4/13/2005 09:31:00 PM|||Joel VandenBrink|||Well I guess maybe I'm back into the swing of things, or maybe I just feel like I'm sick of doing homework so I will spend some time 'sneezing' my thoughts into text.
Yesterday and today I spent my lunches with two Australian church planters. Alan Hirsch, and Michael Frost wrote a book that I read for a class, that I enjoyed and so when I found out they were going to be in Seattle I made sure to connect with them. These lunches were phenomenal. It is hard to describe why they were so great because it is part the context that I am in and where I am in my journey of church planting. But basically these guys talk about what a 'missional church' looks like, and how it looks drastically different from what most westerners would call 'church.' This is a breathe of fresh air to me, as the community I am involved in has been having very similar thoughts, so it was good to see two guys on a different continent thinking the same thoughts (geez, you'd think there would be this thing called the holy spirit...). It was also good to connect with some local church planters that planted about 2 years ago and are in the midst of figuring out what it means to be missional. I'm in the process of attempting to write a paper on missiology. i'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, as there seems to be so much stuff about mission, and yet I have to discern how much of it is the mission that Jesus would want us one. Because, I for one, can't say that many of the 'battles' that the church is fighting for are battles that Jesus would want us spending all our time and energy one...or maybe he would, but he certainly would be doing it differently...anyway, i'm going to spend the next few minutes dumping my brain in a non-cohesive form. if you can, hang with me, as it may get ugly and disjointed.
The core question a group of Christians need to ask themselves is, "why do we gather?" I was recently asked this question by a friend of mine and didn't have a good answer. I had plenty of 'textbook' answers that I could have tapped into, but I didn't have an answer that I felt comfortable with. I wasn't about ready to throw out the 'because Jesus commands us to' or the 'because it is my duty as a Christian.' I really want to be able to answer this question, as I think every Christian should really want to answer this question. The phrase that is commonly used is "I go to church on Sunday." Why? Why sacrifice a morning of your weekend each week to go to this place we call church? Why get all dressed up to sing silly songs, listen to a narcissistic pastor, say it was a good sermon, and go home and eat a good lunch before football comes on? I believe it is because at our very core we feel as though we are part of something much bigger than ourselves. At our very core we feel that which Jesus talked about, "the kingdom of God is at hand." This kingdom isn't something we wait for, it is something that we participate in on a daily basis. This kingdom is the presence of the Holy Spirit acting in and through God's creation. In Acts 1 when Jesus is asked, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" This questions comes after the death and the resurrection, this question comes at a time where the disciples are beginning to believe in what Jesus is doing, yet they still want a tangible kingdom. So how does Jesus answer the question? He talks about the presence of the Holy Spirit. Shortly thereafter POOF Jesus is gone. Disappeared. The disciples are left staring blankly at the sky, not believing (yet again) that these crazy things are happening. Did Jesus answer the disciples question? I believe so. But in good God form, the answer is counter-intuitive. The answer went against what the disciples believed to be a kingdom. They were certain that because Jesus had risen, had conquered death, that he would be their king who would sit on a throne and hold a ceptor. But instead, he leaves his Spirit? This doesn't make any sense. How can a kingdom exist without a tangible king? This is the beauty of the gospel, this is the brilliance of God. His kingdom is subversive, like a mustard seed, like a grain of yeast. It only takes one small mustard seed to move a mountain -- it doesn't take a king.
Jesus' mission was a mission that didn't rely on power, it relied on authority. Numerous times Jesus is given ample opportunity to become a powerful individual, and everytime he skirts it and 'repents' from it (that is, he takes a U-turn away from it). After the feeding of the five thousand he gets in a boat and leaves. He walks away from the cheering and celebrating, he walks away from being carried off the field. He knows that for the mustard seed to be true, for the Spirit to work, that he needs to squelch power.
So, why then do Christians gather? Dang, after all that typing this question still seems hard to answer. I was hoping i'd get somewhere...ugh...
well, i guess all i can say is that I'm not ready to write my paper yet...speak to me Spirit. I'm listening for your still small voice.
good night
joel|||111345591343245078|||an attempt...4/14/2005 01:28:32 PM|||jacob|||Joel - Great to meet you 2 days ago. Uhmm...I think it's pretty cool that you get to hang with Dwight at Mars Hills Sem. Go do the missional things in Green Lake and when you meet this lonely guy named Justin who works for Charles Swchab tell him hello from Jacob and Tania...and wrap him into your community! Peace...