Experiences In Church Transformation

Oh NO, it's here

In my last blog post I talked about the anticipation in regards to a projection screen arriving.  Within 48 hours of that post, it arrived.  Now you would assume that I was terribly excited about its arrival but within 72 hours, I was anything but excited.  You see, with the arrival of the screen came the realization that I huge learning curve had just been dumped into my lap.  I had to learn a new way of organizing worship, a new computer program in much more detail than I had known prior, and a new way of even leading worship.  Of course, this learning all needed to take place on an already very hectic week.  I was ready to scream.

Thank goodness time changes perspectives.  This week has been much better with the learning and the time management.  I was able to devote a large portion of yesterday to helping my administrative assistant learn the new computer program and to revamp the way that I put the elements of a worship service together.  There has been an increase in organization and an ability to get key players more involved.  I am excited about worship this Sunday and an opportunity to fully integrate the new technology to enhance our worship of the Lord.  There have even been a few members comment on how great an addition the system is to our worship (and they only saw 1/3 of the service utilizing it last week).

I am sure that there will still be some glitches to work out.  I am sure that I will continue to make mistakes with the system and its use.  But what an exciting time it is for our congregation and the worship of our Lord.  Like a friend said to me, "It is kind of like having a baby, you anticipate what great joy it is going to be but when it comes time for the arrival, you realize what a learning curve you now have."

Having a Touchstone

There have been two very important actions that the leadership of our congregation has taken in the last couple of years.  The first is that the group adopted a vision for the ministry they felt the Lord calling them to be faithful to.  The second is that they adopted a mission statement.  These are leadership approaches that are not new in any fashion.  They are also concepts that seem to have as many meanings and definitions as there are leaves blowing in the autumn wind.  So let me share briefly with you how our leadership has utilized these concepts.

The vision statement, or more accurately rubix, was adopted to provide a challenge and a broad overview of the ministry that the Lord seemed to be leading us toward.  It is relatively broad in nature and has a strong Scriptural basis.  For a couple of years we have used the vision to generate questions about what the Lord might be doing in us and through us at this time.  The leadership has challenged themselves in identifying how we are responding in the different ministry areas that are contained in the vision and making adjustments where and when needed.

The mission statement flowed out of our vision statement.  We came to the point of saying we needed a concise response to how we were going to fulfill the vision.  We also determined that we wanted a statement that could be remembered easily and by a large number of individuals.  A statement that we could place on all communications that flowed in and out of our church.  A statement that would give some insight for the community at large into what this congregation was called by the Lord to do. 

The exciting reality of these two activies is that it helped the leadership to discern what the Lord was telling us.  It also helped the leaders to get on the same page with each other.  The other vital reality is that we now have a touchstone from which we can determine activities and expenditures that will strengthen our ministry versus distract from the ministry.  I have seen a couple of recent examples when the leadership asked the question of "how does this fit within the vision and mission that the Lord has called us to?"  As they responded to this question, it became very obvious what decision needed to be made.

So I encourage you to set up touchstones that will provide guidance as you transform and respond to the Lord's call.   

Find a Need, Fill a Need

Recently in a conversation concerning Christian service with my confirmation/commissioning class, we viewed a video clip from the movie Robots.  One of the main characters, Mr. Bigweld, makes the statement that all people can contribute to the world.  They just need to "find a need, fill a need".  The class discussed how such a statement would apply to Christians and their use of the gifts God has given each person.

I think that this is an important concept for the church as a whole.  To begin with, the church should be actively finding the "need(s)" of the community which they are located in.  This would require actively being in discussion with members of the community that may not necessarily be a part of the worshiping community.  Of course the transformational dynamic that this would be associated with is Re-entering the Larger Community.  From the discussions and observations that occur as part of this step, we can then move on to the next half of Mr. Bigweld's statement --- fill a need.

The church then needs to identify how they might be able to fill the need(s) identified in the first step with the gifts, passions, and interests of the members of the congregation.  This will lead to being faithful to the call Christ gives to each of us as believers.  It will be a true demonstration of the body of Christ being alive in the world today and not just huddled within the safe confines of the church building.

So my challenge to all Christians is ----  Find a need, fill a need.

