7 Ways To Build A Church That Hurts The Kingdom of God.

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Michael Wallenmeyer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is scary to think that we can spin our wheels perfecting a model of church yet not have it make any impact in the surrounding culture. How might that happen?

  1. Church is so complicated that only a CEO could run it. The consequence of this kind of church is that the vast majority of Christians come to the false belief that they could never plant a church on their own.
  2. Church shows people how to do great services and programs but not how to make disciples.
  3. Church breeds consumerism instead of challenging it.
  4. Church fails to connect the gospel and mission to everyday life.
  5. Church grows not through conversion but by drawing believers from other churches. But we won’t even care or notice if we are so church-centric that we fail to take into account the kingdom of God.
  6. Church views ministry as something that primarily takes place at a church building instead of seeing all of life as full-time ministry.
  7. Church keeps people so busy they have little time for mission. The truth is that mission has a church, not the other way around (demonstrated to be true through the redemptive narrative of Scripture).

-Full disclosure– I am guilty of some of the above points. I continue to seek a better way.

-Concerning point number 1. I don’t want to needlessly take shots at my pastoral friends who have large churches. I just want to suggest that our corporate model of church may leave many younger Christians with the idea that since they don’t have the leadership skills and gifts of a CEO they are excluded from church planting. We don’t intentionally communicate this, but we need to be aware that it IS how many people feel. Instead we need to embrace some models that are much more organic, smaller, rooted in neighborhoods, without all the bells and whistles so that we can raise up many more church planters in the future.

Posted in Discipleship, Idols of Suburbia, Missional in the Neighborhood | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

The Kingdom of God and the Workplace

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Michael Wallenmeyer

GoAnimate.com: The Kingdom of God and the Workplace by michaelwallenmeyer

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It’s free and fun!

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Jimmy Needham-Clear the Stage

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Michael Wallenmeyer

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Hunger Games: Protecting Our Kids?

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Michael Wallenmeyer

Effie Trinket and Katniss Everdeen.

Just got back from seeing The Hunger Games. Loved it! One of the primary storylines is that there is a group of affluent people (the Capitol) who live the good life while people in outlying districts live in severe poverty.  What is the not so subtle message? Yep, you and I are a great deal like the Capitol.

On a number of occasions I have heard parents talk about how The Hunger Games might not be appropriate for their children because of the violence. If your kids are young, you are probably right. My three kids are not yet ready to watch the movie, although my oldest son has begun reading the books. Here is my issue. While we understandably desire to shield our kids from the ills of society, is it possible that we have protected them so much that they are unaware and indifferent to the suffering all around them? Let’s face it, the chances of our children growing up to become homicidal killers is statistically rather low. The chances of them growing up, pursuing the American Dream and failing to care much about the suffering of others is statistically very high.  I guess I am saying that as parents we need to careful about over-protecting our kids.

I sat my kids down and explained to them why at this point they can’t go see The Hunger Games. But I did not want to stop there. I also took a few more minutes to explain how the story of The Hunger Games does reveal a real problem in our world today. While we have a warm bed to sleep in and plenty of food to eat there are countless millions of boys and girls who are going to bed hungry every single day. I also told them that God wants them to use the good things they have not just for themselves, but to be a blessing to others who have very little.

My prayer for my own kids is not first and foremost that they would be “safe”. They need to know that following Jesus is not always safe.

Posted in Book Reviews, General, The Gospel | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-03-24

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Michael Wallenmeyer
  • Turn the love boat (10% serving the 90%) into an aircraft carrier (everyone on board vital to the mission). http://t.co/DGGpoFCG #
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Mission and Stability in a Transient Culture

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Michael Wallenmeyer

My argument here is rather simple, stability is the pre-requisite to greater mission. We can’t have one without the other. “Stability” in the sense that we stay in one place, with one group of people, for a long period of time. We buck the trend of moving around from one place to another. We embed ourselves in our church and in our neighborhoods. Greater mission is only possible through a greater commitment to stability.

My reasoning. When we understand the gospel, we want to spend our lives making sure others know it and experience it. As we identify the ways that our local neighborhoods are broken and hurting and begin to live as salt and light, we become consumed with it. We also know that this is going to take alot of work, time, prayer, sacrifice, etc… It means we are going to have to partner with others (body of Jesus Christ) to make it happen. We begin to realize that we must put down roots, get our hands dirty in the soil of our neighborhood and live among them (John 1:14). When we fail to live this way we end up treating church like a collection of services that are for our own good. We develop wonderlust. Much of this goes against the culture of suburbia. We have to admit that we are a transient group. We always seem to be looking for the better job, house, church, school, life. This gospel calling will require that we put some of our personal aspirations on the shelf as we honestly seek first the kingdom of God. I believe that the spread of the gospel is going to be dependent on a group of people who are committed to staying in one place, rolling up their sleeves, getting involved in messy community, and taking the second greatest commandment (Matthew 22:39) literally.

A farming metaphor. To think more deeply about mission and stability consider the farmer for a moment. Before the farmer has worked the land he has no real reason t0 feel a connection to it. Things begin to change as the farmer tills his land, plants the seed, and waters it. He becomes connected to the land in a deep and profound way. The love a farmer feels for his field is the same love we should feel for our neighborhood. Why? Because of the painstaking work that has taken place to plant gospel seeds so that we can see a spiritual harvest.

Keeping it real. I have to admit that this gospel farming stuff is not easy. I can tell you that there are times when I have wanted to give up; take my hand off the plow. Go back to a time when church was less costly. Maybe, just maybe this sense of desperation is good. I can’t live this gospel life in my own power and I certainly can not persuade others to do it. My prayer is that in my weakness God will show himself to be strong.

Posted in General, Missional Community, Missional in the Neighborhood, The Gospel, Transitioning to Missional | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-03-17

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Michael Wallenmeyer
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-03-10

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Michael Wallenmeyer
  • Is suburban community an oxymoron? http://t.co/7EC03JRH. "Community" won't happen by chance, we will have to make it a priority. #
  • Every 10 minutes you commute means you are 10% less likely to have meaningful relationships. -Robert Putnam in "Bowling Alone" #
  • Improving "walkability" increases property value in suburbia: http://t.co/lwW0kBZG #
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The Hole in our Discipleship

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Michael Wallenmeyer

“Your system is perfectly designed to get the results you’re getting.”

There are a few primary ways that discipleship happens in the context of church:

  • Sunday Morning Worship
  • Small Groups
  • Ministry Programs
  • One On One

In these different discipleship venues we use the Bible, pray and genuinely desire to help grow our people spiritually. I don’t doubt that for a moment. But we have to face up to the truth that the church is increasingly becoming irrelevant to those on the outside. What’s up? Where is the hole in our discipleship?

Is is possible that in our desire to love and disciple people that we are actually causing them to look more like a consumer than a follower of Jesus Christ?

Here is how it might happen. Let’s say I am the leader of a Small Group. Each week we get together and apply God’s Word in such a way to heal the broken areas of our lives. Sounds pretty good, right? It is good! It’s just incomplete. If we don’t lead our people into mission then our discipleship method is actually reinforcing the half-truth that the gospel is to make their own life better.

The same thing is true in any discipleship context. Sunday morning or in one on one relationships. If I am in a one on one discipling relationship and the gospel is only used to overcome a sinful habit or to help me through a trial then why would we ever expect them to view the gospel as a call to come and die for the good of others?

Let me restate my previous question like this; is it possible that we are discipling and reproducing people who look more like ourselves than they do Jesus?

Posted in Missional Community, The Gospel | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Where Mission Begins

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Michael Wallenmeyer

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