the myth of BIGGER is better

At youth group, we play a game about once a year called “Bigger or Better”

We send groups of 5 out into the community armed with one roll of toilet paper. (not to throw at houses and cars as some students have assumed over the years!)  Each group’s goal is to obtain something from a neighbor that is either bigger or better. Sounds pretty simple, but you would be amazed at the stories over the years…and the crap we have received! (not to mention a few police run ins).  One thing that this sort of game demonstrates is that the roll of toilet paper really is not very desirable.  And, while it is fairly easy to observe and judge which new item is bigger…how does each group decide upon what is better?  I would imagine their thought process and decision making would alter depending on whether or not someone really had to the use the bathroom!

A few months ago I was down south (in the heart of the Bible belt) and was talking with some fellow youth pastors.  One of whom had a very large youth group.  He was a great guy and never once actually threw out a number (like so many youth pastors do)

By the way…have you ever noticed when someone at a conference asks “How is your ministry doing?” generally they really mean to say “how big is yours?…..”

But this guy talked about their programs, the masses of “unreached” students who come into their warehouse each Friday to play video games, skateboard, make fried food, and hear a message about Jesus.

All of which sounded really cool (and since his youth group business card had a cool graphic design on it) I stood awed and amazed.

For some reason, I figured I could learn from this guy since his made mine look small (typical boy locker room stuff, right?)

I don’t mean to be crude, but this was actually how I felt that evening.

So when my turn came to speak about my ministry, I sheepishly told him what we did not have.

That list was pretty long and took some time to verbalize.

But then…

I shared with him the graduation parties I went to, the birthday parties, sporting events, and recitals I have been to. I shared with him the times I have had my students over for a meal, the intimate and honest conversations we have each night at youth group, and how I truly feel like part of their family over the years.

Tears started to form in his eyes.

And as he wiped away the misty glow he stated, “Man, that’s what youth ministry is supposed to be about. I envy what you guys have going up there in New York.”

Imagine that!  A big time Bible belt mega church youth pastor envious of some no name, no logo, no website youth ministry tucked away in the liberal North East!

So what’s so amazing is that in the pursuit of the Big, we have lost a sense of the Best.

Students really don’t care about being entertained or being surround by thousands of teens. Sure, it may generated a sense of temporary excitement, but what they ultimately value and appreciate are youth leaders who enter into their lives and not stand apart from it.

You see, it is easier to hide behind productions and programs that we do for the teens, than to enter into the messiness of teenage life and be burdened by their individual struggles, fears, and doubts.

But the last time I check, most youth pastors went into the ministry to do just that. But somewhere along the way we got the Bigger is Better itch (maybe at a conference or by visiting another youth group.

We come back to our tiny youth room with old couches and think..I must be doing something wrong.

We think…”Maybe a new book with new ideas will spark my ministry. Maybe I need a bigger budget. Yeah, that’s the ticket. A bigger budget will somehow lead to more students, and then somehow having more students will lead to more spiritual growth.”

I contend that sometimes just the opposite is true in emerging youth ministry!

The New Christians…a review

I was eager to read Tony Jones’ new book The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier. I have tried to stay current with his writings and other authors along the Emergent frontier such as Brian McLaren, Doug Paggit, Dan Kimball, among others. While many of these other “emergent” books are musings, thoughts, and reflections, I was hoping that The New Christians would provide additional clarity to what lies behind the Emergent movement. The history, philosophical background, religious questionings, theology per se, and the hopes and dreams of the emerging leaders truly emerged in this book. I find the conversations well articulated, inspiring, challenging, and beautiful at the same time. While much in this book does raise theological questions for me, these questions are much needed and long overdue.

Emergent Christianity is a middle ground, or a third way, between the foundationalism of traditional liberalism and conservatism. In many ways, it is a reaction against the beliefs, assumptions, presuppositions, and affects of modernism, especially modernism’s impact and influence on western Christianity. We are living in an ever increasingly postmodern age, and thus the emergent movement is an attempt to re-think and re-imagine what Christianity can and should look like for this new generation and generations to come.

Yet a wonderful component of this movement is that it does not shun or deny the importance of other traditions and movements within historical Christianity. Dispatch 1 states, “Emergents find little importance in the discrete differences between the various flavors of Christianity. Instead, they practice a generous orthodoxy that appreciates the contributions of all Christian movements” (8).

