a beautiful mess » community

the worship industry: attn #worshipleaders

justin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:10:29 +0000

(certainly this conversation is not limited to “worship leaders” but i definitely wanted to include my musically-involved friends, and start there…)

found this video on derek webb‘s site and aaron niequist‘s as well. and it just…fits with some of what i am praying toward for our local churches.

i want to precede the video with a quote that will sink a well in your heart if you let it:

excessive individualism is distorting our identity as the bride, which is rooted in community: in becoming a people #kingdomprinciples – from my twitter account @347

in the past i have written about this individualistic mindset which seems to be going unnoticed from many local churches, specifically from a
musical standpoint. some local churches have become aware of the need for a community and adjust their messages or their sermons to fit the bill; but then we have completely missed the boat with nearly everything else:

communion – an explicitly obvious plural experience which most folks are completely okay with entering into by themselves. oh, sure, we all may look at a screen or listen to some ‘special music’ together every once in a while, but then it’s on to our individual wafers and individual plastic cups.

giving – you know, the tithes and offerings, which are collected one at a time with our monies folded so no one can pick out the ananais or saphiras of the bunch…or see our harry potter customized check designs behind the secret dollar amount.

and of course, music – however you cut it, most groups of people and most worship leaders are failing to communicate through music what yeshua made clear through his words and action: the gospel is for everyone, his father is out to redeem all things, and the kingdom of heaven is about a people and not a person. let alone about a single person’s feelings or lack thereof.

our songs are largely and sadly one-sided, even if the music is dynamic.

our lyrics, i fear, are not representative of the good news because they often lack one fundamental ingredient: the passionate desire of GOD to make one new humanity, even if the words are great descriptors of that very GOD.

we are to be cross-bearers and kingdom-announcers.

[selah]

at any rate, here’s the video featuring brian mclaren that derek put up:

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Q/ do you agree or disagree with brian, or myself for that matter? what is your local church doing to inform her own community as well as those outside of her community that worship is not an ‘industry‘? why do you think this is proving so difficult for many local churches to grasp?

carlos whittaker, redeemed bars, and no missions team!

justin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:27:35 +0000

think fast: i dropped by blaine hogan’s blogging crib. found some advertising bling which led me to sam mahlstadt’s site: creative theology. the post for today tapped into a great question originally posed by carlos whittaker: what would you do if your craft/dream/organization/etc. had a storefront?

and my reply was nested within the first poster’s, adam lehman, and his storefront idea surrounding the planting of a local church born with a desire to reach/server those who may already be considered “customers”. he says,

The part that I think churches screw up is catering to those who are already their customers instead of catering to the market they’re trying to expand into.

so, my response was:

i am going to jump in on the heels of this post because, well, because it kind of fits my “storefront” idea as well…

a while back i blogged about how a conversation with GOD went from church planting to israel’s history to urban city dwelling to the book of the acts of the holy spirit slash apostles and full circle again. and basically, GOD dropped one word into my vocabulary: grafting.

it’s what he’s done a lot of over the years, thematically speaking, throughout much of history. and i got to thinking about what it would look like to “graft” a local church…

right? so. rather than plant or start a local church in a city where there is likely already a local church meeting – which in some respects would be far easier – you would seek to graft a local church into an existing one.

in my blog i do talk about some of the foreseen obstacles that would no doubt emerge. but what great opportunities to explore and experiment with diversity and unity, you know!?

anyways. the storefront could be imagined this way: a redeemed bar, open-air, and of course, great lighting inside and out – because, after all, yeshua always seems to have something to say about light…passers by would hear a variety of things each day: music/prayer/silence/conversation} worship. and beyond this, my dream of the “storefront” just emerges into something slowly massive…patiently taking shape into not just one storefront: but all of the main street: and eventually the side streets, the alleys, the projects, the tent cities, the suburbs, i mean – you know how it is once you start dreaming with GOD, you eventually start believing him – that he wants to redeem the whole world! haha!

but yeah, imagine a window not for bank telling, or even just handing out dollar bills – but a window which leads to a cafe, exquisitely stocked by the wealthy cooks GOD has brought, and people can enter in without coin or purse and be fed, refreshed, and served. with no expectations.

no social justice department: because this local church is it. no mission’s team or global missions ministry: because this local church is it.

obviously, i could go on and on.

