Amending Scripture

  At the heart of evangelism and church planting is the Canon of Scripture. It should be what provides us with motive and method for everything we do and should not be subject to a vote. But it appears that like our United States Bill of Rights, the church has felt the need to correct its deficiencies with amendments. Now while they may not take the technical form of such, they end up functioning as such.
  Prior to my leaving the mainstream to plant a non-traditional church, I served in five traditional ones. As verbal as each was in declaring its allegiance to the Bible, every time I attempted to lead in creatively fulfilling our purpose of reaching the unchurched, I was confronted with either “we’ve never done it that way before” (better known as the last seven words of the church) or “we can’t do that because our Constitution and Bylaws says, ‘blah, blah, blah.’” It was never about Scripture! While it is necessary to have some agreed upon documents to satisfy the laws governing legal incorporating as a church, going too far beyond that by canonizing culturally attuned methodologies is akin to amending the Bible.
  In my last effort at leading a traditional church into evangelistic productivity, the legally required Trustees had assumed a governing role in all matters. The Chairman carried around a notebook with a newspaper article about a church fight that had pitted the Trustees against the Deacons regarding the disposition of the Pastor. It ended up in court where it was ruled that the Trustees were the legal guardians of the corporation and as such were in the position of final authority. I was frequently reminded of that article. In most cases, whether it is Trustees or Deacons, they are normally waving a copy of the church’s Constitution and Bylaws saying, “we can’t do that because it says here, ‘blah, blah, blah.’”
  While a particular governing municipality may require certain officers in forming the corporation, they do not stipulate how they are placed into that position. If the only spiritually binding document is Scripture, then great care must be exercised in creating assumed amendments that bind the hands of present and future leaders. Successful pastoral leadership requires the right to make decisions within the framework of Scripture. If pastoral leadership isn’t in a position to make a mistake, it isn’t in a position to lead.

Incarnation

  Last night my wife and I, along with another couple from our church, attended a Chicago concert at a waterfront venue known as Pier Six, in Baltimore. Pier Six is an open air, large tent arrangement that sits at the Inner Harbor of Charm City. On this particular 80 degree evening, as we were enjoying the music of a great band from the 60's & 70's, I had a church planting epiphany.
  I became an adolescent in the 60's and an adult in the 70's. While not sheltered from the prevailing cultural environment of sex, drugs and Rock’n’Roll, I was nonetheless separated from it by my personal faith. I was somewhat familiar with the popular bands of that era but not immersed in them. I did not attend a single ‘secular’ concert during that period. Fast forward a few decades and here I am, a church planter, attending and enjoying a ‘secular’ concert with thousands of ‘heathen.’
   One of my church planting influencing texts is 1 Corinthians 9 where Paul talks about his own transformation from a ‘good Jewish boy’ to a ‘color outside of the lines’ Jesus promoting missionary. He was obviously driven by the incarnational principle of ‘becoming.’ Just as Jesus became flesh that sinners might be reconciled to God, so Paul felt compelled to become ‘barbarian, slave, free,’ etc. for the same reason. I am convinced that he went through a serious learning curve respecting what that meant since those were places, people and cultural practices foreign to his experience. It became obvious at the time that the traditionalists of his day felt like he had crossed the line. Thank God, he stood his ground and proved them wrong.
  Church planting has to be about right motives. I have known some who were in it for other reasons, like those who so wanted to be known as ‘Pastor’ that they saw planting as the way of achieving that distinction. What they fail to do was connect with the culture that didn’t share their personal need for recognition. Because I knew my calling was to reach a ‘Rock’n’Roll’ generation I find myself sitting at a Chicago concert in 2011.
  The incarnational journey has been interesting. I have been attending ‘secular’ concerts now for the last 18 years and have seen Journey, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special, Stray Cats, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, ZZ Top, Dennis DeYoung (Styx), Hank Williams Jr., Crosby, Stills and Nash to name a few, plus a Pink Floyd tribute band. In these venues I have been groped, hit on, flashed and offered a joint. How has that helped in church planting? I invariably run into people I know who need Jesus and in that moment and venue I become real to them and they, in turn, tell their friends who they saw at that concert. In Paul's words, "I become..... that by all possible means I might save some."

