Getting Free of Religion

In the early 90s for a couple of years I was an unpaid “Executive Pastor” of a denominational church. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not really a great committee member. I just find the whole process frustrating. I think I am a pretty good team player as long as everyone knows that I own the team!
My management style is directive. My favorite response to an idea or initiative I have conceived? Yes Sir!

You can imagine then how frustrated I was meeting with the paid pastoral staff of the church week after week as we were attempting to retool and relocate the congregation. None of the paid staff, except for the senior pastor, wanted to retool or move. They would rather die than change, and they would rather talk than work. As I spent hours every week attempting to move them, I imagined my blood pressure going higher and higher.

At the same time I was reading a book about paradigm shifts. You know, the kind that happen when a new technology surpasses an older technology. Electric lights surpass gas and oil lamps. Horseless carriages surpass horse-drawn carriages. The internet surpasses the broadcast networks. You get the idea, right?

As I drove away from one of the staff meetings, fuming and nearly foaming at the mouth, I heard a whisper from the Holy Spirit. “It’s okay, Charlie, the time of the paid staff pastor is coming to an end.” This idea was somehow comforting to me (He is the Comforter after all ). Of course, it takes time for new ways of doing things to rise above the old ways. This is the way it is with the “normal” way of doing church. But I am getting a glimpse of a “new” way and what I am seeing makes me very happy. I am praying that I get to see the great awakening that will come from it.

In one of those mind-numbing staff meetings one of the pastors said to me, “Charlie, you are just an iconoclast!” He didn’t mean it as a compliment and I didn’t really know what he meant. So I had to go look it up:

i·con·o·clast? ?
[ahy-kon-uh-klast]–noun
1. a breaker or destroyer of images, especially those set up for religious veneration.
2.        a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition.

Okay, he had me. That’s what I have been doing my entire adult life, starting in high school and continuing to this day. I am always asking the Dr. Phil question, “How’s that working for you!” I am also approaching the mission of the church with the Cable Guy mantra, “Git ‘r done.” I have a fundamental assumption, we have to change what we are doing if we are going to get different results. And different results are what we need to fulfill the mission of Jesus.

The most important issue…

“But the most important issue we face today is the same the church has faced in every century: Will we reach our world for Christ? In other words, will we give priority to Christ’s command to go into all the world and preach the gospel? Or will we turn increasingly inward, caught up in our own internal affairs or controversies, or simply becoming more and more comfortable with the status quo? Will we become inner-directed or outer-directed? The central issues of our time aren’t economic or political or social, important as these are. The central issues of our time are moral and spiritual in nature, and our calling is to declare Christ’s forgiveness and hope and transforming power to a world that does not know him or follow him. May we never forget this.” — Billy Graham via Christianity Today

Waking up and walking on

So much of life is the hum-drum, same-old same-old. We get up, brush our teeth, take a shower, eat breakfast and get in the car and head for work. We do the same job in the same way nearly every day. We go home at night and eat the same meal in front of the same television show. Wow! I have to stop writing this, I’m putting myself to sleep!

When it comes to the weekend, we mow the lawn, rake the yard and attend the same church service. We hear the same band, sing the same songs, hear the same sermons, and we ask: Is this all there is? Does being a follower of Jesus simply mean that we are steady attenders, good tithe-payers, ready and able volunteer workers in the church ministries, and obedient followers of our duly-appointed leaders.

Is the latest missionary outreach to America starting these quasi-entertainment programs in a neighborhood near you, maybe with a video multi-site offering?

It all just seems so vanilla to me. Now don’t get me wrong. I like vanilla. Vanilla is a great foundation for lots of other things, including an excellent hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and a cherry. But don’t you ever ask yourself when you are eating your scoop of vanilla ice cream: Where is the hot fudge, let alone the whipped cream and the cherry?

Where is the GOOD news about following Jesus? I know about the part where I give 10% of my income (is that before or after taxes?). But what about the part where I pick up my cross, deny myself and follow him? Just what exactly does that involve? I haven’t been to that class yet. It doesn’t actually sound like much fun.

Or how about this one:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42 NIV via Biblegateway.com)

Isn’t it about time we got out of the rut and woke up? Isn’t about time we dropped our pretenses and started following Jesus?

I heard that one is starting next week!

All you need is love…

“It’s not easy being green,” laments one of the great philosophers of the 20th century, Kermit the Frog. For the sake of this post, I’ll change the quote slightly, “It’s not easy being lovable.”

Jesus said, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jn 15:12,13. He is also quoted: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” Mt. 5:43-45.

