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theologyontap

Wednesday night, I had the privilege to attend “Theology at the Bottleworks,” a Midrash ministry of The Journey [my family's home church + where I am doing my church planting internship] at a pub, Schlafly’s Bottleworks, in beautiful Maplewood.

In older, simpler times, a pub or “public house” was often the focal point of the community, playing a similar role to the local church, where people gathered to openly discuss significant issues of the day. The Journey is re-entering the “public house” to reach into culture by tackling spiritual, political, and philosophical themes in an open environment.

And yes, this has been the setting for the infamous “Beer and the Bible” controversy that brewed, pun intended, back in 2007. There is great comment from my good friend and Journey pastor, Jonathan McIntosh, on the web home for Mike Corley of The Mike Corley Program here about TATB [unfortunately, the audio seems to be nonexistent]. You can read a couple of somewhat objective articles about TATB from the Baptist Press here and the Christian Post here…

I am shadowing the moderators for the next couple of months to eventually become a part of the moderation team over the next year. And let me say, after observing my new friend Matt moderate last night, this is going to be one of the most difficult yet shaping things I have ever done. I’m excited about what God is going to do in me through this…

This particular evening was unique in that it was the 4th anniversary of this outreach event. To be specific, this was the 48th TATB event. Pretty astounding.

There were probably about 50 people there and I was told that there are usually 70+. And my best guess was that it was split down the middle: 50% religious, 50% non-religious.

The topic was “The Impact of Technology on the American Way of Life.” And a lively topic it was. Here were some of the great points made/questions raised across a wide spectrum:

>technology makes us lose touch with reality into isolation
>human interaction is overrated
>technology pits art + creativity vs. efficiency + mass production + instant gratification
>technology makes you more human, not less
>does technological innovation undercut traditional fundamentals?
>technology makes us skip the fundamentals of knowledge, i.e., spelling
>new technology wouldn’t be realized with the fundamentals changing
>are we headed to a Wall-E or Matrix world?
>technology can enhance relationships but cannot substitute for human touch, empathy, etc.
>do we like where technology is taking us?
>technology moves us away from real sources, i.e., analog musical recording vs. digital
>to curb abuse of technology, we have to discipline ourselves and self-moderate
>technology is neutral; we use technology, it doesn’t use us
>technology is good for scientific + medical purposes but not relationships
>we are trading quantity of connectedness over quality of connectedness, i.e. Facebook friends vs. real friends
>there is no counterbalance with technology from the spritual + ethical side of the equation
>should we limit/restrain technology?
>Bible gives principles not specifics on how we should handle “stuff”, i.e., Genesis 1 “subdue” principle

So what does this have to do with why we aren’t missional?

I sat at a table with a non-religious, 50+ year-old Greek curmudgeon, a non-religious 30+ year-old Asian-American (originally from Hong Kong) molecular biologist and resident at Children’s Hospital, and a 30+ year-old skeptic and non-practicing Orthodox Jew. Uh, yeah. And it wasn’t the large group discussion that impacted me. It was the discussion with my three new friends after the discussion that did. Big time…

My experience Wednesday night unearthed some things inside of me that I need to preach to myself to help me understand where my heart and head don’t line up with regards to my missional posture to culture. So I thought I’d invite you to join me on the journey.

As a part of a series, I am going to unpack what I believe are the 5 main things that keep us from being salt and light in culture. I hope you join me in the conversation…


This is a treat via Adrian Warnock. Two full-length talks from Tim Keller at New Frontiers in London on transforming culture and the importance of cities for ministry and culture making.

In light of the growing momentum towards church planting in urban Tulsa, these videos capture the ethos of what I believe God is calling me to there. To be honest, Keller is the impetus for much of my thought on urban core ministry. Enjoy:


Tim Keller – Cultural Transformation from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.


Tim Keller – The City from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.


coffeeconvo

My new friend, Art Rogers, reprinted Michael Frost’s four “P’s” of missionality (love that word). I’ll re-re-print them here:

Proximity – We must be in the lives of those needing the Gospel. It is not something you can do from the sideline or as a tourist.
Presence – We must live incarnationally, revealing the presence of God to those not looking for Him otherwise.
Powerlessness – We must disavow the political, material and temporal leverage that the institutional church has long represented and coveted. It has discredited us and eschewing it commends us to those previously disillusioned.
Proclamation – We must openly declare that Jesus is the reason that we are living as servants, abstaining from worldly power struggles. People don’t need “good people” they need the Gospel.