Back Roads

    As a passionate motorcyclist I not only love to ride, I particularly love back roads. I’ve been from Key West, Florida to Bangor, Maine. You can have the interstate, give me the “less traveled road.” And as much as I look forward to a road trip every year with my wife where we can chase endless curving, two lane stretches, I don’t wait for that once-a-year event. I try to take the “scenic route” no matter the destination.
    One of the many hospitals that I have visited in the Baltimore area is GBMC and it happens to be on the other side of this sprawling metropolitan area. Between my home and there is a not-so-appealing ride through a concrete city. On one of those ministry excursions via motorcycle I took the most direct route in getting there. It was efficient, but not particularly enjoyable. Upon the completion of my visit I decided to take the indirect route home without any idea of where it would take me. I knew that I was inside the Beltway and would somehow wind my way west, then south, eventually running into that band of pavement surrounding the city.
    The first area of adventure just happened to be a neighborhood of old, stately mansions with gorgeous lawns and huge mature trees. It was breathtaking. It wasn’t long before I found myself on a winding, two lane road surrounded by cornfields! It was surreal. Had I not known where I was, I would never have guessed where I was; inside the Baltimore Beltway. Even though it has been a several years since that ride, it has left an indelible impression on my mind.
    When Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman, introducing her to faith, His disciples, upon returning from town, exhibited some confusion in their subsequent conversation. While He wanted to talk about spiritual food, they kept thinking caloric food. It was in that context that He uttered those now famous words, “don’t say there are yet four months until the harvest. Look upon the fields, they are white already unto harvest.” While His disciples were left scratching their heads about what He meant, I get it. There are more ministry opportunities than we have eyes for. All we have to do is look!
    Church planting is about seeing the unseen, be it north, south, east or west. Leaving the familiar church paths with open eyes, we are likely to find those white fields and more than a few Samaritan women....

Occupational Hazards

  Occupational hazards: we assume to know what that means. We normally think of workplace safety like falling materials, bulletproof vests or crash helmets. Being in vocational ministry, having a title and a paycheck, is no exception. I know that it ranks high on the “most admired, trusted or respected professions” unless your trying to get a loan. Then, for some reason, we rank with used car salesmen. Among the ministerial are more than a few bad apples which is only a part of the occupational hazards of planting a church.
  My generation has viewed “soul winning” as the be all, do all and end all of Kingdom life. We have the gospel that sinners need, limited time/opportunity for getting the job done, haste makes waste, find ‘em, tackle ‘em, convert ‘em, build a church out of ‘em. That may have worked in the past, but no longer. My understanding of advancing the kingdom and particularly of church planting requires planning, patience, planting, watering and stealth. I hate just as much being labeled “preacher, pastor, minister, clergyman, reverend” publically as I did being the “preacher’s kid” growing up, because of the stigma (occupational hazard). I don’t know many sinners who really like hanging out with “God’s spy.”
  When I began the planting venture, I got into boating. Living on the Chesapeake Bay inspired some of that. Being given a boat took care of the rest. Because of my obsessive nature a little boat quickly became not enough boat and I found myself at a local dealership that was family owned. It looked a lot like a boat wrecking yard; my kind of place. Yes, I bought a bigger boat which exposed me to the family/employees and it was immediately evident that I was not on Holy Ground. As a customer, I began hanging out there, building relationships while concealing my identity. After some months, the owner having discovered what I did, asked, “What am I supposed to call you? I’ve never known a Preacher Man before.” Friendship gave way to ministry. (By-the-way, he still calls me “Preacher Man.”) Plant, water and expect a harvest, just not overnight. Bridge building takes time.

