Marvelous quote from Brandon O’Brien at Christianity Today‘s Out of Ur blog —
Over time, the experts have done for church what postcards and PBS specials have done for the Grand Canyon: they’ve made it difficult for us to appreciate our own experience apart from theirs. We have lost the ability to see and experience and appreciate ministry for ourselves. All we can see is the disparity between what our churches are and what they are ‘supposed’ to be.
Here’s the full article called “an unspoiled view.” Another excerpt —
When we forget the principle of the mustard seed, we risk seeing the church through others’ expectations. We view the small church not as God’s mustard seed, but as an obstacle to be overcome. We then rely on our vision to bring about the success we desire. We need to let Scripture retrain our imaginations. To see the small church as God sees it. To learn to see things as they are, not as we imagine they are “supposed” to be.
Walker Percy used his illustration about the Grand Canyon to describe the role of the educator. The teacher’s job is to help people see for themselves—to engage the world afresh. The single greatest problem with small churches is perception. Low attendance, small budgets, and limited staff are not, in and of themselves, problematic. What is problematic are the insecurities and defensiveness that result when we fail to live up to expectations of success established by a relative handful of churches.
What do you think?
In my role as a teacher, I have determined that if I have some insight I want others to adopt as their own, others must have the same freedom I have to consider various perspectives and, hopefully, reach the same conclusion I did.
Most, if not all, of us fail to appreciate how many experiences and ideas influence and contribute to what we believe about matters of faith (or any other topic).
Yet, sometimes we take the position that our conclusions are superior to someone else's — forgetting how messed up all of us really are.
We should probably spend more time and focus on living out what we say we believe than on convincing others how "right" we are.
Yes – wholeheartedly agree!!
Success in the eyes of our Creator IS NOT success in the eyes of the world.
We cannot use size, effectiveness, numbers involved, or "good done" as the measures for whether or not we are "successful" in our mission.
Our mission is to be Christ in and to this world. Nothing more. Everything else is the realm of God. We cannot let worldly thinking and metrics influence how we measure our paths in this world.
Good leadership, then, has the "tools" to judge effectiveness not in the ways of this world, but in the ways of following Christ. This is a much more difficult thing to do, and is why good leadership is so hard to find.
Leadership, oversight, and direction, then, are needed much more than in "worldly" missions as measuring our path on the Way is so much more difficult to quantify.
Therefore, everything matters – from what we wear to what we drive to what we eat to who we spend time with to where we live to what we do for a living to how we worship to how we give, etc. All of it is the same in God's eyes. We must mirror Christ in all of it. The "good works", then, are nothing more than the normal outflow of the Way, just as worship is a normal outflow of the Way, just as evangelism is a normal outflow of the Way. But our focus must always be on the Way – the path of Christ, the inhabiting and manifestation of Christ through us, both in and to the world always – everywhere – to everyone.
The Way is not some "life path" to follow, but the very living and active presence of the very living and active Christ to whom we have sworn our allegiance.
There are no "big things" to accomplish. There is no such thing as "growing a church" for a Christian. There is only being Christ. There is only the goal of purity of love. While not perfected while in this life, that is the goal to which we ascribe, and nothing more.
I'm convinced once we, as the body of Christ, have that, then we will see two things: much increased resentment and persecution from the power structures of this world (as seen in government bodies being less and less likely to work with Christians because of their "otherness"), and an explosion in the growth of followers of Christ because, finally, we, the body of Christ, are truly mirroring our Lord and Savior. It is only Him that draws and changes.
As one who was preaching in the 70's I witnessed the battle over the bus program. It fizzled; not only because of gas prices, but because, I am convinced, what seemed to be an easy way to grow a church did not feed anyone.
Today you have the legalists who still dream of debates and gospel meetings with mass numbers responding to the invitation; from other churches of course. You also have the so-called progressives who believe a church has to have quartets and guitars.
Just let me hear what is being said in a Bible class; let me see if they read, and what they read. And the amazing thing is that sometimes I can know these things from simply sitting with coworkers in a break room without ever having to be in their church building or ever knowing how many poeple attend their congregation.
As a teacher I have learned that the best thing I can ever do for my students is honestly say "I don't know" or at least be very clear when I am approaching a discussion from a certain perspective that there are other perspectives out there that the Scripture may support as well. It is amazing how fast a class loosen up and begin to share and grow when integrity and freedom to be wrong enter the picture. (Oh and spitirually these are the best things I can do for me as well.)
It is certain that Jesus called the "experts" in Jewish Law and conduct (Pharisees) everything but a child of God for the way they had distorted and misrepresented the intent of the Law…but, I have one question that I'm not sure scripture answers directly….Do you think the Pharisees purposefully distorted the law and customs or was it the result of a lack of divinely inspired understanding and direction?