While I don’t brag on being a Southern Baptist too often, especially living in Delaware, our state convention, the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, has one of the best when it comes to Church Planting and Multiplication. The fearless leader of that area is Dr. David Jackson
He told me a story the other day that he has now blogged. He says:
So I was reading a book entitled “11 Innovations for the Local Church,” by Elmer Towns, Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird over the weekend, in anticipation of Neil Cole’s visit with us and came across a very provocative thought.
In the chapter on Organic Church, attributed to author Stetzer I believe, he tells of another well-known Christian author and speaker Alan Hirsch, and an illustration he uses to talk about “the church.”
Hirsch says that the best way to learn how to play the game of chess is to “remove the queen.” In other words, when you deliberately eliminate your own queen from the game, you are forced to learn how to use the other parts more intentionally and wholistically. You don’t depend upon the queen as a “crutch,” but recognize the value and import of every piece and are able to apply your strategy more strategically and effectively.
Hirsch goes on to say that in the American church today, “the queen” is the Sunday morning experience. He believes that most churches today are so dependent on this–in calendaring, in budgeting, in energy and time given to preparing, that they don’t do much else, failing to apply the Body wholistically to the commission Christ has given us as His church.
Read more, particularly as it he relates it to the book of Ephesians.
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Remove the Queen
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June 12th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Pretty wise observation. Thanks for sharing it.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
I like where the analogy goes, but I don’t necessarily like thinking of the church in terms of a chess game. The church is an organic experience.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Danny,
I don’t think Hirsch, Stetzer, or Jackson described the church in terms of a chess match. The analogy was simply that…We have elevated the weekend event to a place that scripture doesn’t elevate it to.
Ed Young, Jr says, “It’s all about the weekend.”
Bob Roberts says, “It’s all about the week”
The organic nature of the body requires us to see Roberts ideas elevated over Young’s. Scripture would back that up.