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Can an attractional church be missional?

// January 21st, 2010 // 25 Comments » // church, ministry, missional

This is a subject that causes me a lot of conflict. My lens of how I view the church is much different than most people that currently lead churches. My atheist background and desire to connect with other atheists/agnostics in the church causes this. I have serious issues with the attractional church, yet I see how people are transformed and ministered to by it. This is my conflict.

If you stop to think about it, when the first century churches were being established, were they attractional? Actually, they were quite the opposite. The early church was a collection of people looking for something powerful that brought them into harm’s way. It was not safe and comfortable. Most first century Christians faced persecution and death if they were caught gathering as a church or professing a faith in the Christ. However, today the church is a very comfortable and non-threatening place. Leaders within the church try to make it as welcoming and inviting as possible. The first century church was a call to action, not a call to grab a seat, sit back, and have your needs catered to for 60 minutes.

Before I go any further, let me first establish the foundation for the definition of the attractional and missional church. I think Tim Chester summarizes this well as:

Attractional church is a come-to-us mentality in which church revolves around the Sunday meeting. You often find that even people who talk of being more missional want to start by doing something with the Sunday meeting. A truly missional approach emphasises a missional lifestyle and mission in the context of ordinary life in locations where unbelievers feel at home.

In the context of what is considered an attractional church vs a missional church, it’s hard to see how one could be the other–they are just too distinct to operate in harmony with each other. I don’t know of any missional churches currently trying to be more attractional, yet I know many attractional churches trying to become more missional.

In my opinion, the better question to ask is: Can an attractional church become more missional? In response to this question, my answer is yes. This is where I believe the focus of the attractional church should be, yet there are still going to be some conflicts:

• If the attractional church is so focused on Sunday services, how can it then go on mission and reach people outside of the church? If the efforts and budget go to helping those outside of the church that will never become church members, how can the church then maintain it’s budget and staff?
• Many in the attractional church are coming for a reason. They are attracted to the great programs and the fact they can remain anonymous and comfortable. How long will these people keep coming on Sundays if they are asked to go serve others instead of coming to be served?
• When people in the attractional church feel their own needs aren’t being met, they will leave to go find another church that will. The attractional church attracts consumers.

Ed Stetzer & David Putnam give some good observational analysis to the contrast between the attractional church and the missional church in the book Breaking the Missional Code:

• From programs to processes
• From demographics to discernment
• From models to missions
• From attractional to incarnational
• From uniformity to diversity
• From professional to passionate
• From seating to sending
• From decisions to disciples
• From additional to exponential
• From monuments to movements

While my perspective and experience causes me to be aligned more with missional communities, there are some aspects of ministry that are compelling for the attractional church model. It’s heartbreaking at times to see this as a dividing line with no real solution other than taking a side and hoping your side prevails over the other. While I stand firm in the belief that the attractional church will never be missional in the true sense of the word, I wonder if somehow both sides can come together and seek some unifying means to be the church as Christ calls us to be. To care for our brothers and sisters in Christ, yet bear the burden of seeing others in the world come to know the love and grace that we have been showered with.

In my next post I will attempt to seek some middle ground and help unify the church to be on mission, yet doing so in different forms. For now, I’d be curious to know what your perspective and experience have to say in regards to an attractional church becoming missional.

A call to mentors/mentees

// November 20th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Christianity, life, ministry, people

Watched the interview below between DJ Chuang & Kyle Reed regarding mentors. It’s a sad story, but one that I think can be resolved. Watch the interview and then read my commentary below:

This is sad, but it mirrors a lot of my own experience as a new Christian with a call to ministry. I actually had to go outside of my local church to find mentors.

In my opinion, the biggest challenge in finding a mentor is getting people to understand the mentor/mentee relationship. Those asked to mentor think it means a big burden of their time and that they are being asked to teach someone in their ways for free. Mentees think that mentors should teach them in their ways for free.

If you’re asked to mentor someone, count it as a privilege. Know that you were asked to be a mentor because someone saw value in who you are. I know your immediate response is that you don’t have time to mentor someone. Maybe even you admit to yourself that you don’t know how to mentor someone. These are things that are easy to overcome.

If you are someone seeking a mentor, be sure to clarify in your mind what you are looking for. Don’t expect to ask a bunch of questions and get a bunch of answers. Your mentor won’t want you following them around their office looking over their shoulder either. Assess what you are looking do and why you are seeking a mentor. Be able to explain yourself in a brief paragraph so you can get someone’s attention and allay their fears that you want to take up their time without any return in their investment.

