“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God, “That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, not a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the Lord,” (Amos 8:11).
Most of my life in the natural, like most Americans, I have lived off processed, refined foods, not organic, real foods. Foods, with the nutrients sucked out through processing and packaging. Some very wise friends in learning the benefits of good, right, healthy, real foods are helping Jane and me right now. For years others have tried to share with information with us, but I don’t think we were ready.
But I also think this has been the sad state of our spiritual diets as well. We have given most of our lives to the consumption of spoon-fed teaching. And as good and admirable as many of these fine teachers were and are, we were, in fact, being fed and have learned to live off processed or refined theology. Someone else’s recipe, someone else’s mix, someone else’s diet.
Once again, I repeat Bill Hybels apology to thousands of Christians. (Bill Hybels is the Founder/President of The Willow Creek Association).
The Willow Creek Association has undoubtedly had some of the greatest influence on the evangelical church in America as a movement in the last 30 years. In response to the experience-based environment of programs and participation so prevalent, Bill recently said, "We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have ... taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own."
While some use the Amos 8:11 text for their personal reinforcement of more teaching, more preaching, I personally believe it is just the opposite. It is a famine for the personal nourishment when the Lord speaks to you. When He speaks to you personally, out of the heart of hunger and His heart to respond and fill.
John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name. He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things I said to you.”
Outwardness and Inwardness
We all have two sides. Calvin Miller in his classic, “Table of Inwardness,” reminds us that outwardness as a Christian has for its greatest strength and greatest weakness the same thing: visibility. Outwardness has great appeal to all of us, even as it did in Christ’s day, but misused is fatal. “Beware of practicing piety before men in order to be seen by them” (Matthew 6:1). You have heard me for years refer to leaders who have a public identity without a personal/private history.
But likewise, the strength and weakness of inwardness is the same: invisibility. Inwardness draws us to that unseen reality. Inwardness says there is always more than what we see, always more than what appears or appeals to the eyes.
Outwardness too quickly denotes modern Christianity: going to meetings, doing things, teaching, preaching, testifying, praying for others, all in front of the rest of the world, or at least in front of other Christians, and many times in front of the room. And if we do these things well, man, the kudos will come, the pats on the back, the applause, even more to do these outward things more, which unfortunately has been too much of the motivation to keep on being better at being outward.
Man has always been addicted to outwardness, as God speaks to the prophet’s heart in the OT when He says, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart,” (I Samuel 16:7).
When it comes to inwardness, only you can tend that garden, and you tend it alone. Your guardianship of your inwardness is utterly crucial, since out of the heart come “the issues of life,” (Proverbs 4:23). And again, if you would survive the famine, it will be because you have tended your own personal inward garden well.
As someone pointed out we are like a ripe fruit which, when squeezed, displays its real contents. To this Jesus commented, that it is not what goes into our mouths, or even what we eat or drink, but what comes out of our hearts that defiles us, (Matthew 15:11).
What comes out shows or reveals what is in us, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). There is and will be an increased hunger to meet with God and be fed by God as we move into these difficult days. The world will also get a sense of who we have been with, somehow they will just know we spend time with Poppa, because of the individual sounds, the individual appeal we will carry. Our culture is already so skeptical of the canned, processed church. The one hour and fifteen minutes (the average meeting time of the successful, evangelical services) we devote to God has not produces health, nor hungers, except maybe in us.
Three Paradoxes of Inwardness
Aloneness-is-presence - However you find it. Spending time completely alone with God is really about the ultimate increase of His presence. Inner silence comes when you beat those demons that too often clutter and distract and fill us with you with every other sound. Inner silence only comes when there is true outer silence, and this only comes when you and God are alone.
Retreat-is-advancement - Go ahead, leave the “To Do List” behind, knowing that most of those screaming assignments will take care of themselves if you address the “tyranny of the urgent,” and go on a retreat with the Lover of your soul. Luther’s attitude was, “I have so many things to do today, I dare not ignore my time with God.
Beyond-is-within - No, you can’t do life in God, without God’s life in you. You must constantly be making room for more of Him. You must always be pressing out in order to press in. He is ready and willing to enlarge your capacity to receive more of Him. Yes, the “heavens do declare the glory of God,” (Psalm 19:10), but we get to be possessed by a transgalactic Omnipotence who comes to indwell us.
A DVD Diet
I am almost tempted to encourage everyone to lock up their CD’s, their DVD’s, shut off their podcasts, and maybe even leave some of the new books on your shelf. Just dedicate this new season to private meals between you and the Father. Go after God in the secret place, and treat each day as a steward by giving Him sacred space.
