"Inspiring,

direcr, courageous, encourage

powerful, and timely. Hatmaker church a wake-up

'gers to and

ir' and gives the modem-day book will certainly embrace,

call. This 'how to'

anyone who feels, and is willing dangerous, passionate

the tension in this call. If you wam to join the amazing, advenrurous, God has in Store for you, read rhis book." -Caroline M. Boudreaux, Founder,

scary, awesome, engaging, rewarding joumey

The Miracle Foundation "Brandon acceptable Hatrnaker reveals the bridge that links worship and misto the world and on each

sion and proves how our life becomes aurhentic shore. Brandon Chrisrians, is a propheric

to God only by having one foot firmly planted

voice who leads us out of rhe guilr-

laden, often overwhelming

notions of whar we should be doing as for hope, love, and

and he shows us rhe redeeming, life-giving work God has

for each of us in a world rhat 'wairs in groaning' rescue. Don'c miss rhis book!" -Andy

Hein, Church Mobilization Inrernarional

Director,

Justice Mission.

"This

book contains

a Ior of heart,

mixed with a good dose of Brandon offers

authenticity,

and spiced wirh a fair bit of courage.

us an articulare vision of a church thar lives true to her calling ro be God's agents of change in a broken world. Bring it on!" -Alan Hirsch, founder ofForge Mission Training Nerwork

and aurhor of The Forgotten Ways, On Tbe Verge,

The Faith
"Refreshing. Powerful. Needed. Brandon

oiLeap,

and orhers,

connects

the dots with

both philosophic

and practical

steps to effecrive impacto Read rhis

and get ready ro change." Jeremie Kubicek, CEO ofGiANT Impact, which owns Catalyst

and author of national besrseller Leadership 15 Dead.

"Through

the stories of his time ar Austin New Church, Bran-

don shares his heart for seeing Ausrin-and the world-transformed. Barefoot Church succeeds in giving the reader real, practical ideas for renewaJ." -Matt Carter, Pastor ofPreaching & Vision, The Austin Srone Cornrnunity Church

"From a deep well of experience, Brandon exposes and then calls us toward a faith rhar Jesus calis 'PURE!' Barefoot Church is rhe rnessage of God
[O

the church, to its leaders, and to you. If rhis book gets

under your skin, everything changes!" _ Hugh Halter, author of AND and The TangibLeKingdom "Barejoot Church should be every church. Brandon Hatmaker hits the issues on the head and then lives ir out in his church. This is not a rheoretical book. It will certainly disappoint anyone who is interested in a 'good read' abour church but disinterested in changing me way they 'do church.' Ir is one that is lived out day by day through Ausrin New Church where Brandon serves, which is a Barefoor Church indeed. In a day when so many ralk about the need to be authentic, accessible to the world, and loving in tangible ways, Brandon lays ir out sirnply, convincingly and wirh conviction." - Matthew A. Thomas, Bshop, Free Methodist Church ofNorth America "Barefoot Cburch is not a book of theory, It reflecrs the life of one of America's real, on-the-ground, first-world missionary couples, It's a fantastic call to mission and an inspiring paradigm-shifting book to give anyone who says they are followers of Jesus. Brandon challenges pastors, leaders, and every mernber of the church to action. As someone involved in training people to be on mission, this is a book I would put in the hands of every Forge America resident." -Kim Hammond, National Director ofForge Arnerica.

"In Barefoot Church, you'll be challenged to live out the whole gospeJ in every part of your life, Brandon Hatmaker lays our a theology for helping the underresourced and tells inspiring srories while helping to change me scorecard for the church to live out its mission. If you're serious abour living a sem life and sending others, you will wanr to read Barefoot Churcb" Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of Community Christian Church, Spiritual Enrrepreneur, NewThing

BAREFOOTCHURCH

-9P0NENrW:~
series

BAREFOOTCHURCH
SERVING THE LEAST CULTURE IN A CONSUMER

BRANDONHATMAKER

ZONDERVAN~

-9(pONENTIA.:~
network

Leadership ~~Network
ZOND"~VAN.coml
AUHIORTRACKER
follow
yeuF

favorite

authorl

ZONDmVAN Barefool Church Copyrighl 2011 by Brandon

Halmaker ebook. Visil www.zondervan.com/ebooks. audio edilion. Visi! www.zondervan.fm. to:

This tille is also availeble as a Zondervan This litle is also available in a Zondervan Requesls Zondervan, library for informalion

should be addressed

Grond Rapids, Michigon 49530 Cataloging-in-Dublicalion Data

of Congress

Hatmaker, Brandon, 1972 -. Barefool church : serving the least in a consumer p. em. -(~xponential series) ISBN 978-0-310-49226-9 (scftcover) I. Church work wilh the poor. I. Title. BV639.P6H38 2011 259.086'942 -dC23

culture

Brandon Halmaker.

,011023735

Ali Scripture quotations. unless otherwise indicaled, are laken from lhe Holy Bible. New In/ernofionol Version, NIV"'. Copyrigh! e 1973. 1978, 1984, 2011 by Bblica. Inc,'" Used by permission oF Zondervan. Ali rights reserved worldwide. Any Internet addresses (websiles, blogs, etc.) and lelephone numbers in this book are ofFered as a resource. They are nol inlended in any way to be or imply an endorsemenl by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for lhe conlent oF Ihese siles and numbers For lhe life of this book. Ali rights reserved. No par t oF thls publicalion may be reproduced, slored in a relrieval system, or transmitled in any form or by any means-eledronic, mechanical, pholocopy, recording, or any other-except For brief quolations in prinled reviews, withoul lhe prior permission of lhe publisher. Cover design: Rob Monocelli Inferior illustration. Rob Monacelli Inferior designo Sherri L. I-Ioffman Prinled in lhe Uniled Sustes of America 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 IDCI/ 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5

To Jesus and Jen. Ths was your fault. I love you both even more because of ir. Jesus, I pray this is of you and for you. Jen, you have the roughest job in me world, dealing with me. Thank you borh for letting me tcy stuff, fail, rant, rave, process, and somehow come out the other end a little further aJong the road.