Mentors:

Be passionate: As a mentor, one must understand a very key thing. It’s passion. Are you passionate about what you do? If so, then it’s easy to allocate a little time each week to share that passion with someone else who may be called to a mission. If you’re not passionate about what you do, then you definitely should pass on being a mentor. A mentee will feed off of your passion and be encouraged by it. It’s probably the greatest thing you can pass on to someone else.
Be passionate about who you’re mentoring: What are their goals? How motivated and teachable are they? Do they have some agenda? If some of their passion mirrors yours, it’s easy to establish a relationship of moving forward with them. You have a lot of experience and have learned from your mistakes. You have an opportunity to help someone with passion, yet maybe lacking in mistake-making, to possibly avoid making some mistakes based on your wisdom.
Set time constraints: Establish up front before even considering a role as a mentor, what the expectations of time will be. In your mind, you may think you don’t have time, but in all seriousness, isn’t investing in someone in the next generation worth 30-60 minutes of your time once a week? If you’re gonna take at least one coffee break a week, why not share some of your story with someone else or make a standing lunch appointment to do the same.
It’s not about you!!! This gets most people when they reject a request to mentor someone. They make it about their own personal time or their own success. If one works hard to get where they are, why help expedite the process for someone else, right? You don’t have time in the day for what you already do, so how can you make time for someone new? Sorry, these *excuses* just don’t work because in the end they are simply selfish. Step back for a minute and look at the situation from the mentee’s point of view. It took a lot of courage for them to even approach you. They are at the beginning of figuring out what they were called to do and needing a little direction, just like you were at one time. They are full of passion, energy and enthusiasm in ways that maybe you once exhibited, but have since been a little jaded from getting chewed up and spit out any times. Give a little investment into someone new and the return isn’t your own, but instead it is shared by all.

Mentees:

Be humble: Know that no one owes you anything. Be very cautious of asking for too much from someone gracious enough to consider mentoring you. Let them know up front that you want to learn, but mostly you just want to hear their story and be encouraged by it. That you will have some questions along the way, but making the burden of the relationship your own and not theirs.
Be teachable:Don’t just say you are teachable, but truly be teachable. Don’t just pick and choose the wisdom you will embrace and toss the rest aside. Know that everything you hear and learn has value and should not be taken lightly. Open your mind to what you hear and see, not just try to extract what fits your agenda and direct the session to suit your needs.
Listen, don’t speak: This is an area where I think mentees really get disconnected from mentors. You want to learn and someone just gave you an open door to their life’s journey and you have a million questions to ask and not enough time to ask them all. Stop! Don’t have an agenda! Just be open to listen to what your mentor has to say. Maybe you meet for coffee and he tells you a story about what happened that day and you think it is obscure and not relevant to your future. Know that it is! Take it home with you and store it away…it will come back to you and in the end you will understand it. Go with the flow, don’t steer the conversation.
Wax on, wax off For those that have watched The Karate Kid, you know what I’m saying here. In the movie, the mentee (Daniel-san) was given a bunch of mundane chores to do around his mentor’s (Mr Miyagi) house. Things like wash & wax the car, sweep the floors, etc. Daniel-san didn’t understand why he wasn’t karate and protested about being the servant of the house. Then, one day Miyagi shines a light on the situation. He attacks Daniel-san and tells him to do the move he did when waxing the car: Wax on! now, wax off! By doing those mundane chores, Daniel-san was learning humility, how to have a teachable spirit, memory from repetitive motion, etc.

I remember going to a session with a mentor one week and was whisked away from the office to go help someone move a sofa from a downstairs apartment to her new upstairs apartment. My hour was spent moving furniture. Where was the pastoral wisdom? How would this help me be a better church planter? I was quite disappointed after that session. However, now I see the light. Ministry is about people, not building a large building and leading a large staff. Ministry is about service, not getting respect. It was one of many of my Daniel-san moments that I am now learning the meaning of.

Your mentor may ask you to do something you don’t quite get. Don’t complain, just do it! It’s not about what you *think* you are learning today, but it’s about your future.

If people are willing to set limits and boundaries to their time and really look at investing a small amount of time in order to make a huge amount of difference down the road, mentoring someone is a great opportunity to help see ones legacy continued through someone that credits you for their success through their future actions. It’s not about us. It’s about the countless others that will benefit as we learn and grow together.