If we want be a people who survive the famine and even learn to help others survive, it will not be because we feed them, but because we model, by our own appetites and our own insatiable hunger for the fresh, full word directly from the Lord.
It won’t be easy, it is always war to shift our priorities towards Him, so remember, He will even, “prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies,” (Psalm 23:5).
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Living In God’s Economy
When everything is shaking, as it is all around us, it is a good time to get into discussion about the things that matter. As financial markets worldwide have gone askew we get to take a good hard look at how God has called us to live in His Kingdom economy even during these volatile financial times.
From the earliest days God was saying something to us about our giving, and how different it would be. First through books, like the one by Al Houghton, “Purifying The Altar,” then by deliberate acts of moving away from the funding of facilities and programs, not charging at conferences and/or events, releasing, resourcing and empowering leaders based upon their callings, not their social status or their educational system, and giving generously to the poor, the needy and the oppressed of the nations.
As we have been assigned to address the subject of “doing church differently,” that includes “giving differently.” It means confronting those so-called “financial laws,” that exist in the church today that are actually a part of the old religious system tying people to false realities and expectations in the areas of giving.
Confronting Old Financial Laws
* Compulsory (Malachi 3 - Storehouse) Tithing Laws- tithe to this or that ministry and receive grace for enough, withhold those tithes and be cursed.
* Mandatory Prophetic Offering Laws – pledge and give this prophetic amount or this monthly percentage that usually correlates to some prophetic number over a period of a year above and beyond the tithe and break the financial curse, and if need be even charge it to your credit card.
* Selective and/or Directive Sowing Laws – direct your seed to this ministry, instead of that ministry, if you really want to get a good return on your investment.
Financial Reformation in the 21st Century
About 500 years ago in 517, the church encountered a radical confrontation that would become known as The Great Reformation. We heard much about the call to the return to the authority of Scripture and the return to “simple salvation by grace through faith.” But that is not all that was addressed.
What we don’t hear as much was about the call for reformation in giving. In the movie "Luther", Martin Luther is contending over the practice of "paying indulgences" to the Roman Catholic church in order to "free a soul from sin and purgatory.” Martin asks the religious authorities this question; "If God will forgive sin for money, why won't He do it for love?"
If salvation by grace alone was restored to the church, what about God's grace for physical provision? Aren't these provided by grace as well? The way many Christians still give today, it seems as though we continue to "pay indulgences" to religious institutions in order to receive God’s grace for finances.
Grasping Kingdom Finances
We need to be asking the same question Luther asked. "If God will supply our needs for money, why won't He do it for love?" Of course, the answer is, we know He does. Jesus set this straight with His words about the Father’s care for us.
“Therefore take no thought,” saying, “What shall we eat?” or, “What shall we drink?” or, “Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:31-33
“Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:24
Not a bit of religious performance or duty here. Real faith and trust, just like receiving salvation, just like receiving healing. We are invited to believe in the Father’s love and receive provision from Him. In these stressed times, we have good financial news. Jesus purchased it all at the cross.
Jesus satisfied all (including financial) religious obligations. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Romans 10:4
Jesus took all (including financial) curses. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” Galatians 3:13
It begins and ends in His love. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” I John 4:10
1) Realms of Supply - The Natural Order of Investing - Sowing and Reaping
All that God has created in the natural world operates on the principle of sowing and reaping. It is the process of life, and increase. God is at work in the world supplying seed to the sower, the sun and rain for growth. Because of the fall sowing and reaping includes the process of sin and of death. We can sow to the flesh or the Spirit in our human activity. The Spirit brings life, and the flesh brings death.
Man sows into the natural order in everything he does, whether seed in the ground or helping others. Paul was talking about this when he said, "he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully." (1Corinthians 9:6) in referring to the Corinthians financial gift. Furthermore, Paul says that God supplies grace so that we have the seed to start with.
God’s Kingdom invades the natural order when He gives to us, or we give to others. Sowing and reaping is how God made things to work. Romans says that Christ Himself upholds the whole universe. It is the created order that operates on the principle of sowing and reaping.
So even when the odds are against a certain outcome of your sowing process, weather goes bad, crops spoil, everything is bad and nothing works, our God still supplies. Even when the stock you invested in under what you thought was good counsel fails, God does not fail you.