Clearly, if I disagree with you about something, depending on your family rules, you might think I am being argumentative. If your family doesn’t ever argue, then that might not seem loving. If I am not loving, then it is pretty hard to love me. Here’s a solution, just tell me that you don’t want to “fellowship” with me and by doing so, ask me to leave. But wait a minute, Jesus seems to say, when there are those who are not easy to love, love them anyway.

In the life of the church, it seems we get stuck on the easy ones. Don’t commit adultery. There’s an easy one. Anyone can see that this is clearly a sin. A man living with a woman without the benefit of a marriage ceremony. It’s a little less clear when young people are just exploring their relationships with one another, and they are “dating.” Hormones run wild in the teenage years. Are adulterous thoughts as sinful as adulterous deeds? Jesus preached that, didn’t he? It’s a little harder to judge another’s thoughts. Luckily, though we usually have an example of a person in our circle, who is clearly, defiantly sinning, an easy case to condemn. Oh, wait a minute, I used the words judgment and condemnation, can you engage in those actions in a loving way?

What about this one? Someone begins to attend a home group connected to your church and then your church services. But they don’t hold back when they disagree with you. Can you love them, anyway? Church membership in most organizations requires something similar to the following: “I WILL PROTECT THE UNITY OF MY CHURCH…By acting in love toward other members…By refusing to gossip…By following the leaders.” (Saddleback Membership Covenant) Where a congregation doesn’t have formal written covenants, there are unwritten rules: Submit to the leadership of the pastors, attend church services, tithe, find a job to do in the church, and clearly that includes, be lovable.

If you are lovable we will adopt you into our family until you are not, then we will un-adopt you. It’s a good thing that the rules of our society do not allow us to operate our families that way. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of lousy parenting in our society. But at least, it isn’t easy for fathers and mothers to legally disown their children, adopted or natural born!

But here is an interesting truth: I can’t make you love me. For that matter, God can’t make you love me. The impulse to love, is in itself, a gift from God. So, here is my morning prayer: Father, fill me with your love. Overflow my cup. Let me be an ambassador of your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Respect the journey…

I have been having a great time at the Church that meets at Ian’s house on Tuesday nights. Last night we shook things up a bit and shared a meal. I think that may have been my favorite part of the evening, fun conversation around a meal that was prepared with love. Outstanding! Then we sang together in worship and our leader, Ian, opened up the first letter of John and we shared.

We have some give and take, you know the kind that followers of Jesus have as they attempt to use words to explain the unexplainable. We even got busy slicing and dicing some pretty deep concepts. I really feel like I am getting to know and care about these people, and that part is fun!

As I was thinking about our interaction this morning I felt like the Lord gave me an insight into what appeared to be some contentious moments in our discussion. The first paragraph of the letter talks about having “fellowship” so that our “joy” can be complete. As we wrestled with words choosing to have fellowship and having joy about it seemed elusive. I wondered about this. I have relationships of many years with the two men in the group. We have stood side by side through some tough years and tough situations. We have deep caring for one another and for that reason cut each other a lot of slack.

I realized that each of the members of our church are at different places in their journey with Christ. We are each having the thrill of victory that comes from new revelation and the agony of defeat that comes when our flesh jumps up and bites us in the rear end! There is no way that we can really join hands and sing Kum-ba-ya about our understanding (revelation) of Jesus. If we were a committee I doubt that we would agree about anything. When I think about it, I just want to laugh my head off! But Jesus whispered to me this morning that we are absolutely perfect as a mighty missionary team! Hilarious! He has put us together and is forming us into his image, each of us at our own individual place in our journey with him, and as a team for some exploits and adventures he has in store for us.

In the meantime, we read the tea leaves to determine if we are “alive” or “dead” in Christ! I think our meetings are playing as a reality shown on the heavenly cable TV channel. The drama and the comedy must be great fun. But I see Jesus among us. Encouraging us. Loving us. Shepherding us. And encouraging us to ‘respect the journey’ of each one of us.

A recovering pharisee…

Hi, my name is Charlie, and I am a recovering pharisee. No, I was not a “member of a Jewish sect that flourished during the 1st century b.c. and 1st century a.d. and that differed from the Sadducees chiefly in its strict observance of religious ceremonies and practices, adherence to oral laws and traditions, and belief in an afterlife and the coming of a Messiah.” (Dictionary.com) I am using the other definition of pharisee: “a sanctimonious, self-righteous, or hypocritical person.”

At the ripe old age of 60 I have finally figured out what was and is wrong with me and understand why I have such a hard time with “normal” church. How did I become a pharisee? Was I born that way? Well, in a sense, yes. From the time I was a little baby I was an attender and then a member of a denominational church. Of the many denominations I have been exposed to in my adult life, I can tell you that the denomination of my youth was by far the most legalistic. Our list of do’s and don’t's was extensive. Membership was exclusive and salvific, and this was just fine with me, what else did I know?