Following Directions

On a recent trip which required me to fly, I made a disturbing observation --- people often choose to fail to follow directions.  Let me paint the picture for you.  After boarding one plane, we had to be de-iced so we were sitting there quite a while.  The flight attendant made the announcement that individuals could continue to use their electronic devices until we had been de-iced and were ready to taxi once again.  People all around pulled out laptops, blackberries, and other portable electronic devices.  This did not become an issue until we were once again ready to taxi for our takeoff.  The flight attendant made the announcement that all these devices and cellular phones must be turned off and returned to their storage location.  The individual ahead of me apparently perceived that this announcement applied to everyone but himself.  One of the flight attendants came past him and asked him to turn off the laptop.  Again, he did not seem to comprehend that this applied to him.  Another flight attendant came by with the same request and again he did not comply.  We were quickly approach our runway from which we were to takeoff and another flight attendant began to approach the man.  This time he must have decided that he needed to follow directions and complied with all the previous requests.  I sat in my seat becoming angry that most of my fellow travelers were good about complying with the instructions but one individual for some reason chose multiple times not to comply.  This was my first opportunity on the trip to observe such behavior but it would continue with a couple of other situations in the airport --- those passengers that are in such a hurry to board that they fail to follow the seating order as it is called, or the passengers that have the whole flight to get up and use the restroom but wait until we are starting our descent and the seatbelt sign is illuminated before they get up and head to the restroom.

Why is it that human beings frequently fail to take direction and follow that direction?  This by far is not a new phenomenon, nor is it limited to the airport and airplanes.  Humans have tended to demonstrate this behavior since our creation.  Didn't God tell the first humans not to eat from one specific tree, and yet they did?  I guess there is something about our human nature that resists being faithful to the directions given to us by those in charge.

This tends to run true in the church as well.  We see over and over again that once the leadership of the church sets a direction, there has to be at least one person that challenges that.  While I am not advocating a blind following by individuals, I do think that we need to seriously examine why we fail to follow directions.  Why is that when the Spirit leads us, we choose to head the opposite direction?  Why is it when the Lord provides instruction in the Word, we fail to heed it?  Why is it when a vision is cast and leaders move in that Spirit-led journey, we have people trying to go their own way?

Maybe some day we will finally admit that the directions we receive from the Lord truly are for our benefit.  Maybe some day we will all follow those directions.  Until then, I guess we will all have to keep trying to encourage others and ourselves. No wonder God gets frustrated with us!

Enough is Not Enough

When is enough enough? That is the question that came to my mind as I was reading a book by Thom Rainer. The book that I am currently reading is entitled, Breakout Churches: Discover How to Make the Leap. Rainer is the head of a church research organization. He decided to try to answer why some churches become great and others remain good. His research team set a few criteria for identify a “breakout” church. Their criteria dealt with reaching new disciples of Christ, the church experiencing a decline or plateau for several years prior to the breakout, new growth has been sustained since the breakout, the same pastor was present before, during and after the breakout, and the church has made a clear and positive impact on the community. His premise to his research was that there must have been some key factors in moving the church from mediocrity to greatness. And he starts his book with this statement: “It is a sin to be good if God has called us to be great.” This statement has made a huge impact on me and will be the guiding statement of the church staff in 2007. I would like to challenge each individual reading this blog post with that statement also.

Rainer expands upon that statement by pointing out a couple of realities from Scripture. Here is what he says:

“Christians refer to Matthew 28:18-20 as the Great Commission, not the Good Commission. Jesus himself said that the words we read in Matthew 22:37 and 39 are the Great Commandments, not the Good Commandments. And the apostle Paul did not call love something good; instead, he said ‘the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13, emphasis added).”

It is clear that the Lord’s expectation, as pointed out by Rainer, is one of greatness not mediocrity. This to me places a whole new perspective on what we do and emphasizes the importance of focusing on details. There are many times when we become content with doing just enough to get by. However, according to Rainer, and I believe Jesus Christ himself, we should not settle for “enough”. We are called by the Lord to strive for greatness in every aspect of our lives. We are called to take our effort and push it a little bit farther.

All of that being said, the challenge that I place before the staff, myself, and each of you is to strive in 2007 to be great! When we look at something that we have been a part of, we must challenge ourselves to see how we can make that effort even greater. Look for the details and the small things that will take our work from good to great. We should never settle for mediocrity. After all, does not the Lord deserve the very best. Jesus said, “And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'” (Matthew 25:40) Alright, Jesus was making the reference in a little different context but I still believe that it calls us to remember that everything which we do we are doing towards the Lord. It does not matter whether we view our work as highly important or as just an average action, we still must strive for greatness in that action. 

It is time to move all our work as a church from mediocrity and doing “enough” to the greatness that God calls us to achieve!!!

A Caring Congregation

In a recent discussion with our congregation's transformation team, there was some reflection concerning the often heard statement, "We are a caring congregation."  It was noted that there is some truth to that statement and definitely value to that attitude.  However, we need to be careful how we understand the intention behind that statement.  Often someone will say that in reference to the way that members in the congregation take care of other members in the congregation.  Again, I say that there is nothing wrong with that type of caring but as the team pointed out, that is only one component of what a caring congregation should be about.

