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  • Mark 10:08 am on March 15, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Abilene Christian University, ,   

    Greenhouse: Catalysis 

    This is the final section on our series reflecting on the Greenhouse Conference (Story 2) that took place here in Chicago, Feb 19-21st.

    In the previous section, we peeked into the petri dish of organic church cultures, the reproduction of disciples, leaders, churches, and movements.  We considered the particulars on preparing the soil for nurturing and harvesting leaders as they emerge in and for a local movement.  Leadership is especially important in the early days of a network’s formation, so that patterns that are woven into the fabric of the network will result in spontaneous reproduction of healthy leaders.

    The Church has always been about glocal influence.  In gardening, this ever-spreading and multiplication is known as propagation.

    All over the world (global) this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you (local) since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all truth — Colossians 1:6

    For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. — Isaiah 61:11

    “The Kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.” — Matthew 13:33

    If the Church influences at the glocal level, what is its purpose?

    The Church exists to bring glory to God and to bring God’s glory to all people.

    That means indigenous worship, social justice, mercy, reconciliation, spiritual formation…holistic salvation!

    Beginning with the End in Mind

    Think about the destination, then make all your plans to get there.  For God, its about his creating a city – a living, organic city – and bringing it to earth where people of every tongue, tribe and nation are present and compose one diverse family…bursting with worship for God! (Rev 7:9-10)  With this picture of God’s dream in mind, how can we join God in his mission?

    By cultivating a vibrant family of God’s from every tongue, tribe and nation in our part of the world. That is our mission.  Saturation church planting for the purpose of propagating God’s Kingdom in the hearts of each person on earth.  We dream that justice from heaven would pour out like a mighty river and that peace would be finally given a real chance. This stuff is what God has been about, and what the earliest church was intent on.

    This is different than your typical “church plant” – this is about giving each people group on earth a in-life picture of Jesus-with-skin-on in their context.  With that said, we cannot continue to only propagate churches that reproduce like elephants — we need “rabbit” churches.

    Watch this video for a good description of “rabbit churches” that exemplify saturation church planting.

    Missionary Resources Teams

    I’ve written elsewhere on MRT’s, even wrote a paper on the topic of Five-fold missionary resource teams… and Neil Cole ended Greenhouse by peeking at these teams.

    Think of these teams as the catalysts in the chain reaction of gospel propagation – or maybe the connective tissue for energy to flow through.  They are the gifts of Christ to the Church (Ephesians 4:7-11), apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher.  These folks are not titles, offices, or even positions.  They don’t wear badges or funny liturgical gowns.  They are functions – and their function is to work together to equip those who have spiritual gifts to do the work of ministry (v16).

    Much of the recent study on church leadership has come from (1) deeper study of the terminology itself (apostolos, etc), (2) the several brief passages that address the subject (3) doing bios on people in the New Testament that lived as examples of one of the five giftings (4) church history and (5) your own walk with the Spirit of God.

    This does not kick out “elders, deacons and widows” from church leadership, it simply augments it to provide a fuller picture of God’s catalyzing force in his Kingdom.

    Here’s a brief snapshot of each of the giftings:

    Apostle: A sent one to lay a foundation for the expansion of the church with a specific God-given assignment. Helps the whole church say, “I can do this!”

    • A sent one (apostolos) is often looking for new places and people to spread the Kingdom of God.
    • Lays a foundation in a given region (Eph 2:19-22) and like a good foundation are not noticeable after the building has begun. Does not build on another’s foundation. (Rom 15:20-21)
    • Identifies/empowers leaders quickly, and is often the one who will call out the other functions in the MRT. (1 Tim 1:18, Acts 14:23)
    • Reads cultures and sees open doors for the message.
    • Has a relational authority rather than positional.

    Prophet: One who hears and speaks a specific word from God to a distinct person or persons.  Helps the whole church say, “I can hear from God!”

    • Encourager, comforter, and strengthener. (1 Cor 14:3)
    • Often speaks for God, and reminds others that God’s ways are higher than our ways. (1 Cor 14:25)
    • Consumed by the truth – tells the truth without fear of consequence.  Can be a polarizing force in the church.
    • Often unappreciated. (James 5:10)

    These two are the “start and go” team – the “foundation” of the church.  They function as a start-up team that can initiate the momentum and get down all the needed systems for viral multiplication. (Eph 2:19-22) When the whole church can say with confidence, “I can do this!  I can hear from God!”  anything is possible.

    The next three are the “stay and grow” team.

    Evangelist: One who is called to passionately seek out opportunities to share the holistic gospel with others through word and deed, bringing them to relationship with Christ. Helps the whole church say, “I want that passion!”