CONTENTS

~~~ A cknowledgments 1. There's Got to Be More 2. A Call and a Response 3. Where Gathering and Scattering Collide 4. Serving rhrough Missional Comrnunity 5. Good News for rhe Unchurched and Dechurched 6. Expanding our Understanding ofDiscipleship 7. Embracing the Tension 8. Partnering with the Nonprofit World 9. A New Metric for Success 10. Becoming a Barefoor Church Notes

9 13 15 31 43 57 71 99 119 129 147 175 195

FOREWORD

Tben fesus asked, "What is the kingdom ofGod like?" LUla: 13:r8a

esus spem much of his eanhly minisrry teaching about God's kingdom. He caught how that kingdom was differem from the kingdoms of rhe Persians, Assyrians, or Romans-the kingdoms with which his listeners were most familiar. The ethics of the kingdom, tbe teaching that formed the substance of the Sermon on the Mount, sharply conrrasred with the "here-and-now" focus of this Ife, and his words were like a brighr light in the darkness, exposing rhe hidden sin behind the ritualistic religion that had developed frorn rhe law. Using parables, Jesus taught and explained rhe nuances ofhis kingdom, clarifying his Farher's role and his own part in bringing about the coming kingdom. Using children as exarnples, he illustrated to his listeners the type of faith thar would mark citizens of the kingdom of heaven (Luke 18: 16). And using a model prayer, he spoke of rhe kingdom's erernal nature (Matr. 6: 13). Afrer Jesus was betrayed and arresred, he was asked by the Roman governo r, Pontius Pilate, if he was a king. He responded by saying rhat his kingdom was not "of rhis world," adding this clarificarion: "If ir were, my servants would fighr" (John 18:36). The normal parh to power and authoriry necessitated rhe raking up of arms in open rebellion. One of Jesus' disciples, Peter, had already

BAREFOOT started down thar path, cutting

CHURCH

off the ear of the high priest's ser-

vant in the garden. Peter's violem response, though well-intended, received a rebuke from Christ, who healed rhe servant and willingly surrendered to the Roman aurhorities. Jesus was making ir clear thar of the Roman occupation or his goal was not the violem overthrow subversive. His goal was to change the world-forever. Jesus established Penrecost, unleashing pecting world. effect change church his church and empowered his followers ar to the Iife-changing power of God on an unsushave continued rule-his thar of

the pursuit of political and rnilitary rule. His intention was far more

Since that by bearing

time, his followers

witness to the Life, dearh, and resurrecof Iesus' kingdom the living exarnple of the kingdom imo this wodd through the incarnarion

tion ofJesus. The visual manifestation would become

rhe prophers of God had intoned in generations of God was inaugurated God's Son in rhe person ofJesus Christ. Through every comer of creation and overcoming day of Christ's returno In contrasr to rhe prevailing to combat kindness, quering infiltrare

pasto The kingdom his rule, the king-

dom would now be exrended by the mission of rhe church, reaching spiritual darkness unril the

pattem of the culture since rhe days community calied wirh lusr wirh love, brutality

of Babel and Noah, the church was different-a greed with conrentrnenr, and power-grabbing rhrough might, the kingdom,

wirh humble service. Instead of conlike yeasr, would gradually the enemies

the nations of the world. The power of God was demonimo its holy citizens. issues a clear call to the church: us rhar the most worldpower, of spiritual heritage as the visible manlfesrule, He reminds

strared in the gospel, which redeemed and transformed of God's kingdom to remember In this book, Brandon Hatmaker her practical, tation of God's kingdom

changing work we do may not be in the halls of governmental of injustice, He draws

OUI

but rarher, among rhe poor, the homeless, and those who are victims attention to some of the weaknesses

10

FOREWORD

rhe church in our Western culrure-how being Chrisr to the poor can easily become jusr another ministry on top of our other programs, worship services, small groups, and Bible studies. The church has forgotten the incisive words of Jesus in the parable of the sheep and the goars: thar Jesus is mosr likely to be found among the poor, rhe hungry, the unclothed, and me imprisoned-nor necessarily in the places of worldly power: Congressional offices, court rooms, or the hallowed halIs of the Whire House. And lesr we assume that Hatmaker's calI is just another salvo in the missional/attractional, traditional/contemporary, lirurgicall hang-from-rhe-lighr-fixrures war of words, he quickly dispels rhat norion: "Barefoot Church is not about attracrional, seeker-sensitive, culturally relevant, or orher models. Ir is nor a church growth strategy or new sryle of church. Contrary to popular belief serving the least does not make a missional church. It's about serving the leasr and your neighbor. Ir's about balancing the fasting and the feast. It's abour making rhe alrar borh a place for communion and a place to leave your shoes." The gospel of Jesus Chrisr, embodied and proclairned by the church, remains the only hope of the world, which means ir is also the only hope of the poor and disenfranchised. To be the body of Chrisr, we would do well to remember rhat our bare feer, rarher than being adorned with Gucci's and Jimmy Choo's, need only be dressed with the gospel of peace, a gospel through which lives will be changed, not rhe leasr of which will be our own.
Ed Sretzer, presidem ofLifeWay Research,
www.edsrerzer.corn:

author of Transformational

Church and Compelled by Loue

11

ACKNOWLEOGMENTS

TJ1ank

you, Jesus, for finishing rhe story. Now we can focus on the the wisdom ro understand and the courage to fo11ow. of God, wife,

journey. We're berrer there, if lefr up to us, we' d ruin the endi ng.
liS

Give

Jen, you are my hera. My greatesr joy has been serving shoulder ro shoulder with you. You're ao amazing woman rnorher, author, teacher, and friend. And you're srnokin' hot (bonus), I love you deeply. Thanks Tray & Jenny, Marrhew & Sarah, Lamar & Jill, John & farnily. I wish Audrey, as well as the rest of the Austin New Church

r could

name you all. There are no words. You are the church we of to a11those involved with Restare Austin and the Austin I can'r imagine serving in a ciry without such a

dreamed

Thanks

PlantR Network.

great nerwork of leaders, dreamers, and planrers, To Hugh and Mau ar Missio and Adullam, thanks for pioneering something most of us were afraid of Thanks for saying rhings others for believing in what we're doing enough to are afraid ro say. Thanks To Dennis,

be an advocare. And rhanks for your friendship. Tom, Mart, and everyone ar The River Conference with us, and and than and the FMC, rhanks for believing in us, for dreaming for sacrificing and loving us along the way. Thanks ExponentiaI. to everyone ar Leadership leadership Nerwork, Zondervan, Your visionary has a greater impacr

you know. Thanks

for leading the way.

13

CHAPTER

There's Got to Be More

ecenrly, my wife, jen, and I were having an all-too-familiar conversation with a young couple who had given up on church. Not a specfic church, the church. While borh of thern had attended since birth and had even served a few years in minisrry, they had become jaded and joined the ranks of rhose claiming, "Church-a5 we see it-is nor for us." They had experienced a myriad of what rhey considered painfuI church experiences. Every time they gave it another try, church seerned to Jose credibiliry, trust was broken, and relationships were abused. For years they desperately sought how to navigare the waters of their tension. Yet they had come to the conclusion rhat in their search for more, as the church remained the same, 50 did rhey, When given a chance to share specifics on the thing rhar "what'shis-narne" had said or what "so-and-so" had done, the young wife exploded passionately wirh a single-rhemed indictrnenr: "The church needs to care more about the pooe! They need to fight injustice! They need to help the orphan and widow in their distress! They need to do what rhey say they're abour!" Silence. Surprising even herse1f, and with a slighdy stunned look on her face, she caImly said as a tear rolled down her cheek, "Here's the

15

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

problem: I don't do ir either. I don't know how. 1 don'c even know

where to start."

That was a big rnoment for me. It's easy to casr stones, Ir's easy to point our rhe problerns in the existing church. And it's just as easy to pretend we're nor a part of the problem. But this was a refreshingly honesr confession of ownership that I've come to find so many believers idenrifying with. They want to do sornething of more significance, but they don'r even know where to start. We as church leaders tell our people to go. We tell thern to be good news. And we assume rhey do. We assume they know how. While we've been charged [Q "equip the sainrs" for works of service, the brutal truth is thar rnost of us have reduced our expectations of "serving" to a once-a-rnonth [QUI of duty as an usher ar greerer. We've sertled for serving ourselves and serving as an event rarher rhan serving those in need and living a new way af Iife that Jesus has called us to. There's gor to be more to church than this. This book tells the story of how a church rhar prioritizes serving rhe least was formed, and how among rhe least rhey actually found more. Although our story happened while planring Austin New Church (ANC), my purpose isn'r to give you a model for church planting. Rather, it's [Q share principies we've found helpful in equipping belevers to live outside thernselves. 1'11 affer practical ideas for creating service-based, missonal communities that end up being surprisingly as much about evangelism, discipleship, and real-life rransformation as they are about serving others. We'll take a look at how the organizational strucrure of church can be created and even restructured for mission in any contexto And by rhe end, I hope to demonstrate how any church can truly be a catalysr for individual, collective, and social renewal. More than anyrhing, this book is abour a Christ-centered gospel. By his exarnple and rhrough his reaching, my hope is that we are continuously being challenged to be good news to a lost, broken, and dying world. That God would open our eyes more and more each

16

THERE'S GOT TO 8E MORE day to rhe needs of our community as and worId. Thar we would see ir

rhe church's responsibilry to lead the charge in making a differour ciry, our nation, and our world.

ence, not just on our own church campus, bur also in our neighborhoods, our workplaces,

WHY

A BAREFOOT

CHURCH
me with my own
I looked across the landscape of the American

God sem me on a journey thar, to be honest, was not much fun. He was doing annoying selfishness. things like confronting He was poiming our the fact thar my

faith had morp h e d imo re Iigion, an d a fter a Bi bl e degree and a handful I was leading drearns, of-the-arr amazingly facilities, of years in fuH-time rninistry, post of my budget, stateand an ir had become way toa "professional."
at the megachurch

with a multimillion-dollar

church, and in a brief moment 01 clarity, realized that I was a part 01 the problem.

a legion of programs,

gifred staff yet I was in a personal rut.

was dry. While I had literally given ali that I had to the church, I had lost the joy of my calling. And I had no one to blame. I looked across rhe landscape of the American my theoJogy Myefforts church and, in a brief momem of

clarity, realized rhar I was a part of the problem. The application had beco me man-centric. My ministry

of

had become

more about me and my leadership than about God and his presence. were more about a self-absorbed faith than delivering and good news to those in need. I had become a consumer Christian, I was leading orhers to do the same. Whose fault was it? Which carne first, the consumer Christian it or rhe consumer church? Was it the chicken or the egg? Honestly, didn'r matter. I was borh. self-cemered faith. It was a full-fromal

God didn'r offer the courtesy of easing me imo dealing with my artack, Ir was as if he said, you know and

"Okay, Brandon,
turn ir on its ear."

now I'rn going to take everything

17

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

I want you to leave the security of your current position and srart over. I wanr you to learn what it rneans to serve the poor and lead others to do rhe same. I want yOli to discover whar I'rn doing in my kingdom part of ir. Me: "What? Resign my positioo? Who will pay my bills? I am completely Gad: "I know." Me: "Serve the poor? I don't even know any." God: "Exacrly." Me: "Your kingdom? God: "You will." So I prayed. lnitially-yes, I admir it-I prayed rhar God would Honestly, God, don't tell anyone rhis, but I'm not sure I know what that even means." dependem on my job, I have roo much debt, my kitchen." and I just remodeled and be a

just leave me alone. The problem was that he already had my wife on his side, so I was outnumbered. But I knew he was serious, I had never been so scared in my Iife. So, our of complete and absolure fear that God would remove his hand from my life, my family, and my m inistry, I asked him ro offer evidence thar rhis directve was really frorn him, and I begged for a vision of what this rnight look like. Ar fim, 1 thought organization God might be calling me to start a nonprofit that served the poor. So far, rhose were rhe only marchfully to serve rhose in physical

ing orders I had been given. I wondered ifI would have ro leave occupational ministry in arder to cammit direction cornmunity need. I hope you see the irony in that. But ar rhe time that was rhe God seerned to be leading me. Fram the moment I started people fram the homeless to send me messages so obvious, ir was alrnost obnoxious. cold Easter Sunday in Austin, Texas. Whar taking this seriously, God used random In rhis context rhe vision carne. Ir was a freakishly mighr normally have been a day of sunshine and mid-70s (causing

18

THERE'S GOT TO BE MORE an intuitive temperarures. After plowing rhrough Jen and I decided gathering six Easrer services ar my current rhe day in anonymity church, a to finish by artending basking on rhe pario of a downtown coffee shop while day of freezing

sipping on a cup ofjoe) had rurned into a bundled-up

thar evening at a srnall, sociallyactive

church downrown.

We had been considering

what God was doing in our lives for a few

months and were praying for clariry on how it might fit imo our current contexto Ir's amazing how hungry we had become for God when we were desperare to hear from hirn. Worsrup was incredible that nighr. I'rn not sure that ir was really technical1yall that great: I just know I was hungry for a word from my guts out, so ir seerned great. As I closed
50

God and was worshiping wasn't something

my eyes during a song, I had what I guess some mighr call a vision, It that had ever happened to me, ir messed with me a bit. I saw myself walking down rhe main drag ourside this dowmown church when I heard a homeless man say to me, "Cive me your boors." Time our, This was an interesting request to me. Not rhe demand itself bur They cost abour four times the facr rhat Jen and I were both wearing cowboy boots thar we had just boughr each orher for Christmas. as much as any orher pai r of shoes I had ever owned. They weren't even broken in yet, and they were sweet. Typically, we might have been wearing a nice ten-dollar pair of flip-flops thar evening, bur the freezing weather had everyone donning shoes and boors. My response to this imaginary homeless rnan's requesr? While my heart sad, "You're crazy, these are my good boors," my rnouth simply made excuses and blurted our, "They won'r fit you." To which he guickly replied with confdence, "Oh, rhey'll fit." That was ir. No flashing light. No clear orders for whar to do and a continued vision of me takthern to next, No music in the background

ing my boots off (in slow rnorion, of course) and handing man sure is a good Christian."

hirn with his child peeking around the comer saying, "Daddy, rhar

19

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

Nope. That was it. 50 I kept singing. Shane Claiborne was speaking rhat nighr. Ir was the first time I had heard him speak, and it was pretty convicting. He shared srories from when he had spem a year wirh Morher Teresa at Calcutta. He spoke abolir rhe faith communiry he was a part of in Philadelphia. Then he closed by relling us abour rhe church he was ar that morning in San Antonio that had a large homeless population as a parr of their membership. He had asked abour their greatest need. They said they were in need of really good shoes, and even more so, qualiry boors, Since they were on their feet rnost of the day and their primary mode of transportation was walking, they went through shoes like crazy. That and the fact that most people dona te only eirher cheap shoes ar old shoes made rhe need for quality shoes and boots much more significam. As Shane was closing our his rime of teaching and began to ser up a time of communion, he memioned that we were going to do something a lirtle different. He said rhat if God led us, and only if God was really leading us, we were to take off our shoes and as we carne forward to take communion, place thern on the altar, and he would take thern to rhis homeless communiry rhe next day. I was stunned. First by my selfishness-c-rhac wirh all I had been through, I was secredy wishing I had worn cheaper shoes. And second, once ir sunk in, how humbling ir was to hear God speak. That he was really moving in our lives. That he was speaking to us tangibly and undeniably. And that once again, I was confronred with the reality rhat he cared way more about those in need than I did. As we placed our boots on the altar, I might have cried a little (a lot), The Spirit was rhick. Everything abour thar mornent was right. And I wished thar I could jusr borde that place in time and keep it forever. Ir was obvious that there was something in what we were experiencing thar we were supposed to do. Ir was larer that night thar we felt God communicated where he was leading usoI srill remember what it felt like when my bare feet

20

THERE'S GOT TO SE MORE

hir the cold concrete ourside of that downtown buiJding. Ir feels like just yesrerday rhat I rurned around to look IIp rhe stairs and saw an entire church being sem our imo a ciry ... barefoot. Ir was clear whar Jesus was saying: "This is how I want my church to look, a place where love and self-sacrifice are hardwired into the DNA of roy people, of solidarirywith the poor-a true comrnunity rallied around my gospel. Iwant a church where me altar is nor only a place to rake communion but also a place to leave your shoes. I want a barefoot church."

MAKING

IT PERSONAL

A few weeks ater, afrer a few more unexplainable "God" moments and some hours spent volunteering downtown with the horneless community, Iwas standing 00 my front lawn absorbing our impending journey. I realized for the first time I was really beginning to care abour the homeless, I never had. I had always seen rhern as lazy, most likely crirninals, and probably drug addicrs. But afrer serving for several weeks, I began to put names wirh faces and hear stories that could derail any of usoI began to realize that my srereotype was not only unfair, but ir was unrrue. My heart had begun to change roward them. Bottom line, r was changing. Finally. Ir was incredibly refreshing. Righr ar thar mornent, I was distracred by my neighbor's lawn. It was about knee high, and it was annoying. The only thing more annoying than rheir grass was their landscaping. The only thing more annoying than their landscaping was rhe worn-out rire marks in the rniddle of the lawn where rheir twenry-four-year-old son (who still lived ar horne) parked when he carne home in rhe mddle of the night. I quickly became distracted from my noble, righreous journey, and my pious rhoughts were replaced wirh judgmenr and disdain. I live in a really nice neighborhood. why in rhe world do I always seern to end up living next to rhe only house that looks like this?

21

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

God: "That really bugs you, doesn't ir?" Me: "Heck yeah, ir does. What did I ever do to deserve this?" God: "Why don'r you do sornething about ir?" Me: "Why would I? 1t's nor my lawn." God: "Because she's a widow who lost her husband five years ago to cancer, and she doesn't know how to srart a lawn mower. Because she's gor a laser son who rakes advantage of her day after day. Because nor only are you a Christian, you're a pastor. Because you're 50 self-consumed rhat you didn't even see her need, and rhis is exacdy what you need to do to change your hearr."
Okay, maybe God didn'r call her son a loser. Thar was me. But

he certainly made his point. 50 I gor our my lawn mower and started cutting. And I wept. Again. Even harder than I did at the altar where I gave my boors, And I did it every week- both cur her lawn and cried. Ir took a whole frve minutes. Quite the sacrifice! God made his point. One day, I noriced a piare of homemade cookies sitting by my front doar. With ir was a note from my neighbor that read, "Brandon, I just don't know whar J'm going to do with you.
Mother Teresa

Thank you so much for cutting my grass. I only hope one day I can repay you for your kindness." lived by a beShe already did. I've been paid back sevenfold. lief that there Mother Teresa lived by a belief that there is physical, emotional, and spiritual need in every comrnuis physical, nity. Need is everywhere, yer we too often fail to see ir. emotional, we don'r see it, we won't be bothered by ir. If we're and spiritual not borhered by ir, we won't engage it. By our neglect, need in every we become the oppressor. community. Jesus knew exactly whar he was doing when he told us to serve rhe leasr. He knew that if we would serve thern, we would become agenrs of change. Despair would change to hope. The reputation of his bride would change. And along rhe way; our hearts and minds would change. We need that in the church roday.

Ir

22

THERE'S GOT TO BE MORE

SOMETHING

MUST

CHANGE

Prior to starting Austin New Church, r spent a lor of rime with pastor friends from the comrnunity rrying to see where God was at work. I rold thern a litrle about my journey and that I felt God was calling us to do something thar focused primarily on serving rhe least. My hope was to find some counsel on where we could srart and whar it might look like as a part of whar God was already doiog in our ciry, I found myself raJking to a frustrared pastor one day who shared his vision about the message series they were about to do on social justice. Ir was a six-week series wirh some intentional action steps toward gening their people out Many of us of their comfort zone and inro the world to serve. Most of what they were doiog would be accom- want to be more plished through their small groups. Sounded great outward and and incredibly affirming to me. service focused, But what he quickly found is that rhe strucbut we find rure of their church did nor support the vision for serving. Instead, ir ended up being jusr one ourselves bound more rhing thar rhe people felr took up their time. by a strueture Everyone cornplained thar rhey were just too busy that just doesn't with church, small groups, and Bible study to add allow room for it. another day a rnonrh to serve rhe poor. Later, I saw rhar rhe sedes was reduced to a oneweekend awareness push. And their service projects were replaced with a one-tirne love offering. This is a shared frustrarion among pastors. Many of us wanr to be more ourward and service focused, but we find ourselves bound by a structure that just doesn't allow room for ir. We either creared ir or have tolerated ir. 50 what do we do when we know ir's a neglected biblical realiry in our lfe or ministry, we have a renewed passion for serving rhose in need, we realize that rhis is an increasingly importanr passion of the emerging generations, and yet ali of us (and our

