I think its because I know that most Christians when they hear those words believe that today’s dominant expression of church in America should continue to be the default image in our minds when we think “church” .  This expression of the Church is the Sunday morning programmatic model, built around staff, buildings, high-cost infrastructure – with the aims of becoming another “mega”church.  This the picture most people think of when they think of “church” – at least here in the West.

And yes – every part of me is thankful to God that there are tens of thousands of churches built around that expression of God’s family – it is obviously reaching tens of millions of people with the authentic Gospel of God!  Praise God for that!  Lives are changed!

And yet – there are still 250 million people who were not a part of a church gathering last Sunday – and have no connection with a church…many more still may have no true commitment to the Lord Jesus.  And that number is growing all the time.

So a quote stands out to me:

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve already got.” — Genius unknown

Jeff Kirsch, a member of the City on a Hill faith community has a recent, great post on some of the metaphors and assumptions Jesus used to describe what God’s Family looks like – yeast, field, flock, seed, soil… this is a Kingdom, a church that doesn’t need institutional maintenance and a ministry marketing department -

…it is a “subtle contagion”…

…or as in Mark 4:26-29 the farmer (read pastor) sleeps while the Kingdom grows beyond his control!

Why not work with the grain of the Kingdom, rather than against it?

Let the Gospel seed grow underground in your friendships, permeating every nook and cranny of your life – truly trust that the fire of mission and divine love will bubble up in people as you share life on life with them.

Trust that Jesus truly is the head of the Church – and not you and your staff.  Could it be that our churches look too much alike – each vying for the same 15% of the population – meanwhile hundreds of millions more are looking desperately for a church that looks like Jesus-with-skin-on in their context, only to find the same praise band or Powerpoints wherever they go.

I’m writing this not out of anger or bitterness; I’m writing this as a missionary, crying desperately for the Christians to reach out to a lost world.  Could it be that the biggest obstacle for people in discovering the true Lord Jesus and his Church is our pre-conceived notions of what church is and how it should function in the world?

The lost need us to recapture the characteristics of the Kingdom of God and to tear down the walls of the church-box in our mind.  The desperate are dying for us to incarnate the Gospel in fresh ways on our block – even as we love and bless what God is doing down the street.

I am cautiously optimistic though, as I look at the horizon of “church planting” – the wineskin of the church is becoming fresh, new. Churches gathering in nightclubs, poetry circles, homes, parks, under overpasses and in city centers.  Churches that live together 24/7, that function as a little family and a source of light and healing for their blighted neighborhood.  I’m seeing new forms of God’s family take shape in our little organic church network.  I’m seeing new faith-community experiments bubble up all over Chicago, and the country.

Its time to take the lid off – where might things spread if we took Jesus’ images of his Church seriously?

Its BOTH/AND.

Pray4Chicago’s “flash mob” event was so fun, exhausting and a big success!  (see pictures above or at this link)  We plan to have these once a quarter or so, and continue to develop the website all throughout the year.  Alan has been such a great help in helping make this project become a reality, and many props and thanks go out to him and Sara for letting us host the event at their place.  (Read his thoughts on the event here.)

But the majority of time was not spent at their apartment.  It began with all the participants showing up to gain some orientation on what they were up to for the day.  For many, this was their first crack at prayer-walking, and needed some basics on what it was all about.

We shared some of our Chicago mission’s vision, gave some practical training on how to “pray with your eyes open” (something I was never allowed to do as a kid! ) and how to essentially see a city with God’s eyes.  We tried to be as specific as possible, but in the end, we knew that keeping things open for imaginations to run wild was the whole idea.  After a time of Q & A, we teamed people up in pairs, and sent them out to various city neighborhoods with maps, cameras, and journals.

Their job was to discover what they felt like God was doing in the city.  Different than other census reports or spiritual mapping projects, the goal of this event was to develop inspiration, not gather information.  Our dream is to see a vibrant family of Jesus in every neighborhood in Chicago – and then beyond that in close reach of every person in Chicago. So we need to know how to join God in planting a community of faith in each neighborhood.  What would it mean to be the church in Little Village?  In Lakeview?  In the South Loop?

The groups came back with amazing stories, profound discoveries, and changed hearts.  Read their reports here! I hope that some will return, I hope that more will get to experience this in the future.  One thing we hope to do next time is involve more of the house churches in our network in the event, as well as incorporate a more continued presence of prayer in between the “flash mob” events we do quarterly.  (The next one is August 8th – if you want to be a part of this, contact me!)

What if teams of people began walking the streets and praying for a neighborhood every week?  What relationships might develop?  Who might invite these teams into their lives?  Isn’t this how churches started in the first century?

I’m really thankful for each participant who gave their Saturday to this project.  I hope that it was as meaningful and inspirational to them as it was helpful for Alan and I, who now know a LOT more about these neighborhoods and hope to cultivate a community of faith their through the power of God.  May these followers of Christ never stop prayer walking, and like tilling the soil, may their shoes plough paths for other missionaries to follow them into these Chicago neighborhoods and plant a church in the midst of the city.

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