2) Realms of Supply – The Natural Order of Marketing - Buying And Selling
The order that man creates or operates on is the basis of buying and selling. Because of the fall, man judges and sets value on everything. We trade value for value. We sell our labor for money. We buy the product of labor with money.
We all see that the present financial crisis was created by greed in buying and selling. Men borrowed to speculate in building, buying and selling for a profit. On it went with houses, stocks, commodities, oil, and food. Prices were driven upwards until it went beyond our ability to pay the interest on the money borrowed. Buying and selling collapsed because there is no confidence in the artificial values. Sadly, Christians have also been a part of this, but God wants our heart for the Kingdom.
“Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Cesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cesar the things which are Cesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.” Matthew 22:19-21
Buying and selling isn’t a bad thing, as log as usury and manipulation is not behind a spirit of greed, and even when we end up “losing money” in an unfortunate transaction, God is still your supply.
3) Realms of Supply – The Kingdom Order of Generosity - Giving and Receiving
The Kingdom of God operates best through the principle of generosity and giving and receiving in obedience to God’s leading and direction. It begins with God’s love for the entire world, His giving nature and continues through His people receiving His nature and giving to others.
Giving and receiving begins with God loving and giving to us. He created the world for man and put us in it to enjoy it and fellowship with Him. He loved us even while we were still sinners, and gave Christ that we might receive life and freedom. He puts His love in our hearts (Galatians 5:6). He invites us to freely receive His grace. (I Corinthians 2:12). Then in turn He urges us to give,
"...Freely ye have received, freely give." Matthew 10:8
As we learn to “pray and obey,” and learn to “receive and to give in obedience,” we are set free from the fear of lack and receive changed hearts, so we can liberally give out of God’s direction, and our delight, because it is all God’s, it all belongs to the King who gives liberally, so we can give and release liberally.
That is Kingdom Finances. Giving and receiving in the Kingdom of God is not a law and never under compulsion, other wise it is not giving, it would be taking. He gives, we receive, and we then “pray and obey,” giving intentionally in His nature.
This is why Paul says:
"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. " II Corinthians 9:7
As Kingdom Citizens:
1. We love the King – Giving to Him
2. We love other Kingdom Citizens – Giving to Them
3. We Love non-Kingdom citizens – Giving to Them
Jesus was condemned because he hung out with the sinners, and prostitutes. He poured grace on the cultural outcasts, the undeserving and rejected. We participate in the Kingdom when we give to others with the heart of the Jesus. Jesus told us in being like the Father we even get to bless the wicked.
“Bless them that curse you, and pray for them, which despitefully use you. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”
Luke 6:28, 35
Evidentially, the Heart of the King is that, "He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil."
Apparently, blessing the ungodly extends to finances as well. A little later in this passage Jesus tells us that being like His Father we will abound in His mercy and grace and giving.
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.” Luke 6:36-38
This passage is not just about giving to the saints, giving to the ministries. Giving to Kingdom citizen, but also it’s about giving to those outside the Kingdom of God. It's invading man’s order with Kingdom giving. “The men shall give into your bosom.”
As Kingdom Finances comes from the Heart of the Father:
-Be merciful
-Judge Not
-Condemn Not
-Forgive
-Give To Those Who Don't Deserve It
-Give To The Poor
-Give To Those Who Cannot Repay
Acts as stewards of all the good things of God.
God is fully willing and able to supply His people with more than enough. As sons and daughters of the Father, blessing with the same heart of compassion and love as the Father, we will give to His Purpose and His People, with His Passion.
When all the institutions and kingdoms of men crash, the auto industry, the stock market, Wall Street, these do not affect God’s Kingdom. In the days to come, we will have more to give, and more to give to. God’s value system will take over our dependence on man’s system.
In times like these it is imperative we operate according to His Kingdom economy concerning our receiving and giving. As believers living in God’s Kingdom, by God’s Kingdom realities get ready for a year of abundance preparing to receive abundantly and give extravagantly.
Nine means Fullness, nine spiritual gifts in I Corinthians 12, nine fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, a woman carries a child full-term for nine months. In the worst financial market in our lifetime, God is ushering us into a year of Fullness.
His Kingdom is real and His Kingdom is here, so we can give and receive freely and generously.
Go ahead and get lean, as many are giving away extra baggage, getting out of debt, etc. Get lean, but not mean, instead get and stay very generous.
From the earliest days God was saying something to us about our giving, and how different it would be. First through books, like the one by Al Houghton, “Purifying The Altar,” then by deliberate acts of moving away from the funding of facilities and programs, not charging at conferences and/or events, releasing, resourcing and empowering leaders based upon their callings, not their social status or their educational system, and giving generously to the poor, the needy and the oppressed of the nations.
