Who is at the wheel?

I remember when I used to believe that the cruise control setting on a car meant that the vehicle could drive itself. I thought it was a great invention - you could get your car up to speed, set the cruise control and then have a nap until you reached your destination. Thankfully this error in my thinking was corrected before I had a chance try out cruise control for myself.

Still, cruise control is still a pretty cool option to have on a car, especially if you do any highway driving because it allows you to maintain a constant speed which improves gas milage and keeps you under the radar of police - literally. It is still up to the driver of the car to ensure that the vehicle stays in the designated lane and to navigate safely to the desired location.

I have found that a number of churches also have a cruise control option that they use all the time. These churches have discovered a comfortable speed that they like and they set their ministry on cruise control. Some churches set their cruise control in the 1950's and haven't shut it off since! Others have set their cruise control at a time that they felt was when they where at their peak and have tried to maintain the same "speed" since that time only to find that it is tough to maintain something over a number of years without something going wrong.

Setting the cruise control is the job of the person driving the vehicle, or in the case of the church, the cruise control is set by whoever or whatever drives the church. Some churches are driven by certain individuals, or pastors or boards or families that have been members of the church for a number of years. I don't think all of them are bad drivers, per se, but they tend to lead the church in a direction that is in their best interests and not always in a direction that is in the best interest of mission and the Kingdom of God. Other churches are driven not by individuals but by Mission and Vision statements that have a predetermined destination that the church wants to arrive at within a certain period of time. Still other churches are driven by theology and it is the beliefs of the church that determine the direction it must go. So who is driving your church?

Five books that changed my thinking...

I like books. So that means I have a lot of books. My wife would say I have too many books and that I don't need to keep buying more every time I walk into a book store. I thought I would share with you five books that have made an impact in my life in the last couple of years.

1. Community in Mission by Phil Needham

I read this book when I did my undergrad but it really spoke to me when I was working on my MA thesis. I now use this as a basic text for the revitalization process we are leading our church through right now.

2. Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Volf

I read everything Volf writes; he has become my theological hero! This book deals with reconciliation and forgiveness - the opening of yourself to others. It is a must read.

3. The Open Secret by Leslie Newbigin

This was one of the first books I read when I was first looking into the Theology of Mission. Any Christian that is interested in what it means to be missional in society today should read Newbigin.

4. The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch

I had breakfast with Alan Hirsch about 5 years ago at a church planting conference. It was just him and me and another guy (I don't remember his name) and he was talking about this book he was working on. I got my hands on it when it came out and it really opened my eyes to what missional and incarnational ministry is really all about. Of particular interest to me was the concept of liminality and communitas that Hirsch touches on.

5. Exiles by Michael Frost

Frost and Hirsch wrote a book together called, The Shaping of Things to Come, which is a great book as well. In Exiles, Frost explores what it means to live missionally in a post-Christian culture. His work challenges the status quo so many Christians have settled into.

Here are the five books that are on my desk right now...

The book I just finished is The Ritual Process by Victor Turner. The reason I picked this book up is because Alan Hirsch quotes it in The Forgotten Ways; Turner is an anthropologist who studied liminality and communitas in African Tribes. I am fascinated with the concept of liminality and communitas and I think my doctoral thesis will focus on this cultural phenomenon as it relates to training individuals for ministry in The Salvation Army.

I know what you are thinking, I am a party waiting to happen. But it is important that we expand our thinking by reading more than just books written by mega church pastors or "easy reading" books by people like Max Lucado. There is nothing wrong with reading these types of books and they can be excellent for a personal devotional time, but every so often you should jump outside your comfort zone and really be challenged to understand something you didn't know before you picked up the book.

Happy Reading!

Lets Go Fishing...

Fishing has been a term associated with Christianity from the very beginning. A number of the first disciples were fishermen, Jesus used fishing boats to teach from, he told Peter that he would fish for men and so on. In the early church the fish symbol, like the one shown above, was used as a direction marker to show the way to the places where Christians met.

The ICHTHUS, that is the name of the fish symbol, derives its name from the Greek word for fish "ichthus" but there was a hidden meaning in the name. The ICHTHUS is an acrostic which means that each letter of the word represents another word and the acrostic of the fish was a creed of the church that we still use today. Here is the meaning of the ICHTHUS... I - Jesus (there is no "j" in Greek, only "i" but if it has a ' before the i it is pronounced as a j); CH - Christ; TH - God; U - son; S - Saviour. So when you see the fish symbol it is meant to be read as: "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour"

Over the years the ICHTHUS has morphed to become an identifying marker and today I can show I am a Christian by displaying the fish symbol on my car. BUT... what does it mean if I have a little fish symbol on my car? It should mean that the person who owns the car is a Christian and as such you can expect them to live a Christian lifestyle. It should mean that the person who owns that car has an answer for the hope that they have. (1 Peter 3:15) It should mean that you could follow that person to their fish bowl where they meet with the other fish people in your community and that you would be welcomed into that fish bowl. Of course we know that not all fish symbol people can say that this is true of them.

I have seen many Christians that display a "fish bowl mentality." What I mean by this is that they are quite content in the little bowl with their other fish bowl friends and they never see life beyond the fish bowl. They have the pastor feed them every week and then just swim within their little circle until the next Sunday when they are fed again. Unfortunately this is not the ultimate purpose of the church nor those who call themselves followers of Christ. There used to be an old Salvation Army practice called "fishing for souls" where members of the congregation would actively seek out the unbelievers attending Army meetings and lead them to a saving relationship with Christ. I am sure that is closer to what God is calling us to as his followers.

I like how Salvation Army theologian Phil Needham describes what it means to be a missional church. He states, "The missionary church, then, is nothing other than the church following its Lord, leading its sacramental life, travelling on its pilgrim way - and inviting others to do the same. Only as such is it an army of salvation commissioned for battle. Only as such is it engaged in warfare. For the church at war, there is no human enemy. In fact, persons are seen only as potential recruits. The enemy is sin in all its personal and social forms - all of which seek to destroy the God-given integrity of human life. As long as this battle for the human soul rages, the church will be commissioned for battle." (Community in Mission p. 64)

With the words of Needham ringing in my ears I have decided to adopt a new ICHTHUS symbol for myself that more clearly reflects my work in God's kingdom. Feel free to adopt it as well. No more passive, waiting for others to visit my fishbowl mentality for me!

Blessings!