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3 Questions About The Church: Brett Crimmel

// February 6th, 2010 // No Comments » // church, church relevance

Closing out the weeklong series on 3 questions about the church is Brett Crimmel. Brett is the lead pastor of Forefront Church in Lakewood, Colorado and has some great insights to share on being the church and helping those in need. His perspective on the church and its future is an exciting one:

1) How would you define the (local) church?

The local church is a community of people gathered together with a unifying purpose: to Love God (great commandment), to Love Others (golden rule – both inside and outside the church), and to Change the World (great commission). The church has a task to accomplish – namely to help people find their way back to God.

2) Is the church relevant? Why?

Absolutely! The church has more work to do now than ever in the history of the world. People are spiritually hungry and the teachings of Jesus are what they’re looking for. Now, more than ever, we’ve got the answers to the chaos that everyday life and the meaning of life.

Now, there are plenty of churches that have lost sight of the great commission. They are certainly not relevant. They’ve become a hotel for all the perfect people instead of a hospital for all of us jacked up sinners saved by the grace Jesus alone can bring.

3) Do you see the church looking different in the future? Please explain.

Yes. I think we’re moving past the culture of OR and moving into a culture of AND. While mainline denominations are struggling to define why they exist, the walls of separation are being torn down for the greater mission at hand. I’m seeing less division and more inclusion. Voices that are divisive are being marginalized by the social media and the back channel and those willing to work together on the mission are working together in ways never seen before.

But at the same time, the gospel is becoming clearer and clearer. And we’re preaching it with more boldness than ever before. And people are getting saved.Seems like the churches that are “getting it done” are moving from modality (a mode of operation … we’re one big happy family) to sodality (a task to complete … let’s do whatever we have to do to accomplish the task at hand)*. Maybe it’s just the people I’m listening to or maybe it’s reality, but it seems that even the establishment is adjusting to the new world order of multiple voices speaking. Someone has to filter & prioritize the noise. Churches that are about accomplishing a vision seem to be thriving in the new world order.John Ortberg said recently, “You can’t define spiritual maturity in a way that the pharisees win in the end.” Unfortunately, the pharisees have been winning for far too long. And I think the future church redefines that reality. Thank God.

Stay in touch with Brett Crimmel by folowing him on twitter: @brettcrimmel or the happenings at Forefront Church on their website: forefrontchurch.tv

3 Questions About The Church: David Park

// February 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // church, church relevance

David Park’s twitter bio says it best: I dream about Asian-American culture and the church. David has a great insight into the next generation of church and how Asian-Americans can collectively influence the church culture in America. He hosts the Next Gener.Asian Church blog and is the most eloquent authority on Asian-American ministry. David has a love for–and is a student of–the greater church-at-large and lends a great perspective as he answers the three questions below:

1) How would you define the (local) church?

A disclaimer: I’m not particularly fond of my own definition of the local church, but I do think it is realistic and names how the church is viewed by non-Christians and is a good starting point for us to imagine change in the posture and future of the local church. I would define the local church is the organizational container or entity for Christian fellowship. I know we’re trying to stay away from defining the church as a building, but clearly, when we’re talking about a local church, we’re talking about an entity that (hopefully) exists with a particular objective of engaging people in the restorative, salvific, transformative, communal and missional aspects of the Christian faith. I say “hopefully” because not every local church fulfills all of these aspects well, and furthermore, they fail to take into account the strengths of other local churches. In other words, many local churches are limited in its true objective/mission because it is often preoccupied with its own perpetuation and survival.

In an increasingly pluralistic and competitive landscape then, the local church often resorts to diverse expressions and tactics akin to the business world in terms of approaching market segments and developing various products and services. While this might make sense for the survival of organizational entities, it recapitulates the problems we witness in society with perpetuating systemic injustices, tribalism, and consumerism. It is a rare church that can display to the world what reconciliation looks like, or radical generosity, or transformation at the collective level. We take ‘ekkesia’ seriously when we call people out of darkness, but we have difficulty converting this into the ‘apostolic’ dimension of the church in sending people out.

2) Is the church relevant? Why?

Relevance is difficult to achieve at a macro-scale when we tend to create industries and silos to protect ourselves. The world simply is not impressed when we mimic their culture-transforming developments, whether in the arts or in business. The local church has the capacity and potential to be relevant, but many close themselves off from others citing differences in doctrine, in zip code, in politics, in worship style, and a variety of matters that implicitly tell the world that we are not as full of grace as the gospel we proclaim. Choosing our tribe was a luxury in Christendom, but in a web 2.0, globalized, shifting America, we no longer have the space of distancing ourselves from “others”. The Mormon, the Muslim, the Jew, the Hindu, the New Ager, the atheist, and the apathetic are all watching and we simply are playing a game (missiologically speaking) without any sense of gravity to our faith and our witness before the world at our doorstep.

3) Do you see the church looking different in the future? Please explain.

Old habits die hard, but the circumstances and the consequences are dire, so I do hope that churches look different in the future with a greater emphasis on collaboration and reconciliation. The church needs to not gloss over problems of individuals or of the collective, but to invest deeply an embodied doctrine of incarnation. We must recover what it means to be a spectacle, to live a critique against the idols of political power and economic forces, and display healing, hospitality, and care to a greater extent across a wider spectrum of people than before. If the church doesn’t look different in the future, we effectively forfeit our role in shaping and informing the development of Christian witness in the global south and east and their churches.