As we have been assigned to address the subject of “doing church differently,” that includes “giving differently.” It means confronting those so-called “financial laws,” that exist in the church today that are actually a part of the old religious system tying people to false realities and expectations in the areas of giving.
Confronting Old Financial Laws
* Compulsory (Malachi 3 - Storehouse) Tithing Laws- tithe to this or that ministry and receive grace for enough, withhold those tithes and be cursed.
* Mandatory Prophetic Offering Laws – pledge and give this prophetic amount or this monthly percentage that usually correlates to some prophetic number over a period of a year above and beyond the tithe and break the financial curse, and if need be even charge it to your credit card.
* Selective and/or Directive Sowing Laws – direct your seed to this ministry, instead of that ministry, if you really want to get a good return on your investment.
Financial Reformation in the 21st Century
About 500 years ago in 517, the church encountered a radical confrontation that would become known as The Great Reformation. We heard much about the call to the return to the authority of Scripture and the return to “simple salvation by grace through faith.” But that is not all that was addressed.
What we don’t hear as much was about the call for reformation in giving. In the movie "Luther", Martin Luther is contending over the practice of "paying indulgences" to the Roman Catholic church in order to "free a soul from sin and purgatory.” Martin asks the religious authorities this question; "If God will forgive sin for money, why won't He do it for love?"
If salvation by grace alone was restored to the church, what about God's grace for physical provision? Aren't these provided by grace as well? The way many Christians still give today, it seems as though we continue to "pay indulgences" to religious institutions in order to receive God’s grace for finances.
Grasping Kingdom Finances
We need to be asking the same question Luther asked. "If God will supply our needs for money, why won't He do it for love?" Of course, the answer is, we know He does. Jesus set this straight with His words about the Father’s care for us.
“Therefore take no thought,” saying, “What shall we eat?” or, “What shall we drink?” or, “Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:31-33
“Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:24
Not a bit of religious performance or duty here. Real faith and trust, just like receiving salvation, just like receiving healing. We are invited to believe in the Father’s love and receive provision from Him. In these stressed times, we have good financial news. Jesus purchased it all at the cross.
Jesus satisfied all (including financial) religious obligations. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Romans 10:4
Jesus took all (including financial) curses. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” Galatians 3:13
It begins and ends in His love. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” I John 4:10
1) Realms of Supply - The Natural Order of Investing - Sowing and Reaping
All that God has created in the natural world operates on the principle of sowing and reaping. It is the process of life, and increase. God is at work in the world supplying seed to the sower, the sun and rain for growth. Because of the fall sowing and reaping includes the process of sin and of death. We can sow to the flesh or the Spirit in our human activity. The Spirit brings life, and the flesh brings death.
Man sows into the natural order in everything he does, whether seed in the ground or helping others. Paul was talking about this when he said, "he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully." (1Corinthians 9:6) in referring to the Corinthians financial gift. Furthermore, Paul says that God supplies grace so that we have the seed to start with.
God’s Kingdom invades the natural order when He gives to us, or we give to others. Sowing and reaping is how God made things to work. Romans says that Christ Himself upholds the whole universe. It is the created order that operates on the principle of sowing and reaping.
So even when the odds are against a certain outcome of your sowing process, weather goes bad, crops spoil, everything is bad and nothing works, our God still supplies. Even when the stock you invested in under what you thought was good counsel fails, God does not fail you.
2) Realms of Supply – The Natural Order of Marketing - Buying And Selling
The order that man creates or operates on is the basis of buying and selling. Because of the fall, man judges and sets value on everything. We trade value for value. We sell our labor for money. We buy the product of labor with money.
We all see that the present financial crisis was created by greed in buying and selling. Men borrowed to speculate in building, buying and selling for a profit. On it went with houses, stocks, commodities, oil, and food. Prices were driven upwards until it went beyond our ability to pay the interest on the money borrowed. Buying and selling collapsed because there is no confidence in the artificial values. Sadly, Christians have also been a part of this, but God wants our heart for the Kingdom.
“Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Cesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cesar the things which are Cesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.” Matthew 22:19-21
Buying and selling isn’t a bad thing, as log as usury and manipulation is not behind a spirit of greed, and even when we end up “losing money” in an unfortunate transaction, God is still your supply.
