Cynicism Doesn’t Reach a Lost World

Good reflections here from Ed Stetzer:

Walt Disney World specializes in catching your attention—it's a paradise for people with ADD like me. There's something interesting everywhere you look. But the day I visited, there was one thing every person in the resort was certain to notice that wasn't part of the theme park. 

I was in EPCOT at the time—trying to raise girls who know about a big world and about more than just princesses (or maybe just make them nerds like their dad)—when people around me started pointing to the sky. Being a dutiful sheep, I turned and looked as well. 

What I saw were the letters "T-R-U-S." Like most anyone else would if they saw the smoke take shape, I assumed it would say to "trust" someone. Then a "J" was formed, and I joked out loud that it might say, "Trust Jess." But eventually, I figured out that it was "Trust Jesus"—I'm clever like that.

My reaction—and the reactions of others around me—seemed worthy of reflection.
First, my own instinct was to watch how others around me were responding. I have a high "hokey meter" and I wonder how people will respond to things that I perceive as hokey. 

I tend to be skeptical of the effectiveness of barns painted with "For all that sinned and fall short of the glory of God," skywriters who write "Trust Jesus" in the sky, people who have T-shirts with catchy Christian phrases, and—as you may have noticed—church signs that I publish every week on the blog. So for me, both interest and some mild cynicism kicked in. 

What I found most intriguing was the response of people who obviously were Christians. One couple nearby looked to one another and sort of rolled their eyes, then spoke aloud about how there are better ways to share the faith. 

To some degree, I resonated with them. But since the skywriting went on for so long, I got to see the reaction of many people. In doing so, I was challenged-- and perhaps chastened.

Read the rest.  

The Church is not dying. It is just being more clearly defined.

Important post here from Ed Stetzer.

He writes:

As I see it, the numbers of people who those of us in the church would say are actually committed Christians—those who are practicing a vibrant faith—are not dying off. The Church is not dying. It is just being more clearly defined. 

The "Nones" category is growing quickly, but the change is coming by way of Cultural and Congregational Christians who no longer feel the societal pressure to be "Christian." They feel comfortable freeing themselves from a label that was not true of them in the first place. Convictional Christians are not leaving the faith; the "squishy middle," as I like to call it, is simply being flattened. 

So for those who really don't have any skin in the game, shedding the label makes sense.
As Christians find themselves more and more on the margins in American society, people are beginning to count the cost. While it used to serve Americans well to carry the label "Christian" in most circumstances (think about running for public office, for instance), it can actually be polarizing or considered intolerant now. So for those who really don't have any skin in the game, shedding the label makes sense. 

As the trend continues, we will see the "Nones" continue to grow and the church lose more of its traditional cultural influence. Christians will likely lose the culture wars, leading to difficult times ahead for us. But we do not need to lose hope. This is not cause for despair. It is a time to regroup and re-engage. 

Christianity may be losing its top-down political and cultural influence, but Jesus spoke of His followers making an impact in a very different manner. He taught that God's kingdom was subversive and underground. He used examples like yeast, which changes things from the inside, and mustard seeds, which are small and must be planted in order to grow up and out. 

As the distinctions between Christians and an ever-growing post-Christian culture emerge, we will have to set aside any nominal belief systems and become active agents of God's Kingdom. The answer is not found in waging cultural wars incessantly, or in making a theological shift to the left to pacify a culture offended by the gospel. The answer is in all of God's people, changed by the power of the gospel and propelled by love, moving into the mission field as agents of gospel transformation.

Read the rest.

Books by Ed Stetzer:

• Planting Missional Churches 
• Compelled: Living the Mission of God
• Subversive Kingdom: Living as Agents of Gospel Transformation
• Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations
• Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them
• Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can, Too
• Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community
• Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series)

No Pain = No Change

Ed Stetzer:

People hurt for their preferences when there's change. But part of the role of pastors and church leaders is to help people hurt for the right things. When people don't get things their way, it hurts them. That shouldn't surprise you. But, instead, leaders have to help them hurt for the things that break the heart of God. 

Change can come, but it will come by the way of pain. 

I often use my shoes as an example. I hate buying new shoes. My feet are shaped weird and it takes awhile to break in a new pair. Bones on the side of my feet rub against the new shoe, giving me blisters for three weeks until it has worn down in the right areas. So, I just don't buy new shoes unless things become unbearable. 

