Godgrown

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  Mark 9:17 am on February 5, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  A Congregation of Tribes 

  In most congregations in the West today, there is an implicit notion that the gathering is made up of a collection of individuals.  This almost sounds preposterous to say – “Mark, what ELSE would it be?”  Keep reading to find out.

  Think about it for a moment – all of our sermons, worship songs, liturgy, and more -

  …either focus on the MONO (each attendee’s personal relationship with the Divine), with songs like “I love you Lord” and sermons focused on personal spiritual formation.

  …or the MACRO (the congregation as a whole), with reading Scripture aloud, observing the sacraments as one body, and a preacher addressing the whole congregation monolithically.

  The focus of the leaders of most congregations is two-fold – grow people up in the LORD, and grow the congregation as a whole.

  But what if we saw our gatherings as a congregation of tribes?  As a meetup of smaller communities?  How might that change the priorities of the meeting?

  • It would foster a sense of belonging among folks who might otherwise feel just like a “face in the crowd.”
  • The possibility to of “break-out” sessions to discuss the sermon’s topic might be a regular congregational practice.
  • Accountability to live out the topic of the sermon would be easy to do through a small group who has committed to one another.
  • The congregation would begin to feel like a “extended family reunion” – and the real meat-and-potatoes of church life would begin to emerge at the family level – at the level of the small group/house church.
  • The modern notion of “self” as an isolated individual would transform into a healthy, dynamic notion of “me and we together.”
  • Sermons could focus not just on the individual, but each house church present – the assumption and context under which most of the New Testament was written!

  This is just a list to get your mind working.  What might it look like if we stopped seeing the congregation as a random gathering of individuals, and starting seeing it as a meeting together of tribes – ready to display the multifaceted beauty of God in the world?

  
   

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  Mark 10:58 am on May 28, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Theology: The language of “Shut up and DO Something!” 

  I’ve met my fair share of religious types here in Chicago.  There are certain spiritual gurus that make their religion about words.  Rastafaris say that “isms are for schisms,” (I LOVE that!) but much of their religious convictions revolve around their commitments to their vocabulary, which they believe can actually heal disease and end war.  A friend of mine is considering baptism and beginning a relationship with God, and is confused because he heard a friend (who happens to be a priest) tell him that saying the right words at the event of the baptism is what makes it “count” or not.  Say the wrong words, and there is no magic.

  Christians are not without this entrappment of words.  More books are printed today on Christianity and the Christian Life than any other subject.  We have televangelists, Christian radio, and a whole industry built around the language of our faith.

  What sort of Christian are you? What church do you go to?  What do you call it?  What about your church model?  Mega?  Cell?  Micro?  Missional?  Emergent?  Organic?  What word do you place before the Body of Christ?

  What do your creeds say?  How are they different from what mine say?  Demarkate, delineate, and separate with your words the Body of Christ.  Even the word Christian holds with it assumptions that can weigh down or set free.

  The Teacher seems to think that there is no end to the making and studying of words (Ecc 12:12).  And admittedly, we must use language to participate in the world.  But can words really solve the problems of this world?  No!  Ya gotta get out there and do something!

  I just met my neighbor at the nearby coffeeshop and we chatted some about this.  We laughed about the nature of our society, where its easier for us to meet at a Starbucks 2 blocks away for a real conversation than to hang out at each other’s homes.  Our fences are much like the words we keep up to protect us from being together.  We had a great conversation about tacit and direct relationship.  We talked about how doctors use tacit touch (scalpals) while people of faith use direct touch (laying on of hands).  We talked about Twitter (tacit) or face to face dialogue (direct), about watches on our wrist, or sun in the sky, about engaging a drive thru or engaging a backyard garden.

  When we reach the end of words – its not to be a scary thing.  When we can’t live with the labels of “White” “Black” “Christian” “Muslim” “Protestant” “Catholic” “Missional”… maybe we can step outside of our silos and get to know the enemy – and offer some neighborly peace, a hug, some tomatos from your garden, and the assurance of a that friendship that is willing to cross over the fence we put up in the past.  Tired of the chatter?  So shut up and go do something!

  

  Mark, Joey Elliott, and miller are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    miller 5:43 pm on May 28, 2009 Permalink

    great thoughts bro!

    love is a verb…

    as is trust!

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    Joey Elliott 12:45 pm on June 8, 2009 Permalink

    I was linked to your blog from a mutual friend from high school.