3) Realms of Supply – The Kingdom Order of Generosity - Giving and Receiving
The Kingdom of God operates best through the principle of generosity and giving and receiving in obedience to God’s leading and direction. It begins with God’s love for the entire world, His giving nature and continues through His people receiving His nature and giving to others.
Giving and receiving begins with God loving and giving to us. He created the world for man and put us in it to enjoy it and fellowship with Him. He loved us even while we were still sinners, and gave Christ that we might receive life and freedom. He puts His love in our hearts (Galatians 5:6). He invites us to freely receive His grace. (I Corinthians 2:12). Then in turn He urges us to give,
"...Freely ye have received, freely give." Matthew 10:8
As we learn to “pray and obey,” and learn to “receive and to give in obedience,” we are set free from the fear of lack and receive changed hearts, so we can liberally give out of God’s direction, and our delight, because it is all God’s, it all belongs to the King who gives liberally, so we can give and release liberally.
That is Kingdom Finances. Giving and receiving in the Kingdom of God is not a law and never under compulsion, other wise it is not giving, it would be taking. He gives, we receive, and we then “pray and obey,” giving intentionally in His nature.
This is why Paul says:
"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. " II Corinthians 9:7
As Kingdom Citizens:
1. We love the King – Giving to Him
2. We love other Kingdom Citizens – Giving to Them
3. We Love non-Kingdom citizens – Giving to Them
Jesus was condemned because he hung out with the sinners, and prostitutes. He poured grace on the cultural outcasts, the undeserving and rejected. We participate in the Kingdom when we give to others with the heart of the Jesus. Jesus told us in being like the Father we even get to bless the wicked.
“Bless them that curse you, and pray for them, which despitefully use you. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”
Luke 6:28, 35
Evidentially, the Heart of the King is that, "He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil."
Apparently, blessing the ungodly extends to finances as well. A little later in this passage Jesus tells us that being like His Father we will abound in His mercy and grace and giving.
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.” Luke 6:36-38
This passage is not just about giving to the saints, giving to the ministries. Giving to Kingdom citizen, but also it’s about giving to those outside the Kingdom of God. It's invading man’s order with Kingdom giving. “The men shall give into your bosom.”
As Kingdom Finances comes from the Heart of the Father:
-Be merciful
-Judge Not
-Condemn Not
-Forgive
-Give To Those Who Don't Deserve It
-Give To The Poor
-Give To Those Who Cannot Repay
Acts as stewards of all the good things of God.
God is fully willing and able to supply His people with more than enough. As sons and daughters of the Father, blessing with the same heart of compassion and love as the Father, we will give to His Purpose and His People, with His Passion.
When all the institutions and kingdoms of men crash, the auto industry, the stock market, Wall Street, these do not affect God’s Kingdom. In the days to come, we will have more to give, and more to give to. God’s value system will take over our dependence on man’s system.
In times like these it is imperative we operate according to His Kingdom economy concerning our receiving and giving. As believers living in God’s Kingdom, by God’s Kingdom realities get ready for a year of abundance preparing to receive abundantly and give extravagantly.
Nine means Fullness, nine spiritual gifts in I Corinthians 12, nine fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, a woman carries a child full-term for nine months. In the worst financial market in our lifetime, God is ushering us into a year of Fullness.
His Kingdom is real and His Kingdom is here, so we can give and receive freely and generously.
Go ahead and get lean, as many are giving away extra baggage, getting out of debt, etc. Get lean, but not mean, instead get and stay very generous.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Liminal Leadership
Something feels deeply "new" about this upcoming year for me. It could be out of my hope, because 2008 was such a tough year for everyone. But this new year and this new season doesn't feel routine to me by any means. It feels radically different, and potentially very exciting.
My friend Len in Canada (www.nextreformation.com) continues to challenge me about leaders finding their "space," in this new shift of leadership for the next generation. Len wrote the article, "Leading From The Margins," that was so influential in pressing me to write my new book. The book, "Where Would Jesus Lead?" is with Graham in concept edit mode, going to more edit next week. The whole book is built around this idea of leaders finding new places and new spaces to lead.
Len sends along Alan Roxburgh's following proposal concerning leadership: The primary work of leadership is to continually stand in the place (space) where it is compelled to ask the question of what God is about among this group of people who comprise this local church in this specific context at this particular time. Obviously, this definition is thoroughly conditioned by a larger story we describe as Missio Dei.
What is particularly helpful to me about this definition is this concept of "space."