I wear my shoes until the soles have holes in them. I'll keep ignoring the ever-growing hole because it's not bad enough for me to endure the way my feet hurt in new shoes. Then winter comes and everything changes. Walking around Nashville on a day that's colder than a legalist's heart, I'll step into a barely above freezing puddle of water. It will shoot up between my toes, into my sock, and sit there. Now, I'm finally thinking, "I've got to change!" 

Here's the principle: people never change until the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of change. 

That's why there can't be change without pain.

Read the rest.

Books by Ed Stetzer:

• Planting Missional Churches 
• Compelled: Living the Mission of God
• Subversive Kingdom: Living as Agents of Gospel Transformation
• Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations
• Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them
• Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can, Too
• Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community
• Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series)

Missional! Radical! Legalistic!

The conclusion of Ed Stetzer:

In other words, let's be missional and radical. Let's be careful about making it legalistic. But let's not be afraid to tell a consumer-driven church that has commodified the gospel that the Christian life is rooted in much more than personal comfort.

Read the rest.


Books by Ed Stetzer:

• Planting Missional Churches 
• Compelled: Living the Mission of God
• Subversive Kingdom: Living as Agents of Gospel Transformation
• Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations
• Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them
• Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can, Too
• Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community
• Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series)

Missing the Mission: Looking for the Right Results While Loving the Wrong Things

Helpful reminders here from Ed Stetzer.


Books by Ed Stetzer:

• Planting Missional Churches 
• Compelled: Living the Mission of God
• Subversive Kingdom: Living as Agents of Gospel Transformation
• Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations
• Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them
• Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can, Too
• Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community
• Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series)

"We have turned to a God we can use..."

We have turned to a God we can use rather than a God we must obey; we have turned to a God who will fulfill our need rather than a God before whom we must surrender our rights to ourselves. He is a God for us, for our satisfaction-- not because we have learned to think of him in this way through Christ but because we have learned to think of him this way through the marketplace. Everything is for us, for our pleasure, for our satisfaction, and we have come to assume that it must be so in the church as well. 

- David Wells, God in the Wasteland


 Ed Stetzer comments:

And this is chiefly why our zeal for evangelism and the gospel has been undermined-- not because we don't care, not because we don't know what to do. We have simply replaced God's purpose for the world with our own purpose for the world. Even when we serve and help and give and share, we too often do it from a sense of obligation or a desire to impress. We have become a church steered by many different motivations but all too rarely by a singular desire to glorify God. Wells is right: "We will not be able to recover the vision and understanding of God's grandeur until we recover an understanding of ourselves as creatures who have been made to know such grandeur."

The message that emanates from the life and work of the apostle Paul, who was without argument the most productive missionary in the history of the church, is that we cannot hope to be either faithful or effective in kingdom service while being overly concerned about our own needs.

On two occasions he called himself an "ambassador." That's a pretty important job. Where I grew up in New York, those were the people who didn't have to pay parking tickets. They mattered. And Paul said, "We are ambassadors for Christ" (2 Cor. 5:20). Yet the only other time we read him referring to himself by that title, he said he was an "ambassador in chains" (Eph. 6:20). Yes, he was an ambassador-- just as we are-- yet that ambassadorial role, representing King Jesus, did not mean Paul was without hardship.

No one survives the harsh, abusive treatment he endured without living for something bigger than himself. We might assume, then, Paul was simply that devoted to the people he was called to serve. His compassion for them, his selfless interest in them, his desire that they experience the fruit of the gospel-- all of these must have come together to make him an unstoppable force.

Well, yes, Paul was devoted to the churches and the people who comprised them. He possessed an uncommon zeal to see others convinced of gospel truth and redeemed through God's eternal mercy and grace. But it wasn't concern for his neighbors that ultimately motivated Paul to such extremes of spiritual exertion and sacrifice. It was Jesus' love that "compelled" him (2 Cor. 5:14). "To live is Christ," he said (Phil. 1:21).

And we, too-- if we wish to be faithful to our calling-- must live supremely for the glory of God and what he is doing through his Son in our world.