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if you’re interested, the grafting post was from may and can be read here:http://www.abeautifulmess.info/2010/05/grafting/

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so i also pose the question to you: what would you do if your craft/dream/organization/etc. had a storefront?

one ten bucks bike: a kingdom story

justin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:29:47 +0000

Some stories are true that never happened. – Elie Wiesel

this story is third generational. yes, it’s just that good. anyways, my paraphrase:

so as it turns out, jason and company are dreaming of an urban city open monastery. just let that sink in.

urban. city. open. monastery.

i like. i like with my heart.

and as it also turns out, they have learned the art of, what i call, the smart move! haha. see, they try and rely on bicycles/walking as much as possible (as i understand it) for the daily living and transportation. but, they are also living in the midst of inner city nashville. thus, they purchase bicycles not from their local bike shop and not for thousands of dollars; they are anticipating the perhaps-close-at-hand loss of said transportation: it is likely to get stoled’.

so they buy their bikes from goodwill for like, ten bucks.

well. one day, one ten bucks bike was stoled’.

and of course, the nature of this place is such that, often times, the person doing the stealing is seeking only to acquire the stolen object, not resell it, for example.

and this is the nature of this particular case.

so the one ten bucks bike was stoled’. and after a while, jason happens upon what was formerly his one ten bucks bike with a new owner/thief.

at this point, it is expected from us – the general population – that we abide by the written laws of the land: the ways we’ve been taught: to act justly: and to give that owner/thief a nice threat of violence, make all sorts of judgment calls, demand the return of the bike, and use the presence of the fear of punishment to produce the outcome whereby we get our bike back. obviously.

(but that’s not what happened. as you would guess. which is why i am taking the time to dedicate an entire retelling of this story.)

jason approaches the new owner/thief and the following conversation ensues,

“hey brother. i would be willing to pay you whatever you paid for that bike…”

“uh…”

“i paid ten bucks for it, would you take ten bucks?”

“here’s what i want. i want a chicken. and a rooster.”

a chicken and a rooster! in the very words of jason, “you know the kingdom of heaven is near when someone offers to sell you your own bike back for a chicken and a rooster!”

and that’s the point, isn’t it? the kingdom of heaven is near. it’s here. it’s in our midst. it’s the year of the favor the LORD. but we so often fail at approaching life in this way.

we approach it with fear.
we approach it with anxiety.
we approach it with a limited amount of options.
we approach it with predetermined biases from which we judge.
we approach it with violence.
we approach it with fear.

rather than with faith, hope, and love.
rather than with mercy, grace, and forgiveness.

how often are we stealing opportunities away from GOD to show us the ways of the kingdom?

and haven’t we all been that thief?

and aren’t all things possible with GOD?

why do the godly then keep withholding generosity*

oh that we would become generous and gracious and kind. that we would have faith to believe in the creative and redemptive ways of our great GOD.

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*and yes, this question is intentionally worded to evoke memories of wendell berry’s ‘a small theology’

the rabbit and the elephant: quotes so far

justin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:40:27 +0000

i recently dug out the rabbit and the elephant by tony and felicity dale thinking i would just put it back within a day or two. dang was i wrong! this book is as equally disturbing and provoking as my first read through shane claiborne’s the irresistible revolution a couple of years ago. at any rate, i just wanted to share some of my highlighted quotes from the first forty pages so far…

Statistics show that the best means of evangelism within an American context is starting a church. 13

…We considered a number of reasons that seemed to indicate that we, too, should multiply small churches rather than seeking to get larger. 13

At various times in history, seismic changes have occurred. These changes have not been gradual or planned. Instead, they represent the convergence of ideas and technology in such a way that a dramatic shift of opinion, a genuinely new way of looking at things, emerges. What most people just see as sociological change is actually the God of history advancing His kingdom. 23

…And for the past seventeen centuries, church has been an event to attend…25

The phenomenon that is occurring in front of our eyes is a re-birthing of the church–God is taking an event-based institution and re-forming it so that it is becoming life- and relationship-based. 30

The focus is no longer on professionals and programs, but rather on enabling every-member ministry. Instead of precious resources being used internally to maintain staff and buildings, they are now being used to fund missions and mercy ministries to a world looking for a relevant [local] church. 30

Liberated from endless meetings, we have time to get involved in our communities and to reach out to a world that so desperately needs the Lord. 32

Simply changing the structure or location of the [local] church, however revolutionary it might seem, is not an end in itself. God is after far more than this. He wants a body of people that is dependent on Him and that will follow wherever the Holy Spirit leads. He wants us to go beyond re-formation of the church to transformation of society. 34