Roxburgh writes,
"This descriptor of leadership suggests that one of its primary metaphors is spatial. Leadership functions in a certain kind of space rather than out of a set of definitions, formulae or assumed Biblical types. The understanding of this special metaphor is crucial for the formation and practices of a missional leadership. Without attention to this matter of the space in which leadership dwells, it is impossible to understand or shape a missional leadership in our late modern context. The questions we need to ask about being missional, therefore, are not drawn from the world of business or the social sciences, nor are they about how to apply supposed New Testament patterns to the contemporary church. Questions about what God is up to in the world require us to ask what kind of space church leadership must indwell at this moment in late modern societies. If leadership indwells this axis of God's activities in the world and the local context, then its primary location is in what we will call the "spaces between." The basic metaphor describing and assessing Christian leadership is spatial - it is about indwelling a space between." http://archives.allelon.org/articles/article.cfm?id=960
Liminal Place and Space
"Liminality" is from the Latin word līmen, meaning "a barely perceptible threshold," or a place in between two worlds, or a place of transition. It is a mysterious place, a bridge place, and a unique place of balance between the people you are leading and the God you are both following. It is destined to be more of a prophetic place than a pastoral place and definitely more of an obscure place than an obvious one.
It is a strategic cooperation with what God is telling those you lead and what God is telling you. It is in this new tutoring place that we act, as a guide and a coach, a fellow traveler on the same journey without become the focal point of the excursion. It is so mysterious the Irish used to say, "It is the place between the foam and the sea."
The questions we need to ask about being missional, therefore, are not drawn from the world of business or the social sciences, nor are they about how to apply supposed New Testament patterns to the contemporary church. Questions about what God is up to in the world require us to ask what kind of space church leadership must indwell at this moment in late modern societies. If leadership indwells this axis of God's activities in the world and the local context, then its primary location is in what we will call the "spaces between."
It asks the big question. Is your leadership style all about you and your ministry and what you get from leading? Or it is about serving those you lead, helping to get them going on the God journey they are destined to trek?
Next Generations of Leaders
The hunger most evident in the next generation is for fathers and mothers, not even close friends. Fathers and mothers that will forego their own controlling preoccupations with how things used to be done, giving space to their willingness to enter into the experiment, stepping off the map to go where God might lead the next generation.
A relationship is required, but a script is not. Times of resting, times waiting in prayer and times of silence represent more of this new adventure than the exhausting attempts at pre-research to make sure every step is sure-footed. Like mountain goats, the instinct of where to step and where to go comes in the moment, and not the pre-planned staff meetings. It is a journey with forward movement at its goal, and not just another dress rehearsal that ends in disappointment.
So, find those you are called to lead, especially the leaders you are called to rise up. This time don't over-lead or over-feed. Get into the journey with them, and see how God will use you both. He will use your tested experience and obedience and as well will turn up the pace as He capitalizes on the speed of the younger leaders you are running with. It is a new pace, not tried; it is a new direction, not learned. It is the excitement of a new trip for both of you.
Some Ideas On Learning To Lead In This New Place
1. Ask God who are the specific ones in the next generation you are to come alongside.
2. Don't spend too much time referring to the past, make it clear where you come from, but get quickly to what God is doing now.
3. Listen a lot. Both to God and them.
4. Do some treasure hunting to see if the one you are to coach and lead has a sense of gifting, destiny and passion. Ask a lot of questions.
5. Does the one you are leading already have a sense of footprints and knows where to go?
6. Begin with times of prayer, silence, listening to God, writing down what the Father whispers, and doing prophetic acts.
7. Always be reminded that this is a divine appointment. Don't worry about quick fruit, enjoy the whole process.
My friend Len in Canada (www.nextreformation.com) continues to challenge me about leaders finding their "space," in this new shift of leadership for the next generation. Len wrote the article, "Leading From The Margins," that was so influential in pressing me to write my new book. The book, "Where Would Jesus Lead?" is with Graham in concept edit mode, going to more edit next week. The whole book is built around this idea of leaders finding new places and new spaces to lead.
Len sends along Alan Roxburgh's following proposal concerning leadership: The primary work of leadership is to continually stand in the place (space) where it is compelled to ask the question of what God is about among this group of people who comprise this local church in this specific context at this particular time. Obviously, this definition is thoroughly conditioned by a larger story we describe as Missio Dei.
What is particularly helpful to me about this definition is this concept of "space."
