• Archive of "individualism" Category

    Consuming Jesus

    January 15, 2009 // 2 Comments »

    I have been looking forward to reading Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church by Paul Metzger for some time.  For the sake of an alternative context and experience, I was even more excited to read the bulk of it amidst my time in Africa and its deep seeded tribalism.

    In Metzger’s words, his aim is to…

    confront the ways evangelical-consumer or niche-church Christianity fosters racial and economic divisions, and I wish to offer an alternative theological paradigm to the one that is often embraced in the evangelical subculture. (11)

    In my words, this alternative theological paradigm comes only by way of rejecting the version of the gospel which has led to a consumer-oriented faith/church and embracing one that prophetically strikes at the very heart of that reality.

    In John Perkins’ words,

    The only purpose of the gospel is to reconcile people to God and to each other.  A gospel that doesn’t reconcile is not a Christian gospel at all.  But in America it seems as if we don’t believe that.  We don’t really beleive that the proof of our discipleship is that we love one another.” (9)

    I love that Perkins understands the gospel by what it does.  Like love, the gospel takes on its true nature only when it is enacted.

    In the beginning of the book.  Metzger insightfully traces the various streams, characters, and events which have so vitally contributed to the dominant expression of Christianity in America.  From here, he probes into the ways in which “the dominant structure of the evangelical church today favors, fosters, and shapes its structures around the key ingredient of individual choice…” (79)  Key to understanding this tendency is his discussion of the popularization of the Homogenous Unit Principle (HUP) by Donald McGavran as a method for church growth.  The remainder of the book features insightful biblical and cultural reflections, helpful examples and a sustained discussion on the vitality of Scripture and sacraments for the formation of communities of reconciliation across racial and class boundaries.

    Of Scripture, Metzger says…

    We must move people with God’s word on Sunday mornings to move beyond their addictions to race and class affinity groups.  Authentic witness to Jesus is at stake, and we must stake our lives on it. (117)

    – a quick aside here: just as the goodness of the gospel lies in what it does, so too the sermon is only good inasmuch as it results in changed lives.  Don’t ever tell a preacher his or her message was good unless you are prepared to also tell them how it resulted in your changed life

    And I love that he includes Marva Dawn’s words on the Lord’s Supper…

    How can we share the eschatological feast if we don’t participate in displaying God’s future, in which all will be equally fed and we will all join together in universal praise?  It seems to be that if we eat the body and blood of Christ in expensive churches without care for the hungry, the sacrament is no longer a foretaste of the feast to come, but a trivialized picnic to which not everyone is invited.

    The end of the book is the author’s attempt to move into a discussion of partnerships amongst churches across racial and socio-economic lines.  His desire is for the church to…

    re-envision its understanding of communal identity in view of its communal and co-missional God as involving solidarity with society at large…. This will entail a radical break from the dominant American individualistic mindset that keeps us separate from others.  It will require that we lay down our lives and die for our enemies rather than try to take back America from them. (149)

    I found this to be a fantastic book.  A bit narrow at places where I though the discussion (at least by way of footnotes) should have been expanded, but definitely a much needed message for the American church.  I suppose the big question I am let with is how to think about local congregations that are seeking to incarnate themselves in places that are intrinsically homogeneous.  If anyone wants to weigh in, please feel free, I’d enjoy the discussion.

    Posted in africa, books, christendom, church, community, consumerism, culture, evangelicalism, gospel, individualism, love, missional, preaching/teaching, review, sermon, spiritual formation, theology

    Childcare or Kingdom Community?

    July 23, 2008 // 5 Comments »

    This is a brief piece I wrote for the Living Hope community as we continue to explore what it means to embrace a missional identity as a church community – specifically with regard to how we understand the place of children.

    The first church I served at as a pastor was very large.  We had all sorts of programs and services for people to choose from.  We invested a great deal of time and energy as a staff in trying to figure out the best ways, times, and methods to get people involved in church activities.  One of the things we were constantly wrestling with was how to have the necessary volunteers to pull everything off.  No area of ministry struggled more for consistent and dedicated volunteers than our children’s ministry.  My good friend Cyd, our children’s pastor, would ask the staff every single week to please talk to others about serving in the children’s ministry.  It was an area of constant need and an utterly shameful reality which screamed of just how far off course we were in living out God’s dream for his people.

    In retrospect, I am able to see that this need was a direct result of the skewed understanding we had of what it meant to be the church.  We approached the church as though it were a volunteer organization.  Basically, our mentality was, “People have busy lives already, we need to do what we can to make it easy for them to participate in church activities and be careful not to ask too much – lest they leave.”  But the church is not a volunteer organization – the church is a family, a community invited by God to embody God’s good news of the Kingdom to the world around us.  This makes all the difference in the world in terms of the way we approach how we live, worship, and share life together.

