Stop and Wonder

via Achievable Ends and Bene Diction

Brother Bill at Achievable Ends had this to say:

Let me be blunt. When we stand before our Saviour, he isn't going to quiz on the latest and greatest books by Christian authors we've read, (NT Wright or otherwise) - or the Contemporary Christian Music we've listened to to assuage our souls - or even the wondrous edifices we've built in his name. He's going to ask us "when I was hungry, did you feed me, when I was thirsty, did you give me something to drink, when I was alone did you invite me in, when I needed covering did you clothe me, when I was in prison, did you come to me?"

Sunday Questions

In keeping with today's theme- i.e. it's a Sunday- here are some questions that were originally posted on Today at the Mission just about a year ago. Originally there were 50 but I have done some picking and choosing, hence the numbers. If they make you uncomfortable, don't worry, they made me uncomfortable, too.

1. Why don't we give church members keys to the kitchen?
2. Can we throw more parties?

10. What would happen if there was no big building for us all to go to on Sunday morning?
11. Can a coffee shop breakfast with the guys still be church?

14. If I only had 12 people in my congregation, and one of them ends up turning on me, one of them flat out denies he even knows me, and the rest bail out just when I need them most... would my ministry be a success or a failure?

20. If our entire bible consisted only of the four gospels, how would our religion look today?
21. Why don't we stop explaining our faith to atheists? Yes - my faith is completely, totally and absolutely irrational. That would be the 'faith' part. Duh.

28. "We thank you father, that you, father, have blessed us father, that you loved us father, and that, father, you are here with us now father." Why do people pray like that?

31. If a church event is meant to be an 'outreach' to our friends and family, shouldn't we be going to where they are? If not, perhaps we should change the name to 'inreach'.

36. Here's a little game to play. Sit in church. Pick a man or woman - someone you sort of know, but don't know real well. A Christian person. A nice Christian person. Ask yourself, "If they fell off the wagon and ended up downtown, living on the street, sleeping in their own urine and vomit... would I go get them?
37. Would any of us go get them?
38. Or would that be the pastor's job?

41. Why do missionaries always live somewhere else?

43. Rich Christians are blessed by God. Absolutely destitute Christians must live on faith for their every need. Which is better?
44. Which is better when you haven't eaten in three days?
45. Why do all our pictures of Jesus look like us?

48. Why is there a copyright on bibles?
49. When will we stop praying for revival and start living like the revived?

See, I warned you.

Unavoidable Questions

Bill Kinnon at Achievable Ends has now given us a "Missional Guru Test." He is now ready to ask that group of missional experts some questions. They are, in reality, the questions to ask anyone who purports to have some answers.

I confess that I'm really not interested in hearing theories anymore. I want to know how the missonal profundities emanating from the particular guru are applied in their own lives - right now. Not last year, last century or last millenium. But. Right now.

"Where are you plugged into a local expression of a missional community? How does that impact what you are sharing with us?"

Jesus lived what he taught the disciples. We should have no less expectation of those who want to disciple us.

I have to admit that this does cut close to home. I am a believer in the missional approach to the church. I also know that the church will take a long time to get back to that. Even my Moravian Church, built on that missional theology and with it firmly in our roots, has trouble finding a 21st Century incarnation of that theology.

I don't know what to do. Perhaps I am just an old, tired, modern pastor living in a post-modern world with ideas and dreams and visions that don't seem to get anywhere anymore. Maybe we are living in one of those incredibly difficult transition eras where we are percolating many different visions and views and over the next century they will be sifted and sorted into a vision and expression of church that we today could not even begin to imagine.

But the questions Bill asked are on target. Where can one find a "missional community" in the midst of a surplus of "seeker-sensitive" churches, contemporary - vs- traditional worship, fundamentalist, right-wing, left-wing, evangelical, liberal and on and on. How will one know a missional community when one sees it? How does one who is interested go about building such a community from outside the church hierarchy or when one is part of a community that could care less about missional anything?

The questions go on and on. Thanks, Bill, for starting the thoughts going. I wish I knew where to find some answers.

Committing Mission

According to an article from Crosswalk.com's newsletter Tuesday, an Israeli court has said that Messianic Jews (or probably any Jews converted to Christianity) cannot be denied Israeli citizenship. A number of Messianic Jews had been informed that they could not become citizens because they "commit missionary activity."

That reminded me of the old question- If you were hauled into court and charged with being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Of course that begs the question of what evidence there might be available to use?

Do you pray... or do you pray for your enemies?
Do you react to slights... by turning the other cheek?
When robbed do you fight back... or give them your shirt, too?

Then there's that still revolutionary idea of visiting the prisoners and feeding the hungry and welcoming the stranger in your midst.

But then, to commit mission? The mind is overwhelmed by the idea. Three counts of committing mission and you go to jail. But then what is mission? Is it the narrow definition of spreading the Gospel to those who have never heard? Or is it deeper, broader, higher than that?

Just let it sink in.

All About Food
A wonderful and mission-challenging book has captured me. Sara Miles has given an unusual and powerful conversion story in Take This Bread. Sara is an unlikely convert to Christianity. For lots of reasons you would not expect someone like her to do so. Let's see- she's a lesbian living in a committed relationship with her daughter. She is liberal. She is feisty. She is challenging. And she was hooked by the bread.

Yes, the Eucharist, the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion. Who says there isn't a "real presence" of Jesus at that Table? Who says it isn't an act of grace- in action? Sara was captured against her will- but not against her spirit into a community of Christians who did things differently but effectively. When she got there she found that the Bread is more than bread. It is life. And then it became Jesus' life to the surrounding community in mission. It is a story that will hook you and at the end you will be convinced you smell the aroma of fresh bread reminding you that Jesus has NOT left the room.

Adventures Great and Small
In a conversation with a friend last week the subject of "great adventures with God" came up. I thought that was a really good phrase and I have spent some time pondering it- and its comrades- average adventures and small adventures. What I believe is that all of life is, of course, an adventure when God is involved. What's needed most for that is a sense of awe and openness and being aware. God is always doing small things. God's work is going on around us in so many ways that it is hard to pay attention to them all.

Some of these daily adventure possibilities are small- noticing a fresh breeze, hearing laughter, assisting with tears. Some of them are not daily but relatively frequent. These are the average adventures. These are the opportunities for a special ministry, a new way of looking at an old one, or deciding to make some changes in your life that help you follow Jesus more completely.

But it's the great adventures, though, that catch our attention and lead us into places we would never have thought possible. These are the things that change us, our world,our friends, our churches, our denominations. It doesn't need to look BIG and special, but its long-term impact can be huge. I have been blessed to be par of a number of great adventures with God including work in short-term mission development, senior high church camping and AIDS ministry. These are the things that stick out in my mind, but they are part of the full range of following God.

We call this discipleship. We follow the lead of our God, doing what the Savior wants, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Big or small, it is an adventure, never dull, and always filled with opportunities. But it takes the awareness I've already mentioned, the openness to God. But it also takes commitment. It is that moving from centering on self to a centering on God.

Author Tom Bandy of Easum, and Associates has this to say in a new posting on the EBA website:

With the first breath and your last penny, will it be “mission” or “me”? That is the clincher. If people cannot answer that question in favor of “mission”, then they are simply not faithful by any standard of faith and behavior of the earliest church. Period.
--The Clincher, Tom Bandy