I first heard the following recited by Graham Cooke and it really resonates with what I believe we, as the Church, are called to be. It is a collection of "decisions" a church has decided upon, "decisions" which define who they are and who they see themselves as becoming.
Here are the Decisions that Define Us:
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- We have decided that teaching the Gospel without demonstrating the Gospel is not enough. Good preaching, good doctrine, and being good people is not enough.
- We have decided that having a good church club is not enough, good fellowship is not enough, and just being a member of that club is not enough.
- We have decided that having good Bible studies is good, but not good enough, that just making it to heaven is not our goal, and that knowing about God without truly knowing and experiencing God is meaningless.
- We have decided that having good programs is not enough; that change without transformation is intolerable, and that staying the same is not an option.
- We have decided that gifting without character is futile.
- We have decided that singing songs without worshiping is shallow and having meetings without God showing up is pointless.
- We have decided that having faith without works is not enough and having works without love is not acceptable - that our function comes out of our relationship first with the Father and second with each other.
- We have decided that reading about the book of Acts without living the book of Acts is unthinkable.
- We have decided that confident faith is good and bold faith is better.
- We have decided that hearing about the Holy Spirit without experiencing Him is silly, that believing in
- His presence without seeing It manifested in signs and wonders is hypocrisy, that believing in healing without seeing people healed is absurd, and that believing in deliverance without people being delivered is absolutely ridiculous.
- We have decided to be Holy Spirit filled, Holy Spirit led, and Holy Spirit empowered - anything less doesn't work for us.
- We have decided to be the ones telling the stories of God's power - not the ones hearing about them.
- We have decided that living saved, but not supernatural is living below our privilege and short of what Christ died for.
- We have decided that we are a battle ship not a cruise ship, an army, not an audience; Special forces not spectators, missionaries not club members.
- We have decided to value both pioneers and settlers - pioneers to expand our territory and settlers to build on those territories - but we are not squatters - people who take up space others have fought for without improving it.
- We have decided to be infectious instead of innocuous, contagious instead of quarantined, deadly instead of benign.
- We have decided to be radical lovers and outrageous givers.
- We have decided that we are a mission station and not a museum:
Therefore:
1. We honor the past - we don't live in it.
2. We live in the present with our eyes on the future.
3. We see past events - successes and failures - as stepping-stones not stop signs.
4. We pursue learning in order to be transformed, not learning in order to know.
5. We are people of engagement not observation.
6. We focus on what could be, not on what is or has been.
7. We are not limited to the four walls of this building. Our influence is not restricted by location -
Not even the nations are out of bounds.
8. We are more concerned about how many we send out into the world than how many we convince
to come into the building. This building is meant to be filled and it will be - but it will not be
the measure of who we are or the measure of our effectiveness.
9. We raise up world changers - not tour guides. We train commandos, not committees.
10. We are a people of our destiny, not of our history. - We have decided that it is better to fail while reaching for the impossible that God has planned for us than succeed settling for less.
- We have decided that nothing short of His Kingdom come, His will be done in our world as it is in Heaven will satisfy.
- We have decided that we will not be satisfied until our world freaks out and cries out "Those who have turned the world upside down have come here too."
Decisions That Define Us © 2005 David B Crone
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A group that I've become increasingly curious about is that of the Anabaptists, a movement that originated around the time of the reformation. Groups such as the Mennonites fit into this stream of Christianity, though as a movement today it is broader than groups such as these. It has never really been "main-stream," but as our western culture continues to walk away from its Christian heritage, this movement seems to have quite a lot to say. For centuries it has often been assumed that the church and state are somewhat closely related, but the Anabaptists have never accepted this. Instead, they emphasize that we are aliens and pilgrims in this world, and that our calling is to be a Kingdom-community, a "pocket-of-the-Kingdom" in a world-gone-wrong.
I'm not yet fully sure if I can call myself an Anabaptist, but the following "Core Convictions" of the Anabaptist network resonate with me. What are your thoughts?