    Children are God’s gift, not only to parents, but to the community of the church.  In the context of this community, it’s not that we need volunteers to care for kids.  Rather, it’s that part of the identity of this new community is a mutual concern for each other, including a vested interest in the care for each other’s children.  In a culture so thoroughly individualistic, where we are led to believe that it is ultimately to ourselves that we are accountable and responsible, the church stands as a contrast.  In the community called church, we find our true identity not in ourselves, but in our relationship to others.

    For Living Hope, our desire to be a missional church community means that we are seeking to live out a peculiar existence; an existence in which the needs of others come before our own and the care of children is seen as a communal, not private, affair.

    Practically speaking, here’s what this might mean and look like.  Each Sunday morning people gather to worship – some gather at 9:00, others at 10:45.  During these times, children who can’t or don’t participate in the corporate worship gathering, meet in age specific groups.  This is our divine opportunity to experience what it means for the church to be different – to reject the dominant consumer culture.  This is our opportunity to invest a little bit of time with the children of our community – to show mutual (and opposed to individual) concern and accountability.  It’s not about volunteerism; it’s about Kingdom community.

    Of course the ways in which we ought to show mutual concern and accountability run far deeper than this Sunday morning opportunity.  There are implications for our small group times, for sharing meals, for sharing resources, for taking vacations, for involvement in extracurricular activities, and so on, but there is something unique about the significance of caring for the children of our church community during those times that we are gathered corporately.

    Posted in church, community, individualism, living hope, missional

    Truth Be Told, I am Scared to Death to Live in the Suburbs

    July 12, 2008 // 6 Comments »

    Update: Just after I posted this, I happened to come across a few relevant posts on this subject.  Be sure to check out David Fitch’s – “The Middle In: The Unique Missional Opportunity,” and Joe Thorn’s, “I Love the Suburbs” on a brand new blog about the gospel in the suburban context, SubText.

    I hear people talk quite frequently about the “dangers of the city” and how unsafe certain parts of town are.  But if I were being honest, I would tell you that I am far more scared to live in the suburbs than I am to live virtually anywhere else.

    By design, suburbs are places of isolation, disconnection, and compartmentalization.  Their very existence is predicated on cultural values of materialism, consumerism , and individualism.  All of this makes it much harder (not impossible mind you) to follow the way of Jesus – a way of simplicity and interconnectedness with those on the margins of society.

    I bring this up because I will very soon need to decide on a more permanent place to live.  I have been looking in mid-town which is more urban, racially mixed, threatened by crime and violence, accessible to pedestrians, affordable, and artistic.  All of this most naturally appeals to me.

    But, I have also been looking in the Germantown/Collierville area which is suburban, predominantly white, relatively free of crime and violence, necessitates a car to go anywhere, more expensive, and culturally bland.

    Complicating these basic dynamics are factors such as these…

    – most of the folks at Living Hope are suburban people thus I feel I should live among them

    – I am a young adult pastor and mid-town is more attractive to young adults

    – we gave bought land and are discussing the potential of building a gathering place on it even further east from urban Memphis in Piperton

    – the idea of our church planting or having more of a presence in urban Memphis is something we are discussing

    – currently, the people I am aiming to really share life with live predominantly in suburban Memphis

    – it maybe the case that more of our folks would head toward mid-town if a few more folks blazed that trail

    … and I could probably list more.  I have been basically paralyzed by this decision of where to live and why.  Maybe I can just rest in the fact that no matter what, I am looking to rent and not buy, which ties me down probably for a year at the most. On top of this, where ever I wind up, I am seeking to be there with the express purpose of taking Jesus’ command to love my neighbors literally and seriously.  So, whether in mid-town or the burbs, I am sure there will be folks who are hurting and in need, and I find some solace in the primacy of this calling.

    So there ya have it – with all the transparency I can muster, the suburbs scare me.  I would much rather live in a place where I could be shot or robbed than in a place that has the potential to chip away at my soul and spiritual sensibilities every so slowly and subtlety.  I welcome your thoughts.

    Posted in consumerism, culture, decisions, individualism, living hope, memphis, spiritual formation, suburban, urban

    10 Ideas for Living Missionally in the Suburbs

    April 21, 2008 // 6 Comments »

    A full half year ago, I caught this over on my buddy Todd’s blog – 10 Ideas for living Missionally in the Suburbs (by Chris Smith) and have been meaning to blog about it ever since.  I now have 2 great reasons to finally do so.

    First, I find myself smack dab in the middle of the affluent suburbs of Memphis, TN as a pastor on staff at a new and aspiring missional church community.  

    Second, Todd will be hosting a conference with Al Hsu, author of, “The Suburban Christian,” in August, and I promised him I’d spread the word.  I can’t wait to be there and if you find yourself in a suburban context and you are wanting to really think about what it would mean to engage that context missionally, this is really something you should try to be at.