Books by Ed Stetzer:

• Planting Missional Churches 
• Compelled: Living the Mission of God
• Subversive Kingdom: Living as Agents of Gospel Transformation
• Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations
• Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them
• Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can, Too
• Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community
• Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series)

Ed Stetzer on the Rise of the "Nones"

Books by Ed Stetzer:

• Planting Missional Churches 
• Compelled: Living the Mission of God
• Subversive Kingdom: Living as Agents of Gospel Transformation
• Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations
• Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them
• Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can, Too
• Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community
• Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series)

Five Things The Church Needs To Focus on in the Next Ten Years

Ed Stetzer:

1. A clear understanding of the gospel.
2. A stronger focus on discipleship.
3. A greater passion for mission.
4. Evangelism in the age of the Nones.
5. New thinking in developing best practices.

Click over to read his explanations.


Books by Ed Stetzer:

• Planting Missional Churches 
• Compelled: Living the Mission of God
• Subversive Kingdom: Living as Agents of Gospel Transformation
• Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations
• Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them
• Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can, Too
• Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community
• Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series)

Integrity Matters: Looking Like--and Being--Citizens of the Kingdom

Most, if not all, of the scenarios and situations Jesus covers in the Sermon on the Mount are probably familiar to you. You've heard them taught. You've likely read them repeatedly. But all too often the nearness of a particular subject matter can gauze it from careful notice.

So let's do ourselves a big favor at this point and alert our brain to its natural tendency.

Let's settle back a little deeper into our chairs.

Let's listen up.

Let's be willing to do the hard work of connecting these teaching points of Jesus with actual, real-time events in our own lives, situations we may not have brought around here lately for any kind of scriptural scrutiny.

Because if we do, we may find we're not only missing the mark; we're also missing some prime opportunities for letting God make a kingdom impression on people who know us and see us and aren't yet convinced he makes that much difference in a person's life.

You see, one of the great challenges today is that many people who have been made citizens of the kingdom look, well, like citizens of the world. Yet King Jesus is making a new people who live like his people. They are changed to be agents of the kingdom because they live differently--that's a mark of being a kingdom citizen. And it changes us. It changes the things in our lives. Jesus is unapologetic to connect who you are in Christ with how you live for Christ. Those things matter.

Things like our anger.
You may or may not be the type of person who's easily upset or incited to high-volume reactions toward people who cross or challenge you. But none of us are immune from situations where the volatility of our tempers are put to the test and often found wanting. Whether from a line of questioning we don't particularly like at home, or an overeager driver at a four-way stop, or a policy change at the office that adds an extra layer of paperwork to an otherwise manageable process, we can feel the fire rising up our necks at any minute of the day.

But a person under submission to the King knows that "everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment" (Matt. 5:22). And even with biblical allowances for being bluntly honest, direct, and holding others accountable, even with the reality of such things as justice and fairness, we cannot allow unchecked anger to simmer in our hearts if we expect to stay sharply subversive and spiritually on point. Controlling our anger proves we're different from the pack.

Things like our authenticity.
Far too much of life is spent coordinating our public personas so they don't reveal certain private aspects of ourselves that we'd much rather stay under wraps and undealt with. Everyone has their skeletons, we surmise, and most people become fairly adept at dancing around them well enough so others don't notice.

But Jesus says his people must be the kind who, for example, cannot worship devotedly on Sunday if they've been unkind or offensive toward someone through the week. "If you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (vv. 23-24). Being the same person both inside and out proves we're different.

Things like our purity.
Not a man alive can honestly say he's never had an unguarded sexual thought or allowed a casual glance to morph into a cagey stare. And heaven knows, except for the awkward embarrassment of being caught looking, our society basically accepts this crude behavior as being part of what it means to be a guy.

But in Jesus' way of seeing things, "everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (v. 28). While we may never be able to extinguish entirely the temptation to let our eyes and imaginations wander, servants of the King allow him to transform their minds until they see their lust for how evil, demeaning, and ungodly it really is. Being a person who maintains a pure heart and honors his wedding vows--in both action and attitude--demonstrates that we're different.

Each of these are areas where we tend to rationalize our self-righteousness and excuse our behavior as being better than most. Sure, we try our hardest and do our best, but who can really keep from getting angry now and then, or being a bit hypocritical, or entertaining certain thoughts we wouldn't want others to know about? And yet Jesus, by bringing these matters to our attention and showing us a different way of handling them, declares that his kingdom is governed by a whole new value system. No, it's not the model that's on daily display in the homes, businesses, sports bars, and nightspots of our worldly culture. It's sadly not always the model that frequents our churches and youth retreats and Christian college groups either. But it's the model that's meant to define what kingdom life consistently looks like. It looks good on us.