    Great thoughts. One thing to consider in response to your comment:

    “The Teacher seems to think that there is no end to the making and studying of words (Ecc 12:12). And admittedly, we must use language to participate in the world. But can words really solve the problems of this world? No! Ya gotta get out there and do something!”

    I think words can solve the problems of this world, if you consider “words” to be the Gospel of Jesus Christ as presented in the Bible, and if you consider “problems” to be our separation from God. Of course, these words are only going to be seen biblically if they are proclaimed faithfully in the context of authentic gospel community, which to your point is the context of “doing something”. Words, as in the Word of God, is different from words, as in our own. We shouldn’t throw away the former just because we don’t like the latter. Actions without words (the gospel word) is as damaging as words without actions. I’m sure you agree, I just have felt the need to articulate that to people a lot recently.

    Now that I’ve read only one of your blog posts and taken one sentence directly out of context (which is my pet peeve) I’ll try to keep up on your blog more often. Because it is great stuff! God Bless.

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    Mark 2:55 pm on June 8, 2009 Permalink

    Joey,

    Thanks for your thoughts. I agree that the Word of God is something that is verbal and essential to the substance of our faith. Proclaiming the Word in season and out of season is crucial! My main drag on this post was on our many tags we all put on Christianity that seem to only slow us down and divide us. Even the term “Christianity” is becoming more of a hassle than helpful for sharing the Word of God in my context here in Chicago. When I find myself putting adjectives infront of my discipleship (missional, emergent, organic, incarnational) I realize they are helpful to a certain extent, but then I just need to put those tags aside, and just DO! Thanks for your thoughts and I look forward to hearing from you again.

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  Mark 7:31 am on February 25, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: chinese, corporations, iraq, Lent ( 3 ), life purpose, mustard seed associates, stimulus   

  Lent 2009: To Live in Heaven, right here on Earth 

  

  Today we enter into the Lenten season.  While I admittedly don’t dive deep into parts of the traditional Christian calendar, I find Lent to be a perfect time to “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  If ever there was a time to consider my own mortality through God’s eyes, its now.

  We live in a world where we can simply ask for close to a trillion dollars from the Chinese and they will give it to us, (though they say they “hate us for it, but are forced to comply.”)  We live in a place where at the stroke of a pen, tens of thousands of lives are put to death, others sent to war, still others put to work without pay.  Mega-Corporations are the bullies of the whole earth, on panels with national leaders, deciding our fate on issues they seem interested in so far as it affects their bottom line.  This is the world where we live – where we dominate nature and forget the poor.  Where we play god until we die.  Where greed and security are penultimate values.

  This is not the season of Lent.  Lent brings sanity, it brings reflection, finiteness, humility.  This is why I love and need Lent – because in me is the same vices plaguing the entire earth.

  —

  SO!  This year I’m focusing in on how my life affects the whole world.  A “footprint” in the dust I suppose.  Each Wednesday, I look forward to fasting and living into different aspects of my life -

  • my marriage
  • politics
  • finances
  • environment
  • “the others”:  enemies/immigrants/nations at war
  • my witness

  Each of these reflections will be done under the lens of what I’m recently calling “my purpose in life”: 

  “To live in Heaven, right here on Earth.”

  How might experiencing the Kingdom affect my finances?  What might it have to do with the environment?  I look forward to reflecting on these issues on this blog.  I welcome any feedback – and I’d love to know what others are doing for Lent!

  BTW – Our house church is using a simple worship guide this Lent – you can find it here.

  BTW2.0 – Here’s posts on previous Lents:

  Lent 2007 – Oil Fast; Reflections

  

  Mark, and josh are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    josh 1:45 pm on February 25, 2009 Permalink

    i’ve never really seen Lent as something for me. growing up in the Christian church, especially in the midwest, it was never a discipline. i didn’t even think Catholic churches existed, i thought they were the religion of tv. i guess that’s what you get growing up in the bible-belt.
    i’m going to try and discipline myself to go through a Journey into Wholeness. and maybe drag some others with me. thanks for the spark.

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    Mark 2:58 pm on February 25, 2009 Permalink

    Josh,

    Thanks for the note! If you feel comfortable – head out to an ash wednesday service. Its an important “kick-off” for the Lenten season. I’m with you on growing up without an awareness of the Christian calendar. I realize the abuses that caused it to be wiped clean, but I’m also very interested in how God uses special events in our lives to shape us. Keep on kickin!