23

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

people) are already so busy we can'r even imagine when we' d acruaIly do it? Some of us need an organizational overhaul, without tweak, some a strucru [ai bur there's one hard rruth we ali have to hear: all movegreat cost, That said, there's hope for the church. There

rnent roward mission requires sacrifice, Nothing of great value comes always is. While we'Il talk more about making change a reality in the coming chaprers, especially on how to reorganize in sim ple ways, here's a critical and evaluative starting poinr. Craig Van Gelder wrote in his book The Ministry ofthe Missional

Church:
The Church is. The Church does what it is. The Church organizes what it does.' Each of us c1aims our church church is known "is" somerhing. We rhink our
OI

by a specific vision or mission.

Maybe we hope

that whar our church "is" is caprured strategic initiatives.

by our rnission statemem

But it's the church's calling to the gospel and God's mission mar provide rhe framework for its ministry. The mission determines what we "do," and what we "do" requires organization support of rhe mission. that functions in our
00

This goes beyond simply modifying we may say we're a church programs that
OUI

behavior and calls us toward a new idenrity in Chrisr. Here's somerhing to consider: rnission, yer we have so maoy on-campus say we're more than jusr a Sunday experience ar events designed people of our We

never have time ro live on mission in their neighborhoods. service, bur 90 percent resources and efforts are either committed
[O

We may

ro rhe Sunday morning

draw people to our buildings.

may rhink we serve, bur srnall percentage

f we

took an honest look, we' d flnd only a

of our people actually serving outside the church. in place to support whar we want to do

Do we have me structure

and what we wam to be known for? If you're a pastor, are you willing

24

THERE'S
[Q

GOT TO SE MORE

organize and reorganize your budger, your sraff, your priorities, and your calendars to reflect that vision? If you're a needs
[Q

your evaluarions, are you willing changed

layperson reading this book and beleve something down the idols of"how bold moves in supporting faith is still about us-and

change,

to be a part of the solution? Are you willing to lay we've always done ir"? Are you willing to be
[Q

yourseIf? AIe you willing

partner

with orhers

[Q

make

rhis vision? to uso Our we're fooling ourseIves. ir was to see

Maybe you see the problem, Maybe you're reading this book beca use you're ready for change. You're not alone.

If nor, then rhis drearn is not really that importam

Washington Times reIigion editor Julia Duin shared in her recenr book, Quitting Church, how astonishing on in rheir own fairh communiry, ship see things how many pastors are in denial about whar's going Those in leaderone way while others see rhern as
OUI

they really are. The seeker sees rue discrepancy. The

skepiic sees ir. And members feel ir. Thar's why they're leaving. They see ir clearIy. Everyone sees it excepr uso As Duin pur it, "A lor of evangelicalleaders (simp/y) do not see the problem."? Maybe you see rhe problem. Maybe you're reading this book because you're ready for change. You're nor alone. There is certainly vice sweeping looking a revived spirir of serthe hearrs of believers roday. This is ways to begn changing

a good rhing. And it's bigger rhan we even know. Hopeful1y you're for some practical what you see. the church of More than likely, that will have ro start wirh you and me. Let's s[QP complaining about the church we see and starr becoming we dream of.3 Regardless of your reason for reading

ruis book, regardless

what yOllr dream church looks like, my prayer is that God will raise up in you a new and fresh passion for the church. I pray that you will feeI an affirming movement of rhe Spirir when you consider raking your affecrions off yourseIf, placing them on people who have norhing to offer you, and leading orhers to do the sarne,

25

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

CLEARING

THINGS

UP
seeker-sensitive, culrur-

Barefoot Church is not about attracrional,

new sryle of ehurch. Conrrary not make a missional neighbor. chureh. It's about balancing making
Each 01 us has the responsibility to navigate what serving the least looks like in our life, in our

ally relevant, or other rnodels. It is not a church growrh srraregy or ro popular belef serving the least does It's abour serving rhe least and your rhe fasting and the feast. Ir's abour

the altar both a plaee for eommunion

and

a place ro leave your shoes. We ean have eonfidenee in knowing mar rhe hopes for each are dose to the hearr of God. The question rhat remains is how dose ir is
[Q

our heart. Each of us has the responsi-

bility to navigate what serving rhe least looks like in our life, in our conrext, and in our church. Missional and attractional are terrns often heard in church Leadership today, Unfortunately their overuse and blanket use ean easily create more confusion than clariry, For our purposes ing or inearnational we'll use the Incarword missional in this book to describe the sendefforts of rhe church.

context,

and in

our church.

nation literally means neighborhood

[Q

"put on flesh." Jesus was God incarnate. uso He moved imo our

He literally put on skin and dwelt among and spoke our language. live incarnationally,

50 when we say we are to

we mean we are to "put on" Jesus and represent

him by foeusing on being his hands and feet to our world. To live on mission. This includes bur is not limited to serving the least. It might be a sending toward your neighbor or to a complete stranger in need. Either way, the foeus is essentiaUy on the church beeoming missionaries to our eulture. We'lI use rhe terrn attractional to refer prirnarily to the gathering nature of rhe church. Often the idea of attractional manifests irself in the form of exaltation, proclamation, believe an incarnational and eorporate worship, While I life is indeed attractive, we'll mostly use the

label attractional to refer to programs and events designed intentionally to attraet artenders to rhe church campus ar to rhe location of an evento

26

THERE'S GOT TO 8E MORE

Unfortunately, when it comes to programming and church structure, these terms are often viewed as opposing forces. That's understandable since they often utilize effort, time, people, and money from me same resource pooJ. But what I hope we'Il come to see is rhat while they have two differem purposes and priorities, ir's by design rhat rhey acrually work besr rogerher. Their beaury is not found in rheir existence, ir's found in their coexistence: working in perfect harmony by taking rhe focus off ourselves and placing it where ir ought to be-on God and on others, Likewise, many terrns and phrases have been used to describe what it means to serve the least. You'lI see mosr of [hem in the pages of this book as welJ. Since each can have multiple definitions and have been used in many different ways, let's also take a rnoment to c1arify our position on each of {hem. "Serving rhe Ieasr" and "serving the poor" can describe anyaction or posrure of benevolence or compassion to rhose considered underprivileged, marginalized, neglected, or oppressed. "The least" is a collective description of those in need. Ir describes anyone who simply has less. "Less" can refer to anything from being underresourced to being alone, from having inadequate or no housing to litrle or no food, fram the rarity of comfon to rhe complete lack of freedom. Less is simply less. "Serving rhe poor" primarily refers to those who are in physical need. Ofren the "poor" have an abundance of relational and spirirual support or love. Serving the poor Ioca11yis more ofren an offering of immediate relief Serving the poor globally has a variery of implications and can easily be connecred to human crafflcklng and slavery as much as ir can to hunger or poor living conditions. "Social action" and "social justce" are often used inrerchangeably. "Social action" focuses on the exisrence of a holistic concem and action regardless of its formo Simple acts of mercy, offering temporary relief having compassion, and fighring for justice can a11be described as social action. However, social action painrs wirh broad strokes, while social jusrice tends to be more specific, "Social justice"

27

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

often zeros in on efforts resultlng in long-term societal change sternming from significam "Mercy" global needs, are themes found rhroughour to mean kindness
OI

and "justice"

Scripture

and describe bom rhe reason for and the methods of engaging need. "Mercy" is rnosr ofren rranslated me heart and motivation word literally meaning goodness. It's behind the acrion. Ir comes Erom a Hebrew

to "bow the neck in courtesy: to be kind.'>4 Irs

New Tesrarnent usage is often translared to mean compassion or piry.5 The Hebrew word for "justly," used primarily in the Old Testament, means a "verdict pronounced "justice" in the New Testament judicially."6 The Greek word for or rhe of means vengeance, vindicarion,
[O

avenging of wrong. Together we can gain a greater understanding justice to mean

We're not going to end poverty, hunger, or homelessness through a single act of mercy. but we can offer temporary relief. For a moment we can become good news to someone in need of some good news.

intentionally

aet justly or to engage

proaetively seek justice." As we discuss how to practically o f "mercy minisrry " as anyrhing remporary relief co an irnrnediate compassionate an immediate

need in eaeh conrext, it might be best to think t h at o If rers need. Ir's of rhe a or

response

heart. This might be a meal to the hungry, We're flor going to end poverty, hunger,

coat for the horneless, or a visit to the widow. homelessness rhrough a single act of mercy, but relief. For a moment we

we can offer temporary some good news.

can become good news to someone in need of While mercy ministry may offer temporary relef "justice ministry" requires a grearer level effort to confrent a

of personal investment. awareness

J ustice

rypically focuses on both an increased and sustaining

and an intentional

more global presence of need, such as rhe orphan crisis, human trafficking, or rhe need for dean water, Both mercy and jusrice are motivated by compassion; each requires a physical response ar different leveis, and each benefits from

28

THERE'S GOT TO BE MORE increasing awareness. Both can exist independent of one anorher,

yet rogerher theyencompass engaged through eompassion.

rhe biblical concept of serving me least. relationship. Mereyaffers relief and treat-

An act of mercy can quickly beco me an act of jusrice when a need is ao intentional ] ustice affers an advocare and action. and compassionate

Simply put, mercy offers irnmediare

rnenr of those in disrress. and justice is the principie ar ideal of jusr dealing or righr acrion.f Scripture dearly calls us to act jusdy and to love mercy (Micah 6:8). Hopefully questions of "who and why" and and how." we can quickly move beyond rhe
00

to the realities of "what, when,

29

CHAPTER

A Call and a Response

ecently, Austin New Church (ANC) partnered with a handful of Austin area nonprofirs to increase awareness on the issue of human trafficking. Since we planned to show rhe documemary Cal! and Response, we got rogether prior to the evenr with our sraff and spouses to preview rhe justin Dillon film. QUI hope was ro process ir rogerher, get some feedback, and help inform any final preparations. It's always grear co mix rogether with our tearn, but our challenge is ofren rhe abiliry to drop the copies rhat seem to consume our eommon "church" workday and enjoy each other's company, Easier said than done. We ralked abour nexr week's service projects, about progress on the rraining for our new Restore Community leaders, as well as abour some other rypical church sraff copies. The film offered immediate perspective. My mind quickly shifred Irorn our common church issues to images of rwelve-yearold girls trapped in sex traffieking, women resorting co being mailorder brides with the hope of escaping poverty, and ernotionless child soldiers walking around wirh AK-47s. It's amazing how an eightyminure reminder of severa! massive issues in rhe world can shed light on how distracted we are from the things of true signifieance. There are an esrirnared rwenty-seven million slaves in OUI world roday, That's more than ever in hisrory, Yet for the majority of the day

31

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

my mind was conswned by trying to place a forty-something-yearold couple in community although rhey couldn't meer on days rhar ended in y" or between the hours of8:00 a.ID. and 10:00 p.m. After the film, in an unfair swing of ernotions, I insrantly felr indignarion toward every Christian who had ever artended any church anywhere ... ever. lncluding myself. In a broken world in need of hope, ir's depressing to consider the details that take priority in our minds. And it's embarrassing to think about the topics we reason away, choosing to remain blissfully ignoram while maintaining business as usual. We are to love our nei.ghbor as we do ourselves. Yer we think more about our Sunday bulletin than we think about the orphan crisis in our world. We believe the church is to be Iike a city on a hill and a light [Q me world, bur we're more concerned about the new recessed lighring in our lobbies than As believers, we are poverty in our city, we have got to I'm nor convinced that we're really convinced. find a way to Justin Dillon hit the nail on the head in the CaLl and Response documentary when he said, "If see poverty and you rruly love somebody, then you hate to see rhern injustice in the treated unjustly."' I'm nor convinced we even know world as wrong what ir means to love our neighbor. I'm not conand worth fightvinced we care. I'm not convinced beca use ir we dd, ir would change rhe way we live. ing against. As believers, we have gor to Find a way to see poverry and injusrice in the world as wrong and worrh flghting against. We need our neglect to be exposed. We need to see the indicrrnent of Scripture. And we need to decide to no
<C

longer stand for ir. Richard Stearns, presidem and founder of World Vision, offers some bold direction on God's expectarions for Chrisr followers: "Those expecrarions are not mysrerious or difficult to discern, They are, in fact, etched clearly in page afrer page of Scripture-a bright thread of God's compassion for people and His zeal for justice."2

32

A CALL AND A RESPONSE

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And whar does the To act justly and and
[Q [Q

LORD

require of you?

love merey
MICAH

walk humbly with your God. 6:8

Matthew

25 gives a c1ear vision rhat when we serve the leasr we somehow and someway our eternity will be con-

serve Jesus-that

nected wirh how we respond to the least, They also wiJl answer, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsry or a stranger or needing clorhes or sick or in prison, and did not he!p you?" He will reply, "Truiy I rell you, whatever you did nor do for one of rhe least of rhese, you did not do for me." Then they will go away to eterna! punshment, teous [Q eternallife. bur the righ-

Srearns offers a rnodern-day

version of this passage:

For r was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was rhirsry, but you drank bottled water, I was a suanger, and yOli wamed me deported. I needed c1othes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you poimed out the behavors that led to my sickness, I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved.
RESV RrcHARD
[Q

E.

STEARNS VERSION

If we were honest, our response

the poor might some-

times be better described by this irreverenr version, Whatever rhe case, Chrisr's words in this passage cannot be disrnissed our of hand, We have to face rheir irnplications no rnarter how disquieting. God has clear expectations for those who choose to to Christ follow Him. Any authenric and genuine commirment will be accompanied life. In conremporary

by demonsrrable evidence of a transformed terms, rhose who talk rhe ralk bur do not

walk the walk will be exposed as false.3

33

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, "I know him," bur does not do what he commands is aliar, and rhe truth is nor in that person.
J

JOHN 2:3-4

We feel bacl. We recognize of doing anythlng.

need. We talk about ir with others, that

buy the T-shift, and even read the books. But so often we fall short We ofren confuse the heart of compassion requires a response with the feeling of sympathy Mosr of us hear about need and symparhize. parhy until we do sornething compassion: an appropriate that remains idle. But that's not com-

passion. It's not justice, It's not mercy. Symparhy remains only symabout ir. Then ir becomes an act of response to rhe cal! of need, Justin Dil-

on described it besr: "A cal! is someone sharing their need. Sharing their oppression. A response is someone saying I hear you, I ger you, and here's whar I'm gonna do.'>4 I once read an anonyrnous ation well: Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and. injusrice when He could. do something about it. But, I'm afraid. He would ask me the same questiono quore thar I think captures our situ-

THERE

IS HOPE
inrentions

FOR US
are nor new to Christianthe way and intent

Misguid.ecl and shonsighted.

ity, Time after time the disciples misund.erstood

ofJesus. Yet there was hope. They ofren tried to sabotage his message and make ir abour thernselves. Yer there was hope. They would. have loved to just ser up camp and sray with Jesus after the transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36). the kingdom After seeing rhe humiliry of Jesus firsrhand, they still arguecl over which one af rhem would be the grearesr in (Luke 9:46-48). It even carne to the point where Jesus had to threaten to withhold their ways (Matthew eterniry frorn them if rhey didn't change

18:3).

34

A CALL ANO A RESPONSE

At rimes the disciples were self-centered. Yet there was hope. There is always hope, even in our negiect. When doing right becomes our plan, when that's our heart's motive and oUI desire, there is hope. And Scripture reveals thar our hope will always start with lave and faithfulness. realizing his kingdorn, plans, thar we succeed. To humans belong the plans of the hearr, but fram the tongue. Ali a person's ways seem pure to [hem, but motives are weghed by the Commit to the Through When the
LORO LORD. LORD

When doing right becomes our plan, when that's our heart's motive and our desire, there is hope.

Ir's through

lave and fairhIr's through

fulness rhat our neglect is overlooked.

replacing our plans wirh his

comes the praper answer of the

whatever yOli do,

and he wilJ establish your plans ....

love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
LORD

through the fear of the

LORO

evil is avoided.

takes pleasure in anyone's way,

PROVERBS 16:1-3, 6-7

he causes their enemies to make peace with them.

Perer, rhe one promised

rhe keys to the kingdom,

denied Jesus

three times. Yet rhere was hope, and it started wirh rhe issue of love. In John 21:15, when Jesus reinstates Perer, he starrs with a question: "Sirnon son of John, do you lave me more than these?" This was a hearr-wrenching question for Perer, First, Jesus calls him by the that he had taken could be rransname he had prior to meeting Jesus, representing a few steps back in his fairh. Second, Jesus challenges his love. This question lated in any one of three ways: (1) Do you love me more rhan these rnen love me? (2) Do you love me more than you lave these men? (3) Do you lave me more than you love your rh.ings? Each possibiliry proposes a unique question when rhinking about our lave of and

35

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

loyalty to Jesus and our commitment to his way. Why do we live the way we live? Why do we do rhe things we do? Why do we nor do what we do not do? Is ir possibly because we don't love Jesus enough? Is ir because we Lavethe opinion of others and value what they think over what Jesus values and whar Jesus rhinks? Is ir because we lave our sruff more than we love rhe things of Jesus? Each question is unique and expresses a differem kind of love, yer each has rhe same antidore: love, concern, and sacrifice for others, "Yes,Lord," he said, "you know that I lave you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." Again Jesus said, "Simon son of john, do you love me?" He answered, "Yes,Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." The rhird time he said to rum, "Sirnon son of John, do you lave me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him rhe rhird rime, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know ali rhings; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."
JOHN 21:15 - 17

The precedent for expressing lave to Jesus was captured in rhree similar respanses: "Feed my lambs." "Take care of my sheep." "Feed my sheep." Wherher ar not Jesus meant to "feed" them as a spiritual response ar a physical calling, rhe end result will be the same. I'm not arguing rhat the sheep and lambs are to be direct representatives of orphans or the appressed of rhe world. Bur ir is worth noring that lambs and sheep have always come with a sense of ownership and value; they are labels of endearrnent and an expression of Jesus' concern far ali. What I am arguing is that Jesus was not raLking about feeding ourselves. He was not taLking abour raking care of ourselves. We still do those things. But he wasn't saying to prove aur love to hirn by

36

A CALL AND A RESPONSE

keeping everything in house. Our hope is nor found mexe. In fact, he was saying rhe exact opposire: the way to be renstated, the way to change, the way to prove our love to him is to take care of others. Our hope lies in reJearning our call to love our neighbor. But who is our neighboe? For so Iong, "Ioving our neighbors as ourselves" has meant loving our immediate neighbors, rhe ones who live nexr door. For the most part, ir has been irnpossible to "love" people rhousands of miles away. Only in the lasr century have we been able to have an awareness of their needs. Ir may have seemed ridiculous even to [amom that one's "neighbors" might include rhose living in another cOllntry. "For the general publc, three major impedirnents stood in rhe way of anyone waming to love rheir distam neighbors, even imo the mid-rwentieth century: awareness, access, and ability."5 The arrival of rhe cornrnunication age and rechnological advances have made the world a smaU place. I can pick up the phone righr now and call my missionary friend in Addis Ababa, Erhiopa, and hear about needs n their community, I can lirerally be 00 the ground to help thern by romorrow. At the presem time, every dollar I have is rnulriplied sixteenfold when exchanged into Ethiopian currency. Awareness, access, and ability are no longer barriers even to rhe average Christian. They are no longer impedimenrs in deFining our neighbor. The gospel declares that eveey- Jesus did one in need is our neighbor. In the story of the good Sarnaritan, Jesus asked the expert in rhe law which of the three was a "neighbor" to the man who fell imo rhe hands of the robbers. His answer: "The one who had merey