According to the Old Testament, the children of Israel committed spiritual adultery by giving allegiance to the gods of all the nations around them. But we of the church era have done no better. Christians in the West have have followed the gods of the American dream, of materialism, of pupularity, of numbers. We have become performance driven rather than love motivated. 41

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if any of you have read this book, please feel free to share your thoughts! also, are there any of you who are a part of an “organic” or “simple” local church community? and what has your experience been?

really!?

justin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:22:57 +0000

while searching for the right opportunity with a local church community, i come across a lot of strange things being requested or listed as priorities – it just makes me stop and be like, “Really!?”

one advertisement reads,

“Win-Build-Send Matt.28:18-20″

yet the text reads,

“ThenJesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

how do we go from such organic, radical, mysterious language to dry, disconnected, and vapid words not even found in the text?

win, build, send. okay – we got 1 out of the, not three, but four verbs. what gives?

not to mention this alarming context: out of the four verbs included, only one is an imperative command: to make disciples (of all nations).

it is not to go and be evangelists. it is not to baptize and become a public fast-food-lookalike. it is not even to teach people to obey everything yeshua has commanded.

it is to make-disciples. that’s our command from yeshua in this context.

we go as the wounded healers, the ones with a sordid past, yet we go with honesty and humility before us: to bring the good news, that YHWH rescues, redeems, and restores; that there is one true living god, and he will be for you whatever you are needing in your most desperate moments – he is “I AM.”

i think this somehow lets in more light than the narrow openings found in the “win-build-send” hole.

“for everything exposed by the light becomes a light” and “we will overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony” because “he makes all things new” and his purpose is to “make one new humanity.”

so what are your thoughts? where do you see this played out?

of singulars and plurals

justin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:09:39 +0000

whilst sitting at a local coffeeshop, i took to writing down some thoughts i have been entertaining for about six weeks, maybe seven. this isn’t really so much about the definition of “church” or “local church” or “ecclesia” etc. as much as it is about worship: moreover, worshiping in spirit and in truth.

alas, my thoughts from the napkins transferred to the moleskine,

the church, by definition, is a people; not a person – and certainly not a structure.

sure, there is a time and a place for “the individual” and segregated prayers of “yours” and “mine.” but perhaps sunday morning (or whenever your local church decides to corporately gather) is not the place to proclaim the cause of “you” or “me.”

perhaps, when we come together we ought to be together. our songs should join our hearts and declare that which is and that which we hope will be.

[selah]

we are always moving from the language, and indeed the reality, of i am to we are because I AM.

and yes, i do need yeshua – but never more than we need him together. yes, he did die for me and you, but his purpose was to make one new humanity, blessed be his name!

[selah]

so. practically speaking – and trying to put my proverbial money where my mouth is (after all, being highly unemployed, proverbial money is almost all we have these days, haha! rimshot, please) – a couple ways this meditation is working itself out in my life is through a renewed commitment to corporate worship.

what does that mean? for starters, we are being intentional about not calling the place we wosrhip, “church” around our children: we go to a building on sunday mornings to worship with the church. this is the language i want owen and olivia to be hearing. my hope is that in years to come, we won’t have to have the “church is not a building but a people” conversation.

additionally, in a lifelong effort of trying to be present with YHWH in the midst of a gathering service, i am convinced that part of what this looks like is singing songs and praying prayers toward the community: replacing the singulars with plurals.

“a thousand times i’ve failed, still your mercy remains / and should i stumble again, i’m caught in your grace” – hillsong

we all know these lyrics – and they are SO powerful, beautiful, and true; this is not a question of truth, but of accuracy: in my car, these lyrics are accurate, but as i am standing in the midst of a thousand other souls literally joined together as the kingdom of heaven, they somehow don’t fit quite as well as they could…

“a thousand times we’ve failed, still your mercy remains / and should we stumble again, we’re caught in your grace”

automatically, this slight change, i believe, causes us to remember both the sins and redemption of our entire community! it brings to mind the immediacy of the situations around us: it reminds us that we are not alone – even in our failings, even in our rising with grace – we are a body together, not separate.

and the lyric examples go on and on. my point through all of this is that we are to be intentional (mindful, perhaps) worshipers who worship in spirit and in truth. the beautifully ironic thing is that this may look different for you, but no matter how it looks, it will affect those around you.

at any rate, take these thoughts and discern what you will and apply what you feel GOD says you should: that we all may become a clearer picture of the christ and a more tangible body of the risen king of kings of kings.

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despite my unbelief, i believe that who i am is a son of the only living god & king, YHWH [blessed be his name]. a son of the resurrection. a son of the wind which bends all things.