What does the company you keep say about you?

// September 30th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Dave (personal), church planting, church relevance, jesus, life, ministry, people

Being in ministry and going through the process of planting a church, I have connected with people that can help me through: sharing wisdom, supporting me in meeting my goals, prayer, guidance, etc. If I shared my contact list with you, it would be obvious who I was.

I mentioned repentance in yesterday’s blog post here. It’s an ongoing process with me and the company I keep is something I feel I need to address. I look to Jesus as an example. In contrast to what others think of Jesus, he was not some lovey-dovey, goodie two-shoes person walking through the streets of Galilee 2,000 years ago. Instead, he was actually considered to be a very dangerous man! So dangerous that he posed a threat to the Jewish establishment. People were appalled at the company he kept. Even his inner circle of twelve consisted of a tax collector named Matthew. He was seen talking and dining with prostitutes & drunkards so often that people witnessing his lifestyle thought he was a sinning glutton and alcoholic (Luke 7:33-34).

Based on the company I keep, people around me in ministry bear witness to the fact that I am blessed with leaders that have invested time in my life to help me pursue the vision God has given me to see a new ministry take shape here in Sacramento, CA. However, what do the people of Sacramento see? Do they see a ministry leader that associates mainly with Christians and others in ministry, or do they see someone that has compassion and love for his fellow human regardless of his/her faith? Do my neighbors see a revolutionary of grace or the safety of a well-positioned minister to Christians?

I’ve spent a lot of time chasing the church and making it my idol. I’ve been wrapped up in believing that I am only as good as my church–that without formal ministry, I am nothing or will be labeled a failure. I’ve sacrificed time in my business (my only source of income as I don’t take a salary from the church), time with my family, and time from those in need of Christ’s love in my community. In reality, ministry is really about people and fulfilling The Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40)–we are called to love others above ourselves, not gain respect from our work in ministry.

Know that most of the people in my life are not of a Protestant Christian faith. Living most of my life as an atheist, you can imagine that I didn’t keep many Christian friends, nor witnessed any family members come to faith in Christ through my words. I do associate with people that spend time in bars or have been known to devote their lives to making lots of money. However, I feel that my focus has been on building new relationships that will help me move forward in ministry ahead of relationships that will foster the love of Christ in unknowing, anonymous ways. Too often I’ve brought attention to myself in the name of Christ’s Church rather than in the name of Christ period. I am repenting for this and moving forward in a more-balanced way regardless of what happens with my role in formal ministry. I’m looking at making a difference in the world anonymously so that people see Christ, not me and right now I can only do it one person at a time. I cannot let my natural instincts as an introvert lead my thought process.

How would people in the world view you based on the company you keep? It’s an important question that I hope you spend a moment pondering today.

Just Do It!

// July 7th, 2009 // Comments Off // ministry, people

During my mini-vacation last weekend I had a chance to visit with my friend Mark Horvath again (you may know him on twitter as @hardlynormal). He always inspires me because he’s been unemployed for something like 18 months, yet keeps drawing attention to the cause of homelessness rather than the individual cause of Mark Horvath. Rather than seek support for himself, he seeks to be a support to others that may not have their voices heard were it not for Mark and his ministry invisiblepeople.tv.

How many times have you said to someone (or yourself) that you wish you could do something to help make a difference? After saying that, how many times have circumstances or excuses come between your thoughts and your actions?

After being asked to partner with Michael Harrison, Steve Harrison and The Community Fellowship in Virginia and then hearing an announcement while attending New Hope South Bay, I felt compelled to join the cause. No more waiting for Mark to get back with me as to what he needs. I’ll trust that he will use the resources in the best way possible and just pledge to give him some financial support. He informed me that as of last Saturday he was still about $8,000 short of meeting all of the expenses for his cross-continental round trip. What I can give won’t even make an impact in that, but if we join together and give a little, combined we may see this need met and a lot of lives impacted through love and dignity. It’s 24 cities and 8,598 miles all in 49 days!

Won’t you join me in supporting Mark Horvath and his invisiblepeople.tv tour across the country?

