Wall Street

The more I read David Fitch, the more I love what he writes.  In a post today entitled, The Idol Hath Fallen - the Financial Crisis and the Reshaping of the Landscape for Mission, Fitch gives his thoughts on how the financial crisis may result in a missional movement in the States.  I have expressed some similar thoughts on both the coming church transition and the impact of the financial crisis on churches.  David provides additional thoughts that are, I believe, spot on!

He says,

Let me explain the shift in culture as I see it. In the post World War 2 period, people looked at jobs, money, houses in terms of the necessities of life. We went to a job to earn an income to support our families and if we were Christians to contribute to the Kingdom of God. We bought a house (we could afford) in order to live in it. We were not obsessed with having a large sum of money for retirement that would enable us “to maintain our lifestyle” (insurance salesman lingo that became canonized in American life as part of what every person should do if he/she is responsible). Starting in the 80’s however, our jobs became “careers” for personal fulfilment, our homes became idols of excess pouring thousands of dollars into upgrades, our money became a scorecard of our success. Each of these things became identity shaping idols. And these idols squeezed out community, Mission and even family from everyday American life. The obsessive focus on these idols emptied American life of depth, meaning and purpose beyond the thin veneers of American consumerism. The zenith of this excess reached its peak in these last 5-10 years. Today we are seeing the leveling of these idols. The idol hath fallen.

I have argued that vast swaths of the American church has accommodated itself in some of the worst of ways to the values inherent in these idols. I believe the missional church movement has emphasized a different response to this culture: that we should live more simply, live beneath our means, reject these idols of career, house and money. We must come together to cultivate communal life, communal sharing, transformational practices that resist consumerism and above all the everyday participation in the Mission of God. Our jobs, our homes and our money each in turn become captive to God’s Mission.

It is my opinion that the current financial crisis, its pure magnitude, is revealing the emptiness and falsity of the idols of the past thirty years of American life. I intend no gloating over this. Much pain is sure to follow. Yet amidst the crumbling home values, the new emptiness of work and the loss of community in our society, I believe Missional living (Acts 2.42ff) becomes compelling in new ways as it calls us to be a community of the redeemed, sharing one another’s burdens, offering each other housing when in need, sharing housing if need be, living simply beneath our means (even in the rich suburbs), offering help to the struggling (even those with a foreclosure sign on their front lawn). As the crisis unfolds, this could create a whole new openness for church as a Missional way of life. Could God be preparing the new fertile ground for His Mission in the United States?

Thank you Dr. Fitch for your observations.  What do you think about what he said?

The Tangible Kingdom

The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community (J-B Leadership Network Series) is a new book by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay, both of whom serve Adullam Denver, a community of faith whose purpose is to retell the story of Christ through sacrament, worship, community, and mission.  It is part of the Leadership Network Series and was published in April, 2008.

Reading this book was like sitting and talking with my wife all night.  There was a comfort level with the authors.  As I read each page, I felt like I was looking into the present future of church.

I am not going to do a true book review.  But I do want to share with you some points and ideas that caught my attention.

1. The authors were real and transparent. They told of their wounds, failures and disappointments.  This is rare in books today.

2.  The authors describe a working, practicing Ancient-Future expression of church.  Robert Webber became a hero to me in 2003. I have read all of his ancient future material and contemplated my own expression of how that would work.  But these guys have done it and are seeing life and community transformation from it.  It is an expression of how church should be.  It’s a community that I long to be in.

3.  I see the church in transition, and becoming more oriented around communities of faith than traditional church structures. If you are interested in this, you will find this book warm and inviting and practical.  If you are an attractional church, you need to read this book; it will challenge your attractionality and all you think about church.

I will probably have some thoughts that flow out of this reading later in the week.

I highly recommend this book to you.  It will challenge and encourage.

In this edition of MORPHE, David argues that Missional is a theological revolution based on Trinitarian Theology, not an ecclesiological revolution.

 

 Is Missional a Theolical or Ecclesiological Revolution? [6:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (88)

The incarnation may be the pivotal point in all of scripture.  Next to the creation that opens the Bible and the re-creation that closes the Bible, the incarnation stand as the point where the re-creation and restoration of all of creation begins.

