Our family is hanging out in Maui this week.  We rode bikes down Haleakala yesterday and a couple things struck me as really out of place – churches.  They just didn’t look like they belonged on Maui.

They might not have looked so odd, except Mandee and I had a chance to visit a little church in Lahaina a few years ago that looked so much like Maui we just had to check it out – the walls open so you feel like you’re sitting outside.

All of which reminded me of my summer reading in missiology, contextualization and what it means to start a church “out of the culture.”  When people who follow Jesus create a church for people who don’t, it’s not surprising that you get gothic revival in the tropics. When people follow Jesus and form a church out of their faith and their culture, you get a church that looks like it belongs.  That’s intriguing and inviting.

Which kind of church are you starting?

One of ELI’s planters, Tim Heerebout, wrote a post in response to something John Piper posted a couple days ago regarding the use of arts in worship. It created an interesting discussion, but reminded me of something we don’t often consider as carefully as we should, where do our methods come from? Here’s how I see it:

Our Theology determines our Ideology which drives our Methodology.

Theology is what we know, understand and believe about God and His mission.

Ideology is our philosophy of ministry, the values and assumptions that drive our actions.  In many ways ideology is the bridge between our theology and methodology.

Methodology is what we do or don’t do in ministry.  In this case, Piper doesn’t do drama.  Tim does.

Dialogue about methods often becomes heated.  People tend to feel strongly about the way they do things.  (Anyone besides me old enough to have lived through hymns vs. choruses?) The dialogue is often unproductive, in fact even harmful, because it fails to get down to what really matters, your theology.  You can argue for what works, which is the most common tendency in the American evangelical church of the 20^th century.  Relying on what works is a slippery slope.  First, because it could lead you to a methodology that is disconnected from God, even in conflict with God.  Second, because what works changes constantly – unlike God, who never changes.  Lastly, because focusing on methodology without theology causes us to be more focused on “how” than “what.”

I work with church planters, the how questions are constant.  How are we going to do services?  How are we going to do small groups?  How are we going to server our community.  None of these are bad, they are questions you must answer.  The best answers will only flow from a theologically based conviction of “what.”  The most important question is always, what has God called and commanded us to do?

Have you taken the easy way out and adopted a methodology that works?  Or are you doing the hard work of knowing God and letting your understanding of Him and His mission drive your ideas and methods?

I have been a fan, and regular user, of StrengthsFinder for a number of years.  They recently published a new book that looks more closely at how strengths are applied to leadership.  They divided the 34 StrengthsFinder themes into 4 categories: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, and Strategic Thinking.  The book includes a code to take the assessment. If your not familiar with StrengthsFinder it’s worth the time and money for you and your team.  The insights you’ll gain into your team are well worth it.

Ed Stetzer and David Garrison released a paper at Exponential09 titled, “The Potential for Church Planting Movements in the Western World.” I’m sorry I can’t provide the whole thing for you, it’s gold.  This nugget really has me thinking:

“The way Protestent Christianity “does church” – and this is true whether it’s in India or Africa or America – typically means there’s a building and there’s a salaried pastor and/or staff.  These two elements alone create an entire web of ecclesionomic behavioral responses that impede CPMs.”

In other words, how much does it cost to make a disciple?  The question is of obvious importance because the more it costs, the less of them we’ll make.

That has me wondering if the way we start churches, and the reason we don’t start as many as we need, is its just too expensive.  We assume we need a salaried church planter and a building (and a website, and sound equipment, and lights and video projectors, and equipment for the kids to play…)  Maybe all we really need are more people willing to “go and make disciples.”

I got a chance to sit with Earl Creps in his new “office” in Berkeley.  The first thing I had to get over was my temptation to covet.  I know many church planters have their “offices” in coffee shops and cafe’s, but just walking up to Caffe Strada, on a sunny Friday afternoon made me think he’s got the best “office” of any church planter in the country.

We had  a great conversation about Berkeley and the challenges of re-presenting Jesus in and to this people group.  I asked what he had discovered to be the biggest hurdle in getting people to be open to the gospel, there was a short awkward pause and then he said simply, “Christians.”  Sadly, many of us have come to understand this one word sentiment all too well.  Then he said something rather profound that I am still pondering,  “We need to let go of the idea that we have come here to fix them and instead let them fix us.”

I wonder what the church in America might look like in 1o years if everyone who claims Jesus name was willing to live Jesus calling like Earl and Janet?

I have been reading my way through Perspectives for the last few months.  If you have never done this, I’d highly recommend it.  I came accross this statement from Stephen Hawthorne this morning, “no people should reject Christ because of the impression that He is calling them to commit cultural suicide.”   My own paraphrase of Acts 15:19 would go something like this.  “we should stop making it difficult for people who are not like us to follow Jesus.”

Rather than start a rant, which my fingers are so itching to do, I’ll play coach and ask questions:

• What cultural barriers are you creating or  maintaining that would keep someone from wanting to follow “your Jesus?”
• In what ways is your expression of church more centered in your own cultural experience than what is essential to know Jesus?
• How would your language change if you were serious about communicating with people not like you?
• Who is different from you that you know well enough to ask these questions?

I was reminded in my reading this morning that following Jesus is all about dying.  We seem to have surrounded ourselves with the Gospel of me and Jesus, as if he is some kind of filler or additive that makes  our life better.  What the Gospel really offers is Jesus instead of me and the only way to get that is to die.

Truthfully, I don’t like dying.  It’s painful.  There are parts of me I like and don’t want to let go of.  I can’t have more Jesus by adding him to me.  If I want more Jesus, then more of me is going to have to die.

Jesus is all about living.  Following him is all about dying.

About 6 months ago I converted my old static website to Wordpress, and proceeded to post a grand sum of 4 things in 2 months. I’ve decided I’m going to try doing this blogging thing for real.
I am not a fan of trying – so I am not going to “try” to write blog posts, I am going to write blog posts. I mean try in that I want to see how much time it really takes and what benefits it produces. I’m thinking 3-6 months…
I’ve been catching up on some things I’ve meant to read for a long time, that included Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Tapscott and Williams. Though a well written book, it is now old news except for maybe this quote from Cory Doctorow, the problem is “obscurity: the risk that one’s work will get lost in the vast digital wilderness of content and voices.”
That is my question, will anyone notice that I am blogging? Will anyone care? Will it make it an impact?

I’ve been catching up on some books that have been in my reading stack for awhile. One was The Dip by Seth Godin. I like Seth – had a chance to hear him at Catalyst this year – he delivers great insights in simple common sense ways. Godin defines the Dip as “the long slog between starting and mastery.” The message of the book is simple, pick your dip and get through it. Become exceptional at something.

Maybe that’s the other reason I like Seth. He believes everyone can be exceptional at something. That’s why I started ImpactPoint Strategies – to help people make an impact by becoming exceptional at what they were made to be and do.

So ask yourself:

• What’s your dip? What are you investing time and money in becoming exceptional at?
• What do you need to quit? What are you investing time and money in that you’ll never master?

A few weeks back I had lunch with one of the guys I’ve coached for the last few years. One of the great joys of coaching is that wisdom can flow both ways. He shared this thought with me, “the quality of your relationship will be determined by the number of difficult conversations you are willing to have.” It proves true in my relationships. And it begs the question: What difficult conversation can you have today that will make a relationship better tomorrow?