• Partner with Mark and donate via PayPal here
• See if Mark is stopping at your city by clicking here
• Learn more about the road trip by clicking here
• See stories of homelessness by clicking here
• Contact Mark Horvath directly for other ways to help or to offer encouragement via facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mhorvath or email: roadtrip@invisiblepeople.tv

Church Planting & Philippians 4

// June 18th, 2009 // Comments Off // Bible, Sacramento, church planting, jesus, ministry, prayer

The NIV version of Philippians 4:4-7 tells us to rejoice in the Lord always. Not just once, but it is written twice! It reminds us to let our gentleness be apparent to all and to not be anxious about anything. We are instructed to pray about everything and be thankful as the peace of God will take us beyond anything we ever imagined, and guard our hearts and minds as we focus on Christ Jesus.

As I mentioned earlier, the common thread through all of Philippians is the notion of joy and rejoicing. Some days in ministry, especially in church planting, at the end of the day of being beaten down and weary it is difficult to think of rejoicing. Not only are we faced with battling the community as we represent Christ and faith in him to a world that is in opposition to him, but we also face issues within our leadership and people, anger from those hurt by the church in the past, people that feel we are divisive because they think God’s Word excludes them, working without similar financial compensation that we would get in any other workplace, people committing with their lips yet not with their hands, etc. However, if anyone of us looks at these and wishes they were not in ministry I have some simple advice. GET OUT NOW! Paul explains to us and we need to understand that we are called to rejoice in all things. We are on the side of righteousness and eternal life. We are not working for treasures here on earth. If at the end of the day you can’t get yourself to come around and go face the world the next morning, this probably isn’t the time for you to be in ministry. Go do something else and be happy. Ministry is difficult. Church planting is difficult. It takes someone committed to keep working at it for a cause greater than themselves and their personal feelings. I have gotten to some low points and faced the decision of leaving the ministry or giving up on the vision of seeing a transformational community come together here in Sacramento. It’s easy to give up. Sometimes it feels right to want to give up. We need to work through those feelings and jump back into the fire or really make the decision to get out. Otherwise you will crash and burn and be useless to others, probably even useless to yourself. It’s not necessarily the end of your ministry, but quite possibly it may be a well-needed rest to be ready for God’s timing when he calls you to something new.

We are called to pray and give thanks in everything. However, we aren’t always going to be able to. It’s just a fact. No one can really be rejoicing in the face of adversity, pain, heartbreak or loss. How we handle those times will determine how we move forward and if we will ever get to a place of rejoicing after the fire has come and gone. For me, the biggest saving grace in my life are the friends that God has surrounded me with. As an atheist for 37 years before becoming a Christian, you can imagine that most of my friends are worldly and in some instances atheists as well. During the rough times, these friends of mine will typically encourage me to get out and go back to what used to bring me a six figure income, nice cars and travel. To them, my reasoning for going away from that life never quite clicked in their minds. Most of them envied my position and respected me for my worldly credentials and successes. So, I value my new friendships with people that know my struggles and encourage me. I could not be where I am without them. When I look at my friendships, all of them being outside of my city, I revel in God’s favor on my life. My friends aren’t wealthy and can’t jump in and help me setup sound equipment or invite people to connect with our community of faith, but they are always there anytime I call or email. They always listen before speaking. Whether it’s days or months that pass by without contact, or maybe even just a few hours…they are always by my side and praying to God for me. For this I rejoice even though I face difficult days and rejection at times. It is easy to get back on the horse after getting kicked off and stomped when one has friends like I do!

In my study time through Philippians this week, I find that The Message translation of verses 4-7 speak to me in ways that most fill my heart with joy. It is written in a way that encourages and reminds us that we should celebrate the gift of ministering to others that God has given us. With this gift comes great responsibility, but knowing there is nothing else I could do right now than this, it is a sweet and pleasant taste that I want to savor…to know that somewhere, someone is going to know Christ eternally through something that is said or done in the context of living life as followers of him is an amazing thing. So amazing, that I want to share the experience with others and bring them along in this journey. I want to share the love of Christ in my heart with others and let them know his healing power still works, that miracles happen all around us every day, that Satan is fooling and deceiving a lot of people that are clueless to his lies. There is great power in Christ that needs to be manifested through his people. I’m looking for a team of people that believe that and desire to serve under this powerful anointing on Sacramento. Know that the Lord is near and he is coming soon. Consider our time here on earth to be short…how does that make you feel? Does it move you to do more? Is something stirring in your heart when you think about it? I close with Philippians 4:4-7 MSG…it’s time to stand up and celebrate!

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.