    • Good news-caster (euangelistes)
    • Often more comfortable with lost than found (1 Cor 9:19-23)
    • Makes opportunities to share the whole gospel (Col 4:5-6)
    • Listens closely to the promptings of God (Acts 8:26)

    Shepherd: One who has an overwhelming concern for the continuing care and formation of God’s people. “I can love these people!”

    • Protects and cares for the flock. (Acts 20:28-31)
    • Strengthens the weak and searches for the lost sheep.
    • Helps feed the young Christians and models how to be “fed” directly by God.
    • Values intimacy. (John 10:3, 13-15)
    • Leads by example, and is trusted by the flock because he/she has relational authority. (1 Peter 5:1-3)

    Teacher: One responsible for progressive growth in understanding and truth’s application. “I can feed myself and show others how!”

    • Facilitates learning of truth and a kingdom lifestyle.
    • Mentors on a personal level with a “bifocal vision”. (2 Tim 2:2)
    • Aims people in a healthy direction. (Phil 3:15-17)
    • Loves to expose false assumptions and reveal actual truth. (2 Cor 10:5)

    There is and will always be dialogue and guessing on the roles of the functions mentioned in Ephesians 4:11.  I recommend not turning this into a “personality test” where you pigeon hole someone into one category, where they are stuck for the rest of their lives.

    Its important to remember that Jesus held all of these gifts in a perfect balance.  All of them are Christ-like – there is no “super-gift.”  And its important to remember that the goal of the MRT is to equip the whole church to be apostolic/prophetic/evangelistic/pastoral/didactic.

    Our God is a multifaceted God, our goal is to live deeply into those endless facets, and to express our God’s glory in endless ways.  For his Glory!

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  • Mark 2:07 pm on February 25, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: CO, Ed Waken, ,   

    Greenhouse: Tending 

    We ended the last Greenhouse post in the series by considering what it takes to be an “Organic Leader” – we made the analogy that it is much like working as an organic farmer.  What is involved in tending the plants once they have begun to grow?  Creating a “system of spiritual nurture” is essential to seeing vibrant families of Jesus in your context.

    The organic church planter in most cases does not see him/herself as the pastor of a single house church being planted, (though each house church will be facilitated and nurtured by loving spiritual parents.

    There is plenty of tending and nurturing language in the Scriptures to suggest it is a primary metaphor for God’s people.

    The Four Biggest “Issues”

    It seems that the four most asked questions in tending organic churches are:

    1. Organizing organic churches
    2. Children in organic churches
    3. Finances in organic churches
    4. Sound doctrine in organic churches

    Each of these questions deserve their own blog posts and have been answered by others elsewhere.  Suffice it to say that usually the questions we ask regarding these issues are focused wrongly, and end up confusing us further.  For instance, with regards to children, the question is not, “What do we do with the kids?”  A better question might be, “What is our responsibility as a church family to responsibly disciple our children and listen to God as HE forms them as radical agents in the Kingdom?” /// We need better questions.

    The mere formulation of a problem is far more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skills. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle requires creative imagination and marks real advances in science.                     —- Albert Einstein

    Did you know that your brain PHYSICALLY creates ruts that make it easier to remain in your mindset rather than considering and accepting new irregular information and paradigms?

    “Wikicclesia” and Truth Quest

    Often, to arrive at these better questions (and ultimately, solutions to complex issues) you need a “community of informed judgment.“  This is a group of diverse experts from various arena coming around a particular issue or question and collaborating to arrive at a matured, multi-faceted solution.  Bring in the architect, the plumber, the farmer and the theologian and ask them “how would YOU take the wisdom of your field of expertise to appropriately organize organic churches (or approach the other issues listed above)?”

    CMA Resources introduces the idea of “Truth Quest,” which is a simple theological learning system for proven leaders in an organic church network.  The scope of such a study is systematic theology applied in holistic life.  It would happen one Saturday each month for a year (9am-5pm).  Each learner (8 per year) has two textbooks from two points of view, with no duplicate books among learners.  Each learner prepares in order to (impromptu) teach on their materials. The rest of the time is spent in dialogue with learners prayerfully considering the material to tease out fresh theological insights as well as goals for living out their beliefs in their faith communities and in their mission field.

    I see this as another form of a “Wikicclesia” forming in many organic church conversations, and its a great alternative to the disappointing dichotomies of either having (1) untrained church leaders, or (2) demanding that leaders go to a seminary for a decade separating “them” from “us” and condemning them to live in debt to Sallie Mae for the rest of their life!

    A New Kind of Leader

    The big shift for church leadership is to think of itself as not being monolithic.  Not all are to be pastors and teachers.  Apostles, evangelists, et cetera in the New Testament did their work at a regional level, helping to tend the systems of the church in that region.