Art asked for thoughts. Here was my response:

i think it’s pretty strong. many “missional” folks leave out proclamation. great to see that…

on the proclamation front, people like frost and his buddy, hirsch, show they are thoroughly evangelical. unfortunately, they are still on the margins of much of evangelicalism. i see their prophetic influence slowly seeping out, but there is much work to be done…

i do want to say that we need to be careful how we define proclamation though. we typically do this: proclamation = preaching. that’s a slice but not exclusively what it is. proclamation is an all-of-life, “giving a reason for the hope..,” verbal proclamation of our faith. at the appropriate, discerning time…

the one thing i would add is the impetus of the declaration that Jesus is the reason we are living as servants isn’t first because we are resisting worldly power struggles but we are servants because the cross was the fullest expression of service. We serve because Jesus’ obedience to the Father was the ultimate act of service. i’m afraid if we don’t do that, people will not see the gospel as the impetus, rather an apple for apples trade off – service vs. power struggles. i hope that makes sense…

i understand that early in conversation, it may be helpful to use the apple for apples idea as a gateway, but we have to be careful to expand the idea at the most appropriate time so we model the gospel as the prism they need to look at all things, especially mission.

i would say it this way: gospel-less service is merely activism but gospel-filled service is mission!


fruit

Brother Maynard, in a recent entry entitled “Missional Conversation for 2009,” waxes on what he believes will be at the forefront of the missional discussion this upcoming year. One of the things he says should be at the center is evangelism. And it should be…

In light of the recent hubbub over the issue of “conversion” and the “fruit” of the missional church via Dan Kimball, et al., there is no question that those of us in the missional conversation must wrestle with the issue of evangelism as it relates to conversion.

On the one hand, David Fitch is right when he says that in the post-Christian culture, “converting” the truly unchurched – as opposed to the dechurched, who have some Christian memory – will be a much slower process that will take extreme patience. The world knows a bait-and-switch when they see it and we have to honor the process, discerning our part on the spectrum of one’s spiritual journey. We may be the seed “planter,” “waterer,” or “harvester.”

On the other hand, as we are “compelled by love” to engage in relationship with unbelievers because we believe their greatest need is on the soul level, we will have to discern if and when our job is to “harvest” and be ready to lead others to Christ and not, for the sake of offense, be so hesitant to do so because we are so intent on going “slow.”

There is no question that evangelism has been subsumed into the “mission” at various points historically, many times in the name of the missio Dei. When it has done so, “conversion” was no longer important. Rather than explicitly share the Gospel, one must merely express “solidarity” with an oppressed people group for Christ to “save” them. No proclamation of the Gospel, just presence. In this paradigm, as Stephen Neill has said, when everything is mission, nothing is mission.

In other words, if a narrower definition of mission is sharing the good news of Christ, then “sharing” may be a part of the equation depending on our role in the process. Expressing oneness with someone alone will never lead anyone to Christ. It may be an excellent gateway, but cannot be equated with what historically has been understood as evangelism.

I believe the fruit of the missional church will be seen in our ability to live in the creative tension of earning trust and credibility with the lost, going slow and discerning the Spirit’s leading to our “role” in their spiritual journey and if given a window of openness to the Gospel, boldly and lovingly, leading our friends into the Kingdom.



The first Midwest Acts 29 Quarterly of 2009 is tomorrow at The Journey – Tower Grove. I’m going to try to live blog it via the Cover It Live platform. I know it is difficult for some of you to travel to St. Louis, especially in these difficult economic times…

Here is a blurb from A29 about what the quarterly will focus in on:

Approaching Evangelism: Salt & Light

As Christians, our primary ministry calling is to bring the gospel to the broken culture. But, sadly, as pastors, church planters, and church leaders we can lose touch with this call while navigating the other demands of local church ministry. Throughout the history of the church we have seen movements that have reacted to this issue by becoming wholly focused either on making the gospel attractive to the culture or through incarnating the gospel within the culture. Does there have to be an either/or response to our call? How can we keep personal evangelism a priority for ourselves and our congregations while shaping a church culture that expresses an attractional facet of the gospel?

Our teachers for the first session focusing on The Shape of an Attractional Culture will be Darrin Patrick, lead pastor for The Journey, and Jonathan McIntosh, Teaching and Hanley Rd. Campus pastor for The Journey.