00

not define "neighbor" by proximity. He defined it

hirn."

Jesus' response: "Co and do likewise" (Luke 10:37). by mercy. Jesus did not define "neighbor" by proximity, He defined it by merey. The whole world is OUIneighbor. Only after we move past the argument of who our neighbors are and whar Jesus rneant by loving thern will we be moved to aceomplish anyrhing of significance, Until rhen, our quesrions remain excuses,

37

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

Jesus tells us clearly ture we are reminded responds

[O

"go and do likewise." Throughour

Scrip-

that our response will greatly irnpact how God to do with how more

to uso Our response will have everything

God values the other things of fairh thar we value. Probably rhan we realize: God: "Do you want me Us: "Yes." God: "Seek justice." God: "Do you wanr me Us: "Of course." God: "Defend the cause of the fatherless." God: "Do yOll want the sacrifices yau make to matter Us: "Sure. We've given IIp so much." God: "Plead the case of rhe widow." Do you reaJly wam to stop rrampling want your fasting really wanr
[O [O [Q [O [O

take pleasure in your worship?"

hear your prayers?"

me?"

my courts? Do you really

be worship? Do you really wanr to hear "well

done"? Do you really want to stop wasting ali of yaur time? Do you make dsciplesr Do you really care whar I think?

Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend rhe oppressed. T ake up rhe cause of the farherless; plead the case of rhe widow.
ISAIAH 1:17

Herein lies our hope. Are you rired of ho-hurn Christianiry my kingdom break through?

and

powerless minisrry? Do you really wam your light to break fonh and
[O

Tben your lighr will break forrh Iike rhe dawn,

and yOllr heaJing will quickly appear; then yom righreousness will go before you, and rhe glory of the LORD wil! be your rear guardo

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;

yOli will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. 38

A CALL ANO A RESPONSE

If you do away wirh me yoke of oppression, with the poinring finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of rhe oppressed, tben yOlir lighr will rise in rhe darkness, and your nighr will become Iike rhe noonday. The
LORD

will guide you always;

he wll satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengrhen your frame. You will be Iike a well-watered garden, like a spring whose warers never fail.
ISAIAH

58:1l-

II (EMPHASIS ADOEO)

PRAY

FOR WISDOM
we must pray

The book of James says that if we lack wisdom,

for ir (James 1:5). If in any way we need more prayer, it's for wisdom on how to engage need in our world. James basically spends the rest of his effom explaining whar wisdorn looks like and why we need ir: to actually do whar the Bible says (James 1:22). Pure religion is a religon: thar not only keeps itself unpollured 1:27). that sees loving our neighbor is the "royal law," and by keeping ir we can eliminare any doubr as to what ir means to do right (James 2:8). that ives out mercy triumphing rhar teaches knowledge over judgment (James 2:13). thar sees faith without deeds as worthless (James 2:16, 20). is beneficiai only when applied to a is good life and humble deeds (James 3:13). that shows how wisdom resulting in selfish arnbition unspirirual, good fruit (James 3:15 - 17). but wisdom fram heaven is fuH of mercy and by the world, bur liter-

ally spends rself on behalf ofthe orphan and widow (James

39

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

mar knows mar when rhere is good to do, we sin when we fail to do it (James 4:17). that understands how our self-indulgence and have made us the oppressors (James 5:1-6).
OLU

neglect

If this is our condirion, we're in trouble, and we cerrainly need wisdom. Is anyone among you in trouble? Ler them pray ... And the prayer offered in fairh will make the sick person well: me Lord will raise rhem up. If they have sinned, rhey will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so rhar you may be healed.
]AMES

5=13-16

If in anytbing we need more healing, it's in how we deal with needs in the world. If the statisrics don'c create a sense of indignation in us, then we should pray. If God's words do nor creare a sense of indignation for our condition, lack of concern, or neglect, we should pray that they do. Pray thar the Holy Spirit convicts us. Pray thar our minds are renewed. Pray for indignation. "Each individual has the spiritual responsibiliry of cultivating rhat indignarion. Tapping into that rage. And then aUowing rhat rage to be converted imo cornpassionate acton."6 It's both a personal and a collective responsibiliry. If no one else will go, we must still go. If no one else will care, we musr still care. If every Christian in the world thinks we're crazy, it doesn'r rnatter. In our indignarion we will find joy, and the joy of the Lord s our strength (Neherniah 8:10). We will find it to be our heart's delight. And in that joy we will find hope for both ourselves and for the church. For when we live recklessly by the Word and commands of God, we bear his narne, not ours. When your words carne, I ate thern, they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your narne, LORDGod Almighry. 40

A CALL ANO A RESPONSE

I never sar in the company of revelers, never made merry with (hem; I sar alone because your hand was on me and you had filled me with indignation.
]EREMIAH IfI6I7

INDIGNATION In 2007 my friend Chris was invited to go on a rrip ro Zimbabwe ro deliver some rnuch-needed supplies to an orphanage they support. Ir was his first international trip and his first rime seeing extreme poverry up dose and personal. Since Zimbabwe was a "failed" stare, lacking the most basic needs such as food, water, and fuel, the grollp had to purchase the supplies in South Africa and transpore rhe goods in a gurted fifteen-passenger van. Ir was Iike liquid gold on wheels, loaded with focd, water, and fuel. As they drove down the dilapidated highway in rhe mddle of rhe night, Chris recalled the overwhelming feeling of disbelief in seeing so many people living on rhe side of the road, hoping and wairing for relief People were everywhere. Need was evident. 5uffering was common. They were driving with a local pastor, John, and his wife, Orpa. While there is little you can do to prepare emotionally for encountering extreme poverty for rhe firsr time, John had done his best to mentally prepare Chris for what he would experience. After a cultural crash course on the road, Chris was equipped with the bare minimum. A Frequenr experience around such levels of poverry is that everyone-literally everyone-wiU be asking for money or food. The company line: "I have norhing for you." Ir wasn't alie. Even with a van packed with supplies, it would be rrue. The goods were designated for rhe thirry-five hungry orphans down the road. Before making it to rheir final destinarion, John decided to make a quick stop in downtown Harare to check on some street kids he had begun to develop relationships with. As rhey drove imo the abandoned gas station, hundreds of children swarmed their van.
41

BAREFOOT

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Chris got our, and like a rock srar, was imrnediately curious bysranders.

surrounded

by

Then it happened. A dirty Iirrle hand rugged on his armo He looked down to see a young boy sraring back at hirn saying in broken English. "Sir, rhank you for visit my country. I'm sorry ir's in the state that it's in. 1 don't I have no food in days. Is there any himself want to beg, but I'rn hungry. Wirh both humility for Chris's response. "I'm sorry. I have norhing for you." Ir was a sirnple and heartbreaking They got back into the van-fiUed the orphanage. indignarion response, for both of thern. In with food-and drove on to he committed that twenry seconds, Chris's entire world changed. He sat there for the next forty minutes in silence while

work I can do for you, so I can ger some food?" and hope in his eyes, he prepared

fiUed his heart, In rhose forty minutes, the organizarion

himself to a life where he would never have to say those words again. Since then Chris has srarted Poverty (HELP), He has dedicated through Help End Local relling his and Hairi. focused on serving orphans and fighting poverty. his life to spreading awareness through people to make a difference in rangible ways Ir srarred with

Story and empowering

a myriad of projects and rninistries in Zimbabwe

It ddn't start with a drearn to begin a nonprofir. seeing a need, hearing a call, and responding I love that Chris narned his organization

wirh compassion. Help End Local Pov-

erty. When we think of need globally, we ofren ger stuck sornewhere between ignorance and paralysis. While his story brought hirn across the ocean to encounter only a boy who spoke in broken English, ~UIS can start across the srreet, but on1y if we're willing to open OUI eyes and

if we're willing to go. There is hope for us, and we will find it
"Go and do likewise."

when we follow the words of]esus, according

"Ler us rouch the dying, the pooe, rhe lonely and the unwanted to rhe graces we have received and ler us nor be ashamed Teresa or slow to do the humble work." -Mother

42

CHAPTER

Where Gathering and Scattering Collide

everal years ago, I woke up around

4:00 a.m. with the feeng of breaking out of as I

rhat someone was in my bedroom staring ar me. Ir was a creepy between rhe sluggish srruggle

feeling. Caught

REM sleep and rhe adrenaline rush of fear, my heart pounded opened my eyes. I discovered

thar my five-year-old son had made his way inro our

room, wiggled his way under my covers, and was lying on my chesr face-to-face with me with his nos e about three inches rrom my nose. Before I could say a word, he blurted our,

"I wanr some chocolate milk."

"Whar?" I replied. "I wanr some chocolate rnilk," he repeated. Now, for the average fve-year-old, rhis

mghr nor be a strange

and

requesr. Bur ar 4:00 a.m., ir comes across as a bit presurnptive

cerrainly as a prernarure way to launch the day. 50 I rold hirn, "Co back to bed. It's nor morning yet." Closing my eyes, I hoped he'd ger rhe hinr and humbly and obediendy obey my command. Yer he remained. forehead. And repeared his requesr. "I wanr some chocolate milk." Tapped me on the

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In my wisdom and maturity, I responded with some of rhe best words a father could offer. Parents take note in case you need [O call upon rhis brilliance one day: "You want chocolate milk? I want a million dollars." To which he wittily replied, "Well, I wanr five dollars ... for some chocolate and some milk." Stunned by his mathematical accuracy, I got our of bed and

whipped up some chocolate milk. Chocolate and rnilk are rwo very different rhings, but as my son was well aware that morning-they taste great together. Each is fine on its own, but when you combine thern you create sornething delicious, something worth getting out ofbed to enjoy. What does any of this have to do with rhe church? Well, when we first began [O explore the realiry of a socially acrive church, we observed a camp divi.ded. We looked out ar the landscape of rhe church world and saw rwo different panerns ar work. Few churches were able [O garher any attractional momentum while also engaging in the sacrifice of sending. In fact, most of the 1long to see a organizarions rhat focused on me outward minisday when we look at the gathering and scattering of

try were typicaLly parachurch ministries or nonprofit organizations. While churches focused on attracring people and garhering rhern in, nonprofits and parachurch rninistries were sending people out. T h e prevai Iing t houg h t seeme d [O be: "Since you can't do both well, do one with excellence."

the church and value exaltation and incarnation

But I'rn not convinced this is true. For anyone who equally values the gamering equally. and the sending of the church, this divide creates a dilemma. While gathering and sending are indeed rwo different things, rhey seem more like chocolate and milk to me: rwo grear rhings individually that work even better together. 1r'5 hard for us [O imagine a day before chocolate milk existed. I long to see a day when we look at the gathering and scattering of the church and value exalrarion and incarnation equally. Ir will be a day where

44

WHERE GATHERING

ANO SCATTERING

COLLlDE

ir's hard to imagine

rhern operaring

separately

and impossible

to

evaluare success independenrIy, linked.

and rheir value will be inexrricably

HURRICANE
In Seprernber par h of Hurricane

IKE

2008, Ausrin was abuzz with rumors abour the

Ike making its way into the Gulf of Mexico with of refuTexas, as

an eye on me Texas coast. This was a huge concern for the people of Austin because we quickly became rhe home to thousands gees in need. Alrhough onlya Ike made its finallandfalJ 2 hurricane, near Galveston, Category ir packed a powerful

punch with rhe

equivalent storrn surge of a Caregory 5. This was bad news for many people. And the flood of refugees reaching Austin filled our shelters in a marter of hours, That afrernoon, tion, which informed I received a call from the Austin Baptisr Associame rhey had a Spanish-speaking family at the suburb

office in need. The father was a pastor from an east Housron children,

who had nowhere to go and was asking for help, Wirh such young rhey could nor go to rhe shelters. They had no money for a ali of the Spanish-speaking churches hotel, and rhey had contacred in the area to no avail.

50 they asked if we could help. I called jen, and without hesiration, we decided to accept rheir family imo our horne, Thar was the day I was educared on how "family" can mean two different berween cultures. Within rwenry-four ther "family" ar our house. things of hours, we had eighty-two to
01Lf

Ir was rhe best thing rhat ever happened people from ANC and me communiry

young church. prompting,

Insrantly, our church beca me "the church." Without

began to call and email to offer

their homes as refuge. People cleaned our Wal-Marr of sleeping bags and dropped thern off Food was everywhere, grill-ollts were planned, evenrs for rhe kids feil into place ... honestly, ir was beautiful.

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BAREFOOT

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In

And it was fun. Not once did I feel personally pur ouro Not once rhat week did anyone complain about their plans being canceJed to serve rhose in need. No one sent an email about Bible srudy not being "deep" enough. No one worred abour the children's rninistry sign-in processo No one complained that they had a world where to give money to help. They just gave. All rhey could. They gave wirhout coercion or guiIt. Smiles everywhere. Joy everywhere. The next Sunday's worship gathering was simply amazing. Everyone, licerally everyone, who was a part of ANC was in artendance. The Spirir

we are constantly asking what went wrong, I couldn't help but ask, What went right?

was rhick. The worship was pure. The sharing was raw. Everyone was thankfuJ for whar rhey had and rhankful to be able to give. Undoubtedly, ir was most inruitively worshipful gathering we had ever had. In a world where we are consrantly asking what wem wrong, 1 couldn'r help bur ask: What went righr? What made that day so sweet? 1 think the answer lies in what Scripture rells us makes our worship meaningIess. This is ar the heart of Isaiah 1 and is a huge accusation toward the nation of Israel:

me

"The multirude of your sacrifices=-what are rhey to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the far of fattened animais; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goars. When you come [O appear before me, who has asked rhis of you, this rrampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable [O me... I cannot bear your worthless assernblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivais I hate wirh all my being.
46

WHERE GATHERING

ANO SCATTERING

COLLlOE

They have become a burden to me; Iam weary ofbearing thern. When you spread out your hands in prayer,

J hide my eyes from you:

even when you offer many prayers, I am nor lisrening."
ISAIAH I:!I-I5

The prophet

Isaiah lets us know rhar God was ticked off He's

made thar crysral clear. He ler me narion oflsrael know that for some reason, he no longer took pleasure in their worship. Not only did he take no pleasure in ir, he says thar ir had become a burden to him. He was even weary of it. If God finds no pleasure in our worship, yer we continue happens, to worthat ship, then who is ir for? The answer is easy. Ir's for uso When Seems prerry counrerproducrive

accord i ng to Isaiah, God considers even our worship evil, to me. And he goes beyond that, says he doesn'c even God

Because of rhis, he won'r even listen to our prayers, even if we pray a lor. He's so serious about this thar Scripture wanr to look ar
lIS.

Ir wasn't rheir sryle or method of worship rhar was making angry. They were worshiping insrructed. Whar he was saying is that somerhing else going on rhat had defiled apure

with rhe precision in which they were had raken place rhing. about

thar was inhibiting

was somerhing Recently, somerhing

their worship [com achieving its goal. Thar rhere

I found out that a dose friend felr differently company, he opposed. was hurtful.

than whar he had represenred

to me. To me he agreed, very perAs much as I wanted just

but in differem

Ir was something

sonal, so his double standard

to decide ir wasn't that big of a deal, ir was a big deal, Every word he said seemed to lack sincerity and inregrity. Ir Iiterally got to rhe point where I didn'r want to be around him. Knowing ir seemed amagonisric to me. and condescending what I knew, that he would even talk

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Is ir possible rhat rhis is what was happening in lsaiah I? Is this how God feels when we worship him and yer ignore other aspects of living senr lives? Is it antagonlstic? Are we sranding in ignorance, thi nking he doesn't know what we do or don't do? Could our neglecr keep hirn from wanting to hear our prayers ar even see our face? lsaiah 1 says yes. There's sornerhing big rhey neglected-and ir changed everyrhing. Here was God 's insrruction on how to make ir right: Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds our of my sighe; srop doing wrong. Learn (O do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of rhe fatherless; plead the case of rhe widow.
ISAIAH 1:16 - I7

God couldn't have made this clearer. Throughour Scripture, he reminds Israel that his grearest indictmenr is their neglect of rhe poor and oppressed. And ir's not JUS! worship rhar's impacted. While Isaiah reminds us rhat serving rhe pooe validares our worship (Isaiah 1) and fasting (Isaiah 58), James reminds us that ir gives evidence of our faith (Jarnes 4), and Jesus rerninds us that it is somehow linked to our eterniry (Matthew 25). We were in rhe middle of a seasan of prayer for wisdorn an how the garhering and the sending biblically collded when we encountered Hurricane Ike. 1ronically and specifically, we weee wondering if gathering and sending could structurally coexist effectively. What Scripture tells us is that sornehow, biblically, they must. And if we value thern as God values thern, we'Il see thar they actually srrengthen one anorher. The truth is, when we give away aur resources, we can't do as much with the gathering-especiaJly when it cosrs money to serve rhe poar. On the flip side, when we spend ir on the weekend, we

48

WHERE GATHERING

ANO SCATTERING

COLLlDE According to the Bible, the goal is not to live without the strugglej the goal is to find God and deny ourselves throughout the struggle.

don'r have ir to give away. Thar's our dilemma. To some it's a crisis, especially organizationally. Can we ever have our cake and eat ir, too? Many say no ... so we choose one as a priority and give to the orher wharever's left. It's easier to choose one or the other, yer Scripture never releases us from either. Our journey is not about finding a place where we no longer have to struggle to balance this. According to the Bible, the goal is not to live wirhout the struggle; the goal s to find God and deny ourselves throughom rhe struggle.

DO WE SEE THE CRISIS? Hurricane Ike taught us thar in times of crisis, the church mos! intuitively becomes the church. Since rhe sirnple fruir of crisis is need, rhey go hand in hand. This rnakes much sense of why Jesus would give us the exarnple of engaging need as a first step to being missionaries to our culture, When we Our problem engage need individually and as a body, we most dosely is most exresemble Chrisr. I've always been enamored wirh the rapid growth we do not of rhe early church, and I've been similarly captivated by rhe rapid growrh of the modem church in places see the need. like China. The common denominator is persecution. The crisis is obvious. They are in need, and ali rhe believers involved intuitively know ir. The result? The church is more vibrant, ir's more engaged, and it's more desperare. Ir's more in need of God's leading, God's blessing, God's provisiono Thus, they hunger and thirst for God's righteousness. Because of our plenty, we don't see need in America as we see it in other places where God seerns to be moving mightily. Not rangible, criticai, iife-altering need. Ir's mosdy need rhat can be hidden or
posed when

49

BAREFOOT

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[O

ignored.

It's mosdy need that we can suppress while continuing

do our ourwardly

religious activities, Our problem is most exposed There's a void of Spirir. There's a And studies show that people are says thar we're to be a ciry on a hill of the

when we do not see the need. But there is crisis in America. lack of powerful rransformation. Scripture leaving rhe church.

that cannot be hidden, Like it or not, rhat's not lhe reputation thar is supposed be good news, we're losi ng ground.

Western church. Not only are we hidden in our culture as something

[O

Things changed for ANC after Hurricane to do the rnost natural a crisis. We began as differenr
[O

Ike because we began

ching when ir carne to meering needs during we began to

see rhe various forms of need in our communiry to engage thern ali. When we do,

kinds of crisis in our communiry-and ali that much berrer.

realize the church's responsibily ir makes rhe gathering

In response, we began to develop a structure and process to expose, experience, and engage need as a Funnel for spirirual formation. Every need, whether ir is a physical need for food or a spiritual need for food, rnust be exposed and sem. Thar's rhe responsibility of every spirirual leader. Need is everywhere, yer somehow we have condirioned our eyes not to see ir. We see problems. We see things to avoid. We see things thar aren't right; but when we don'r see rhern as needs, we're less likely to realize we are the ones who should do something about ir.