I resonated with one of the problems associated with the individualism of evangelicalism that Jones highlighted. Too often, all of the emphasis in placed on an individual’s personal commitment to Christ, which is then followed up with the command of “personal” devotions. We have made Christianity a personal faith, distancing it from the social and communal entity it was meant to be. Furthermore, in promoting this personal holiness, Christians are more concerned about their own lives then the lives of others. I have witnessed more time being spent in devotions, Bible studies, and Sunday school classrooms than helping the poor, advocating for justice, and reaching those in need.

I often wonder what the point is striving for godliness and holiness if its end result does not make you more sensitive, compassionate, and loving towards others? As Jones states, “the church that doesn’t challenge its members to face the core ethical issues that confront them every day at work is the church that has abdicated its responsibility” (17).

The emergent generation feel great disappoint with modern American Christianity, desire inclusion rather than exclusion, and has a hope-filled orientation. I share all of these and especially agree with the phrase, “Our calling as a church is to partner with God in the work that God is already doing in the world-to cooperate in the building of God’s kingdom” (72). And I also agree with the emergents is that God can, and does work through non-believers to accomplish his purposes. After all, isn’t it reasonable to think that God’s purposes are much bigger than our own? Our goals seem to boil down to one thing; getting people saved so that they can escape hell. God’s purposes for his creation is to renew, restore, and repair relationships and bring about new life…here on earth first. So I don’t think God is going to deny the help of well-meaning individuals or organizations because they don’t have the correct understanding of him. As dispatch 6 states, “Emergents see God’s activity in all aspects of culture and reject the sacred-secular divide.” (75) Truth is wherever God designs to expose it; it is most perfectly and poignantly instantiated in the person of Jesus, and from him it flows out into all creation” (75)

As I tell my students, “All God is God’s truth”. This means that they do not have to be afraid of science, art, and other religions because if they discover something to be true or beautiful, they are free to claim it as being form God. I also make the equation that God is love. Therefore, wherever they find love, even in other religions, God is present. As Rob Bell said, our world is drenched in the presence of God. “If God is in it, then emergent Christians will find God there” (76).

From one personal note, I really understood Tony’s experience at Dartmouth with Campus Crusade. That style of evangelism and ministry is what I grew up with and in many ways still feel pressured to do and make my students do. The problem is that I too find it very uncomfortable, anti-relational, generally unsuccessful, and the opposite of Jesus’ way of loving. I have grown to really not like (I won’t use the word hate, but am tempted to) door-to-door evangelism that we do on our mission trips each summer. And I hate (I will use this word now) the fact that I feel that way. I feel so guilty, especially when others, like my wife, really enjoy it and thank God each time for the opportunity. I ask myself what is wrong with me. But then I compare it to the joy I have in sharing my life’s experiences with some good and trusted friends who do not consider themselves “born-again” Christians. Yet in some many of our conversations, we share deep spiritual things and I have truly felt the presence of Jesus there. That is the kind of “evangelism” I love to engage in, but of course this takes months and years of trust and mutual friendship. Should I be alarmed that I really don’t have a goal with these friends? Sometimes I feel that I should try to lead them in a prayer of salvation or invite them to church when an alter call will be offered. Yet, does God need our clever sales pitches to work in their hearts? However, I remember my own conversation was a very radical event that truly changed my heart and life in an instant. What if the Holy Spirit desires to work in a similar way, but is waiting for my friends to truly make a personal commitment to Him. Now I am starting to sound like an evangelical again!

Human life is theology. That statement stuck with me as I reflected and ponder about its significance and realized its truth. It is a great way to start conversations with people and also to challenge and convict Christians. The statement about what kind of house we buy is extremely revealing, as was the question about parking spots vs. Darfur.

I feel so dissatisfied with traditional answers to questions such as what does God allow evil in the world, or can someone be a homosexual and a Christian. I get completely infuriated with Calvinist’s responses to almost every question I have, while other Christians simply do not want to engage in these tough questions. Those who pose these questions are branded as having a questionable faith or battling the demons of doubt, or come crap like that. (Pardon my language)

I have also had conversations such as the one posed between the True Biblicist, “Brain”, and the Emergent. I do not think the Bible was written (past) or should be read (current) as handbook to Christian living. It is certainly a guide and rule of faith and while it does contain some things I believe to be universally true, its main purpose is to point its readers to the person and life of Jesus. True Biblicists run into myriad problems by attempting to stick to the letter of the law. I find this today with the issue of divorce. While I do not think divorce is good, healthy, or favored by God, I believe His heart is much bigger than even his commands. If a person were in a very bad marriage (abuse, neglect, adultery, etc…) than wouldn’t a loving heavenly Father want his child to be free of such a thing? Of course, people can easily abuse this freedom, which is why there is a command against it. But in my opinion, each situation is different and therefore these commands are contextual. This line of reasoning follows the approach of “wise interpretation” offered in the book. Seeing hermeneutics as an art, and not a science is a big challenge that can lead to transformation and freedom. Experience and humility are also needed.