Under The Sword

  In hindsight, I have become convinced that I have done my best work in ministry “fighting the good fight.” In the mid seventies I dutifully adopted the traditional approach to church work. At best, it was simply good for no other reason than we just didn’t know better. In the eighties we began reading about innovative ministries that were breaking the mold for doing church, coloring outside of conventional lines. At first I was suspicious, then became curious and finally convinced. It wasn’t how we did church that was important, it was why.
  While there were struggles in the traditional context, it was normally over earth shaking issues like the color of the carpet or whether to buy the newest Hymnal. Those were the days! The real kingdom struggles came with altering the program in order to reach the unchurched. I had found my calling! It was a Great Commission battle cry for which I was born. Every issue, every change, every step was incendiary. I, in effect, was attempting to “bust the union” of the denominational franchise. I hated every battle and loved every victory! Under the restraints of tradition I fought unrestrained. Then came the church plant. A funny thing happens when the restraints are removed. Like trapeze artists who swing without a net, caution becomes the watchword.
   Welcome to the court of Dionysius II of Syracuse. According to the legend, Damocles was a courtier who was smitten by the thought of being king and expressed so. Dionysius offered him the opportunity to switch places which he accepted. Having donned the crown and regal robe he sat on the throne at which time it was arranged to have a huge sword suspended over his head by a single hair of a horse’s tail.
    The Sword of Damocles; such is the glory of church planting.

Risky Business

    Two of my current female members took a trip to California, rented a van, visited Rick Warren’s church and saw the sights. Somewhere along the way they encountered an unexpected traffic jam. If you’ve ever been anywhere close to LA, traffic jams are to be expected, but usually they are traffic related. Such was not the case. As they inched their way forward, curiously scanning the road as to some reasonable cause, there it was. It was not the product of rubber necking (the bane of those of us with somewhere to be), or of an accident, or of a road hazard, but of a helpless creature with its head stuck in a Yoplait cup wandering in circles on the road. Thousands of motorists, if not tens of thousands, were stopping and inching their way around this hapless and helpless creature. Leave it to two from NAC to be the compassionate duo.
    Before you begin condemning Californians for being calloused or indifferent to one of God’s little creatures, you really need to know one more thing: it was a skunk! Need I say more to explain the lack of mercy? Our dynamic duo was determined to deliver Pepe Le Pew from his imprisonment. While Kim stopped the van, Linda eased around from the passenger side intent on a quick snatch-and-run maneuver. Linda succeeded in the snatch part, then fell in her hasty retreat. Fortunately for her, the skunk, surprised by its sudden deliverance but still rather upset, decided to deliver its gift of gratitude to Kim. Thankfully, she was able to roll up her widow in time while Linda returned to the safety of the vehicle. I’m guessing that traffic didn’t begin moving very fast as other drivers were recovering from their fit of hysterical laughter at this scene.
    Church planting is risky business and it does require that we exit our comfort (and safe) zones for those incapable of helping themselves. While some make church planting sound like a walk in the park to the road to becoming a spiritual celebrity, make no mistake, it is not. Thank goodness, at least some of the time, we can get the window up.

Secret Covenant

   My wife loves children’s literature. Even though she is a trained educator with a couple of degrees, her love for it grew out of her exposure as a child. She is able to cite author and title from the obscure. I, on the other hand, can’t even recognize the most famous! My taste and interest in literature couldn’t be more different, yet we have managed a happy marriage for 35 years. While she loves the sense of security that reading children’s literature gives her, I thrive on the adventurous, hazardous, dangerous. Strangely enough, these patterns emerged in our church planting experience.
   While the contemporary church planting strategy includes healthy financial backing, such was not the case for us. When we embarked on our adventure in 1993, we did so with a handful of people and a lot of faith. While our motley group was abuzz with the excitement of escaped convicts, freed from the fetters of traditional church politics and trappings, I was living the reality of reality. I wasn’t looking for a leisurely and secure walk in the park. I wanted to climb mountains, but I was not delusional enough to assume that I was doing what God wanted. I embraced the risk of potential failure by entering into a secret covenant with God that went something like: “Lord, if we do not exceed 100 in regular attendance the first year, I’ll pack it in because I will know that You are not in it.” God wasn’t out on a limb, but I was prepared to be.
   Five locations, eighteen years, 600+ baptisms and two campuses later I think I got my answer. Yet, what it turned into was never what I expected. While my previous church experience had been more akin to children’s literature meets Freddy Krueger, it had nonetheless been lived out within the framework of the familiar, the common, the traditional, the secure. How God answered that secret covenant was not unlike His taking an overqualified Pharisee named Saul and making him an eminently qualified ambassador to Gentiles. Talk about adventure!