[O

If you're anytbing like me, you probably don't know where

start.

Neirher do mosr people, If we are tasked as the church to equip people for ministry, the obvious next step is to help thern experience ir in some kind of simple environment. Maybe it's a project. Maybe it's an evento and passion seem to intuitively draw Wharever it is, its design is to simply tasre and see. Once we experience need, our gifting, experiences, us deeper imo me areas where we are best equipped or called to serve. From there, we must do our best to engage the need personally. We believe the best way to do that is rhrough communiry. serve in relationship need as a pare of our normal life rhythms-and When we with others, we are much more likely to engage vice versa.

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WHERE GATHERING

ANO SCATTERING

COLLlOE

Exposing Need
Any church that gamers has an opportuniry the attention ship, to teach, and to rake communion. rask. Bur on Sunday to hold and we lead. of the entire church family. We come together to worWe encourage

We equip and we exhorr, alJ in jusr one hour a week. That's a tough

if ever there is an opportunry

to expose need in our comScriprure on

muniry and world, ir's then. Wth this in rnind, we've chosen to teach through Sundays and let the topics be chosen by the texr. Ir's not rhat we

think rhar's me only way to teach during a worship gathering; we jusr believe it's a great way to keep focus cornplerely vertical berween the people and God. If is exalration
OUl'

foeus of a Sunday gathering we hope to do everyVou will find, as we have, that Scripture ex-

and adorarion,

thing we can to point people toward a vertical focus. You will find, as we have, thar Scriprure exposes need with every verse. Spirirual need? Check. Relational need? Check. Physical need? Check. Ir's not a stretch to apply Scriprure directly to rnission. And we're never at a loss for seeing whar we can and should do nexr. Combine promorional that with some creative partnerships, efforts and inrentional

poses need with every verse.

and we'll be exposour

ing need ar leveis few of us have ever seen. We're not creating need: we're exposing people
[Q

rhe need that is ali around

uso We're rraining

see with new eyes. Ir's a bit embarrassing

when we real-

ize how long we've been surrounded blindly rhrough be motivated to do something

by need, and yet have walked purpose and wirh

ir. We can't help but wanr to respondo People will significanr-with

a hope to be good news.

Experiencing Need
Even if we expose need and people want to do something ir, there is srill no guaraDree rhey will do anyrhing stopping up ready to do somerhing, point for rnany of USoWe leave a gathering about new. This is the a11 purnped

and then real !ife hits. Good intentions

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BAREFOOT

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can often remain just that. I'rn sure you can relate. Deadlines are approaching, blis have [O be paid, and school projects that require your help are waiting on the kitchen countertop. In other words, We have some deeper issues, [00. Beyond being selfish, unmotivated, and unconvinced, the big issue without a transis that our flesh literally opposes it. In orher words, formed heart, without a transformed heart, we simply won'r wanr we simply won't to serve. While it's an ugly truth, it's good to be honwant to serve. est wirh ourselves and know our starting point. Paul wrote in Galatians 5:17, "For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirir whar is contrary to rhe flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so rhat you are not to do whatever you want." We feel sympathy for those in need. But it's the Spirit thar leads us to compassion. And there is a huge difference between the rwo. We can't make ourselves change the way we feel. But we can change what we do and trust that the Spirit will move. Richard Rohr, aurhor of Simplicity, put it this way, "You cannot think your way imo a new way ofliving. You have to live your way into a new way of thinking."' The Spirit is rnoving. When we act, rhe Spirir moves in uso 50 how should we act? What should we do? I recall being told to go out rhere and be a "light.' I'd leave church all excited and feeling like, "Alrighc here we go, be a lighr ... uh ... bright and shining ... uh ... what does thar really rnean?" It's the sarne way with serving. We tell people to serve. Or maybe we're the ones told to serve, and we may even really want [O, but our willpower is small, alrnost as smalJ as our insight on where to start. I remember tasking a group to go find a projecr in their area where they could serve. A rnonth [ater, I asked the leader how it was going. His reply? He had sent an email a rnonth previous and hadn'r heard anyrhing back yet. Okay, I thought, send another ernail then. Brilliam! Another email. One month ater I saw the sarne leader. "How's the projecr going? Did you land on something?"

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WHERE GATHERING

ANO SCATTERING

COLLlOE

"I never heard back from the second email. 1 don't know what's wrong with thern." I know this sounds harsh, bur sometirnes we play dumb and we don't even know it. Seriously. In our careers, we have to be problern solvers. We run imo an issue and we find a solution, you have a phone? Try that." Four months imo rhe process, rwo ernails and a phone call1ater, rhis highly skilled leader found our that rhe event for which they wanted
(O

or they'll hire

someone else to find a solurion. So here was my nexr solution: "Do

volunteer had already taken place a week earlier. And for

some reason, rhey felt as if it was someone else's fault that they didn'r have a projecr to do. We've got
(O

own rhis a lirtle more. We need to take initiative,

Bur as a church leader, I can't assume someone is going ro do rhat. As much as I wanr (hem to "help me help you," ofren they don'c. 50 we creared an opportunity where people can start by taking part in a service day where they can taste what it's all about. I know ir sounds weird to taste need, but that's what it is: an event designed for people just to show up and feel what it's like to serve. Ir's a critical step. Ours comes in rhe form of an event we call Serve Austin Sunday (SAS). On fifrh Sundays, our church organizarions cancels our across our regular worship gathering ro go be the church. We choose a number

of projects to do with straregic nonprofit city and just go out and serve together, Although It's amazing ir's amazing it's a culture in need.

this evenr is designed as an entry-level see how easy it is to invite a neighbor

service opporto join uso And For some, before. Ir's for someone in lieu of our

tunity, it's amazing how much ir impacts rhose who've neve r served.
(O

to see how quickly

people grow when they step imo

leading at the event itself rather than simply attending. shock such as they've never experienced incredible how many people have never done anything There are three reasons we do this on a Sunday normal worship garherings.

53

BAREFOOT It creates a seruice-minded rnunicare serving

CHURCH

DNA. We want to make sure we comto our church. This has

the least as a prioriry

worked great in thar we rypically have more people show up for this project than we do a normal worship service. That's rare! In fact, it's working churches joinlng so well that we now have a network Sundays. of us for Serve Austin Recenrly, we had a

srnall church join us thar expected of their rypicall If we were gathering,

{Q

to have 30 people show up out our regularly scheduled Sunday

10. To their surprise, rhey had 130 people show up.

{Q

sirnply add serving

I would imagine attendance

would drop ar least 50 perin

cem, but probably more like 80 percem. In face, thar's exactly what we've found. The churches rhar join us to serve Sunday afternoon addirion to their Sunday morning percenrage service, we have to cornmunicate not as an add-on ar optional ing and unexpected ir comrnunicares that attempts services have a significancly lower and srrucrure seeving as a priority, One of the most surprisWhat rhey see is of but

of people involved. If we're trying to create a culture of event.

It changes our posture to the community.

benefits of collectively serving on Sunday is whar is that we are a church

to the skeptics of our communiry.

that we value worship, but just as importam what we do for Serve Austin Sunday

to march our deed with our creed. When speaking

to those outside the church,

they are curious about the "what" and "why" of our projecrs,

rhey are dumbfounded

services
{Q

that we acrually cancel our normal Sunday people's percepSunday is hands skeptics,

do ir. This goes a long way in changing to inuite otbers. Serve Austin

rions of church in our community, The opportunity the unchurched, down our mosr highly attended join you co go downtown
{Q

Sunday by nonbelievers,

and the dechurched.

Ir's easy co invite someone to

and grill burgers for homeless people or school to do a c1assroom makeespecially jf rhey don't rhing anyway. People ger

go to a poor eastside elementary

over. It's much easier than dealing with the baggage that accompanies inviting someone believe or undersrand to a church servicerhe whole church

54

WHERE GATHERING

ANO SCATTERING

COLLlOE

service. They want to be a part of something stantly amazed We used to do this evenr once a month. ing poinr, bur nor a good long-range

significam.

I'm con-

by who mighr show up ar a service project. While thar comrnuni-

cared a huge priority to service, we found rhar this was a good startplano We had to find a way to help people engage need on a more personallevel.

Engaging Need
As great as holding Serve Ausrin Sundays every month was, as our onJy service experience, it carne with some inherenr issues. Churchby church staff. They rhe event wide service projects are rypieaJly planned

require staff to recruit rhe leaders, sraff energy for pramoring that's an inhibiror to reproducibiliry

to get people there, and rhen the church typieally pays for ir. Honesrly, because ir requires drawing &om a lirnired pool of resources and people. That's okay for a season of observation, but if we rake spirituaI forrnarion seriously, eventually we need to get people to engage need on rheir own. Ir has to be decenrralized, Wirh this in mind, we quickly and prayerfully "experience We wamed personally best urilized as a less frequently planned evento
We wanted to help people engage need more personally and on a regular basis rather than at a monthly event they could

decided

rhar an

need" rype of service event, while necessary, might be to help people engage need more and on a regular basis rather than ar

a momhly event they could just consume. That's where our Restare Communities carne imo play. The moment we charged our communities to serve once a rnonth and moved Serve Austin event, our church service projects groups, was a

Sundays to a once-per-quarter from twelve to twenty-five month. Through people planned,

went frorn doing jusr one project to anywhere rheir own cornrnuniry

just consume.

led, and served. Everything communiry. community. consume r experience

taken care of in and rhrough fram a poremially part of rnissional incarnational

Service intuitively

wenr

to something

lived out as a

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BAREFOOT

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Hurricane Ike caught us to recognize crisis as need and that need is everywhere. We found thar when we engage need as the church, we naturally become good news. When we're good news, ir changes everything, including everyrhing abour OUI gathering. BiU Cosby once said, "] don't know rhe secret ro success, but rhe secret to failure is to try ro please everybody." This mighr be OUI problem. We see focusing on garhering and sending as opposing rhings because ir rypically pleases two differenr eypes of people and serves rwo differenr functions. And ir's true: ir's hard to place our affections on sending people, resources, and attention outward when we're so in lave with what we do inside the campo We need to come to grips with the reality that we're not here to please or impress each other and do only what we like ar prefer. We're here ro please God. We may have a calling, a gifting, or a leaning toward ga{hering ar serving, but only by doing bom do we become all rhings to all people. The aposrle Paul put ir this way, ''As ir is, there are many parts, but one body" (I Corinthians 12:20).

56

CHAPTER

Serving through Missional Community

couple of years ago, my wife, Jen, and de to Alaska for our anniversary.

r took

a cruise from Sear-

Ir was awesome. We had never deck of

been co Seartle, so we decided to fly in a few days early to take in the ciry; We dd ali the usual stops. We stood on the observarion rhe Space Needle, Jen caughr a fish ar Pike's Place Marker, and since we're borh huge coffee lovers, we figured we' d betrer check out the original Srarbucks while we were there, I was prerty pumped about rhe Srarbucks thing. The line was out the door. The srorefront funneling was jusr Iike the pictures. And rhey were people rhrough as efficiently as possible, everyone leaving T-shirt, mug, or other logo-laden of acrion, 1 grabbed my black cofIr was a whirlwind

with rheir coffee and an additional paraphernalia.

fee and wenr to find a place to sit down wliile waiting for Jen and her eight-syllable drink when ir hir me ... there are no cbairs in this room. Surely not, this is Srarbucks, home of community place we hang out for business meetings the building to make room for in-and-out and wi-fi. The Honand stale pasrries.

estly, ir ser me back a momento But they had removed every chair in traffic. Tables toa. What had now become a once was a place built on the idea of community

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business so efficient rhat no one in rhe roam even noticed they were beiog herded around like cattle. And we didn't care. They were giving us exacdy whar we wanted: coffee, a T-shirt, and a picrure in front of rhe buJding move to prove we
00 00.

had been there. No one was there to hang out, read a book, ar sip a latte. They had a tourist schedule and needed This is church withour on relarionships missional and unified effort, now a place
[Q

community.
[Q

Somerhing consume

built wirh a

revolving doar, a weekly tourist stop for the self-righreous. A place to get our fix and say we were there, Every time I hear someone teach on the Acts 2 church I wonder what firsr-cenrury
We never get to the bottom of our selves on our own. We discover who we are side by side with others in work, love, and reaming.

faith community bur think

really looked like. I can't help special about ir

there was somethiog

rhat we've missed. It's hard to imagine a day where people would
00

pool what they had to rnake sure While things certainly look

one was without,

different in our time, it just seems as if we've lost a lirtle something. gave rhem purpose. Roberr Bellah, Arnerican sociologisr and professor of sociology ar rhe Universiry of California in Berkeley, wrote: "We find ourselves nor independendy of other people and institutions but Somerhing tells me community didn'r just fiH a need in their lives to connect, ir

through learning. ciations,

rhern. We never get to the borram of our selves an aur own. Ali of oue activity goes on in relarionships, and cornrnunities ordered by instirurional by cultural patterns of rneaning."' groups, assostructures and

We discover who we are side by side with others in work, lave, and

interprered Whether

In orher words, we need each other, We were created that way. we choose to be so ar not, we are shaped by our relatianand find our sgnificance as believers in Jesus said that he had come to give life, and life ro the ships. We will be influenced cammunity.

fuH (John 10: 10). Paul was clear in Ephesians that we were to "lead a

58

SERVING THROUGH MISSIONAL COMMUNITY !ife worthy of rhe ealling" and (Ephesians do
50. tO

"rnake every efforr" to live in unity

4:1, 3). It's rhrough

doing life togerher rhat we learn to

"The ehureh is God's people garhered as a unir, as a people,

In essence, missional community may serve as one of the best ways we can embody the incamation Christ. of

garhered to do business in His name, ro find whar ir means here and now to put imo pracrice this different qualiry of life which is God's promise ro thern and to the world and their promise to God and service tO rhe world.'? In learning to beeome a comrnuniry about us," we more intuitively ing of the Spirit as we seek
tO

rhar is "not in God's

lean imo the leadparticipare

rnission in rhe world. When we do so, it becomes a rerninder of God 's redemption, a preview of what thar redemption earry redernprion's is like, and ir offers a srrategy to hope into every contexr.f communiry

In essence, missional
ways we can embody

may serve as one of rhe besr of Christpurring on f1esh rhis is

rhe incarnation

and being Jesus to our world. When we live this out, the foeus of me church shifts to hearing and responding translated collectively, eongregations to the Spirit. When as a whole rend to take more where they live.4

seriously rhe how and when to engage comrnunities

THE PROBLEM
Jen and I have our kids' sehoollunch checking arnount accounr. account ser up in such a way drafrs from our thar when it gets below ten dollars, it automatically I was reconciling our checking

This is designed to be a good rhing. Lasr week, account when I noticed an unusual who manages

of money being debired frorn rhe company

the lunch accounrs,

In face, as I added thern up for ali rhree kids, ir I found that my seven-year-old had

roraled $380 over the asr thirry days. After some investigacion, managed to forgo his standard, in his own words, to "upgrade" healthy, and Iow-priced schoollunch, to three or tour ice cream sandwiches

59

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

every Wednesday and Friday. When I asked hirn why he would do that, he simply replied, "Because, Dad, rhey only serve ice cream on Wednesday and Friday," Welcome to roy world. Alrhough rhe money given was designated for healthy food, my son had chosen an unhealthy subsritute thar cost even more. This was a problem-and he was completely oblivious to ir. 50 at the rnoment of purchase we're trying to get him to ask rhe question: ls what l'm about to do with this money in line with Just as church my parenr's will and purpose for rhis money?
without commu-

J ust as church

wirhout communiry falIs shorr of

nity falls short of biblical church, with-

community

biblical church, cornmunity without mission falls short of biblcal community, I just can't help but ask rhe question: Is ou r rypical dea of community in line with God's will and purpose for community?

out mission falls

Most pastors I know would answer no. Many aren't contem with the sense of cornmuniry and short of biblical mission in rheir church. If we were to take a hard community. Jook, we mighr nor like what we see either, Yet oUI church is exactly where we've led ir. That doesn't make us bad people or even bad leaders; ir just means we may need to make some changes. Maybe ir's rime to take a hard look ar OUI structure and see if it's fostering cornrnunity thar is grawing out of culture or frorn the church down the srreet. We need to look at how we've organized ourselves and evaluate if we're making disciples on mission or fostering consumerism. More often than not, this has less to do with what we do on 5unday and everything to do with what we do Monday thraugh Sarurday, Our problem is rnost ofren what we rhink of when we envision "cornmunlry."

OUR DILEMMA While we srarted ANC wirh the homeless, a grill, and a prayer, the more we began to serve, the more we grew. Evenrually we had

60

SERVING THROUGH MISSIONAL COMMUNITY

people who needed to be led and who were looking for nexr sreps. I sensed an inevitable road toward a worship garhering on Sunday. That scared me-nor because I was againsr gathering on Sundays, bur because I knew how quickly ir can become the focus ar a church, even for a church builr on mission. George Barna, in his recent book Reuolution, concludes thar by the year 2025 the spiritual profile of the narion will be dramatically different. Specifically, Barna expecrs thar only about one-third of the popularion will rely on a local congregation as the primary ar exclusive means for experiencing and expressing their faith: one-rhird will do 50 rhrough alrernarive forms of farh-based communiry; and onerhird will realize their fairh rhrough rhe media, the arts, and other cultural institurions. Essentially, he's saying that the church, as we know ir, is dying. Dwindling ar best. WhiJe I don't necessarily agree wirh the time line, what ir tells me is rhat rhere's srill time, There's a lot of ministry to be done with whar we have berween now and 2025. 50 whar happens berween now and 2025? The question kepr coming to my rnind: If rhe gathering church did disappear, if Sunday as we knew ir went away, what would sustain us as a raith community? Do we have the communiry structures in place to survive rhe loss of our Sunday gatherings? 50 we asked the questiono In fact, for us, this became an excellenr measuring stick for our rninistry efforrs and connectivity ourside of Sunday. If the gathering disappeared, what would remain? And rhe collareral questions: What would happen to the mission? What would happen to cornmunity? Whar would happen to our incarnarional effom? What would happen to our church? Answering these questions offers us some clear insighr imo how much our forms depend on us and OUI abiliry to empower our people to lead out in the communiry. While I have no plans to end our weekly gathering for worship, I couldn't help but wonder if our service-oriented DNA was ingrained enough to keep ir going without a weekly pep rallyand

61

BAREFOOT As long as serving remains an event that people attend, it never becomes self-sustaining, much less hearttransforming,

CHURCH

monthly service projecr. In answering these quesrions, I realized thar servlng for us was still an "evenr" and not as much a part of "going" as I knew ir needed to be. We were not empowerlng our people enough, and our "forro" was incomplere. As long as ir was the pastors who planned, scheduled, promoted, and recruited for a service mar project, ir would always jusr be something be an event that could be consumed. serving remains transforming, never becomes self-susraining, weekend structure.

re-

had "attenders" and "volunteers." Ir would always As long as ir an event rhat people artend,

gardless of how we change our weekend structure.

much less hearr-

regardless of how we change our

CONFRONTING
As I mentioned church, recruired

CONSUMERISM
of our We by our staf(

earlier, up to this point in the history

every service projecr we did was planned rhe leaders for ir. We promoted

ir. Our church paid for it. ger-