I like the phrase “hermeneutic of humility” offered by Jones. Interestingly enough, I am about to finish a class at seminary on Hermeneutics and never once heard this phrase mentioned! I too believe that we can have “proper confidence” and become better interpreters through dialogue and conversation. I also believe that the Holy Spirit can and does inspire and illuminate our reading of the text each and ever time we approach it in humility and openness.

And yes, paradox does exist in the real world, our personal experience, and within the Bible. And, as Jones declares, we can and should embrace it. “God can be the creator of the universe and the breaker of the rules of physics. God can be sovereign yet no the author of evil…as is so often the case, the ‘truth’ lies in between, in a person (Jesus) who was truly human and truly divine-in faith, no fideism” (155). We should not handicap or limit who God is or what he can do. Does God really only work in absolutes. Is he that limited and uncreative? My God is not boring, static, and cannot be contained in a well-articulated theological box.

Much more could be written, and I suppose I already wrote too much. (Maybe I should start blogging!). Each section of this book offered great insight into the thinking of the emergent movement and caused me to rethink my own views. On the whole, this movement resonates deep within me. I am finding solidarity with these authors and friends and am finally finding people (albeit through books) that I can dialogue with about what is going on inside my mind and heart. I hope to engage more often in conversations with others rather than just let my mind wander and ramble in writing.

I am glad that Jones added stories and examples of some emerging churches such as Solomon’s Porch, the Journey, and Jacob’s Well, and I hope to visit some of them one day. I also appreciate Appendix A and hope that everyone who reads this book (especially its critics) will spend time reading the four commitments and subsequent practices of the Emergent Village and movement. In closing, I am encouraged and inspired by this book and hopeful that it will bring change and transformation to American Christians and Christianity as a whole. I find myself charting a similar path as the author has and I am hopefully optimistic that I will continue to dialogue with others, learn, grow, and change throughout my journey.

Additional Quotes (that I really liked)

“Emergents trust the Holy Spirit more than they trust in the methods of doing church” (61).

“If church is what happens when people encounter the Risen Jesus and commit themselves to sustaining and deepening that encounter in their encounter with each other, there is plenty of theological room for diversity of rhythm and style, so long as we have ways of identifying the same living Christ as the heart of every expression of Christian life in common.” (53)

“Emerging Churches are communities that practice the way of Jesus within postmodern cultures…they are missional communities emerging in postmodern culture and consisting of followers of Jesus seeking to be faithful to the orthodox Christian faith in their place and time” (56).

“This, then, is a high view of the church: the collected people of God, in community with God’s Spirit, will stay on track and engaged with God’s work in the world” (185)

Dispatched 15: Emergents hold to a hope-filled eschatology: it was good news when Jesus came the first time, and it will be good news when he returns” (176).

on Postmodernism

On ministering in the postmodern world…an essay

Postmodernism is a real development that has changed the way humans think, reflect, behave, and interact with each other. Whether recent philosophers birthed this movement, or whether philosophy prophetically spoke about the inevitability of postmodernism is certainly up for debate. However, what is not up for discussion is whether or not postmodernism is real, influential, and important for the church to understand. Postmodern thought has already impacted the western world, especially in such places as Europe, major urban centers in Africa and Asia, and along the east and west coasts of the United States. This influence can be easily noticed in educational systems, architecture, science, linguistics and other fields such as sociology and anthropology. People are changing. Human beings continue to evolve and progress in their knowledge and ability to reflect and think. Postmoderns, simply put, have a much different worldview and perspective on life than then those trained and influenced by modern thought. Subjects such as truth, objectivity, propositions, form, function, and authority have forged a gap between these two generations. We are now in, as many scholars and philosophers would say, a major paradigm shift with profound implications for humanity. And yet, the church seems to be poorly equipped to deal with this change.

The Emerging church movement represents a response to the growing tide of postmodernism in the western world. Whether this movement simply mirrors the radical attempt of evangelicalism in the 1950’s or brings about long-term shifts such as the Reformation…only time will tell.

This introduction needs to be made in order to reflect upon my involvement and response to postmodernism. I see these changes happening and see the failed attempts of Christianity in the recent past. Postmodernism cannot be ignored, nor can it be condemned. For, if in fact, the dawn of postmodernism is fast approaching, the church of today must learn to minister within postmodernism, or there will be no church of tomorrow. The church must respond to the changes and demands of globalization. Postmodernism helps define how to live in the tension; live in the paradox of real life.