    1. Not necessarily doing all the teaching yourself, but equipping leaders with healthy teaching methods and shaping learning communities where people can learn together.
    2. Where you are not the “pastor” but you are nurturing environments where people care about one another and healing happens.
    3. Organic church planters keep churches linked to one another through:
    • Content: Biblical teaching that is consistent from church to church.
    • Connections: Relational interdependence that allows for time together.
    • Collaboration: Mission efforts that allow resources to be maximized for a greater harvest!

    The Microscope and the Telescope

    Where you start makes all the difference.  Take the simplest organism and multiply it enough and it quickly becomes complex (just look in the mirror for an example).  But under the microscope, your complexity is really just simple cells reproducing at the smallest level.

    Reduce the church to its smallest, most basic unit — the Micro Layer.  It is essential that the smallest unit of kingdom life be infused with the whole DNA of a healthy church, then the whole church at large will be healthy, strong, and able to reproduce.  Truly, it is our sinful nature that gets in the way of God’s healthy DNA he puts in us with his Holy Spirit when we accept him.  So infusing healthy DNA is really about removing our own mutations and living deeply into what God has already instilled in us!

    A great strategy for the Micro Layer is the Life Transformation Group (see also Church of 2 (CO2)).  It infuses the D.N.A. (Divine Truth, Nurturing Relationships, Apostolic Mission) of the whole Body of Christ into a group of two or three.

    Take your current goals and multiply them by 100,000.  If you do not have a system that can take you to those kind of numbers, then you don’t have a system that can catalyze a spontaneous church multiplication movement.

    What are some signs of a reproducible system? CMA suggests your tools/strategies/methods be…

    1. Received Personally — it has a profound effect on your own life.
    2. Repeated Easily: you can pass it on to others after just a brief encounter.
    3. Reproduced Strategically: it transfers to other cultures and languages.

    These 3 simple principles can be extrapolated out from the “Micro” to all layers of the Onion, attending to the natural span of relational care.  Use the word “chaordic” to describe such systems – they are both thoughtful and intentional, yet out of control of any person or organization.

    “The more I considered Christianity, the more I have found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to give room for good things to run wild.”                  — G.K. Chesterton

    Let the DNA of Christ permeate every conversation, every worship gathering, every act of social justice.  Let it baptize every layer of your church’s community.  As Ed Waken was quoted saying at the conference — “What if discipleship was nothing more than the lifelong balance of the DNA in your life and in the lives of others in your circle of influence?”

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  • Mark 3:37 pm on July 19, 2007 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Missionary Resource Teams 

    200454410-001.jpgSo what might leadership in an organic, Christ-centered network look like? When the “preacher”, “elder” and “deacon” as we have traditionally come to understand those terms have been uprooted, what might emerge from the soil? That is the question that we have been wrestling with lately, and there have been some interesting responses surrounding this that I thought I’d toss around.

    Over the last few years, we have truly seen a wave of Christians leaving church-as-we-know-it and moving into a smaller, more intimate community of friends. They meet as the Church in their living rooms, parks, coffeehouses, and anywhere life happens. We’re also seeing the un-churched or the new believers skip right over institutional churches in favor of simply living life with God and friends.

    But it usually stops there – from my limited research, at this point, no one has anything very developed on missional, organic leadership (save this guy) that extends beyond the local house church.

    My instinct says that if this is to be anything more than a flash in the pan; if there is to be any type of meaningful spiritual nurturing happening, eventually, Christians in these churches realize that they must connect to believers outside of their own little group in order to thrive. That is where leadership comes in.

    Followers of Christ realize that Christ is the ONLY head of the Church, and no one can be a mediator (priest) between Christ’s disciples and himself. If that is the case, if preachers and bishops and pastors and all that aren’t here to predigest God’s Word for us, or to function as judge for God, then what good are they?

    They listen to Jesus, and do what he says.

    It’s that simple, and its a project that will last for the rest of time.

    Some leaders (like missionaries/apostles) will work as catalysts; spreading the vision for God’s New Life anywhere and everywhere they hear Jesus calling them. Paul lived and worked like this. He never pretended to be a church’s Father, (only God could fill that role). He made it clear that God broke through the barriers that separated man and God, and nothing could separate them again. Apostles will start new communities by looking for a “person of peace” (Lk.10, Mt.9) and plant inside them the seeds and the DNA of the Kingdom. Before long, they are moving on.

    Apostles usually gather around them other leaders: prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. They work together as a team of missionaries to resource an emerging network that is spawned out of others who are listening to Jesus and doing what he says. Working around missional prayer, incarnational friendship, and pastoral discipling, a missionary resource team can participate in seeing a relational network of churches grow. Without preservatives, without burning out, without false structures…this is God’s family at work. (Eph 4:11-16)

    As long as these leaders serve the people they are in connection with by providing resources and opportunities for deeper involvement in God’s family, they will be “organic leaders”. They are the nitrogen in the soil, whereas the seeds are the new communities that are birthed deep down within God’s good earth.