We tried to ger people to show up to "our" evento And some did. But the very thing we had found to be a catalysr for transformarion, ting people to take ownership While most of our monthly weren't structured consume we had unknowingly opportuniries short of our drearn. In our currenr structure, lieu of a church gathering sending But, honesrly, just planning we found that we could pull off about By scheduling these on Sundays in was a priority, one service project per rnonth. for the mission, was lacking. service events were pretty good, we that allowed our people to we were falling far

to create a Ufe of mission. As consumers ourselves, built a paradigm of service. Structurally,

(and yes, no offering), we were certainly

one a month was wearing our sraff and the project, ir was

the message that service to our comrnuniry

key leaders out. While literally everyone artended

62

SERVING THROUGH

MISSIONAL

COMMUNITY

always the sarne people leading it, and we were falling desperately short of making "serving the least" more than just anorher evento 50 we decided ro rnake another change.

STRUCTURING

TO SERVE

Instead of investing sraff time planning these monthly churchwide evenrs, we put the responsibility inro the hands of our community groups. We changed the na me of our Communiry Groups to "Restore Cornmuniries" wirh a new commitment to focus on "individual, collective, and social renewal." For eight weeks, we put our existing comrnuniry groups on hold and trained our leaders for mission. We shaped our parener (rnembership) process to be a journey toward understanding and developing a missional theology. This included an eight-week COUIse on creating incarnarional comrnuniry, We found Hugh Halter and Mate Srnay's resource, Tbe Tangible Kingdom Primer'" to be a perfecr fir for this equipping and have imegrared ir as a key elernenr of our church's spiritual formation and partner processo Our goai in supponing our vision was ro reevaluate who was really a part of our church communiry and ro empower our leaders while relaunching our groups ro engage need with a new structure. We were training thern to not only serve the least, but our neighbors as well. To do this, we recruited rhree groups of leaders for each community. The beauty of rhis approach is thar each group instamly had six boughr-in leaders who were committed to rhe mission and DNA of their group. One couple (rhe "hosrs") was in charge of"hospirality" and coordinated comrnunications, locarion for the meeting, the snacks, and rhe chiJdcare. One couple (the "facilitators") was in charge of leading the Bible srudy, discussion, and prayer. And one couple (the "restore leaders") was in charge of"mission." The "restore leaders" were responsible for making sure their group committed ar least two of rheir cornmunity gatherings a monrh, half of their time, ro eirher loving their neighbar ar serving rheir ciry. The

63

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

other half could be spenr on [hem. That was ir. 5imple, really. If we love our neighbor as much as ourselves, why wouldn't we give away as much time as we keep? 50 every other week we had dinner rogether, held a Bible srudy Df spiritual discussion, and broke our imo prayer groups. And on alternare weeks, we canceled the gathering to "Leve Our Neighbor" by inviring a neighbor to dinner, rhrowing a pany, planning a neighborhood family nighr, or some other srraregically intenrional effon to foster relationships; or we would "Serve Our Ciry" by doing a familyfriendly service project with one of our nonprofit partners in our city, Our mantra emerged: "Love Our goal was not your neighbor. Serve your city." to contrai the Since from the beginning we had made ir a process; it was prioriry ro have a pastor on sraff whose primary to enable, enresponsibiliry was to develop parrnerships with local nonprofits in our city, we already had a plugcourage, and reand-play process for each restore leader ro get their lease our people Restore Community con necred with the project of for mission. their cholce. We even gave thern permission to find their own projecr if rhey wanted to. Our goal was not to control the process; ir was to enable, encourage, and release our people for mission. Once rhe group had landed on a service opportunity, rhey signed thernselves up. organized ir, and paid for it. They did everything. Why? Ir was tbeir projecr. Along the way we were able ro identify four crirical leadership shifts that were required to empower our Restore Communities ro serve. These changes required shifts ...
1. From Control to Accountability

One of the most difficulr places to "ler go" in rninisrry is with our comrnunity groups. The further away our ministries get from Sunday, rhe more high-risk they are. Often we're so afraid they'Il go rogue thar our Ieadership becomes suffocating. We need to be carefuJ to check in and to check up, but not control the situation. When we

64

SERVING THROUGH

MISSIONAL

COMMUN1TY

control somerhng,

our people will never take ownership

of ir. Why

would rhey if we are there to do ir for thern?

2. From Suspicion to Permission

It's criticai that we clearly communicare of missional comrnuniry rhing by determining communiry anymore. communiry is pointed in advance whar the

goa!

is and then give people permission if ir really benefits outward sornething rhe organization.

to make If our

ir their own. Ofren we fall imo rhe rrap of trying to justify someby design, we don't have to wonder worthwhile thar serves our

If they'e pursuing

with any sense of urgency at all, we should simply be

glad they're out there doing ir.

3. From Fixed to Flexible

Give it some time and ler it get messy. A common solurions to problems as succeeding. learning or even navigaring rnisrake we finding make as leaders is rescuing a group toa early. In comrnunity, That's what growth as a comrnunity

failure can be as effective is all aboutit's

from our rnisrakes togerher.

We always offer suggestions If rhe group take

wirh how and where ro serve, but this is not to be inflexible: to make ir easy for leaders to lead ar the beginning. freedom to do ownership
50.

has their own idea, as long as it's an idea of serving, they have rhe Ultimarely, the goal is to have a community of their projecrs.

4. From Majority to Priority

We really don'r all have to be in rhe same boato We can acrually cover more ground in a bunch of medium-sized The beaury is not found in rhe magnirude priority ir takes in
OUI

boats, Bur ali of us

do need to be rowing in the same direction wirh the same objective. of the rnission bur in rhe and give a priority. lives. We have ro creare structure

permission

to make mission and communiry

We always start with a srrucrure

to help create a group rhythm,

As time passes rhey have the freedom to find their own schedule and

65

BAREFOOT

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00

to follow paths thar might be more intuitive based their group. As rnentioned tiative, we insrantly went fram one church-wide anywhere berween rwelve and rwenry-four and the nwnber quadrupled,

the makeup of rhis new ini-

before, when we launched

projecr a rnonrh to literally we

service projects a rnonth, as we've grown. Mosr of as well. What

of people involved in rnissional community the projects were self-funded

Both have scaled accordingly

Although we had been serving regularly as a church body from the launch of the church, servng through community in this way literally changed who we were as a church.

found was rhar when ir was a structural necessity for our people to be serving in the comrnuniry, ir auromatically spiritual became an essencial part of their Best of all, our people were engaged cornmitas formation.

on mission together, and almost always this translated into a more personally Although a church ment to the work and the relationships. we had been serving regularly communiry body from the launch of the church, in this way LiteraLLy such as we had never

serving through experience experienced

changed who toe uiere as a church. We found an

of community before in weekly small groups. Since

rhen, we've learned that when we seek cornmunity, we mayor may nor end up finding ir. But whenever we lock our arms together for the sake of mission, we inevitably find community with rhose we serve with. I know rhat can sound about ir for a momem. you didn't a bit strange, doser bur jusr stop and rhink ro rhe Have you ever gone on a mission trip where and more connecred

come back feeling connection

people you went with than you had before? There always seems to be a supernatural others, a connecrion geographical ciry we serve. that forms when we serve alongside rhar are thar bridges our differences with one another. based, but as we've served

And rhat's what we found. We have missional communities and some thar are affinity

together, our church has emerged as a church that is as diverse as the

66

SERVING THROUGH MISSIONAL COMMUNITY

REPROOUCING

COMMUNITY

After several years of leading small groups, I've rnade a handful of observations. Firsr of all, you can't force a group to be geear. There is either a natural connection among the people in a group or there isn't. This is one of the reasons we don't funnel people into a community drecrly from our Sunday morning gacllerings. Instead, we found ir much more producrive ro train leaders and rhen rry to send roem out to start new groups wirh people they already know who don't attend a church. This is cenainJy a much slower process, bur we've found thar ir always makes for berter cornmuniry. Second, every small group has a certain shelf life. Mosr of rhe time that's because everyone eventually gers bored with the sameold-same-old. A community on mission togerher will typically mainrain a tonger Iife span as they Living on miswork rogether to engage changing needs in the community. And third, I've rarely seen a group rhat has successfully splir down the middle to form two groups. One of the two groups always seems to dwindle ar fade wirhin a short period of rime
after the split.
sion together for a period of time will inevitably create secondary rela-

tionships within a community that can easily become the primary focus.

Wirh this in rnind, we must create a sending culrure among our missional communities. If we don't do this, rhey'll eventually become Iifeless social gatherings. This is nothing new. The

early church leaders found ways to release their people for mission. They understood rhe criticai connection berween the success of the church's mission and their own willingness to empower others inro significant leadership roles. "A failure to do this would have doomed rhe movement to be swamped by its early success'" Living on mission togerher for a period of time will inevitably create secondary relationships wirhin a communiry that can easily become the primary focus. Our srrategy for rnultiplication is nor splitting up groups; it's sending leaders out to starr new groups that 67

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

are formed out of rheir new relationships. We give each group the freedom to rake on rheir own personaliry, and depending on the makeup of their group, a leader can shape ir accordingIy. In the rwo years since we've adopted this model, we've seen groups multiply up tofour times. Each multiplication includes some of the people who were a parr of the original group, but each is primarily made up of people from newly formed relationships that develop when serving outside of me church. As with any church, every week we have people who show up ar a Sunday gathering for me firsr rime. Since it's a partner (mernbershp) requirement and a key elernenr of our spiritual formation process for people who attend to be in some type of cornrnuniry, theyare quicklyencouraged to get connected. But unless they already have a relational connection with a community, we try to avoid placing new people in existing groups. If we were to pIace thern in an existing community group, we would instantly isolare that person from their current relationships and reduce their missionary porential, That's certainly not our goaJ! Instead, we hold pilot groups, where we rake these potencial leaders rhrough our training and encourage thern The purpose of to start a new group. Sometimes new communities form out of new relationshps in the pilot group as missional comwe train these new leaders. Sometimes groups start munity is not to out of existing relationships people already have ourcreate a place side of me church. Everyone knows someone. And where Chrismost of those someones don'r have a community of faith that they call home. tians can casuWe require a lor fcom our Restore Communities. ally connect. Since they are rhe place where we rnost hope to see individual, collective, and social renewal, we should expecr a lot from thern. After all, the purpose of missional cornmunity is nor to create a place where Christians can casually connect. It's nor JUS!another place where we can study rhe Bible. It's no! jusr a support group to help us cope with struggles.

68

SERVING THROUGH MISSIONAL COMMUNITY The purpose of rnissional communiries is to be a source of radi-

cal hope, to witness ro rhe new identiry and vision, the new way of life that has beco me a social realiry in Jesus Chrisr rhrough the power of the Holy Spirir. The persisrent problern is not how to keep rhe church fcom withdrawing to keep the world from withdrawing frorn the wocld, but how from rhe church ... The
B

forming of Christian cornrnuniry is rherefore nor an option bur rhe very lifesryle and vocarion of rhe church.

69

CHAPTER

Good News for the Unchurched and Dechurched

keptics of church are just that- they're skeptics. And rhey don't believe what we believe or share our values. There is plenry of reason for mato In the advancing age of media, comrnunications, and technology, any sign af corruption in rhe church can be worldwide within minutes, And whar do rhey see? Leaders of major Christian organizations raking the fall on rhe very issue they've spoken out againsr for years, pastors living posh lives equivalenr to Forrune 500 CEOs, and Koran burnings by hyperconservative Chrisrian activists. I know this is an overgeneralization. But rhe whole church is taking a hir for the misrakes of a few af its leaders. Recenrly Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, built a 1.3 billion dollar facility to house their 100,000 fans. The facility is the epitome of excessiveness, According to ESPN columnist Matr Mosley, Jerry's hope is that this sradiurn will be his farnily's legacy, even more 50 than his three Super Bowl rings.! Everyrhing he has and hopes to be known for is encompassed by a bullding. Just down the road from bis $16K-per-sear dome sits rhe home of a church in the middle of a 130 million dollar building campaign. They're autdoing the famous tycoon by a whopping $27K per seatat a total expected cost of $43K per seat.

71

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

While touring ir as the largest church building program facility in this area should be one that glorilles almighty thar our "building

in mod-

em history, the lead pastor of the church reportedly said, "The finesr God,"2 and program is not an end in itsdf, it is a means ta an Bur I can't

end to better minisrer to and meet the needs of rhe community."3 This pastor's hearr may be filled wirh good inrentions, help but ask the question: The answer seems obvious. demographic worrhwhile rhar represenrs neighbor
lt's not really about how much we spend; it's

rneet the needs of which communiry? Ir will meet the needs of the commua It's less rhan one-third of our nation.

niry who is willing to come to church or who is already coming,

to invest in our own people, but if we're called ro love our as we love oursdves, I jusr can't help but it is, I wonder
00

how much is toa much. Whatever

hope we can at least agree that we spend way more ourselves than we do on reaching, serving, and Many pastars shrinking believe rhat if we build it, they srudies show ir's a radically we still believe that our onlookers loving those outside the church. will come. Alrhough "field of drearns" disagree.

whaf we spend it
on and what we can't do when the money is gone.

demographic,

can be a means to an end. I' d

be willing to bet that our non-Christian

I believe they ofren look upon how we

spend money in rhe church with some disdain. Ir's nor really about

how much we spend; ir's what we spend ir on and what we can't do

when the money is gone. Ler's be honesto We'l! hire a secretary or an office manager before we'll hire a pastor dedicated reach. We' 11 cut funding adoption 5unday moming. soJely to rnission and comrnuniry a church outfor a missionary, planr, or an

fund way before we'll cur the media ar creative budget for If we truly lave our neighbor with 130 million dol!ars. enough withour adding to rhe mixo death, processing a tragic natural as ourselves, some-

thing we claim to be central to our existence, surely we can do something more significam Faith Sorting through can be confusing

an unexpected

72

GOOO NEWS FOR THE UNCHURCHEO

ANO OECHURCHEO

disaster, or observing evil in the world are things thar have shaken individuais' faith for centuries, People ourside rhe church don'r see hope in a building or a programo They don't value rhem like we do beca use they don't connecr (hem with a nosralgic faith mornent like we do. Culture has shifred. Things have changed. The church is 00 rhe fringe of our society, and we need to find new ways to undo the damage ta our repurarion, We have ta change rhe way we are seen by the world. We have to become good news again.

MOTIVATION One of the surprising realities of serving rhe least is thar we can easily have more unbelievers join us in serving rhan would visit our church on a given Sunday morning. 1t'5much less threateni ng to an unbelieving neighbor or friend to be invired to serve the homeless or help "make over" a classroom ar an underresourced elemenrary school than ta be invited to church. They rnost likely already believe in doing some good. Bur rhey don't yet see their need for the church. Wirh thar in mind, our Restare Comrnunities are often as diverse as those who attend our service projects. Many are found ro be a refreshing rnix berween believers, seekers, and skeptics. We have people who grew up Catholic mixed with those whose parenrs were Jehovah's Wirness. There are those who lefr church fifteen years ago and those who've never been. Some don't artend our church (OI any church) on Sunday. Because of that foundaron, rhose who come to faith ar regain their faith often come with a stronger understanding of being good news than many people who have spenr years in rhe church, lisrening tO messages and sitting in rhe sears. When it's me gospel you receive, it's the gospel you inruitively live. Serving rhe least can be really messy. It can be frusrraring. And ar times ir can feel rhankless. We know Gad is sharpening us rhrough me experience. We know he's changing our hearrs, We know we're obeying rhe commands ofJesus. Bur when the "newness" of selfless service wears off, ir's hard to keep going. Many give up.

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BAREFOOT

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While obedience to motivare

to rhe commands

of Jesus should be enough

us to serve others, ir's often not, Our hearts rnust be

awakened so rhat we crave more. Why? Because there is more. Deep inside the heart of every believer there is this draw roward somethng supernatural. We wanr to see lives radically changed because we know the gospel can radically change lives. If we do not find that place, thar place of concern for the erernal salvaIf we do not find that place, that place of concern for the eternal salvation of souls, our service will always fali short.

tion of souls, our ser vice will always fali short. This is by designo I remember finding thar place of concern. I had just read a blog critiquing suggesting an intentional kindness act of spoken social action, c rhar ir a1ways reU short when ir lacked evangelism. The

claim being made was that an act of mercy or to someone in need has no ualue unless to somehow "dose the deal" spiriruhis thoughts on this often associated labeled the social you attempr

ally. The writer connected with theologicalliberalism-what

rnarter with evidence from the hisrorical movemenr is sometirnes

gospel.
This writer's critiques projecrs we had engaged were eerily similar to some of the same in recendy as a part of our Serve Austin through all rhe reasons

Sunday effons, so I quickly became defensive. But I also began to engage in the menral 01ympics we are committed approach. There are ar least three major beliefs that are tied in wirh the historical social gospelthat dearly fali short of the teaching of Scripture. the social gospel believed that somehow could speed up the second the First, those who embraced of panning to serving the leasr as a part of a holistic ministry

rhrough their restorative efforrs Christians final arrival of the kingdom of people. They focused

coming ofJesus. They believed that their actions were hastening

of God. Second, they wrongly believed the problems

that social action, apart from tbe gospel, was the answer to the needs rheir efforts on addressing

74

GOOO NEWS FOR THE UNCHURCHEO

ANO OECHURCHEO

of poverry,

racial rensions,

and the peril of war, bur rhe focus on responsibiliry for evangelism. could be reduced

rhese problems replaced any personal to a matter of "technique could be established narural work of God's or OUI motivation

Finally, rhey believed that building God's kingdom and program." human rhrough Spirit.4

In the end, the kingdom

effort, apart frorn me super-

To be clear, not one of rhese views marches OUI beliefs as a ChUICh for serving the least. I raise thern to remind us rhat proclamarhere are dangers in balancing the tension berween the "good news" of serving the poor through social action and evangelistic tion. Historically, balance, examining and this issue continues my defensive attirude to be somewhat it has been a struggle for rhe church to find that divisive when it this critique and

comes up. In fact, it wasn't until I began processing ignored the tension.

that I realized how rnuch I had

Austin New Church is a socialLyactive church. OUI prayer is that as we serve rhose in need, we mighr somehow hope that somehow, through our preaching represem the voice ofChrisr that Tim Chester berween particularly and Steve Timrnis represem rhe hands and feet of Christ to thern. But we are also a proclaiming church. We and speaking, we mighr as well. I have found the rhree assertions make about the relationship

evange1ism and social action in their book Total Church helpful for darifying our identiry as a church body:

1. Evangelism 2. Prodamation

and social action are distinct acrivries, is central.

3. Evange1ism and social acrion are inseparable.? While we rnust recognize rhe difference berween evangelism and social action, we rnust make every effort to avoid separating out, while retaining
{Q

them

a priority

on prodamation.

In short, we need

develop a better understanding

of the gospel and how ir is both a rhe broken, As

message we an nounce and a reality we display to a lost and broken world. We both prodaim and become good news
{Q

Tirn Keller wrires in Generous [ustice, ''A concern

for jusrice in all

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aspects of life is neither an artificial

add-on nor a contradiction

to