The Trinity requires that we consider the importance of the incarnation.

In the incarnation we find the sending God arriving to meet his creation in their own form.  The Godhead puts on human flesh so that evil can be conquered and redemption can be offered.  In the incarnation, we find the nature and character of the godhead embodied in Jesus Christ.  In Christ, we are presented with the character and nature of God in a way that we can understand and experience - the physical touch of the very real Godhead.  It is in the incarnation that we realize the depth of love the Godhead has for us and that we have a great high priest who not only understands our life but can intercede for us on the basis of that understanding.  We can identify with them through the incarnation as we see the great lengths that the Godhead would go through to identify with us.

The incarnation was not just about saving people from their sins.  The incarnation was about the Godhead conquering evil, restoring creation and redeeming mankind.  All of creation is under re-creation because of the incarnation, resurrection and ascension.  The impact of sin affects all of creation, from the birds of the air to the ground on which we walk (Hosea 4:3).  The incarnation, however, is working to see the purity of the Garden of Eden restored all over the earth.  This includes humankind.  And it is in the incarnation that the restorative process begins.

The incarnation is the embodiment of the nature and character of the Godhead.

The incarnation provides us with an indication of the nature and character of the Godhead.  Through the incarnation we see how the Godhead related together (the perichoresis).  In the incarnation we see that God so loved the world, and that love was focused primarily on those whose lives were enslaved to sin and to religious legalism.  Jesus lived among the fringe of society, those who knew the pain and struggle of life and wanted to be free of the consequences evil had brought upon them and that they had brought upon themselves.  He touched those who had not felt a human touch in years.  He healed those whom society believed was living in sin.  He wept over the suffering and evil that was rampant in the world.  And he offered hope from it all.  He offered healing and love.  He offered the presence of God to those who were longing for for it.

The MIROR church is the expression of the incarnation in its context.

The MIROR church is a reflection of the Trinity and as such has an incarnational aspect.  The purpose of the MIROR church is to be the embodiment of the Godhead in the church’s context.  The same nature and character of the Godhead is reflected outward as the church incarnates the loving, healing, freeing  and restoring nature of the Godhead.  It is part of the restorative and re-creative process that began with the original incarnation.

What does this mean for the church?  It means that its focus is on those outside the community.  It takes the faith community into the world, feeding off the sending (or missional) aspect of the Trinity.  It works among the hurting, starving, broken, and dying of society, partnering with the Spirit to bring healing, forgiveness, hope, and the overwhelming provision and love of God.

This also means that the primary goal is not to draw them into the church’s own specific community of faith but to allow communities of faith to sprout where the church has touched the world.  This can be across the road or across the ocean.

In living an incarnational life, the MIROR church is a reflection of the heart of Trinity.

A friend of mine in the Philly area, Todd Hiestand, was able to put together a really good conference with Al Hsu yesterday called The Church and Suburbia.  Unfortunately, I was unable to go, but Todd’s such a nice guy he’s posting the audio.

I was reading through some blog searches and found a 30’s something lady who happened to attend this conference.  She lives in Bucks County, PA but used to live in New York, and as best I can tell went to Redeemer Church where Tim Keller is pastor.  She made an interesting comparison about community in suburbia vs. the city.  She states:

To start with, suburbia is incredibly insular. By comparison, New York City can also be insular, but I think a greater opportunity exists to interact with one’s community in NYC. For instance, if I needed to go to the store in Manhattan, I would go down the stairs of my 3rd-floor walk-up on East 88th Street and take a stroll over one block and down to 86th to reach the nearest grocery store. While on that walk, I might run into people I knew (that happened more frequently than you’d think), but I would at least be in the company of others walking, some of whom I might even say hi to or ask a question of. A run to the grocery store now means I leave my house, close myself up in my car, drive 2.5 miles to the nearest grocery store. Assuming I manage to avoid getting into a car accident, a trip to the store now involves absolutely zero human contact.

In the city I felt I did more talking, more relationship building, and definitely more walking. My apartment was a shoebox, so I didn’t typically spend a whole lot of time there. Sundays meant walking to church, going out to dinner afterward with friends, and then walking home with some of them because we all lived within a few blocks of each other. Hello community.

Read more of her thoughts.