From some readings this morning:

“Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” Mt.13:52

“Woe to you teachers of the Law! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who are entering.” Lk.11:52

Two verses, two different contexts, one person speaking: JESUS. I find myself at the fulcrum of these two statements this morning. Here I am, training myself at an institution that prepares “Christians for service and leadership throughout the world” (thank you, yes, the purpose statement has been ingrained into my skull these last 5 years) and soon I will be sent out from this institution to tell others about the Good News of God.

But look at the teachers of the law - at one point they too were trained (for the kingdom?). At one point in their lives they had a mission of good motive - to see people rediscover who they were as God’s people through Torah. Is that such a bad goal? I can’t condemn the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees for being improperly motivated.

But what does Jesus say about them here? “They have taken away the key of knowledge…” This reminds me of “eduction” and “coaching”, because these teachers, though they had the key of knowledge, have kept it from the people who needed it most - the people who were entering. Where were they entering into? My guess from context is…the Kingdom of Heaven.

So scribes who are trained in the Kingdom do something different with this key. My guess is that in their hopeful aspirations of training for the Kingdom, they actually begin to live as citizens in the Kingdom. That means, they give the key away, they allow others to find what they have been trained to find. Even when they may know the answer to the question, they allow others to “seek” and “knock”, knowing that others are also being trained as scribes.

Why take the key of knowledge away from the people who are most desperate for it? For our own egos? Are we afriad of what people might do with it? Which one am I? A scribe, or a teacher? Which one are you?

My guess is that most peachers, ministers and pastors in our world today are teachers of the law, not scribes of the Kingdom. What’s the difference? One gives it all away, knowing he wasn’t the resevoir of truth to begin with, the other holds back the keys of the Kingdom, the blessings of living a life as a citizen under God’s reign.

Do you want to be a “master of a household” as he refers to the eager, learning, sharing scribes, or an “unmarked grave” as Jesus calls the reluctant, elitist teachers? The difference between the two is - giving it away.

I was convicted.

I am not the storehouse of knowledge - I want to be a spring spelunker. I want to find the springs in the hearts of others, and then simply find a way to bring the inner waters to the surface.

This past Saturday was spent in a leadership meeting like I’ve never experienced before.  I am a part of a group that has set its sights on seeing the whole city of Abilene reached for Jesus Christ; praying that each person will hear (and see) the Gospel in a way that makes sense to them.  For communities and organic churches that blossom out of such a dream, we are a resource team - helping cast vision and call out the giftings of Jesus followers here in this city.  It is a catalytic leadership - one that facilitates the emergence and development of vibrant families of Jesus without being used up in the process.

So what does an all-day retreat look like for such a group?  One might expect to see maps and charts of the city, strategies to touch the “non-churched”, and myriad other important ways to waste our time.  This past Saturday, we shared life stories, fears, dreams, and tears.  We took a walk, we went out for lunch…we described where God had placed us in the city, and what we felt we needed to do in response to that.  I felt relaxed and yet clear on what my next steps were.  I felt confident that living into these goals was possible, and not obligatory.  This was natural leadership, with a structure to still “get things done”.

Is it possible to live like this?  Is it possible that God may have a better plan for reaching the world than any of us?  Could it be that the best leadership happens through teams listening to Jesus, doing what he says, and helping others to do the same?  Can we finally set down our egos, and realize that “leaders” only do what they see the Son doing?  Anything beyond that is heresy.

There are some exciting things happening in the network here.  Its great seeing it all happen, even if I’m on the bleeding edge of the knife of innovation.  This in many ways will help people all over the country look on to see what missional leadership in the 21st Century looks like.  To me, it looks like modeling more than anything - a “Come, Follow me” kind of leadership - one that invites people out into the wild and unpredictable Kingdom.

Friday’s have become a sort of planning and processing day for me. I’m enjoying my classes this semester very much, but I’m becoming increasingly aware that in a year and just a few months I will be finished with school here and be heading off to the distant land of Chicago to live as a missionary. This reality has a deep impact on me for sure, and so I’m putting myself to the task of praying specifically for that city every day, asking the Lord to launch workers into that very ripe harvest field. Fridays then are a day of preparation and dreaming with God - a time to seriously think about life in the city, working and living missionally among the people who call it home.