Roxburgh writes,
"This descriptor of leadership suggests that one of its primary metaphors is spatial. Leadership functions in a certain kind of space rather than out of a set of definitions, formulae or assumed Biblical types. The understanding of this special metaphor is crucial for the formation and practices of a missional leadership. Without attention to this matter of the space in which leadership dwells, it is impossible to understand or shape a missional leadership in our late modern context. The questions we need to ask about being missional, therefore, are not drawn from the world of business or the social sciences, nor are they about how to apply supposed New Testament patterns to the contemporary church. Questions about what God is up to in the world require us to ask what kind of space church leadership must indwell at this moment in late modern societies. If leadership indwells this axis of God's activities in the world and the local context, then its primary location is in what we will call the "spaces between." The basic metaphor describing and assessing Christian leadership is spatial - it is about indwelling a space between." http://archives.allelon.org/articles/article.cfm?id=960
Liminal Place and Space
"Liminality" is from the Latin word līmen, meaning "a barely perceptible threshold," or a place in between two worlds, or a place of transition. It is a mysterious place, a bridge place, and a unique place of balance between the people you are leading and the God you are both following. It is destined to be more of a prophetic place than a pastoral place and definitely more of an obscure place than an obvious one.
It is a strategic cooperation with what God is telling those you lead and what God is telling you. It is in this new tutoring place that we act, as a guide and a coach, a fellow traveler on the same journey without become the focal point of the excursion. It is so mysterious the Irish used to say, "It is the place between the foam and the sea."
The questions we need to ask about being missional, therefore, are not drawn from the world of business or the social sciences, nor are they about how to apply supposed New Testament patterns to the contemporary church. Questions about what God is up to in the world require us to ask what kind of space church leadership must indwell at this moment in late modern societies. If leadership indwells this axis of God's activities in the world and the local context, then its primary location is in what we will call the "spaces between."
It asks the big question. Is your leadership style all about you and your ministry and what you get from leading? Or it is about serving those you lead, helping to get them going on the God journey they are destined to trek?
Next Generations of Leaders
The hunger most evident in the next generation is for fathers and mothers, not even close friends. Fathers and mothers that will forego their own controlling preoccupations with how things used to be done, giving space to their willingness to enter into the experiment, stepping off the map to go where God might lead the next generation.
A relationship is required, but a script is not. Times of resting, times waiting in prayer and times of silence represent more of this new adventure than the exhausting attempts at pre-research to make sure every step is sure-footed. Like mountain goats, the instinct of where to step and where to go comes in the moment, and not the pre-planned staff meetings. It is a journey with forward movement at its goal, and not just another dress rehearsal that ends in disappointment.
So, find those you are called to lead, especially the leaders you are called to rise up. This time don't over-lead or over-feed. Get into the journey with them, and see how God will use you both. He will use your tested experience and obedience and as well will turn up the pace as He capitalizes on the speed of the younger leaders you are running with. It is a new pace, not tried; it is a new direction, not learned. It is the excitement of a new trip for both of you.
Some Ideas On Learning To Lead In This New Place
1. Ask God who are the specific ones in the next generation you are to come alongside.
2. Don't spend too much time referring to the past, make it clear where you come from, but get quickly to what God is doing now.
3. Listen a lot. Both to God and them.
4. Do some treasure hunting to see if the one you are to coach and lead has a sense of gifting, destiny and passion. Ask a lot of questions.
5. Does the one you are leading already have a sense of footprints and knows where to go?
6. Begin with times of prayer, silence, listening to God, writing down what the Father whispers, and doing prophetic acts.
7. Always be reminded that this is a divine appointment. Don't worry about quick fruit, enjoy the whole process.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Chicken-Little Christianity
I am asked a lot about the end times. Everything from where is the United States in prophecy, to is Obama the antichrist? To answer most of the questions requires little effort. I personally have never found the United States listed as a specific nation in the Bible, and quite frankly, concerning the antichrist, they said the same thing about Khrushchev and Kissinger.
The real issue for me has more to do with the fact, “Are we ready for His coming?” One of the most penetrating questions I believe that Jesus ever asked in found in the Parable of the Persistent Prayer in Luke 18, when He asks, “nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Don’t quote me, because I don’t think I am a prophet, but I do wonder about that question in Luke, and several others that point to our readiness rather than Christ’s. In fact these are what I pray about and what I wrestle with these days. “Is the bride ready, is she spotless, is she ready.” And, “Are we more anxious to get out of here or to see revival before He comes.”
I will never forget what a friend said to me many years ago, when he challenged me by asking, “How can you disciple a planet you are so intent on leaving?” That one rattled my cage and shifted my paradigm then, and still does.