The emerging church in the midst of postmodernism, is attempting to find an alternative (third way) between secularism and liberalism to the left and fundamentalism and ethnocentrism to the right. While complex, messy and uncertain, it seems to be the most authentic approach to ministering to, with, and as a postmodern.

I grew up in the Northeast of the United States in a well educated and financially secure community. Growing up as an evangelical Christian, I was trained to either ignore or reject any form of postmodern thought. This new type of thinking questioned the ability to know anything concretely or absolutely; it praised contextualism and relativism; it valued doubt and deconstructionalism. Needless to say, these were issues the church did not want to respond to, and so the church held firm to its views and frowned upon those who questioned anything. But I quickly learned for myself that questioning is necessary, and doubt can be a good thing. Of course there is risk involved in such an approach, but nothing worth believing in is null of risk.

Growing up in New England, the only alternative to conservative evangelicalism was an extreme form of liberalism. This stream of Christianity used historical/critical analysis to deconstruct the biblical text…and its message. It also demythologized the story and discredited all of the miracles in the biblical narrative. To liberals, the message of Jesus was more important than the factual history of him. To me, these were very skeptical people who simply could not believe in mystery or paradoxes. I saw this as a complete lack of faith in the supernatural or spiritual. However, I always appreciated the belief that somehow, the “gospel” that Jesus preached was more than simply a one-way ticket to heaven. Liberal Christians in my area were extremely involved in social action and justice. They seemed to ‘live the faith” with more conviction and passion than many of my church members. While we were holding massive rallies and trying to convert people, they were feeding the poor, caring for the environment, and trying to make “this” world a better place to live. And somehow that resonated with me. It seemed to me that’s what Jesus meant when he prayed that God’s kingdom would come “on earth as it is in heaven”. Of course, I could never share these views for risk of scorn and excommunication (not literally I think). There seemed to be no place for a doubtful and yet hopeful, skeptical and yet faithful, theologically liberal and yet culturally conservative type of Christian.

Attending a reformed Christian college actually marked the beginning of my journey navigating the unchartered waters between conservative evangelicalism and liberalism. Systematic theology just wasn’t cutting it. The professors laid out this neatly packaged box of beliefs about God, and while I could follow their reasoning and logic, something about nailing down and cementing the concept of God didn’t sit well with me. In other classes, we would spend hours dissecting the Bible as if in a laboratory in hopes of fully understanding even the smallest nuances and literary devices of each participle. These students would literally spend hours and hours each week delving into the text. In contrast, I wanted to spend time with people and love them as Jesus did.

For some reason, and I know this is an outrageous generalization, it seemed to me that the more time people spent time mastering the text and mastering their understanding of God, the less like Jesus they became. They would become more judgmental, angry, removed from society, less tolerant of others, more critical, more likely to condemn, and less likely to love and forgive. But then again… I could have been wrong. I appreciate the emergent hermeneutic of humility and uncertainty. As we humble ourselves to the unknown greatness and mystery of God, we allow the text of Scripture to master us and open the way for God to work in and through us in new life-giving ways.

I started to read more about what Jesus actually taught and how he lived, and it really didn’t translate to the version of evangelicalism I was familiar with. In fact, the more I read the gospels, the more similarities I witnessed between many prominent evangelical leaders and the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. The Pharisees in the first century were very concerned about maintaining their religious traditions and protecting the holiness of God. They established rules upon rules to protect God’s laws from being violated and often spoke about the anger and wrath of God upon people who didn’t follow their ways. Then Jesus came on the scene and really upset these religious leaders. He spent time with the outcasts of society and embraced them rather than judging them. He spoke about the radical love of God, and seemed much more concerned about restoration and reconciliation than upholding religious traditions. In fact he claimed that the Pharisees got it wrong by focusing on the letter of the law rather than the love of law.

I have also witnessed that within evangelicalism has existed a militant notion of advancing the Kingdom of God. Certainly this was the case during the Crusades, but even today the prevalent mentality among most Christians is an “us vs. them” mindset. You can see this reflected in the titles of sermons, articles and books such as the Battle for Faith or the War on Truth and motivation slogans such as “increasing His kingdom” and “advancing the gospel”. Of course this is widely agreed upon and advocated because the main purpose of Christians is to win as many people as possible to their beliefs before they die. Once again, the gospel simply becomes to save as many souls as possible and using whatever means necessary.