the message of rhe Bible."6 We catch glimpses of the gospel in acts of mercy and [ustice, But when those acts are never connecred hope of redemption and resrorarion through mss rhe point. A healthy balance is found in the larger redemptive to the the work of Christ, we story. When

we focus on just a small part of rhat story, we easily lose our balance. And along with ir, we lose rhe power God has
We simply cannot separate our

given uso This was rhe problem with the social gospel; social action beca me rhe singular purpose of rhe movement. Their entire gospel was focused on meeting needs and fixing physical problerns, bur ir gnored the real spiritual needs of people. It was not the whole gospel. Yer, as we avoid the misrakes of the pasr, we rnust also learn to see that while social action is not the gospel, ir is a necessary and biblical part of a complete gospel proclarnarion. Keller expresses the three "perspectives" of the gospel as being (1) doctrinal, (2) personal, and (3) In that any one or two of these perspectives of the gospel of Christ. application is in com-

social responsibility and personal response from a doctrinally sound and holistic gospel.

social, while suggesting ernphasized

by irself leads to a distortion story withour

other words, right doctrine without appropriate plete. Giving our personal

the reason for our hope is also incomplete. and personal

and its impact is incornplere. And engaging in social action without

the proper biblical rnorivation

We simply cannot response from a doctrinally

and perspective

separare our social responsibiliry

sound and holistic gospel. Keller writes, are all biblical and should

"The gospel, rherefore, creates a people wirh a whole alternare way of being human ... These three 'perspectives' be kept togerher. There is a tendency focus on jusr one of rhese perspectves ever, they are lnseparable inseparable, for Christians and churches to and ignore the orhers, Howon one another."?

and Inter-dependem

But this raises the question: If evangelism and social acrion are so why is it so hard to see iobere they most naturally connecti

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and the problern rhat has plagued the American church in me modem age lies in our understanding of what ir means for us to be "good news" to people and how we share mar message. As wirh anything, the messenger can easily get in the way of the message. T would suggest rhat this requires changing something abour rhe messenger, bur nor the message. Let me give you an example. jusr yesterday I recei:veda voicemail from a traveling evangelisr. Alrhough Ihad never heard of hirn, he was quick to ler me know that he was a pretty big deal (roll eyes here). He started by offering a lisr of events he had spoken ar, name-dropped a bit, then ler me know he had sem an ernail abour a momh earlier rhat I didn't respond to. Nor a good start. He was going to be in the Austin area on an upcoming rrip, and he wanted to ler me know he'd be willing to come to our church for a Thursday nighr event. He was prerty direct about cornlng to "bless our fellowship" and rhat we could [ust "bless hirn" by helping offser some of rhe cost of his "tour" wirh a love offering. Presumpruous? Check. Arrogam? Check. Borderline condescending? Check. My return message clearly srared rhar I didn't rhink ir would fit imo what we were doing as a church and thar I appreciated the offer and wished hirn well. Nevertheless he continued to call me back until I finally answered. After an hour on the phone, I returned to mywork. Now there is a possibility rhat that man's hearr and his ministry are awesome. He may truIy be called of God to do what he does and may be effective in cerrain environrnenrs. One rhing I'm certain of is that he believed wirh alI his hearr that his coming to our church would be "good news" to uso But at that very rnornent, he wasn't good news to me. Honestly, he was a bit annoying. He had no concern for wherher or not I had rhe time to sit there and listen to rum. And the rruth was rhat I

I believe rhe answer to this question

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couldn't wait to get off the phone. 1 was ar rhe point where do jusr abour anything lievers sometimes to get hirn to stop talking.

J would

[ Iiterally carne

dose to giving in and saying yes. Then it hir me. Is rhs how unbefeel about us and what we have to offer [hem? fact, we confidenrly know-rhat we have We rruly think-in

good news to share. We know in our hearts rhar it can change rheir lives. We believe that ifwe can just push a little more, people mighr cross rhat line of belief. And so we decide that even

if we run the

risk of ricking them off a bit, it's better to go ahead and do ir. Afrer aJL, we don't want to deny Jesus. We must live up to rhe slogan on our T-shirt: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel." We can't back down because ir makes us uncomforrable: and the relationship, We know we have good news. But rhat doesn't automatically mean we are good news. Knowing When rhe difference doesn't marters. share our priorities and doesn't really someone "His pain. Your gain." 50 we fir for the context press the news, even when ir seems an awkward

know us, forcing {hem to listen to us may nor come across as good news. When we don't have rhe relational context or trust with someone who knows our heart and our motive, there are times when our words can do more damage than good.

SAYING
We've already esrablished marion and incarnation. they are ali spoken. Incarnation

ANO OOING
rhat rhe gospel demands both proclahas many forms, but in the end

Proclaiming

ais o has many forms, bur it is always that is available through Chrisr. can

about how we live. It's good news when we speak the gospel message and share the offer of redemption And it's good news when we live incarnationally be productive. But depending and take on the pos-

ture of Chrisr to others, humbly serving thern. Either approach either of {hem can also be ineffective.

on how we engage in these activities,

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GOOO NEWS FOR THE UNCHURCHEO ANO OECHURCHED

Prodamation and incarnaron are inseparably linked togerher. A spoken word can quickly be discredired through our actions, and in the same way our actions can quickly validare the message we speak. We can rry to argue rhar A spoken word our actions and words fu ncrion independem can quickly of one another, withour consequence. But one be discredited thing is for cerrain: our observers never separare through our aerhe two. There are circurnstances when prodamation is in order. We should always be prepared to speak and give a defense for rhe hope that we professo There are momenrs when a spoken word can bring me conviction of sin and the confidence of reconciliation between a faUen child and a forgiving Father, Bur there are also times when speaking me good news rnust begin by living ir out and showing people what ir looks ike. Mercy and justice rninistry is a tife mate [O the spoken word in this equation, In an increasingly posr-Chrisrian and posrmodern context where moral aurhoriry trumps positional authoriry, we would be wise to rnake sure that our deed marches our creed, If our acrions and our message do not align, the rnessage we desperately want to be heard will not be heard-at leasr nor in rhe way we want, I wish I could say that I intuitively trust what J jusr wrore, But like many of you, I easily struggle with rhe insecurity of nor doing or saying enough. After reading rhat overly critica] blog, nor only did I ger defensive, I privarely began to question our method. Lame. Thar very Sunday I was standing ourside the fronr doors prior to our worship gathering. I was greering people as rhey carne in, but on rhs day I was also praying what became another game-changing prayer for me:
God, tbis toasyour idea. I trust tohat you're doing. But can you remind me that you're in this and that tbis is real? I need that right
tions, and in the same way our actions can quickly validate the mes-

sage w.e speak.

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noto. J know you don't haue to, bu: will you shoui me how seruing tbe least can be connected directLy with someone coming to Jesus? Thanks. Amen. As I look back now, it's a bit embarrassing. had seen the fruir of conversion Up to this point we like norhing

and transforrnarion

I' dever experienced.

a shot of confidence.

Yet I was feeling vulnerable and insecure as a

leader. I was worried about whar others were thin.k.ing. And I needed I was literally asking God to rhrow me abone. Ar rhe conclusion of my prayer, I looked up and saw a young approaching the building. Honesrly, rhey beard wirh rattoos but couple with rwo children

looked homeless. The dad had a long unkempt kids were dressed clean. in unmarched

down both arms. The mom seemed unsure and out of place, Both clorhes mar were anything

I knew they were visitors, so I tried to position myself to say hi. They were almost to the &ont doors before I could make eye contact with the dad and squeak out a "hello" before they passed by. He quierly said hi, and they disappeared Seemed fairly insignificam imo the building. ar the time. But ir wasn't, led by

Four rnonths earlier, as a part of our vision to "Love Your Neighbar and Serve Your Ciry," one of our Resrore Communities, Matrhew Hansen (cofounder of Restore Austin), with an organization called Care Communities. chose to partner

Care Communities dying

is an amazing nonprofit based out of Austin that helps connect smaLl groups of people with families fram cancer or AIDS. Marrhew's dren under Garrett, describing good-looking group was assigned to a young family with two chilthe age of four. Both the mom and dad, Sarah and positive. Hard living doesn'r come dose to meu journey. A man and a woman who were once a condition was dying who have a family member

were HIV

couple were now marked by a fe-changing Garrett

and a meth addiction

mar had c1aimed nearly all of Sarah's teeth.

But her teeth were the least of their concern.

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GOOO NEWS FOR THE UNCHURCHEO ANO OECHURCHED

frorn full-blown AIDS. They were as broken and helpless as anyone you'll ever meet, The group's commirment was to divvy out their monrhly calendar so rhat one or two couples from the Restare Communiry would be available to help rhe famiIy each week. Sometimes ir was to go grocery shopping, sometimes they helped with yard work or other household repairs, and often they jusr cleaned They didn't rerhe house and helped wirh the Iaundry. This group did a great job of going above and beyond and even threw a birrhday parry for one of the kids. Knowing how desperate rhe situation was, they self1esslyserved this family. Never dd they lead on mar rhe family had to do anything to "pay back" whar rhey were receiving. They never made them feellike they had to come to church. They didn'r require rhar they sir rhrough an evangelism pitch in order to get their help. In facr, rhey didn't even tell thern they were from a church. They jusr rnet their needs as they could, all along praying and hoping to be good news. Three months into the parrnershp, Garrert approached Matthew ... Garrert: "Are you guys a church?" Marrhew: "Yeah, we are." Garrett: "Well ... can we come to your church?" Neirher Sarah nor Garrett had any church background. Zero. Their children had never been inside the doors of a church building. And rhey were asking if rhey could come to ANC. Since you've probably already put two and rwo rogerher, I'lIlet rhe cat our of rhe bago Ir was Sarah and Garrett who walked by me that morning righr after rny selfsh prayer. Ir was rheir firsr visit to church, ever. I didn't know their story when rhey walked by. In fact, since alI our Restare Communities serve on a regular basis-giving away as rnuch rime as they keep-l didn't even know the srory of who this particular cornrnuniry was serving.
quire that they sit through an evangelism pitch in arder to get their help. In fact, they didn't even teU them they were from a church.

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Two weeks later I knew their srory. Thar week both Sarah and Garrett prayed to receive Chrisr, There are momenrs thar rhe Spirit me. This was one of thern. passed away. Sarah her with love, a service, and the church and told hirn she had no idea whar ro do next. She surrounded planned arrangements, simply overwhelms carne to Matthew

Four weeks after he received Christ, Garrett didn't have to. Their Restore Communiry took care of all the funeral walked with her rhrough

the grievlng. In that moment,

becarne rhe church. The only people ar me funeral were people fram ANC. Had rhey not been rhere, Sarah wauld have been there alone ... with her rwo young children. One af my favorite passages of Scripture retr's that help me understand is also a passage that I sometimes don't know what ro do with. It's stories like Sarah and Garand encourage me to action, Ir's found in 1 Peter 3, where Peter challenges us ro be good news to people, co take the critlcisrn of others, and to know thar our fairhfulness to God 's calling and the way of]esus is more irnportant than being understood by our critics. And when we are good news, Peter says, people will find Christ. Sornetimes, Gad will bless us in this way. Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? Bur even if you should suffer for whar is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear rheir rhreats: do not be frighrened." But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord, Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give rhe reason for the hope rhar you have. But do this wirh gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that rhose who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For ir is better, if ir 15 God's will, to suffer for doing good rhan for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, rhe righteous for the unrigbreous, to bring you to God.
I PETER 3:13 - 18

I believe verse 14 gives us some helpful insighr as ro why evangelicals are often resistant to serving orhers and "dolng good." Borrem

82

GOOO NEWS FOR THE UNCHURCHEO ANO OECHURCHEO line: we're afraid. We are afraid that ir will cost us roo much. We are araid that ir won't fee! good or ir will be too hard. We are afraid of being vulnerable and being labeled as rhose people who feed the hungry bur never reli anyone abour Jesus. We're afraid ir just won'r "work." We need to see that much of this is really our "baggage," cultural, not scriptural. Throughout do borh: to serve the least and to be prepared him firsrhand. and
['S

lhe Gospels, Jesus calls us ro to share the hope we berween the two

professo Peter knew rhis from having walked wirh Jesus and followed And he makes a s[rong connection in this passage. He's reminding us [h ar when we change what we do,

even more than what we say, we'lI also effecrively change how people see us and view our actions. Why is this rrue? Because serving those in need changes our posture to those we are serving, who are watching those we are serving with, and rhose to our from the outside. We become missionaries

culture and nor jusr evangelsrs. Yet rhe goal is similar: we become good news by engaging relational, ar spiritual, the need, wherher ir's physical, ernotional,

My good friends Hugh Halter and Matt Smay lead a faith communiry in Denver called Adullam, as missionaries and rhey write about our posture to our culture in The Tangible Kingdom:

When your posrure is wrang, you'll always be perceived ro be an enemy ar judge. When your posture is correcr, you'Il be perceived to be an advocate, a person who supports and speaks in favor of or pleads for anorher ... Instead of drawing a line in rhe sand and imploring them to "ger righr with God or ger Iefr behind," we step across fram our religious side into their all-tooreal world and ask how we can help." Peter is direcr in telling ro be prepared
lIS

thar if we do good, we will also need People wll be curious. They wll

to field questions.

wanr what we have. In rhe words of Halrer and Smay, "When you are as concerned about your posrure as much as your message, people will move toward you."?

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If you would have rold me three years ago that people would

acrually ask me abour my fairh, ask me about my church, and ask me

abour Jesus ... all because I've taken an inrentional posture of service, I would have told you that you're crazy. I probably would have warned you to be careful rhar you don't use "service" as an excuse to not share the gospel with someone.

Bur I can tell you that it's true.

People are hungry for

Th.is really happens, lt does take a bit longer to build me trusr that is needed, but the impact is far more powerful. truerhey've already seen it for themselves. the message we have to share, We don'r have to convince them ir's

A few months ago I was working in my front yard when a neighbor walked by pushing her newborn baby in her stroller, She slowed down as she neared my house and said helIo. I srood up and began to engage her in conversation, but I noticed that she was a bit disro me. tracted, as if she wanted to say something

"50 do you go to that church? That ANC church?"

Ir was obvious she didn't know that I was the pastor so I just
replied, "Yes, I do." "I hear you guys do some really good sruff." "Really? That's grear! I'rn glad you've heard (h ar," I replied. "Um, can

J go to your church?"
at me

It was really hard to hold back showing a little emotion bled thar she thought encouraged we represented somerhing

time. I was honored that she knew whar we were abour. I was humgood. And I was rhat she had a desire to come.

MISSIONARIES
book, AND:

TO OUR CULTURE Cburch, of describing

flow" and whar that They show sociery or communiry.

Hugh Halrer and Mar! 5may do an excellent job in their recent

The Gatbered and Scattered

what many consider to be a natural the partem unreached of how a rnissionary people group:

"missional

mighr look like in missional-incarnational

engages an unchurched

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GOOO NEWS FOR THE UNCHURCHEO ANO OECHURCHED If you wanr your exisring church bring 'em
[O

successfully engage me cul[O

ture, you don'r begin by telling your people

[O

engage and rhen me culture and

church. You musr start by creating a new environ[O

rnenr for rhern thar provides a better witness

is rhe best way to see the kingdom lived our in concrete ways.l" I'm convinced ... whar ir means the culrure
[O

that this understanding be a Barefoor Christian.

is foundaWe engage

rional. It's whar supporrs me vision of a Barefoot Church by engaging rhe needs of thar cu lrure, We of our existing church struc[O

We engage the culture byengaging the needs of that culture.

have to do rhis on their turf nor ours. One of the challenges or a program most difflcult tures is that we are inclined view service as an evenr

instead of viewing ir as a way of life. Corof service just mighr be one of the We rasks in the church today. We tend to like evenrs and

recting this faulty understanding

programs. They are neat, tidy, and easily planned and controlled.

can budget for thern and can measure their success. We can check all the boxes on our list, and when rhey are done, we can return to our "normal" lives. But as much as we mighr wanr them [o, evenrs and programs don't transform lives. Willow Creek Communiry Church in Chialone cago spent plenty of time and resources figuring that our wirh their recent "Reveal" study. In the end, rhey learned rhat programs growth.11 There is a type of natural movernent that we only engage when we ler go of control. Maybe that's whar Jesus meant when he rerninded Peter that wharever he ser loose on earth would be loosed in heaven (Marrhew 16: 19). In fac r, our greatest challenge as a church has been from the "schedplan and into the moving that core biblical call to ove our neighbor ir out from the rhumb of an organized top-down don't change lives and thar numeric growrh does not equal spiritual

uled event" realm ro rhe "way of life" realm. We're rrying to move hands of smaller commun ides servi ng our ciry togerher,

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We all know rhere's somerhing an invire to a Sunday morning our gatherings merhods

more mar has to happen beyond Regardless of how great even more effective and rheir com-

gathering.

mighr be, we need sornething

engaging. A recent study in our ciry of Austin showed that of ali rhe pastors reported as being effective in reaching muniry, "inviting to church" ranked a horrid ninth place out of a

total of ten srrategies Iisred. lronically, in that same study, a rnajority of those same pastars reported that they still spenr a majoriry of time and money for "ourreach" encourage on direct mail-outs and orher rnerhods to If we their people to invite others to events and pragrams.

really wanr ta reach the people who tellus they will not come to us, this jusr doesn'r add up.U Instead, we must find ways of moving and the programmed beyond the (Cevem" of will be Sunday morning weekdays. I can reli you rhat and our pragrams Pastors and church and give their they do, the service thern as rhey begin thar is natural to

when we make that shift, our Sundays

even betrer. But this won't happen by accidem. people permission to learn intuitively addressed to live on mission. to recognize When

leaders rnust make ir a prioriry, create new strucrures, events we provide will encourage and support

rhe deeper needs that need to be

and to meet rhose needs in a rhythm with Janet.

the flow of daily Iife. This is exactly what happened Last year during named Mr. Nichols. the rwenty-minute a prayer time for my Restare Community,

Susan, a hospice nurse, asked us to pray for a new patient of hers Mr. Nichols was dying fram cancer and was completely alone. She asked him ralk, to please do so. She let us know rhat he was about as grumpy ever rneet and that wharever we did, nor to tell

if any of us had some spare rime to make

drive out to his house and just sit and listen to a man as you' d we were with a

rum

church and most certainly (to me) not to tell him that I was a pastor.

Me. Nichols had a reputation for kicking out hospice chaplains. He

wanted absolutely norhing to do with religion.

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So a handful of our people began visiring Me. Nichols. Some of me guys did some repair work on his caro Some yard work was raken care of Some of me gals brought food, helped clean up a bit around the house, and orhers jusr spem time with him. janer, newer Resrore Cornmuniry imo her hearr. Afrer a few weeks, Janet asked me if I thoughr was bed-bound, and she had a plan
[O

one of our

mernbers, made an unlikely connecrion

with Mr. Nichols, and somehow that grumpy old man found his way ir would be crazy move

to invite Me. Nichols ro move imo her house with her family. He hire an ambulance, his hospital bed into her dining room, and ler hirn stay there until he passed away. She said she was freaking him dying alone. out and had never done srand the rhoughr of anything Iike rhis before, but she just couldnr

Ir was hard to undersrand why the Spirit was leading in rhis way.
To put ir blundy, Mr. Nichols wasn't just grumpy-he right rnean! He was unappreciarive. had gone through Yet janet conrnued a brutal divorce, and for unknown to pray for him and serve him. was downbut connected He was living alone beca use he