Core Convictions
The Anabaptist tradition has been wary of creeds and fixed statements of faith, concerned at imposing interpretive grids on Scripture and of conveying the idea that there is no possibility of our understanding developing in fresh ways. But Anabaptists have produced various Confessions, setting out not a comprehensive statement of beliefs but a summary of distinctive values, convictions and practices. These statements are always provisional and subject to review in light of fresh insights.
In the late-1990s the Anabaptist Network developed a statement of its Core Convictions. The Network is a diffuse and diverse community, with no official membership or criteria for involvement. Not everyone involved would necessarily sign up to everything in this statement. But these Core Convictions summed up what some of us who had been involved in the Network for some years believed we were committed to. In the spirit of the Anabaptist tradition these are offered as provisional rather than final and we are committed to reviewing and revising them from time to time.
What follows is the current version (revised in January 2006 in light of comments at our May 2005 residential conference, at which the convictions were explored in various ways). For those interested, the previous version can be found below.
1. Jesus is our example, teacher, friend, redeemer and Lord. He is the source of our life, the central reference point for our faith and lifestyle, for our understanding of church and our engagement with society. We are committed to following Jesus as well as worshipping him.
2. Jesus is the focal point of God’s revelation. We are committed to a Jesus-centred approach to the Bible, and to the community of faith as the primary context in which we read the Bible and discern and apply its implications for discipleship.
3. Western culture is slowly emerging from the Christendom era when church and state jointly presided over a society in which almost all were assumed to be Christian. Whatever its positive contributions on values and institutions, Christendom seriously distorted the gospel, marginalised Jesus, and has left the churches ill-equipped for mission in a post-Christendom culture. As we reflect on this, we are committed to learning from the experience and perspectives of movements such as Anabaptism that rejected standard Christendom assumptions and pursued alternative ways of thinking and behaving.
4. The frequent association of the church with status, wealth and force is inappropriate for followers of Jesus and damages our witness. We are committed to exploring ways of being good news to the poor, powerless and persecuted, aware that such discipleship may attract opposition, resulting in suffering and sometimes ultimately martyrdom.
5. Churches are called to be committed communities of discipleship and mission, places of friendship, mutual accountability and multi-voiced worship. As we eat together, sharing bread and wine, we sustain hope as we seek God’s kingdom together. We are committed to nurturing and developing such churches, in which young and old are valued, leadership is consultative, roles are related to gifts rather than gender and baptism is for believers.
6. Spirituality and economics are inter-connected. In an individualist and consumerist culture and in a world where economic injustice is rife, we are committed to finding ways of living simply, sharing generously, caring for creation, and working for justice.
7. Peace is at the heart of the gospel. As followers of Jesus in a divided and violent world, we are committed to finding non-violent alternatives and to learning how to make peace between individuals, within and among churches, in society, and between nations.
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Recently I've been reflecting on where I fit in the scheme of things: why do I exist, what path does God have me on, what are my roots. One particular question I've been pondering is, where do I fit within the vast spectrum of Christianity? I've always found myself happily crossing over denominational lines, not really sure what box I fit into... or, more accurately, suspecting that I don't fit into any box at all. This has been especially so since I became a YWAMer; its been my privilege to have worked along sides people from more traditions than I knew existed. Baptists, Pentecostals, Anglicans, Mennonites, "non-denominational" folk, emergents, members of the house-church movement, evangelicals, Catholics, (sadly no one from the Orthodox tradition), Methodists, empowered evangelicals, charismatics, Calvinists, Arminians. I've learned a little something from them all, and been delighted to discover that, in the end, its about following Jesus together, not about holding to a ridged set of exclusive theological propositions.
Nonetheless, while finding myself drawn towards many elements of various traditions I've been left wondering who I really am as a believer. What is my "Christian identity," the believing tribe of which I am a part? Yes, I'm happy to not be trapped by the tyranny of denominational arrogance and exclusivity; if you are a follower of Christ, you are a brother or sister. Yet, is there a tribe to which I belong, a group which resonates with who I am in Christ, a group which shares the vision of God's kingdom that I've stumbled upon?
Well, I'm rediscovering my own roots, reflecting on the twists and turns of the journey God has had me on. Perhaps I belong simultaneously to a number of tribes, and while learning from many other groups, these tribes best catch the essence of what I believe it means to follow Jesus in today's world. Over time I'll share a little about some of these Christ-tribes.