I am sure I heard about Jesus and grace and all of that stuff when I was growing up, but not in any relational sense. This all worked well for me. I was a member, and an active one. Yes, I struggled with managing my “holiness (sin).” That produced the requisite guilt cycle. All was well until my first marriage failed and the church kicked me out. Now, I will have to admit, this wasn’t as bad as being publicly whipped, humiliated, falsely accused, and executed. But it still felt pretty bad. I used to be in, part of the remnant faithful. Now I was out.

If my condition wasn’t so addictive I probably could have recovered pretty easily. But the need to be right and in, may as well have been burned into my DNA and my brain chemistry. I imagine that it is something like the way an alcoholic who is sober feels. He’s not drinking, but the urge burns in his bones.

I was raised that if you love God you will be part of “His” church. Eventually I wasn’t in a church anymore. I wasn’t happy with that condition so I was pleasantly lured back into church when a denominational pastor who preached a more “grace-full” theology started a local church. And this time I was not only in, I was in it up to my eyeballs! Worship leader, church council member and eventually full-time executive pastor were the roles I cycled through in a five year period. Boy, did I enjoy it! Imagine my surprise when a rapid turn of events found me once again on the outside and embarking on a stint as a pastor in another religious movement. This wasn’t quite as bad as the first time I was kicked out of church but it was a bit jarring!

And then I found a group of people, my congregation, with an entirely different set of do’s and don’t's. I lasted three years at that endeavor and came out the other end this side of a psychiatric unit, but nonetheless scarred. You see, my condition loves being right. It loves being the one with the answers. It loves being the up-front decisive person. It loves being thought of as a righteous person. Of course, there is the downside. I know who I really am and what I am really like inside. Others don’t think I am always right. Frequently there are those that don’t like my answers or decisions. This is always quite disappointing.

It’s been over ten years since that experience. By the way, my second marriage failed and I have married again! during this last ten years I have not been able to “join” another “normal” church. I have been trying hard during this time to figure out what is wrong with me! The way I usually express it is in terms of what is wrong with the churches I don’t want to join. I just figured out this week what the problem is. Recovering alcoholics can’t hang out in bars! Recovering pharisees can’t join a church! It brings out the worst in them.

Don’t get me wrong. This does not mean I am opposed to joining a “normal” church. I think I am just not strong enough yet. In the meantime I remain committed to following Jesus and continue to try to discover what that means. I’ll keep looking for a “recovery” group for folks like me. If you hear of one, let me know.

Love One Another

“I think we underestimate the power and importance of loving one another. Consistent love for other Christians is key to a healthy spiritual life because loving fellowship is God’s prescribed environment for growth. This kind of love is based on commitment to God Himself. To be committed to God is to be committed to His community, the Church. This is not a commitment to the theory of the Church, but to an actual body of other fallible, imperfect people.

Many of us treat church life like immature adolescents. From other Christians we want thrills, constant exhilaration and to have our needs met. When Christian brothers and sisters fall short of our expectations, when they are boring and imperfect and fail to meet our needs for strokes, we pout, turn away and isolate ourselves from them. Jesus calls us to mature commitment of love for His people—the very people in our fellowship.”

—John Wimber, p. 188-119, Everyone Gets to Play, Ampelon Publishing, 2008

Angry Conversations with God…

I just finished reading Susan Isaacs excellent book, Angry Conversations with God. I laughed. I cried. I was moved. This book is so insightful about the mess we humans make of our relationship with God.

Here’s a particularly insightful excerpt:

“Be careful to whom you bare your grief, especially if it’s someone churchy, like Martha. Because the Marthas of the world can’t leave a question unanswered, a problem unsolved, or a sorrow unhealed, they have to fix it. An no matter how long you’ve been a Christian (I’d been one all my life), Martha will know a Bible verse you haven’t heard (or haven’t heard the right way), or she’ll have a book or a sermon tape or a worship CD designed to answer your questions, silence your doubts, muzzle your grief, and make Martha feel better.”

Accidental Anglican…

Todd Hunter’s recent interview with Christianity Today, entitled Accidental Anglican, has stirred up a bit of conversation on the interwebs! I hadn’t read the interview before I saw Keith Gile’s response on Facebook. I was a little surprised that Keith, who by the way is a great fan of Todd’s, was as upset about a couple of comments that Todd made in the interview:

“When you left the Vineyard leadership, you connected to the early emerging church movement. What did you learn?

I linked to the emergent thing because I loved these young Christians who were trying to figure out church and what it means to be a follower of Jesus in this new era. We coached church planters all over the world who were trying to create communities of faith that made sense to their postmodern, post-Christendom friends.

Now you can’t broad-brush the emergent movement. But I saw two big problems in the emergent world.