Our teacher for the afternoon session focusing on Jesus-Style Evangelism will be pastor, teacher, and author Jerram Barrs, Professor of Christian Studies and Contemporary Culture and Resident Scholar of the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute at Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO.



Ed Stetzer & David Fitch – a missional conversation from Missional Tribe on Vimeo


From Missional Tribe:

Shot in Chicago in November of ‘08, Part One of this 45 minute conversation features Ed Stetzer and Dave Fitch discussing what they each mean by the term “missional”. They also spend some time discussing attractional vs missional – and whether missional church, as it seems to be presently framed is “interested in converts.”

A very good conversation between two PhD’s, who are also church planters, teachers, authors and missional instigators in their own right.

This video was produced by Toronto’s mkpl.tv – Producer, Imbi Medri. Director/Editor, Bill Kinnon. It is made available under a Creative Commons License – Attribution – No Derivative Works. Copyright Holders: Medri Kinnon Productions Limited, Ed Stetzer, David Fitch.


1. Ed Stetzer – edstetzer.com

Ed Stetzer, President of Lifeway Research, Lifeway’s Missiologist in Residence, on the faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Southern Seminary, prolific author and blogger, multiple church planter and ministry trainer, is my #1 missional blog of the year.

So I’m a little biased here, but as many of you know, I’ve had the special privilege to work under Ed through my master’s level work at Liberty Theological Seminary this fall/winter. I’ve witnessed first hand his heart to help and serve people at all levels of ministry understand the missional conversation and practically move them towards it. And this heart for mission, the church and God’s people shines through on his blog.

Check these:
The Meanings of Missional series
Speaking of Jesus and Justice
Simply Missional
When the Mission Gets Lost in the System
Missional Living

Top 8 Recap
8. J.R. Woodward | 7. Jonathan Dodson | 6. Neil Cole | 5. Drew Goodmanson | 4. Bob Hyatt | 3. Alan Hirsch | 2. David Fitch


2. David Fitch – Reclaiming the Mission

David Fitch, Betty R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary; founding pastor of Life on the Vine Community, an emerging church in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago; co-founder of Up/Rooted, an emergent cohort that gathers leaders and thinkers to engage issues of the emerging church and the post-modern context; and author of The Great Giveaway comes in at #2.

David has been one of the most influencing voices in the development of my ministry/church planting philosophy. It started with The Great Giveaway, but continuing on with the stream of consciousness on his blog, let’s just say, it’s a gold mine. I believe it will be shown that David was one of the most important shaping influences on the grounding of missional orthopraxy in the twenty-first century.

I’m looking forward to becoming a regular part of the missional leader learning community in the future. I was personally invited to the one in January but can’t make. I hope to down the road..

Check these:
Please Lord, Don’t Let Me Get Pragmatic: Spiritual Formation for Missional Leaders
“The Numbers Are Going Up But Something Doesn’t Feel Right”
Conversion a casualty of Missional Theology?
When They Will Not Come – Community: The anti-attractional process of beginning a church with community
The Middle In: The Unique Missional Opportunity

Top 8 Recap
8. J.R. Woodward | 7. Jonathan Dodson | 6. Neil Cole | 5. Drew Goodmanson | 4. Bob Hyatt | 3. Alan Hirsch


3. Alan Hirsch – The Forgotten Ways

It is a gift to have Alan Hirsch, one of the top missional practitioners today, blogging on a regular basis. Hirsch spends much of his time unpacking the stellar material from his most recent books. I’m looking forward to his commentary on ReJesus. Here’s to 2009 where I’m confident Hirsch will continue to be one of the brightest missional provocateurs out there…

Check these:
“The community for me?” or “Me for the community?”
The Problem with Institutions (part II)
South Goes APEST

Top 8 Recap
8. J.R. Woodward | 7. Jonathan Dodson | 6. Neil Cole | 5. Drew Goodmanson | 4. Bob Hyatt


4. Bob Hyatt – bob.blog

One of my favorite blogs of the last few years also happens to be thick in the missional. Bob Hyatt, pastor of Evergreen Community in Portland, is a “heart-on-the-sleeve” blogger who gives us a unique window into his ministry. I appreciate Bob’s humility in sharing the journey with the rest of us. He is particularly savvy in relating the challenge of maintaining a missional mindset amidst a church culture that is increasingly becoming ingrown. Pithy, pithy…

Check these:
Kimball’s Missional Misgivings
Truly missional…
Missional Leadership Development…


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Husband and father of four, university instructor, seminarian, worship consultant, and church planting intern.

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