Do you relate to this? Does language of "Christ-tribes" work for you? Is there a place for Christ-tribes, or should we just be happy with simply speaking about being followers of Jesus?
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Scot McKnight has posted some useful thoughts on singleness that I thought were worth reproducing here. I totally agree that we need to see singleness as a gift, and that being single in now way makes one less of a person. At the same time, I do feel there can be attitudes that keep people from pursuing relationships that need to be addressed as well, such as feeling like if we were more spiritual we wouldn't be attracted to anyone, or an attitude that says "if God wants it, it will just happen without me doing anything."
Tim and Kathy Keller buck a trend that I have heard in the last decade, and that trend is that if you are single at 27 or 28 or 29, you are out of God’s will. Their contention is that since the Ultimate Marriage is our union with Christ, then marriage and singleness are both good.
What does your church do for singles? Are singles marginalized? What do you think of the Kellers’ proposals here? What do you think of “cross gender enrichment”?
The Kellers, in their exceptional book The Meaning of Marriage, begin by quoting some texts from Paul that not only buck the trend but prove that the trendy folks are not reading the Bible well. Here is the text:
25 Now about virgins [singles]: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. 27 Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
29 What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; 30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
Paul’s eschatology, his conviction that the Lord’s return could be imminent, his conviction that we are in-between This Age and The Age to Come, his conviction that marriage reflects the union with Christ, his conviction that marriage is a school in which we learn to help one another reflect our glory-selves (their term) .. these and more mean that singleness is and can be a good.
“Single adults cannot be seen as somehow less fully formed or realized human beings than married persons because Jesus Christ, a single man, was the perfect man” (195). The early church, then, de-idolized marriage and traditional society and in its place put God. Singleness then is not Plan B. It is not a state of deprivation.
The church is the permanent society and brothers and sisters in Christ can enter into a fellowship that transcends time. The Kellers call this “cross gender enrichment,” though they are quick to point out that marriage “does and should somewhat limit the extent of friendships you have with others of the opposite sex” (201).
But marriage, too, is good. The problem today is that many have so idealized marriage they fear it. The Kellers demote marriage so that it need not be feared.
Some practical advice from the Kellers when dating and seeking a spouse.
1. Know that dating today is not what it always was. Marriage used to be more social and functional; dating was more arranged and supervised, if there was what we now call dating.
2. There are reasons for not seeking marriage.
3. Understand the gift of singleness
4. Get more serious about seeking marriage as you get older.
5. Do not allow yourself deep emotional involvement with a non-believing person.
6. Feel attraction in the most comprehensive sense.
7. Don’t let things get too passionate too quickly.
8. Don’t become a faux spouse for someone who won’t commit to you.
9. Get and submit to lots of community input.
Because of spammers and other undesirable things I won’t blog about the last chap (about s-x). I want to say this is one of the finest books on marriage I’ve ever read; it is theologically sound and pastorally sensitive. Even if I disagree with one or two elements here and there, their presentation of those topics remains pastorally useful and wise. I would give this book to anyone seeking advice on marriage and love.
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The more I reflect, the more I discover that everything in me resonates with the Vineyard movement, founded by John Wimber. There is something in the way they speak about God and Jesus, in the way they worship, in their transparency and vulnerability, in their willingness to always be real and known for who they really are without pretense, in the way they always value "doing the stuff" rather than just sitting around talking about what was once done, in their releasing spirit. Possibly better than anything else, this movement captures who I am in Christ; they are my Christ-tribe.
The following, borrowed from Vineyard USA, captures the essence of this movement (and challenges me to let my spiritually truly be an every day, every opportunity one).
Five Core Values and Seven Simple Words
On a recent Sunday, I was hurrying down the building corridor when I passed an older gentleman and said a brief hello. He stopped and began to earnestly tell me how his very ill four-month-old grandson was in a large children's hospital, where doctors were unable to diagnose his condition. As he finished sharing, I said simply, "Can I pray for you right now?" It only took a moment to pray, but God's presence with us was powerful. We parted ways, trusting God to move in this baby's life.
