The Divine Commodity Blog Tour - My Question for Skye

In case you missed the details of this blog tour for the book, The Divine Commodity, basically it goes like this: The author, Skye Jethani is going to be visiting numerous different blogs today and answering questions about his new book.

Here was my question for Skye:

Imagine you are talking to a new church planter. What are some practical things that you could communicate to him that boil down what you have learned in the process of writing your book that could help him guard against building a consumer church?

His response:

The key to not building a consumer church is for the church planter to not be a consumer Christian himself. Before we can really discuss the structural and organizational manifestations of consumerism, we must first uncover the matters of the soul and imagination in the hearts and minds of church leaders themselves.

But you want “practical things” so let me start with one of the more essential and provocative things I’ve frequently told church leaders: You life must be filled with a vision of Christ, not a vision for ministry. Dallas Willard has said that “the greatest enemy of intimacy with God is service for God.” Many church leaders, and I put myself in this camp, become driven with a vision of ministry accomplishment—planting a thriving church, seeing many won to the Gospel, aiding in the transformation of lives. All of these are wonderful, beautiful things. But they are not what ought to fuel the Christian life.

The Apostle Paul, whose commitment to ministry and mission is beyond question, said that the real goal of his life was “knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” and knowing “the power of his resurrection” (Phil 3:8-11). Paul was filled, and his ministry fueled, by a flaming vision of Jesus Christ. I fear that many, particularly younger, church leaders are actually filled and fueled by a vision for ministry rather than Christ. When this is the case, we are very susceptible to using what ever means necessary to achieve ministry “success” and the effective methodologies of consumerism come rushing in.

Jesus speaks of his kingdom as like a treasure hidden in a field that a man found, hid again, and then sold all he had to buy that field. What is your treasure? For what would you give anything to attain? What is the vision that fills you and fuels you? If our treasure is ministry, we will sell everything we have, including our ideals our families and our souls, in order to build a successful church. Paul saw it very differently. He said that he “counts everything a loss compared to the surpassing worth of Christ Jesus.” If our treasure is anything less than Christ himself (including ministry for Christ), we find ourselves in very great danger of missing the Christian life entirely and blindly taking a road toward Consumer Christianity.

How would you answer that question?

I think The Divine Commodity is a great read and should probably be picked up by most pastors, church leaders and lay people alike. He sounds the alarm that should be rung out against a culture that threatens to swallow our souls in the accumulation of stuff and lead our churches into the futility of appeasing people who can so easily look through that lens. Skye is a very good writer. You will enjoy his style.

Here are the other blogs that will be featuring questions for Skye. Go and check them out today if you like.

Out of Ur (OutofUr.com)

Flowerdust.net (http://www.flowerdust.net/)

Stuff Christians Like (http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/)

Ragamuffin Soul (www.ragamuffinsoul.com)

Monday Morning Insight (http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com/)

Mark D Roberts (http://www.markdroberts.com/)

Ben Arment (www.benarment.com)

Church Relevance (http://churchrelevance.com/)

Bob Franquiz (http://bobfranquiz.typepad.com/)

Bob Hyatt (http://bobhyatt.typepad.com/)

Cole-Slaw (http://cole-slaw.blogspot.com/)

The Forgotten Ways (www.theforgottenways.org)

Reclaiming the Mission (http://www.reclaimingthemission.com/)

The Shlog (http://www.shaungroves.com/shlog)

Frank Viola (www.frankviola.wordpress.com/)

The Gospel-Driven Church (http://www.gospeldrivenchurch.blogspot.com/)

Christina Meyer (http://w2christina.blogspot.com/)

Lee Coate (http://leecoate.wordpress.com/)

Preaching Today (http://blog.preachingtoday.com/)

Gathering In Light (http://gatheringinlight.com/)

Off the Agenda (http://blog.BuildingChurchLeaders.com)

Take Your Vitamin Z (www.takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com)

Staying Focused (http://kimmartinezstayingfocused.wordpress.com/)

ZonderFann (http://zonderfann.com/)