to trust that Jesus can speak to and lead them personally without someone else’s blueprint.

2. Some do not trust that God can help them connect with their unique destiny and Kingdom purpose. Or, perhaps more to the point, some are not willing to take the risk to step out into their own special Kingdom purpose and destiny. It’s just easier to lose themselves in lesser focuses.

3. Some still devalue themselves and/or their calling as being less significant than that of others.

4. Some avoid the silence and have not taken the time to seek God deeply in those quiet places where He can speak profoundly to them and give them the confidence as well as direction needed to move out and fly.

By the way, butterflies that never fly, never reproduce. Maybe as we all find ourselves and our courage, we will see a whole new generation of butterflies begin to emerge!

Brooks does a wonderful job of describing the changed lives of women in Burundi.  These stories are the direct result of the church moving outside of the walls of church life and meeting people in the hard places of real struggles.

We are still traveling in Africa and this is from our travel blog:

I wish you could have been there. Some of them dressed in what we would call rags; some in brightly colored beautiful African dresses; each with a smile, a knowing peace, a joy they had never known before. They told of this lady or that coming to them and telling them about Someone who had answers for their lives, Someone who had hope and love for them. Not only did they tell about this Savior, but they showed them in a physical way a kind of love and caring they had not known.

Here are just a few of their stories. Many were the same: lives of scraping by at best for a marginal existence for themselves and their children, sickness, prostitution, the death of at least one or more of their children, alcoholism, and/or rejection, abandonment by their husbands, if they had ever had one. Yet, each one told a story of redemption and grace and love. Meet just some of these ladies…

Read more here.

 

Guy Muse has an excellent article on "What does Scripture actually say about the church, the Bride of Christ?"

He writes:

One of the most common questions I am asked in church planting training is: at what point do we start taking the new believers to church? This question always frustrates me, but I understand the paradigm struggle many face with house churches being "real churches."

The response I am tempted to give is, "what I hear you asking is at what point do we stop making disciples, and allow them to just start attending church services?" Of course, I bite my tongue before saying this, but it reflects the difficulty we have of understanding the who, what, when, where, and why of the true nature of the New Testament ekklesia.

Read more here.