I have always heard that Christ would return when man would be in the process of destroying himself. I can honestly say it sure feels like that is happening most of the time. But on the other hand I have never felt such open doors and such clear invitations from the Holy Spirit to be bold about the proclamation of the Gospel and the discipleship of the nations.
Sure times are tough. And as Americans, we have never seen things exactly as they seem right now. But to the world, all of these shakings seem to mean something different.
Muslim Ministry
Having just returned from parts of Asia that are becoming, if not already extremely Muslim, instead of feeling oppressed and overwhelmed, I felt so empowered, so impassioned and prayer-filled to preach, proclaim and persist in my faith in Yahweh, not Allah, and to be ready to “give an answer for the hope that lies with me.”
In Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia, which is a Muslim nation, I heard the voice of Islam, loud and clear. The mosques, that seemed as big as the mega churches in America, broadcast their calls to pray five times a day on their speaker systems. It was so loud it sounded like my neighbor’s stereo in Ocean beach where I live.
Yet, I also met so many Christians who know of Muslims that are coming to faith in Christ, and I even heard this one radical statement from one brother, “imagine the harnessed prayer power when revival comes to their nation, and the followers of Islam come to God and pray to Him using their disciplines of prayer, in their prayer centers currently known as mosques.”
Chicken-Little Christians
It seems like too many of us are waiting for the worst to happen as a prerequisite for the return of Christ. Waiting for more “doom and gloom,” and the proverbial “boot to drop,” we seem to be anxious for everything to fall apart as some kind of deeper motivation to make Christ come back.
Maybe there is another way to expedite the return of Christ. Matthew 24:14 states, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
There it is! Let’s worry more about getting the message out, rather than hoping the mess we are in will get messier. Let’s throw ourselves into the preaching of this incredible message of the kingdom. Let’s commit to take the gospel to every man, to every people, to every tribe, to every tongue, and to every nation, and then Christ will return.
The real issue for me has more to do with the fact, “Are we ready for His coming?” One of the most penetrating questions I believe that Jesus ever asked in found in the Parable of the Persistent Prayer in Luke 18, when He asks, “nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Don’t quote me, because I don’t think I am a prophet, but I do wonder about that question in Luke, and several others that point to our readiness rather than Christ’s. In fact these are what I pray about and what I wrestle with these days. “Is the bride ready, is she spotless, is she ready.” And, “Are we more anxious to get out of here or to see revival before He comes.”
I will never forget what a friend said to me many years ago, when he challenged me by asking, “How can you disciple a planet you are so intent on leaving?” That one rattled my cage and shifted my paradigm then, and still does.
I have always heard that Christ would return when man would be in the process of destroying himself. I can honestly say it sure feels like that is happening most of the time. But on the other hand I have never felt such open doors and such clear invitations from the Holy Spirit to be bold about the proclamation of the Gospel and the discipleship of the nations.
Sure times are tough. And as Americans, we have never seen things exactly as they seem right now. But to the world, all of these shakings seem to mean something different.
Muslim Ministry
Having just returned from parts of Asia that are becoming, if not already extremely Muslim, instead of feeling oppressed and overwhelmed, I felt so empowered, so impassioned and prayer-filled to preach, proclaim and persist in my faith in Yahweh, not Allah, and to be ready to “give an answer for the hope that lies with me.”
In Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia, which is a Muslim nation, I heard the voice of Islam, loud and clear. The mosques, that seemed as big as the mega churches in America, broadcast their calls to pray five times a day on their speaker systems. It was so loud it sounded like my neighbor’s stereo in Ocean beach where I live.
Yet, I also met so many Christians who know of Muslims that are coming to faith in Christ, and I even heard this one radical statement from one brother, “imagine the harnessed prayer power when revival comes to their nation, and the followers of Islam come to God and pray to Him using their disciplines of prayer, in their prayer centers currently known as mosques.”
Chicken-Little Christians
It seems like too many of us are waiting for the worst to happen as a prerequisite for the return of Christ. Waiting for more “doom and gloom,” and the proverbial “boot to drop,” we seem to be anxious for everything to fall apart as some kind of deeper motivation to make Christ come back.
Maybe there is another way to expedite the return of Christ. Matthew 24:14 states, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
There it is! Let’s worry more about getting the message out, rather than hoping the mess we are in will get messier. Let’s throw ourselves into the preaching of this incredible message of the kingdom. Let’s commit to take the gospel to every man, to every people, to every tribe, to every tongue, and to every nation, and then Christ will return.
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