Besides taking care of those who are already in the fellowship of the church, a congregation must be concerned about those outside the fellowship and demonstrate the same type of caring.  One member of the team said that we need to make sure we are showing the same type of care for the stranger who walks in the door of our church building.  I pushed him one step further and said that we need to provide that care ministry for the ones who DO NOT step inside our building's doors.

So the next time you hear someone say that they are part of a "caring congregation," challenge them to discover if that means they are caring for those who never have darkened the doorway of a church.

What's the Language?

Recently I had the Confirmation/Commissioning class and their mentors do an exercise regarding a passage of Scripture.  Their assignment was to put Matthew 16:24-25 in their own words.  The reason for this assignment was to help them learn how to truly understand the passage and apply it to their own lives.  One of the unexpected outcomes of the assignment was a lesson in speaking the language of the people today.  One of the mentors translated the passage into the venacular of many of the teens today.  It was fantastic and caused me to give consideration to one of the weaknesses of the church --- that we often get so complacent in translate the Lord's message to a world that speaks a new language.

Jesus set a great example for us in this area.  When he was with fishermen, he taught using illustrations that came from their life experience; he used terms that they could relate to.  When he was with farmers, he taught using illustrations and terms that they used every day.  It never weakened the message that he had to share but instead allowed the message to become applicable to their situation and life. 

Martin Luther placed before the church the great concern that the people no longer used the language that was being used by the priests.  Luther argued that Scripture should be translated into the languages of the people and that the worship service should be conducted in the language of the community. 

How soon we forget!!  Many of the Bible translations that are used in worship today definit ely do not reflect the language spoken outside the church walls.  Eugene Peterson recently identified that and produced what is now one of the best selling versions of the Bible for young and older alike.  Take a look at Peterson's The Message you will be impressed.  But even that is becoming outdated in some settings. 

My challenge for the church and myself is to constantly consider the language in which we are communicating the message.  We do not have to change the core of the message but change the way we communicate.  Let us look at the words and illustrations that we preach with.  Let us critically examine the songs that we sing.  Let us follow Christ's example and teach using experiences of the people and terms they do not have to look up in a theological dictionary.

After all, how many of us really know what an "Ebenezer" truly is.  Maybe it is time we update our words.

Perfect Location

In a recent discussion that I had with some leaders from another congregation an important point surfaced.  If we believe that God is truly a sovereign God, then we naturally come to the point that as followers of Christ and as members of Christ's body on earth, we are where God wants us to be with a purpose for being there. 

This is helpful for congregations to remember when they are experiencing some difficult times.  It is easy to give up and to question why they are even continuing to fight the battles.  But if we remember that the Lord has a purpose for each one of us and for each congregation then we have different perspective on why we exist and why we are where we are.

So if you ever get discouraged, remember that there is something that the Lord wants you to do where you are.  Figure that out and in the words of a famous philospher, "Get 'er done".

More Than A Social Club

So what is the difference between a church and the Optimist Club?  No, that is not the start of a joke.  Although, too often the true answer to this question does make the church seem like a joke.  One of the biggest issues with the current nature of most congregations is that they look more like a social or service organization than a representation of the Body of Christ. 

My contention is that as the earthly reality of the Body of Christ, we who comprise and lead the church today need to wrestle with the question of what makes us different than one of the many valuable service organizations that exist in communities throughout the United States.  The most obvious difference should be that we declare the reality of our living savior, Jesus Christ.  As straightforward as that concept may appear, I fear that too many of our congregations fail to live out that difference.  Over the years, we have done almost everything to hide the Gospel of Christ.  Check out some of the names for churches that are out there.  In some situations, you would be hardpressed to realize by the name that you are in contact with a group of people who profess their belief in Jesus Christ.  We have become afraid of being honest about who we are because we do not want to "turn anyone off."  Yet this whole fear runs contradictory to what Jesus declared and commanded of the disciples. 

Now, don't get me wrong.  I am not advocating a type of faith sharing that is "in your face."  I do not believe that an approach like that is any more successful than the covert approach.  But I do believe that we need to stop acting like we are ashamed of witnessing to Jesus Christ.  I think we should be clear about who we are and what our purpose is.  We need acknowledge that the head of our fellowship and the reason we exist is Jesus Christ.  Our names, our actions, our priorities, our words, all need to clearly point to Christ.

Let's make it obvious that we have something different to offer than the local Lion's Club does!!!!