    Anyway, here’s Chris’ list and a few of my thoughts at the end.

    Ten Ways to be the People of God in Suburbia – by Chris Smith

    1) Live with others from your church community

    Whether you share your home with another person or family, or whether you have several families that have homes in close proximity or both, sharing life together is perhaps the most powerful (i.e., going against the grain of suburban culture) way to be the body of Christ in suburbia. If you can’t live together, at least find a way to share resources (power tools, lawn mowers, children’s clothes/toys, etc).

    2) Work Less!

    One of the major powers that enslaves suburbia is the idolization of the career. There are many ways to pay the bills that do not involve a 9-5 job, and even within a 9-5 job, there are ways to work less (turning down promotions, taking unpaid leave, etc.) Working less will free you to serve your church community, your family, your neighbors, etc. It will also spur creativity: finding a solution for working less, finding a way to “make ends meet” financially, etc.

    3) Throw out the television

    Another (and perhaps larger power) that enslaves suburbia is consumerism. You’ll be amazed at how your desire for things ebbs as you take the TV out of the picture. If you can’t bring yourself to kill the television, at least take steps to lessen its influence (get rid of cable, only use it for movies, put it on a cart that can be wheeled in and out of a closet, etc.) Throwing out the television will also stimulate your creativity.

    4) Drive less

    Suburban culture is also enslaved to the automobile. Find ways to loosen those bonds (much more difficult in suburbia than in urban areas). Share a vehicle with others in your church community (much easier if you are doing #1 above). Invest in a good bicycle. Walk. There was a segment on “60 minutes” a few weeks ago about how much we miss when we zip around in automobiles. Walking and/or biking will help you be more attentive to your surroundings

    5) Have a garden / grow food

    Suburban life is often very shut off from the food cycle (Food comes from the grocery store, of course!). Homegrown food is more healthy, it gives you a good excuse to be outside (see #7 below), and it provides you with a resource to share generously with your church community and your neighbors. Phil Kenneson outlines a number of horticultural lessons for the people of God in his intro to LIFE ON THE VINE that are additional benefits of this practice.

    6) Get to know your neighbors / listen for their needs

    To be human is to be poor. Or in other words, everyone has needs. The challenge of suburbia is that there are many more ways to conceal that poverty, and similarly that it will take more effort to get into a position where a neighbor can reveal their needs. Be intentional about building relationships. Share meals, play poker, have block parties, whatever it takes.

    7) Be outside as much as possible.

    Another temptation of suburbia – fueled by individualism – is that of the house as an impenetrable fortress. Dissolve this temptation by eating, playing, relaxing outside. This practice is also one avenue to interact with your neighbors.

    8) Do not fence in your yard

    All apologies to Robert Frost, but fences do not make good neighbors, and in fact they often keep us from making good human neighbors. This is a corollary to #7, the fence is a major component of the impenetrable fortress syndrome; it protects our privacy and keeps out our “evil” neighbors. It often is a statement of distrust. If you must have a fence (to corral a dog for instance) make it as low and as permeable (i.e., not blocking off the view) as you can get away with.

    9) Take a stand against the greed of mega-corporations

    Whenever possible, resist buying from domineering mega-corporations (e.g., Wal-mart, McDonalds, Starbucks, and others). These corporations destroy local economies and have little or no concern for the environment. Buy as much as you can from businesses that are as local as possible (family-owned businesses are preferable to local chains, local chains are preferable to regional chains, and regional chains are preferable to global corporations.)

    10) Utilize and support non-commercial public spaces (parks, libraries, colleges, etc.)

    This point is another corollary of #7 above. We must utilize and show our support for these public spaces, lest they be conquered by the powers of individualism (by becoming private property) or by consumerism (by becoming commercial or industrial property). This is also a wonderful way to foster relationships with our neighbors.

    These are some helpful ideas and hopefully a good starting place for thinking even more creatively and specifically about whatever context you are in.  The idea is subversive, incarnational living.  It’s saying, we are going to live out an alternative reality, but we’re going to do it in this place, among these people, in a way that makes sense to them, but at the same time calls into question some of the broken systems which oppress (often without them even knowing it) the people there.  

    My friend Gib, the teaching pastor at Living Hope, spoke yesterday about the need for the church, like our exiled ancestors in Babylon, to pray for, and seek the prosperity of the city in which we find ourselves.  We tend to think of “the city” as “inner-city,” “downtown,” or where the urban poor live in general.  This is a deficient notion of modern cities however. Suburbs are part and parcel of the infrastructure of cities, it’s just that they primarily consume rather than invest or replenish goods and services.  They tend to be the gluttons of the cities resources and the sins which follow gluttony flourish in the suburbs.  As such, the suburban church faces no small task when it seeks to live out its missional nature in suburban contexts.