And we hope to call it home as well! Trina and I are already brushing up on the Windy City (which actually beats Abilene in terms of wind velocity!) and learning about the festivals, art, and people. Chicago is the blues capital of the world, its got great pizza, great baseball, and did you know that every July the oldest church in the city (Old St. Patrick’s) throws the world’s largest block party? Rock bands, two nights, two stages, “plus all the beer you can drink”. What kind of crazy town is this? The Jazz festivals, the art museums, the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival…it wont be hard to call it home.

In many ways, we’re experiencing the best community of our lives here in Abilene. We’re also getting to help with the early stages of a prototype of what church might look like in the 21st century. But this town has and always will be a training ground. Almost everyone we talk to reminds us of that. They have been so supportive of us, reminding us that even Jesus went out into the wilderness before he began his ministry. I came to this town for training, and soon God will call us out together in mission.
The love from the community of friends and family that we are experiencing here is something that we can’t keep to ourselves for much longer. We see family and Sabbath rest as central to the way the Gospel is lived out before isolated, strung out Americans looking for an alternative way of living. Chicago is a city that needs desperately to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and by God’s grace to have that Great News transform it into (not a big churchy town but) a place where God is King.

It’s strange having ACU Lectureship in September.

Of course, we still have torrential rains and unruly weather (at least the first day), which is of course only part and parcel of the whole Lectureship experience.

One thing I think is just great is that my lovely wife Katrina, who married a nerdy little bible major and hung out with lots of my bible major buddies, is the first to be a speaker at Lectureship; with an art degree! How ironic.
Over the summer, she’s been working on a series of pieces regarding the suffering in Sudan and Northern Uganda. It has been facinating to journey with her in the emotions she has felt for this part of the world. A rage…(How could this be happening for so long and no one here knows about it?)…a confusion (much of her earlier artwork shows a lot, but some is not accurately reflective of the actual events going on in that region)…and hope.

Hope is what brought her to speak today before the curious crowd today. Hope told her that within each child soldier is a seed of promise - that things will actually turn out right - that there is a new King coming to set the record straight. A kind of king that binds up the broken, busts the slaves and prisoners out of captivity, and shouts at the top of his lungs that the Lord has come to bring comfort for those who mourn. Katrina’s paintings were a glimmer of that new Kingdom - a shadow of what we can already see breaking in to our hopeless world.

Yeah, Lectureship is strange in September- I am beginning to think that almost anything can happen…

Found a good post on the topic of diversity in our communities of faith here. Here are some more thoughts:
Of all the things that we have gained and appreciate from standard issue, legacy-style churches, we have learned that to a great degree they are carbon copies of one another. The basic premise of their worship order is exactly the same each week, and basically looks like (given a few flavors) the order that the church down the street is doing. High church, penecostal - it doesn’t matter; the institutionalized church has lost her sense of creativity.

And not just in what they do when they come together. If America really is the melting pot for the nations, then we should clearly be able to see such diversity within church systems throughout this great nation (and especially the cities). I don’t need to tell you that this just ain’t happening. The typical Christian in America may be the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant and male, but research shows that the typical 21st century Christian is either a sub-Saharan african woman in sordid conditions and absolute poverty, or a Brazilian mother who has more mouths to feed than she can afford. How would a typical American church welcome these two women? Would they feel not only welcomed but able empowered to lead the forming of a new, unique faith community that met them where they were at?
Paul in Ephesians 3 explains, “Through the church the wisdom of God in its RICH VARIETY might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”

Not only are we to look for diversity in our churches for our sake and for the sake of the world, but we are out there to show off the “rich variety” of Christ’s bride before the rulers and authorities in heavenly realms! God wants to show off HIS creativity. When we plant the same church as we did in Toad Suck, Arkansas we violate God’s ability to show off his manifold wisdom.

The American church has become a one-stringed guitar. This can be true even the so-called “simple” or “organic” faith communities. Latest research shows that 60% of house churches follow the same routine every time they get together. 3 songs, a prayer, and a sermon… Where is the variety in that? What will cause them to change when they relocate to a part of town that is fully Cuban, or Russian…will their paradigms be able to shift then?

Everytime we find a band of disciples, we find a pocket of God’s creativity. Why we as leaders squelch God’s rich variety by forcing square pegs into round holes I’ll never understand. I just hope God is merciful and gives us a chance to help him show off his bride to the heavens!