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?”

Am I really here in Chicago to plant churches?  Is that really a passion in my heart that trumps all others?  Any job that was worthy of Christ’s attention is something I’d be willing to stake my life on, and yet he doesn’t plant a single church in his lifetime.  He doesn’t even try.  Instead he cultivates the transformed lives of 12 missionaries – 12 world changers – out of the most common people.

Maybe my paradigm is about to change again.  Maybe this has more to do with inspiring world changers than about gathering people together.  If its just about putting people in a room, which is typically what has defined successful “church planting” and “missions” for the last 3 centuries, and especially during the Church Growth Movement of the last generation.  We think that gatherings are important, but they shouldn’t be obligatory.

If someone had just one hour to give to this mission each week, (in today’s hyper-busy world that’s not uncommon), I’d rather them spend it intentionally being Jesus in the world rather than filling a seat in our larger gatherings.  This isn’t me bashing on large gatherings, I’m simply thinking about why we gather.  Gathering Christians should happen as a natural result of the need to resource each other’s common vision for greater impact – not about coming to receive my spiritual goods and services.  (I’ve been hearing about the Divine Commodity, by Skye Jethani, a book about consumer religion in America.  I might check it out as I think through this.)

If my role is to “make disciples/missionaries/apprentices” rather than planting churches, and expecting churches to grow organically out of the mission of these disciples, then this must be at the forefront of my thoughts and praxis.

There are so many Christians in America ready to do something meaningful – something world changing.  But they don’t feel ready because they’ve never been initiated into the missionary life.  Therefore they continue to come crawling back to the Sunday service looking for sustenance to keep them going for another week.  Mentors and profs in graduate school gave me the tools to learn about God, and thankfully pointed me to a ever-flowing relationship with God himself…but now I’ve got to take that to the streets – what about a “Street Seminary” that offers the world-changing, peace-bringing, Jesus-living life to everyday Christians?

The first step is persuading them that living as a Christian in the big, bad city is not about survival, its about challenging the Darkness.  After that, I’m still thinking…

Our dreams for communities spreading like wildfire all across Chicago are big.  A centering question we ask ourselves is, “What would it take to see a vibrant family of Jesus in close reach, culturally and geographically, of every person in Chicago?”  That’s a pretty big dream.  But what is the answer to the question?  Well – if nothing else, it will take ONE family (or mission team) willing to ask that question with a vision for the whole city.

Tonight it is hitting me hard just how difficult it is for one person to catalyze a church planting network.  Since June that’s what I’ve been about – 24/7 it seems.  Making calls, designing websites, brainstorming, and of course, sharing my faith with the lost God is pursuing.  I’ve made a lot of headway, but I realize now, more than ever, how essential another teammate would be.  At LEAST one other person who is putting their time and energy into this dream just as I am.  Yes, there are other organic church planters in Chicago, and yes, it is encouraging having a wife who is SO there for me, helping me think through projects and obstacles, not to mention praying for me, and actively participating in our first organic church.  But nose-to-the-grind stuff is understandably left up to the guy who is receiving support to do it.

This is what I have dreamt of doing for years.  This is what I have gotten my training in.  But in Abilene everything I had done in my residency was in the context of a team working together.  I long for those days where I could sit around the room and ask questions or stare into a computer screen together trying to work out a problem, or hitting the streets to pray together.  If I were to ask for any one thing for Christmas, it would be a few others who are ready to be about the business of planting churches and training others to do the same.

I suppose my other problem is timing.  We arrived here in June, but others who are considering moving to Chicago to work with us won’t be arriving till January and/or next summer.  That gave us lots of time to get a feel for the city, and to get comfortable.  I also realize that nothing good comes immediately.  I am planting seeds, I realize that – but it is still tough to have all these ideas you want to move forward on, but with several part time jobs and no one to bounce ideas off of, it quickly feels overwhelming. I’m ready to put these spinning wheels to the pavement.

I am a verbal processor – I suppose that’s partly why I have this blog.  For those missionaries like me who best work through issues and projects by brainstorming and talking things out, then I recommend not leaving for the mission field until there is another person or team of people ready to leave with you…like the same day you’re moving.  My wife and I love each other, and we work really well together – but we both agree there is something more still needed in a team – even if it was just one other couple.  Don’t be hasty – wait.