Organism vs Organization

I remember in my college days hearing the new words amongst church life….”we are an organism not an organization!” I was perplexed; loved the concept, but also loved the structures and systems that organizational life provides. Low and behold, 10 years later Jim Akin, the guru of church planting from West Ridge Church posted the following:

“every organism has organization or it falls apart. Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” faith begins as a tiny atom/seed of thought in a person’s life – “is there a God?” “how did all of this stuff get here?” etc. etc. that faith is germinated and grows into a living breathing person of faith, but 99.99% of the time without an organization to attach itself too that faith will die.so we may glamorize the church as an organism, fluid, changing, alive, without the organization the organism dies.”

Love it! No longer am I perplexed  Read the entire post here

 

Lending Workers to Other Companies

#6 on the Wall Street Journal’s creative ways to avoid layoffs during a recession (here’s the link to the article) describes Rhino Foods of Vermont-they make Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream better…trust me–sending their employees over to a fellow company who was experiencing a seasonal rush. So companies are sharing employees (even if an invoice comes later)! This is huge for privatized companies with trade secrets….this isn’t typical….this emerged out of necessity and innovation. AND BOTH companies won!

I wonder if churches will ever take this leap–sharing of staff, key leaders, workers, resources. Will we ever get to a point where we are Kingdom minded and not just Church minded. Can we stop competing with each other and learn how to complement each other. I’ve had this discussion several times over the past few months. I’m not sure where it’s going, but it keeps coming up…I’ll keep you in the loop as it progresses.

Challenged by words…

I collect quotes, and keep a ready supply on a file on my desktop. That was untill my PC crashed and now I have a blank document…

Words mean a lot and can radically change my approach, my emotions, and my courage. Here is what I was challenged by in the last few days via my Twitter Feeds.

• @RickWarren “Surrendering to God isnt fatalism or laziness. It may mean sacrificing & suffering criticism to change what needs changing”
• @davidhfoster “It’s the hard thing you do that makes you stronger not the easy. Stop pushing paper and tackle the thing you dread.”
• @andywood “a river takes the path of least resistance, that is why it is so crooked!”
• @chasenc “I’m stuck in a bathroom” (ok…this one just gave me a good laugh)
• @davidhfoster “No one can take from you or keep from you what God wants for you, but you!”
• @RickWarren “It is when we try to be God that we end up most like Satan, who desired the same thing.

Post Attractional Church Planting

With a brief understanding of the attractional church already covered here; let’s dive into post attractional church planting.

Matthew 22 and Luke 14 illustrate an attractional event with an interesting storyline. Not everyone wanted to come to the dinner. The inadequacy of the attractional church plant is that the banquet hall is far from full; mainly because we are extracting people from things they are already doing. Eventually the church plant will reach a limit on who they are able to attract.

• What happens when the good-will concept of church vanishes and becomes less functional?
• What happens when the baby boomer’s predilection to be attracted (church shop) is replace by future generations post-modern philosophies?
• What happens when individualism is more important than collectivism?
• What happens when we have over-saturated areas with attractional churches to the point that people are numb to our welcoming facades?
• What happens when we need more than just savoy marketing, quality bands, and methodological volunteer training?

Some find the answers in the second component of the Matthew 22 and Luke 14 story….a switch…a “go-to”, or a missional church.

Still begs to ask though…what’s next?

Attractional Church Planting

Recently I have been thinking a lot about the future of church planting in a post attractional age of church life.

First let me explain Attractional Church Planting. Allan Hirsch is credited with coining the word “attractional” to describe the way evangelical cutting edge church has been done from the 1980’s until now. A new (or old but transitioning) church seeks through its presence, programming and marketing–everything from four-color brochures to word-of-mouth, to attract people to its services. The pure attractional model seeks to draw people into the church building so that they will have a specialized need met, and in the process of having a need met enter into meaningful human relationships, and then hopefully they will be pointed to Christ, enter into a saving relationship with him, and finally be integrated into the life of the congregation. The basis of this model came out of capitalizing on what in business is called good-will: a good reputation in the community as a place of peace and help. The kingdom has greatly expanded because of this approach. The church has refocused itself outwardly. The effects and benefits have been well documented.

But we are now 30 years into this approach and I still meet church planters that gravitate to this approach, instead of asking what’s next?

Playfully Lazy…

Last week I was living the life of a bachelor while my girls enjoyed the beach. By the end of the week I realized something that must change for future bachelor experiences. Week to week I try hard to balance and prioritize work and family. I try to debunk the myth that Pastors are slothful and just play each week by approaching my time with tactical fervor. I always fill up each day and often am late because of overdoing/underestimating my time constraints. Most of the time I overdo a day…but I love it!

This past week, when my family wasn’t in the picture my entire routine was messed up creating open spaces for playful laziness. By the end of the week, the few hours each day created a lathargic individual. I didn’t waste time, I just didn’t invest my time in things that matter.

So for the next bachelor experience I will be embarking on some radical journeys, pushing the limits of my studying, developing, and writing; as well as, inviting others to hold me accountable–that was the missing element.

What do you engage?

This past Sunday at Waypoint we talked about the Bible….amazing right…..a church using the Bible as it’s basis. Actually we talked a lot about how most of us in America don’t have a lack of access to the Bible, we have a lack of engagement. I find this more and more as many of us dive more into

• blogs
• facebook
• twitter
• music
• books
• games
• phone calls
• meaningless searches on the web 

rather than the Word.  Now don’t get me wrong I know a lot of us use the tools to help engage the Scripture more; but here’s the question….If you add up all the time you engage in Scripture verses just one of the above list which one gets most of your time?

My Biography

With all the recent deaths hitting Hollywood last week I began wondering how long it would take for some books to come out about their lives. I know a lot has already been written, and Billy Mays had his own reality show capturing his life, but just wait…the books are a coming!

In pursuing a spiritual journey I realize that God is crafting my biography. He created me in His image! His mission in my life is to reveal His image to others through me. His epic tale of my life is just beginning, chapters have already changed, new characters introduced, new plot lines developed. However, often I end up living a life creating my own autobiography. I try to write my own story, make my own journey. I’m learning now that my life is not just a biography written by God, but is also a biography about God and His work and mission in making me me!

The Bible is….

With TXT starting this week, I’m just curious, finish this sentence (you can use multiple choices and/or fill in your own answer)