    Posted in blogging, books, church, community, consumerism, individualism, living hope, memphis, missional, suburban

    A Great Beginning, but…

    October 18, 2007 // 3 Comments »

    I came across this blog post today entitled, “Willow Creek Repents?” and I was immediately reminded of something I wrote a while back where I said that one characteristic of missional churches is their willingness to repent for the things they have said and done which they come to realize were off the mark. I watched 2 videos, one from the executive pastor at Willow and another from Bill Hybels himself. I am thrilled that folks like this are willing to face the facts and ask hard questions, and I am truly excited about what might come out of this project, Reveal, in terms of what it might do for the life of local congregations. However, I am not so sure about some of the inital answers.Essentially they have found that they are doing a good job (based on consumer research) of pleasing/satisfying non-yet Christians and those who have just “crossed the line.” However, they are not doing such a good job (again, based on consumer research) of pleasing/satisfying those who are maturing in their faith. Their answer? “We should have taught people to self-feed.” “The same way that gyms have private instructors who develop personalized fitness plans, we should have been doing that for our people.”

    These sorts of answers seem to indicate that the church is still understood as a vendor of religious goods and services – it’s just been putting out the wrong goods. Truly, I praise God for the repentant spirit of the leaders at Willow and other churches of their sort, but I do think there is more to be wrestled with here.

    No where in Scripture do I get the impression that God’s vision of Christian maturity is the ability to “self-feed.” I find no examples of personalized plans for spiritual growth and fulfillment. I do see God speaking and acting in order to form a community which lives out the its grace-given salvation together. I do read of Paul tirelessly traveling and writing letters in an attempt to show churches what it means for them to embody the Kingdom for the sake of others. And I remember Jesus’ words in a prayer with his disciples,

    Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

    Spiritual formation is ALWAYS a communal affair. Yes, with personal implications, but only inasmuch as those implications flow from the life of a community. It is not the church’s job to teach people how to self-feed. The church exists to embody the Kingdom for the sake of the world. What people need are not personalized plans for spiritual growth, they need to live in the rhythms and grace of an alternative society, a holy nation, a royal priesthood.  I really hate to be the guy who rains on this parade, I just really, really, want the church to be mindful about the direction it is heading in and not stop short of the things it assumes or takes for granted – we need to rediscover our true identity as the pilgrim people of God, not just rethink our methods.

    Posted in christendom, church, community, consumerism, culture, individualism, Jesus, kingdom, missional, spiritual formation, theology

    No, No, Please God, No

    September 25, 2007 // 8 Comments »

    From Leadership Blog: Out of UR

    September 25, 2007

    ATMs: Automatic Tithing Machines

    How can you pass the plate to people who don’t carry cash? You can’t. So
    the next big wave may be the “Giving Kiosk” in your church’s lobby.

    “A lot of people no longer carry cash or a checkbook,” says Marty
    Baker, pastor of Stevens Creek Church in Augusta, Georgia. So he
    installed two ATMs in 2005. The experiment has been a success.

    During the first year, the kiosks processed over $100,000 in
    donations at Stevens Creek. In 2006, that number increased to just over
    $200,000, representing more than 25 percent of the church’s total
    income. Even more impressive is the fact that giving as a whole
    increased 18 percent since the ATMs were installed. “It’s a safe,
    convenient way for people to donate to their church,” Baker notes, “and
    it meets people where they are today.”

    These positive returns encouraged Baker to launch SecureGive, a
    for-profit company that produces and maintains several different
    versions of the giving kiosks. “We knew that if this concept and
    technology was so beneficial for our church, others could benefit from
    it as well,” says Baker.

    SecureGive currently operates in 25 churches around the country. One of them is
    Family Church in West Monroe, Louisiana, where Terry Taylor is the
    executive pastor. “We wanted to help those who were not giving to start
    walking in obedience,” says Taylor. “We feel that is being achieved.”

    Princeton Pike Church of God in Hamilton, Ohio, had featured online
    giving for years, but the service was used consistently by only ten
    families. The church engaged SecureGive in January and now has more
    than 150 families contributing regularly through the giving kiosk.

    The company points out an array of practical advantages. One example
    is a decreased risk of embezzlement, since donated funds are
    transferred directly into a church’s bank account, bypassing the
    counting committee. And the kiosk documents satisfy Internal Revenue
    Service regulations requiring taxpayers to present a written statement
    from a bank or charitable organization when claiming a deduction on
    their returns.

    Phil Martin of the National Association of Church Business
    Administrators says that Automated Tithing Machines might only be the
    beginning. “Whether we’ll have an offering plate with a card reader one
    day, who knows,” he said. “But we’re certainly not far from that.”

    Posted in articles, capitalism, church, consumerism, evangelicalism, individualism, modernity

    « Previous Entries
    Next Entries »