And what looks good on us ultimately looks good on him.

- Ed Stetzer, Subversive Kingdom

Killing The Church Caste System

Ed Stetzer:

My fear is that we have created a class system in the body of Christ comprised of the "called" and the "not so much called." Nothing could be further from the truth. The ministry assignment of the laypeople is not to simply "lay" around and tell the called what they should be doing. Laypeople are not to be customers of religious goods and services served by the storekeeper clergy. We are all called although our current assignments may vary dramatically.

Jesus said to an ordinary group of people, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21). These were not professionals, with the exception of professional fishermen and a professional tax collector. And if we hope engage and evangelize the world with the gospel, we cannot possibly rely on professionals to do it.

Laypeople often think that this means their job is to pay, pray, get out of the way. To make sure we are not communicating a low, irresponsible view of laypeople one thing is critical. We must create an atmosphere of expectation.

In all of our research on churches, people in transformational churches were taught that they were responsible for the ministry of the church. This was a recurring theme that they perceived, rightfully so, that they were the owners of the ministry.

To do this, we must begin by declaring the two class system of ministry dead-- we may even have to kill it. A new level of ownership must be given to the people of God, and the people of God must embrace what they are given. God's desire is to have a church made up of every day Christians living like missionaries.

The clergy-laity caste system is killing churches and hindering the mission of God. Let's kill it.

Read the rest.


Books by Ed Stetzer:

• Planting Missional Churches 
• Compelled: Living the Mission of God
• Subversive Kingdom: Living as Agents of Gospel Transformation
• Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations
• Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them
• Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can, Too
• Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community
• Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series)

Wal-Mart and Church Planting

Ed Stetzer:

As a general rule, I try and avoid making trips to Wal-Mart. If I have to go, however, besides the pure entertainment value in people watching there, I inevitably end up getting frustrated at the check-out counter due to combination of a long line and my short attention span. We have a Super Wal-Mart near our home, so when I go to check out, there are about sixteen lanes at the front of the store to make the process as efficient as possible.

The problem is, that for whatever reason, nearly every time I go there are only two of them open. Sure, there are those self-service lanes, but no one ever uses those because they know that they don't work. Instead, there usually are about twelve of us (somehow it always works out that everyone finishes at the same time) that end up waiting in those two lanes and we're all thinking the same thing. "Open up some lanes!"

All too often I feel that same frustration when I look at the state of church planting today.

Read the rest and get Ed's new book, Viral Churches.  

Being "Missional" Has To Mean Planting Churches

Ed Stetzer:

In the early 20th Century, Swiss psychologist, Hermann Rorschach developed what is now one of the most widely used psychological tests, the Rorschach Test, better known as the infamous inkblot test. Psychologists show patients pictures of ten different ink blots and their interpretation of the inkblots supposedly reveals significant insight on the patient's personality and mental well being.

I am of the opinion that the word "missional" in today's evangelical culture, is an ecclesiastical Rorschach test of sorts. The way that a church defines it tells a lot about their values, beliefs, and vision. In the last decade, "missional" has become a word adopted by nearly every evangelical denomination. The Church of God (Cleveland) called a national meeting, "The Missional Mandate." Southern Baptists adopted a Great Commission Resurgence Report that used "missional" nineteen times. As I reminded the Nazarenes when I spoke on Saturday, they consider themselves Christian, holiness, and missional. The Wesleyans say they're becoming a missional, multiplying movement. That's a lot of missional.

But, I believe much of this increase is due to us defining "missional" as what matters to us. For example, if a group of people is passionate about social justice, and they don't see enough of it going on, then being missional is all about social justice. If others see a need to become more relevant to the culture of their community, then being missional means pursuing cultural relevance. Being missional can mean anything and everything.

Everybody wants to be missional--and I am glad, as long as we define it clearly and well. So, needless to say, the million-dollar question is, however, what does it mean? Answering this question is more than just semantics and that is why we created a "Missional Manifesto" to help bring clarity. Yet, at the risk of Rorschaching myself, I'd like to propose that one aspect of a church called missional is that it multiplies itself by planting others. I propose that planting, therefore, needs to be part of the equation if we are going to define missional well.

Read the rest for his explanation.

Get the book here.

