Something Nice

Just so I'm not misunderstood, here's my definition of "traditional" church:

A church whose mission focus and front door is the Sunday Worship service, with the service's main focus being the sermon, and whose supplemental programs focus almost exclusively on classroom learning.

According to this definition, most "contemporary" churches are the same as traditional ones, just with different instruments.

I've been challenged by several parties to say something nice about them. Here goes: they did a great job teaching a lot of people music. Almost all of the best musicians come from this church background (i.e., me) even if they don't stay there (i.e., me).

But the problems I hope to overcome are:
1) they are audience-focused, not God-focused, you couldn't meet God if you tried.
2) the services depend on a completely passive audience (yes, they do!)
3) since there is no time to connect, people never see the "real people" there, just superficial masks that add to a huge hypocrisy problem
4) only a handful of people "do ministry" on a weekly basis, and only because they are paid!

And I will also say this:
the traditional/contemporary church taught me that these four things are indeed problems, but these churches just don't realize that the format is what causes the problems, not necessarily the incredibly sinful people that don't listen.

We need to ask these questions now:
1) How can I teach in a way that leads people to God?
2) How can I encourage participatory learning?
3) What do I do to provide time for busy people to really connect with each other?
4) How can I let more and more people minister to each other (entertainment doesn't count!)?

The short answer is to make churches less like a night at the symphony and more like an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. One changes broken lives, the other is an excuse to play dress-up and schmooze with people you don't even like. Which one is your church?

Messianic Postmodernity

This post may go over some people's heads, but I'm OK with that.

I'm really excited to be graduated so that now I can finally read all the books I've been wanting to read but couldn't because of the demands of school. I'm reading more about the "emergent" wing of the emerging church, frequently classified as those who reside in emergentvillage.com.

One of their unifying traits (if any!) is the idea of what has been termed a "trajectory hermeneutic." Simply put, that is the idea that there seems to be a shift between old and new testaments, and the church continues the shift as our context changes. Some might call it evolutionary Christianity, some might call it stupid.

Some are claiming that we are in a new stage in God's redemption story, which included past things like creation, the exodus, the exile, Jesus' resurrection, (perhaps) the protestant reformation, and now postmodernism (or postmodernity?).

Here's the key question: is the Bible sufficient after 2,000 to 3,000 years of saying the same thing? Are the people that propound this view really under the direction of the Holy Spirit?

I'll make this brief: Yes with a but, and no with an if.
Yes, scripture is sufficient, otherwise we'd either get more of it or we wouldn't even need it.
While I believe that many of these people are Christian, (probably?) I think that some of their teachings are going to have serious consequences down the line.

"Present Future"

I just finished reading The Present Future by Reggie McNeal. It was a graduation present and a good read. He said a lot of the same things that I've been writing about, except his was more thought out and a few years before me!

Here's my deal. I want a church (group of people) to be different, not just for the sake of new, but for the sake of discipleship. As I've been saying we really need to reevaluate the marks of a follower of Jesus (traditionally: church attendance, tithing, and helping the church) and use marks from the sermon on the mount, such as loving enemies, generosity, genuineness, and a love for God because of Jesus that spills over into our other relationships.

Basically, I really don't see much good in the institutional church. My goal is to massively decentralize things, and "disorganize" the church, if you will, in order to make it more effective and even more enjoyable in my opinion.


Anyhoo, I'm heading to VA today for a much deserved vacation and to see if I can't persuade someone to hire me. Maybe I can even find a dude or two who wants to help me start a church.
God only knows......