Learn more of David’s thoughts at his blog: Next Gener.Asian Church or follow him on twitter: @dpark75.

3 Questions About The Church: Tyler Braun

// February 4th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // church, church relevance

Many of you may know Tyler Braun from his blog Man of Depravity. He’s the wild card in this blog series as he is not the lead pastor of a local church, but he brings the voice of a younger generation and is a seminary student and youth pastor in Portland, Oregon. Here is how this dynamic young man responded to the following three questions:

1) How would you define the (local) church?

A smaller and more specific expression of the church at large (church universal), designed to reach the world through discipleship and evangelism.

2) Is the church relevant? Why?

By “church” here I will move forward with the assumption that church means the combination of all local churches (though I do not think that is necessarily what the word church means, only that is helps frame the question in a way that I can answer). I say yes and no. I say yes because relevant is such an ambigous term that is often used when we think of “cutting edge,” even when cutting edge might not be what is truly relevant. Relevant means something different to each person in their own individuality. The many expressions of Christianity in churches around the world tell me that absolutely the church is relevant. I say no because my own experience says that culture is changing so fast that it is nearly impossible to stay relevant in the forefront of that change. And It isn’t only the church that struggles with this.

3) Do you see the church looking different in the future? Please explain.

Based on my definition of what the church is I would say emphatically no. Granted, I used a pretty broad and basic definition, but even if I was more specific I don’t know that much would change. Even within my lifetime there will be the changes of moving to a more internet-based approach or anything other specific change you see happening even now and churches will change as they deem change is necessary to reach the people around them. But the basic tenets of what a church is and does will stay the same. We will still gather consistently in large and small groups to pray, worship, and hear God’s Word brought in a way that makes sense to us. In that way, I think the church will stay the same.

Tyler Braun lends his insights regularly at his blog: manofdepravity.com and you can follow him on twitter as well at: @tylerbraun.

3 Questions About The Church: Charles Lee

// February 3rd, 2010 // 1 Comment » // church, church relevance

You may be familiar with Charles Lee as a public speaker and creator of The Idea Camp, but Charles’ home base is as the lead pastor of New Hope South Bay in Torrance, California. Here is how Pastor Lee responded to the following three questions about the church:

1) How would you define the (local) church?

The local church is a local expression of God’s people gathered for a common mission.

2) Is the church relevant? Why?

I think “relevant” describes a reactive culture. It lacks the proactive nature of culture-making that the church should be embodying. Is the church relevant? Sure. Many churches are reacting to the cultural changes and adapting their ministries accordingly. Nevertheless, I believe we need more churches that proactively create the kind of Kingdom culture that God desires.

3) Do you see the church looking different in the future? Please explain.

I think the church will most definitely look different in the future. I think more churches will choose multiple and viable networks over one central organization (e.g., traditional denominations). This is not to say that people will leave centralized organizations like denomination. Rather, churches will find themselves needing to connect with people outside of their tribe or family. I think more churches will start leveraging the strengths of the various streams within Christianity, especially with the growing access to networks online.

Also, I think the future church will re-integrate compassion and justice into their Gospel storytelling. It will become more central of what it means to express God’s love for the world. As the result, more in the world will come to know a God who practical cares for their deepest needs.

Learn more of Pastor Lee’s perspectives on his blog: charlestlee.com or by following him on twitter: @charlestlee. Find out more about New Hope South Bay at: newhopesb.newsong.net.

3 Questions About The Church: Joshua Roberts

// February 2nd, 2010 // No Comments » // church, church relevance

Today’s perspective comes from Pastor Joshua Roberts of Encounter Assembly in Burbank, California:

1) How would you define the (local) church

I would define the local church as a geographic gathering of Christ followers/Christian/etc. that come together on a regular basis to worship God the Father together, encourage each other, pray for others, and partake in ordinances/sacraments of the Church (i.e. the Lord’s Supper and Baptism).

2) Is the church relevant? Why?

I guess that depends on which manifestation of the Church you’re speaking about. Some local congregations are, and others are not. I believe the more important question is “Is the message and mission of the Church relevant?” To that question I answer a resounding yes! It’s up to each local congregation to use its gifts and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to relevantly live out and communicate the good news (gospel).

3) Do you see the church looking different in the future? Please explain.

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes, the Church should constantly be examining itself (through the study of the scriptures and the guidance of the Holy Spirit). We should examine all areas of our theology and practice and leave room for the Spirit’s correction. If we do this, we should always be maturing, thus looking different.

I also sense the Church is shifting away from the Western Culture focused ministry paradigm to a more Easter and Global focused model. We see evidence of this with some Roman Catholics and even Evangelicals migrating to the Eastern Orthodox church (article). I think we are many years away from the complete shift, but it is something we should continue to watch.

***Please note that I intentionally used both “church” and “Church” in my response. The use of “church” is to denote the local gathering of believers. The use of “Church” is for the church universal.***

Be sure to follow Pastor Robert’s blog at: joshinthe818.com or he can frequently be found on twitter at: @joshinthe818. Find more information on Encounter Assembly at: encounterassembly.com