There is a difference in theology and approach between advancing the kingdom on the one hand, and partnering with God in his activity in the world on the other. The emerging church is seeking to be missional and incarnational and to find a common ground between these two notions. The essence of the gospel cannot, no should not, be easily boiled down. Even within Jesus’ teachings there existed a dualism between this world and some other world; between the here and now and the future. Postmoderns really care about what is happening here on earth and in the complexities of daily life and relationships.

I believe the church must minister with postmoderns. For right now, postmoderns are considered a separate tribe of people. Missiologists are attempting to contextualize the gospel in order to minister to these educated, wealthy, (mostly white) Westerners. I am not convinced however that people so influenced by modern thought will be able to understand and articulate within postmodernity. It is possible though that if missionaries try to understand the cultural, philosophical, and linguistic differences and learn to appreciate them, they might be able to succeed. However, from a personal experience, “missionaries” to the North East never faired too well, especially if they were not Red Sox fans! People in New England can always tell an outsider. If that person makes a real effort to speak our language, learn our culture, history and customs, and disown the Yankees, he or she may stand a chance. Longevity always helps as well.

Therefore, it is possible to minister to the postmodern generation. I see the evangelical church (hopefully) attempting to minister “with” the postmodern generation. Even now, this “emergent” church movement is considered a minority stream within the broader context of Christianity, much like Eastern orthodoxy. Of course, there are many Christian leaders who simply will not acknowledge “Emergent” as Christian, and I am fairly confident that in the future such people will become the new fundamentalists. This is because I believe that the emergent movement may in fact change the face of Christianity as we know it. Of course, I doubt the term “emergent” will last forever, but I do think that this necessary deconstruction of evangelical beliefs, doctrines, and institutionalism will have far-reaching impact.

Even now, the Evangelical Manifesto was recently written, and has embraced many facets of the “emergent” movement. If this manifesto were written ten years ago, it would be radically different. I can envision evangelicalism embracing postmodern thought in many ways including the uncertainty of “absolute” belief, the duality of God’s kingdom, the command of stewardship of the earth, a renewed focus on the spirituality of the physical, and an increased awareness for missional living and social action and justice. This current generation of western Christians is embracing the emerging church, because this conversation is speaking into the realities of life as we know it to be. It embraces the messiness and uncertainty of life, values relationships and authenticity, and seeks to follow in the way of Jesus.

Moreover, though clearly not primarily a generational movement, people between the ages of 15-40 all across the western world make up the postmodern generation. If the church does not minister to, with, and as postmoderns, little will be done to bring the future generations into the Christian faith. Ministering in a postmodern age will require of someone to be a missiologist, sociologist, anthropologist, philosopher, linguist, historian, Biblical scholar, and contextual theologian. But then again, authentically following in the footsteps of Jesus may do just as well!

Although not fully complete, nor adequately descriptive, there are a number of characteristics that unite emerging churches.

Here are nine core practices of emerging churches that I resonate with, and believe are necessary features of churches hoping to minister in the postmodern world.

• Identifying with Jesus
• Transforming secular space
• Living as community
• Welcoming the stranger
• Serving with generosity
• Participating as producers (creating culture)
• Creating as created beings
• Leading as a body
• Merging ancient and contemporary

I end my essay admitting that I consider myself one of the few, the proud, the…”Emergents”. I can speak the language, relate, and understand my generation because I am part of this generation. I understand the difficulties in coming to faith; yet also understand the deep longing for intimacy with God and relationships with others. I want to have hope in a good destiny after I die (eternal life), yet am not content with waiting around for that future day and seeing my world around me fall into despair. I want to make a difference in the world, and that cry from my heart is also the cry of this generation. And I truly believe that God hopes for the same.

If the God of Christianity is an anger-bent and intolerant being who is waiting for the earth to get bad enough to destroy it so he can then send most people into eternal torture, then I have a very hard time wanting to love and live for a God like that. However, if God is truly compassionate, kind, and loving in his nature and character, and desires for the salvation of all, than that’s a different story. If the message of Jesus when he first came to earth was good and if will be good news when he comes back, and if God desires the restoration and reconciliation of all things, than that is a God I can and want to partner with. If Christianity is simply about obtaining fire insurance so that we don’t end up in hell, then it seems to be a very limited belief system that completely downplays our entire existence here on earth. If however, God is still active and at work here on earth in preparation of the life to come, that gives me hope and much more of a purpose here on earth.

I subscribe to this “fuller understanding of the gospel”, not taking away or subtracting, but adding a new, deeper, and richer meaning. The church is not here for us. We are the church and the church is here for the world. This is the eschatology of hope. This is the emerging church. This is why I desire to minister as a postmodern, with postmoderns, and to the postmodern generation.