Can I pray for you right now? These seven words--seven simply supernatural words--capture the essence of the five core values of the Vineyard movement:
- The Theology and Practice of the Kingdom of God
- Experiencing God
- Reconciling Community
- Compassionate Ministry
- Culturally Relevant Mission
At the Vineyard of Champaign-Urbana , where I pastor, we encourage everyone to be attentive and ready to speak these seven words wherever the opportunity arises--whether in the church building, on the street, or in our homes or workplaces. And in this practice of praying for others, we express the Vineyard's five core values.
We offer to pray because we believe the kingdom of God has come, and we trust that at any moment the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit may break in and bring healing to our broken world.
We experience God when we respond to the Holy Spirit's nudges and ask, "Can I pray for you right now?" As we pray, we sense God's heart, we share his love, and we receive his guidance. We are actually partnering with God! His empowering presence fills us and flows through us.
We make a regular practice of meeting together in small groups where, as a reconciling community, we not only practice praying for each other, but also share stories, failures, and successes. We humbly bear one another's burdens. We are reconciled to one another and to God as we confess our sins and receive forgiveness. We part, freshly empowered to continue the work of the kingdom, bringing reconciliation wherever we go.
Because we are equipped and ready to pray, we often find ourselves engaged in compassionate ministry outside the church service. A young man from our congregation was on the campus of the University of Illinois when he stopped to talk to a distraught student and ended up asking, "Can I pray for you right now?" A new mom from our church was pushing her stroller through the neighborhood when she met another new mom. When her neighbor shared some struggles, she asked, "Can I pray for you right now?" And sometimes, miracles happen as the future invades the present. Other times, we don't see any change but we have still shared the love and mercy of Jesus with another person.
When we pray for someone, we are careful to use language that is familiar and meaningful to the person receiving prayer. We meet people in places and situations in which they are comfortable, not waiting for them to come to prayer meetings or Bible studies or church services. Most often, we take part in culturally relevant mission as we go about our everyday lives, living among our neighbors and engaging in the same culture our they engage in, instead of giving into the urge to hide away in the Christian subculture.
Being ready to speak these seven simply supernatural words "Can I pray for you right now?" will help all of us live out the foundational values of the Vineyard. Five core values, seven simple words.
John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard movement, is a bit of a hero of mine. In fact, the more I think of it, the more I realize that at my core I'm a Vinyardian. John was a may who truly paid the price to walk intimately with his Lord. Evident in his preaching and teaching was a depth of humility that comes from someone who has truly encountered the living God. There was no pretense with John; he was real.
While I was staffing with YWAM in Brisbane I stumbled across an old cassette of John. On fist glance it seemed quite unremarkable: a plain cassette from some random pastors conference on an seemingly obscure topic. I'm surprised I even picked it up. Yet, I ended up listening to that tape probably 20-30 times. Seeing as it was so influential for me I'm going to post a few quotes over the next while that have stuck with me through the years. And if you're interested, I've uploaded the original message so you can hear it for yourself.
From "Today's Carnal Church."
Wan Carlos Autees said something once... “We had a church of 200 that didn't love each other. And then it grew, and then we had a church of 400 that didn't love each other. And when it got to 800 that didn't love each other I figured out there was something wrong”.
Are you hearing me? Wan was being invited to speak in his group everywhere at that time because he had a church of 800 that didn't love each other. So numbers became the focus. And what I find often as I'm dialoging with men today is I find a lot of profession about how much they love God and how earnest they are in seeking the Lord and how sincere they are in their commitment to Him and how focused they on doing the Lord's work, and just a lot of talk about it. And it may even be true in some cases, but I don't think very often it’s the fact.
What I've found out is that when a man runs into God, he gets quiet. He's so conscious of the unclean lips, the insincere heart, the eye that's wandered, the hands that are bloodied, that he doesn't have a lot to say. And I don't know if that’s a permanent state or not because I haven't into very many of those men, but it’s certainly been characteristic of what’s happened to us in our church. We used to talk a lot about how much we love the Lord. I think we love the Lord more now that we're not talking about it.
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