    Spiritual moms and dads will naturally emerge from each of these churches, working with those God has entrusted to them. Usually, they will be the people who have been Christians the longest, though this might not always be the case. Working with a single faith community, these guides into Christ’s life will grow close with those in their spiritual family and transformation will happen!

    –People still like Google because it offers services (like Gmail and collaborative online documents) for free. Even more importantly, they don’t take up your screen with pesky ads like some of the other websites that offer free content or services. They clearly are keeping their patrons first in mind, not their advertisers. In this way, Google is like the missionary leaders of the future. As long as missionary resource teams can function for the network, and not the other way around, you will see healthy growth.

    –Leaders in traditional churches are like an exoskeleton, which allows for structure in an organism (good), but restricts how an organism can grow (bad). Endoskeletons function like leaders in organic church networks, serving “behind the scenes” and allowing the organism to grow and take its own shape.

    The only way for Jesus to truly be the head of his Church, and yet to have leaders who guide networks to become the Bride of Christ that they were called to be is to allow leaders to simple be the PEOPLE they were called to be…deep listeners of Jesus Christ.

    ———

    SO! This is written as a draft – what do you think about it? Can leadership function in this way? Is it possible to have grassroots networks that don’t do the whole corporate heirarchy mess? Do people need human leaders at all? Fill me in and help me think this through!

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    • miller 5:26 pm on July 19, 2007 Permalink

      As long as these leaders serve the people

      they clearly are keeping their patrons first in mind, not their advertisers. In this way, Google is like the missionary leaders of the future

      i have major problems with these statements and the ideas they represent.

      i would say as long as these leaders serve Jesus

      and

      they clearly are keeping Jesus Christ first in mind, not their advertisers.

      but then i think the google analogy would fall apart…

      its not about the people!

      its about Adonai! he serves the people, the people serve him…

      perichoresis!

      humble service to him, attention to him, lets us be used by him to care for his children…

      Jesus said he only does what the Father is doing…

      if we are to be like Jesus it seems we must learn to see and hear and do what the Father is doing.

      IMO

      good post

      peace

    • Benny Nowell 10:19 am on July 20, 2007 Permalink

      “Lack of Hierarchy – Instead of having a hierarchy, SEVENS will be led by a fellowship…a community of leaders sharing their gifts, wisdom, and the weight of their lives to bring a unified voice of direction.”

      This is from our tenets for SEVENS.

      I agree there has to be a new version of leadership for our churches…whatever form they take. I think that the leader that you are describing has to have a few key qualities:

      1. A deep, personal, active, alive relationship with God. They have to serve from a heart that is healed, feed, and shored up by God.

      2. They have to REALLY be able to listen for God’s direction for whatever ministry they have started or are involved in.

      3. They have to completely remove their ego from it all. Because when you are “allowing the organism to grow and take its own shape.”, It’s easy to get your feelings hurt. So maybe more than removing the ego; it should be said that this kind of leader has to really believe that God is in control and nows what He’s is doing. TRUST in God.

      4. This kind of leader has to be completely rid of the old way of thinking of leadership. And view themselves as servants.

      5. This kind of leader has to be the one that can inspire and equip his friends in the organization. Also be the cheerleader, and keep people excited about this family.

      Those are my thoughts. I’ve really been mulling this over as well since I am the leader of a ministry. I want the folks that are involved with SEVENS to be a part of a family/tribe and have a place to use the gifts they’ve been given. I know the kind of leadership we are after is going to create an organization that grows people who love and serve on their own. And won’t wait for the organization to come up with the plan.

      -Benny-

    • Mark 4:54 pm on July 23, 2007 Permalink

      Benny –
      GREAT thoughts on leadership! We’re moving forward in very similar directions, and it is encouraging to hear some of the similar things God is whispering to both of us. I think there is a new reforming of God’s Bride in this country that you and I are both a part of. It’s exciting. (And sorry for the late response! I’ve been out of town!)

      Miller -
      You’re absolutely right – As missional leaders we are to be servants of Christ, not of the people. Of course, that means that the people have to be in tune with Christ, because if the people see that they are no longer being served, and are not connected to Christ, they will revolt! (Look at the Israelites and Moses, who at several occasions almost gave up on each other.)

    • miller 9:35 am on July 24, 2007 Permalink

      the people have to be in tune with Christ

      agreed…

      but i don’t really know what to do about that except be in tune myself…

      peace

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