Multiply Everything

Ed Stetzer:

LifeWay Research conducted a study in 2008, interviewing senior pastors in various denominations. Of the 1,004 individuals in the sample, almost all (85 percent) of the Protestant churches indicated that their churches are involved in a missions in some way, from things like congregational prayer at least once a month to conducting short-term mission trips. 

When it came to the mission field of church planting, however, only 28 percent indicated that they directly participated in helping a new church. Because that is a fairly broad description, further clarification was needed. Of that group, 52 percent explained that they gave a one-time gift, provided ongoing partnership, equipment, rent, or a mission trip to a new church plant.

Only 12 percent of that 28 percent, however, were actually churches that acted as a "mother church," or accepted direct financial responsibility for a new church as a primary sponsor. That means that in the previous twelve months, only 3 percent of the Protestant churches surveyed accepted primary responsibility for starting a new church. That's definitely a cause for strong concern.

The reality is that we won't see a church multiplication movement until we have all kinds of churches getting involved in primary participation. If we want to "go viral" in church planting, several qualities need to be in place.

Read the rest.

Get Ed's book here.

This is a one of the huge reasons I am excited that The Vine is a member of the Acts29 church planting network.

Ed Stetzer Reflects on #TheElephantRoom

Here are his thoughts.

Applying the Gospel Coalition Mission Statement that Churches "Must Work for Justice"

Ed Stetzer with a helpful post that I would commend to you.

Ed Stetzer on Being Missional

1. Understanding What We Mean When We Talk about Being Missional

2. The Great Commission and Missional Thinking

3. The Challenge of Being Missional

4. The Missional Idea in Scripture

5. God Sends

6. The Compartmentalized Mission

7. Go Where God Sends

8. Cultural Relevance and Living Sent

Pastoring and "Broader Interests"

Ed Stetzer:

I've noticed a pattern lately and I'm not the only one who has seen it. Christianity Today featured a story in the spring of 2010 about pastors leaving their churches to pursue writing and speaking opportunities. Francis Chan, Jim Belcher, N. T. Wright and, now Rob Bell, have left local church pastorates, some of which were churches they themselves had planted. This led CT to ask:

What's going on? Is the local church becoming the "farm team" for full-time conference and book ministry?

Rob Bell's announcement included the plan to pursue "broader interests" and that prompted this post.

(I am very aware that there are other issues regarding Rob Bell, but this is not a post about him. You can read my review of his book, Love Wins, in 3-parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. His departure from Mars Hill, however, sparked these further thoughts I now address.)

I try not to wag my finger at others, and every person involved needs to hear from teh Lord and be obedient to his call, but I must say this move away from the local church confuses (and concerns) me a bit. Perhaps that is because I'm heading in the other direction.

Allow me to explain.

Read the rest.  

Missions and Missional: Embracing Both for the Glory of God

Great post here by Ed Stetzer.

Doing What The Church is Supposed To Do

Ed Stetzer:

Two perspectives must be embraced to develop missional churches for the Great Commission. We need a strong DNA and a corresponding culture that cultivates the conviction that Great Commission lifestyles are critical to accomplishing the mission God. New churches have the opportunity to shape a Missional DNA into new congregation. For existing churches, installing a Great Commission and missional DNA is a retrofit issue. Regardless of the church's age, cultivating DNA is hard work. The concept of being a missionary cannot be taught through reading good books and attempting to modify behavior. The significance and implications of the Great Commission must be fully internalized by core leadership teams in new or existing congregations. It takes time and leadership to cultivate and mature this DNA in the life of the church.

A Great Commission Ethic must be championed. The ethic is: We will, as we go, make disciples, baptize, and teach with a focus on people groups in the authority of Jesus Christ. To not do this is to ignore or marginalize the Great Commission, and that opposes biblical Christianity because it opposes the character and work of Christ. He was sent by His Father to establish the kingdom of God on the earth and redeem a people by His death for the kingdom, and He is the Sender of a sent people who are commissioned to speak and live out His message.

Read the rest.  

One More Review of "Love Wins"

Ed Stetzer has a review of  Love Wins that is worth reading.   Here is one poignant paragraph:

Bell has largely recast and tweaked the view that many mainline Protestants have held for a hundred years: that because of God's love, he saves everyone, regardless. This is not new. This is not groundbreaking. This is not revolutionary.

In many ways, Rob Bell's Love Wins is simply mainline Protestantism with better haircuts and cooler music.

Read the rest.