First, the emergents are so sensitive to issues of community, relationship, egalitarianism, and being non-utilitarian in their relationships, that evangelism has simply become a synonym for manipulation—a foul ball, relationally. If you and I were work colleagues and I built a relationship in which I could influence your journey toward Christ, that would be considered wrong in these circles. I cannot be friends with you if I intend to lead you to Christ.

Second, after 10 or 12 years of the emerging church, you have to ask where anything has been built. Evangelism has been so muted and the normal building of structures and processes hasn’t moved forward because there’s no positive, godly imagination for doing either evangelism or leadership. Such things are by definition utilitarian, and so they were made especially difficult.”

You really need to read Keith’s entire post to get a complete grasp of his exception to Todd’s observations. However, let me try and reduce them to just a couple of sentences. One, Giles’ agrees with the premise that friendship for the sake of evangelism is manipulation. Two, Giles’ disagrees with the need for leadership as merely a precursor for the continued preservation of the clergy-laity division. And Three, Buildings and Processes should not be the end product of our kingdom activities.

Let me interject my standard confession: I am a baby boomer (like Todd Hunter). I am also a lawyer and a former real estate developer, so I tend to think in a linear process. This is probably why Todd’s comments did not spark the same reaction in me that they did in Keith Giles. You see, if I have one complaint with the emerging church it is that it seems that in reaction to the excesses of standard evangelical evangelism, there doesn’t seem to be much evangelism happening. The other observation that I would make is that the emerging church conversation hasn’t produced sustainable networks of communities of faith.

I know for sure that Todd wasn’t talking about building cathedrals, but like a typical baby boomer, he expects there to be some kind of leadership emerging. It’s true, it could be that so much of what is happening is grass roots and below the radar that the outlines can’t be discerned.

Thinking about this I saw two disconnects. One was generational, the disconnect between baby boomers and the emerging generations in terms of style and approach. The other was in the area of spiritual gifts. Todd Hunter is an evangelist, with a large dose of the apostolic. He is at the root of a great deal of church planting that happened in the Vineyard. If the Vineyard movement in the US is healthiest in the Midwest, then Todd Hunter is at the core of it. For years he has been on a mission to reach young people through church planting. It is not surprising that given the opportunity and the resources to plant 200 churches to do just that, that he would jump at it, vestments and all. While the emerging church conversation has certainly has emphasized the prophetic, teaching and pastoral gifts, the apostolic and the evangelistic have been the overlooked gifts.

In any case, I extend my blessing toward the accidental Anglican, Bishop Todd Hunter, as he continues his journey responding to God’s calling on his life. And I also look forward to what God will do with the emerging church conversation in the years to come.

Rabbits on my mind

I have had rabbits on my mind for the past week or so. This past winter we have had a large influx of rabbits all around our home. It would not be unusual to leave the house at 7 a.m. and find 1 or 2 dozen rabbits grazing on our lawns. For this reason, and because of dry weather this past year, the lawn is so dead and so gone I have been thinking about getting rid of it. The entire property is also well fertilized! But this isn’t the reason I have been thinking about rabbits.

I am a refugee from “normal” church. Since I closed the church I pastored in Moreno Valley in 1998, I have found it impossible to stick with attendance at a “regular” church. Now, don’t misunderstand me. I am still a follower of Jesus, even if I am not a “member” of a church. It seems as though for the past decade I have been on a journey of trying to figure out what it means to follow Jesus outside of the boundaries of a “traditional” church.

It turns out, I am not alone. Research indicates that there are millions of people in the U.S. just like me, who for whatever reason, have left the confines of the “regular” church and have been wandering in the wilderness. An old saying goes, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” As a student of church growth for the past twenty years, and a practitioner of traditional church life on a significant level for at least ten years of that, I was ready for Tony and Felity Dale and George Barna’s recent book, The Rabbit and the Elephant: Why Small is the New Big for Today’s Church.

The Dales’, with the able assistance of George Barna, have created a handbook for church life that may appeal to the millions of church dropouts like myself. With the emphasis on the non-hierarchial, non-institutional and Spirit-led community of believers, I know I found myself hungry for this kind of church life.

It is possible that I am projecting my hopes and dreams of recapturing the kind of community I experienced several years ago as a small band of people ministered to skateboarders simply because this is what God “told us to do.” I have often said that this ministry experience was the best of my life, no politics, no division, just a focus on what the Spirit was saying and asking us to do. We were experiencing “simple” church and we didn’t even know it. With The Rabbit and the Elephant I now have a theology and a practical guide that has helped me fit all the pieces of the puzzle together.

Now I am left with something to do, start a simple church. That should keep me busy while I am waiting for my lawn to grow back and the rabbits to reappear.