reasons neither of his sons had spoken to him for over thirty years.

I'lJ never forget that Monday when Janer called and asked me to come down and si! with Me. Nichols, She said that he was dying,
and she wanred to take her children our of the house so they didn't have to see the medics come and take hirn away. Honesrly, Iwas a bit scared to go ar ir alone. So I called Tray, my associate pastor, friend, and neighbor, to go wirh me. And we [ust sat there with him. Mr. Nichols looked horrible. His breathing was incredibly irregular. Weighing less than eighty pounds, he just lay on the bed-silenr, eyes cIosed, almost unconscious. His rnouth was dry and cracked. My job was to take a sponge and wet his lips every few minures to keep rhern from bleeding. I fel! complerely helpless, I think Tray did too.

50 we went to me orher room and we prayed.

God, toe don't know uihat to do. We're 50 thankful for this fomi/y to have taken Mr. Nichols into their home. We knoui you're

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doing something amazing in their lifo. But he's already outliued what anyone thought he u/ould. J can't belieue be's still ative. When bes conscious, be's in pain. When be's unconscious, everyone around him is in pain for him. I don't know ifhe'll euer be conscious again. f don't know ifit's even possible tbat he'll get a chance to respond to your grace. But, God, please forgive me you give
U5

if this

is wrong to pray ... but

if be's not

going to carne to know you, will you just le: him die? If he is, toil! a chance to share bope? Thats it, God. Amen. That was a tearful prayer of desperarion. and sat next to bis bed. Wirhin ralking aJJ day. "You know," he said, "There's only one thing rhat matters when it's ali said and done." Culpo "What's that?" I replied. "That you make your peace with the Man," he finished, My heart pounded. "Mr. Nichols," with the Man?" He silencly shook his head no. Ilooked ar Tray. Ihonestly couldn't believe what was happening. Ir felr like a dream. 50 llooked back ar Mr. Nichols and asked him if he'd like too. He nodded yes. I spenr the next few minures sharing Christ with Mr. Nichols. I think the Spirit enabled me to be abour as concise as I've ever been. He sat there quietly listening to all I said. Then when I asked him if rhis was a truth he'd ike to receive, he nodded again, "Yes." 50 we prayed. Ir was a sirnple prayer of confession. confession praying," ir seemed that Mr. Nichols was working ar one moment I wondered Ir was both a of sin and a confession of Christ as his Redeemer. While hard to "rnean aJJ he was if he had fallen asleep. But as I cauriously added, "have you made your peace We didn't know whar

to do next, so we just went back imo the room with Mr. Nichols fifteen seconds Mr. Nichols opened his eyes, sat up in bed, and looked straighr ar me as if we had been

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I broughr the prayer ro a dose and said "Arnen," he opened his eyes, glared straight into mine, and whispered Janer herself claims certainly the strucrure quiedy, "Arnen." like that But ir was mar even to rearthat she's never done anyehing of serving rogerher in comrnuniry how Janet's decision coming

before in her !ife. She's never made minisrry so personal.

pue rhe idea in her mind to engage rninistry more personally. I don't claim to fully undersrand do know mar our involvemeni range her life played a role in Mr. Nichols' did somerhing to fairh. But I

to change how he felr elsewhere; it's a in which God

abour rhe church. Somehow we earned the right to be heard. Maybe God wouJd have given him thar same opportuniry bit arrogam to assume rhar we are the only conduir can accornplish

his work. But 1'11tell you this, God showed up. Ir

was rangible. And mar experience changed all of uso I have a good friend who says thar "people don't care whar you know until they know how much you cace." You've probably heard that before. You've probably even agreed wirh it.
r1'5

pretty clich, but ir nicely sumrnarizes

what we're talking

abour. Wh.ile rhere will be rnomenrs when the Spirir leads us to share Christ directly and immediaeely-and to do so-we focus and dedicarion we must be ready and willing to our culrure. what rhat means simply cannot ignore the face mar ir takes intencional to be an effective missionary

In order to be good news, we need to rediscover and rnust assume a differenr church, and they instantly around uso The rnajoriry of Americans

posrure when we relate to the world have already counred out the

tune out when we jump imo our Chris-

rian rhetoric. These are me people who openly rell us rhar they would never visit a church even if a good friend invired thern. They are the
j

ncreasingly vocal and skeptical majority of people in America.

SALT ANO
to

LlGHT
Being a

me world,

Jesus was clear rhat his followers were me salr of the earrh, a Iight and a city on a hill thar could not be hidden.

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visible city or a shining lighr does nor mean (har we should talk even louder when no one is lisrening to us or rhar we should wave our arms and jump around when we aren't being seen, just to get in someone's face. When we are "salr," saltiness is part of our very nature. If we are indeed "lighr," we will indeed be seen in a dark world. Who we are can'r be hidden because light consumes the darkness. These are images thar define the nature of a communiry thar becomes good news to others. This is something we become because of what we believe, what we value, and whar we do. Jesus tells us in Marthew 5 rhat when people encounter such a communiry, they will "see" our "good deeds" and The more the then ulrimately "glorify your Father in heaven" church lives in (Matthew 5:16). faithfulness to In a post-Christian society, this is whar che God and the church needs to become yet again: salt and light to the world. The unchurched community no longospel, the more ger expects much fram church, in fact, rhey ofren visible God's expecr the worsr. They are jaded. Wounded. And grace will be for confused. Yet people are stilllooking for hope, and ali those who no one else can offer whar we have to offer them. long for it. Our srory made public, the visible wirness of our lives together as a whole cornmunity, is integral to whether or not our message ofhope becomes their message of hope.P To minister with influence in our currem conrext, we rnusr learn to locatethe key differences between what our culrure sees and what the kingdom of God made visible has to offer them. The more the church lives in farhfulness to God and the gospel, the more visible God's grace will be for all those who long for ir. As Darrell Guder wrore in his book Missional Church, Churches thar Iisren ro sermons deploring crime may be fairhful in attending tO God's call for right relatiooships among humaniry, Bur the church that sets up victim-offender reconciliation programs and promotes equitable economic opportunities for communities where crime is the maio escape mure from finan90

GOOD NEWS FOR THE UNCHURCHED AND DECHURCHED eial despair is not only fairhful but a remarkable world, a eity on a hill.14 light to rhe

Billy Graham,
cenrury, imerview changing

the most well-known rhat the cultural

evangelist context

of the rwenteth In an made this game-

li ndersrood by author staternenr:

was shifcing.

Gabe Lyons, Mr. Graham

Baek when we did those big crusades in foorball sradiums and arenas, the HoJy Sprir was really moving-and I sense something differenr is happening. people were coming to Christ as we preached me Word of God. BU( today

me Holy

I see evidence rhat

Spirit is working in a new way. He's moving through God's lave

people where rhey work and through one-on-one relarionships

to accomplish great things. They are demonstrating to those wirh lave, not just wirh words, but in deeds.P Ed Stetzer recalls going thraugh sranding rhe relarionship
50,

rhe personal challenge of underevangelism and social justice believers tell him to

between

while planting

his first church

among the urban poor in Buffalo,

New York. In doing

he had well-intentioned

avoid being involved in social action because it would detracr from the gospel. They warned him specifically about the dangers of liberation theology (by name) and told him to be sure to preach Jesus. "I found," said Sterzer, "that I could not preach Jesus and not care abolir jusrice. And, if I wanted real justice, I had to preach Jesus. They did nor seem separable, but history has shown that they can be."16 I have a dose friend who started an organization the condition everything of orphanages from educarion, to dothing to help improve in India. It's a holisric effort that covers and food, to fairh. But they physical state. will accepr your by they lead with addressing

don't lead wirh verbal evangelism;

need to address head-on their impovershed

When I frsr mer her, I asked why rhey do that. She simply said this, "Anyone you rneer in India who is hungry Jesus if you have food. Honest1y, ir's become a bit of a joke among rhe poor in the areas we serve." Ir's like they've been inoculared

91

BAREFOOT Serving the least doesn't get in the way of evangelism that isn't already happening. It only opens more doors.
OUI

CHURCH

Christian

rhetoric, Similar

to learning

a new they

dialecr of an old language, lead rhrough engaging

rhey have found

rnusr diseover new ways to share rheir faith. They the greatest need in rheir country, and people are still eoming to Christ, Some believe rhar serving the least will never lead co conversion. This is untrue. Compassion without motive has proven time and again to creare a bridge to sharing fairh. Serving rhe least doesn't ger in the way of evangelism rhar isn't already hapIr ean lead

pening. Ir only opens more doors. There is a connecrion, play a major role in restoring a broken faith.

to earning rhe righr to be heard. But it doesn't end there, ir ean also

THE DECHURCHED
beeome skeptics in their own right-

ANO JADEO
nor neeessarily skeprics of

There are plenry of people with a broken fairh. They roa have Iaith, but more often, skeptics of ehurch. It's often a once-cornmitted believer who has left the organized ehurch. These are the deehurehed of Ameriea. They're typieally me ones who have given ali they had to a church somewhere only to have been disappointed by what theyexperienced. Ir's esrimated Religious thar the number of unehurehed Amerieans to the American with to be is growing by abour one rnillion eaeh year. Aeeording Idenrificarion Survey, rhe percenrage or disillusioned

of Amerieans

no religious preference doubled over the last decade. "However, less rhan 40 pereent were arheisrs: the orher 60 pereent claimed this eountry are interested 'religious' ar 'spiritual.' " Whar does rhis rell us? "Plenty of people in in spiritual rnarters. They are sirnply nor and once-upongoing to church co feed this interest."17 We've reacguainted a-time chureh attenders with a number ofChristians rhrough serving regularly with nonprofirs.

Many have left not jusr so they ean do more, but because of rhe

92

GOOO NEWS FOR THE UNCHURCHED ANO OECHURCHED criticisrn they've endured for allawing programs church. and minisrries ir ro take the place of regular of rhe

that build up the existing structures

Julia Duin, region reprter and author of Quitting Church: Why

tbe Faithful Are Fleeing and What to Do about It, wrote about rhis
trend: "Nane ... wanred to quir church, rbey felt pushed out or that leaving was taking work behind the high road. 'Many of us dropouts tried to
"18

the scenes ro keep uniry, bur

if we spoke out, we were

in rebellion. Many of us chose to leave rarher than start wars.' and sabering reality, There are many of these walking forms af church are not reaching

As pastors and church leaders, we need to wake up. This is a sad wounded in our communities laoking for a reason to believe in the church again. thern. In fact, will Iikely require taking the same posrure It's nor because rhey haven'c Chris-

And our tradirional

reaching rhe dechurched

rhar we take ro reach the unchurched.

heard the gospel; it's because they don't trust what they see. They have lost fairh in the church, and they are suspicious of Arnerican I know many people who just wanted haods and communities tianity. But this is not just rheir problem. This is our problem as well. to serve their neighborcalled, or within in ways they felr equipped,

their passions. Yet when they shared rhis desire with church leaders, they felr isolated and went outside rhe church people who readily abandon the church to find people willabout I be1ieve we ing to serve wirh (hem. While we may rightly be concerned comrnunity,

rnust also rake a good look ar ourse1ves. Have we fallen so far imo serving ourselves, our srructures, crearive and fresh ways? Here's the dilemma we face: the more people grow in their Iairh, the less they will depend on our srructures. thern to serve, rhe less rhey will value
OUI

and our agenda thar we no longer

OU(

have room for rhose who want to pour thernselves complerely

in

The more we challenge programs. This is exacdy

what the Bible says will happen. If a mark af a disciple is one who is on mission, rhen by our very nature, we must be Sent. If t's nor our goal to send thern, they will eventually leave anyway.

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Recencly we had a family visit ANC afrer spending recovering from a prior church experience. bad lost hope in the church. The rnother wrote this:

a few years

They were jaded. They

I have not rnet you personally yet, bur have been visiting for a few monrhs. We had been looking to starr baek to ehureh when a friend rnenrioned ANC. I rnentioned rhe phrase "start back" to church, because I fali into the "discouraged by my lasr ehureh experience" group. We were members rhere for ren years, but the last yeal' or rwo we were rhere, I had beco me disappointed in organized religion and began quesrioning everyrhing. Ir jusr worked ou! nieely that we moved to Austin when I was ar my mosr uneomforrable just took a rwo-year break. Our experience wirh ANC has been faith-ehanging had any redeeming for me and has come at a time when I wasn'r sure organized religion or genuine qualities, I hadn't really given up faith in God, but I had alrnost cornpletely given up faith in hurnan ability to actually do something sincere, productive, and unselfish when in an organized religious serring. and I

love that you alI ger ir. Thar you acknowledge

human

weakness and try to work around rhose faulrs by sirnply moving on to whar is importanr. I love that you realize what needs
{O

be done as far as using time and resources to affecr your community and actually make a difference in the world ... that ir is actually about human kindness, concern, and sharing in every sense of the word. I love rhe holistic approach you are taking by arracking lnjusrice, sharing God's teaching and coming rogether as a group (a Chrisrian comrnuniry) You and your chureh comrnunity to do all of ir. have begun to restore my

fairh rhar a church can be a haven and a place where you can trust orhers and take them ar face value and work togerher to learn abour God, worship, and try to make a difference in your community and rhe world.

94

GOOO NEWS FOR THE UNCHURCHEO ANO OECHURCHEO Whar an amazing journey. I was rhankful her prior church of significance, wasn't running experience-and for her candor abour for being for something

even more rhankfuJ

concise about whar drew her back. She was looking rhar was summed

a place rhat shared her values and prioriries. To her, up by being a place of worship and mission. She believer, She wasn't looking she was Jooking for a place her and encouraged fram being a cornmirted

for a place to coast and be comfortable;

to make a difference. A place rhat empowered her to live a life sento youth group and were high school sweerhearts.

Trace and Shonna grew up in church. They were leaders in their As young adulrs, they went rhrough a personal and painful church experience that led [hem to leaving. After trying to find their "fit" e1sewhere for a season, they finally decided church jusr wasn't for rhem. They believed in God but had lost faith in rhe church. And they were struggling ar nor God was me God rnosr Christians comrnunity; wirh wherher believed he was.

Trace and Shonna spem more than rwelve years away fram fairh They found their way to ANC a Iittle over a year ago. family of five and are now in rhe process of They have a beaurful

adopring rhrough the foster care system. Their story offers an arnazing picrure of a restored fairh. They now lead a Restore Community and volunteer regularly as active parrners in everything they have become some of our best friends. Nor loog ago Trace and I were having a conversarion nificance rating
00

we do. And on rhe sigemail elabo-

of serving the pooe and people rerurning he sem me an encouraging what he shared:

to the church.

Following our conversation,

Brandon, I've been thinking about our talk rhe other night and just wanred to make sure you knew how much I value being a part of a church thar actually does whar it says it's abour. My big problem with church ... rhe thing rhar rnade me rhink I was never goiog back ... was rhat I perceived the church to be a

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bunch of people who were saying they believed one rhing, but rhen rhey did another. They said they believed in Jesus, but then they didn'r acr like him. They showed up dressed in their finesr on Sunday mornings and paraded around rrying to irnpress one anorher. Meanwhile, em message. Of course, some of thar was jusr abour rhings like hypocrisy and judgmem. Buc some of it was about the face rharJesus is saying "Love your neighbor as yourself," and no one in the church is doing that, I'm reading the Bible and it's gor a differ-

50 when I heard that ANC actually cancelLed services to

"be rhe church" by serving around the city, I was blown away. (What, no parading around in our best rrying to impress each orher??) To me, that proved mar ANC stood behind irs convictions. Add that ingredienr to being "real" and admirring that we're ali sinners, and I knew I had to really give ir a chance. Now, as importanr as the social action was to me, ir was even more importam to Shonna. 5he had been rrying to ralk me imo service (not in the running serving more wirh our family before we ever heard of ANC. She just had a hearr for community for Ciry Council way ... bur in the helping poor people way). She had really been on me to do rhar for about a year. Looking back, I feel rhar was Cod's plan, leading us rhrough her heart for service to ANC. Because ir was her heart for service that immediately for rnyself. Cood sruff mano Trace The acceptaoce of "doing good" is not only an expecrarion of our hooked her, and then she dragged me along to see

culture but ao opportuniry,

People applaud generosity, yet they don't

expect the church to be generous. Reggie McNeil wrote in Missional

Renaissance:
The explosion of good acrually creates a chance for the church to gain relevance and influence. Bur only if rhe church is willing

96

GOOO NEWS FOR THE UNCHURCHEO

ANO OECHURCHEO

to get out of rhe church business and get over the delusion that me "success" of the church impresses rhe world. Ir does nor. Ir only impresses church people, while making others even more skeprical of rhe church's rrue motives.'? We live in a world rhar is watching raised. When Hollywood gry and fighr human trafficking the church with one eyebrow

is viewed as doing more to feed rhe hunrhan the church, we need to rake

a hard look at what we're doing and ask if it's enough. Jesus taught that when others see our good deeds they would assign value to God (Marrhew church. 5:16). I can'r help but rhink rhat the same is true for his

97

CHAPTER

Expanding our Understanding of Discipleship

y kids do prerrywell

in sehool. They get thar from rheir momo their abiliry to do

Each of thern has issues with ta1king too much and being the

class clown. They get that from me. Thankfully, distraction.

well in sehool has overeome their rernprarion to crack jokes and be a And they typically get straight As on their report eards. above a 94 percent exeept one 62 percent in Lasr year, Gavin, my seventh grade r, broughr home a progress reporr with everything biology. 1 was ticked. Before I had rhe chance to string him up in the back yard, Jen began to ralk with him about what was going on. After a few minures ofleeture and at the first sign ofher raking a do breath, he blurted out, "Come on, Mom, ir's my flrsr D!" With grear wisdom, she replied, "Ler me ask you a question, you think a murderer Silence, "Mom, are you comparing my O to murder?" anyone. That was a relief But and rwo more had been He had a poim rhere, They borh burst out laughing. Turns our Gavin hadn't murdered he did forger to rum in one assignmenr, 'C'mon judge, that was my first rnurder'?" could stand in court before a judge and say,

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CHURCH

"rnisplaced." After rhey were "found" and rurned in, the grade was pulled up to an A. Ali was good. Grades are funny. We place so much emphasis on a percemage thar honestly, we rarely know the details thar go imo thern. We just wanr thern up. Just a handful of neglecting zeros, and a student who scored 100 on every other projecr could end up repeating a grade. One more zero and Gavin would have been failing. Some of our discipleship efforrs in the church deserve an A. In facr, it's impressive to see some of the spiritual developmenr tracrs, equipping courses, accoumability groups, and Bible studies that are available to uso We have a conference, a retreat, a message series, and a smalJ-group curriculurn for anything rhe world can throw at us. But there are some glaring missing assignments, enough to pull down our grade significantly. And according to the sratistics and percenrages, we're not getting a passing grade. There are some huge gaps in our discipleship processo In 1999, an internacional group of Christian leaders rnet in Eng1and with the hopes of coming away with a definition of dscipleship. The Easrbourne Consultation joint Staternent on Discipleship was creared and began with an acknowledgmem of need: "As we face rhe new rnillennium, we acknowledge thar the state of the Church is rnarked by growth wirhout depth. Our zeal to go wider has not been matched by a cornmitmenr to go deeper."' John Stott has added bis voice on rhis matter: "For many years, 25 or more, rhe churchgrowth school has been dominam. 1 rejoice in the sratistics, but we must say ir is growrh withour depth, 1 believe ir was Chuck Colson who said the church is 3,000 miles wide and an inch deep. Manyare babes in Christ."2 "The fruir of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). Yer bitterness, an unforgiving spirit, anxiety, and apathy abound. Studies show rhere is lirtle, if any, difference berween Christians and non-Christians regarding addctlon, divorce, depression, volunteerisrn, or giving. This is something thar should borher

100

EXPANDING

OUR UNDERSTANDING

OF DISCIPLESHIP

uso "This superflcialiry the incongruity

comes imo srartling

focus when we observe

between the numbers of people who profess faith in

Studies show

Jesus Christ and me lack of impact on rhe moral and spiritual climate of Que rimes."3 1 grew up hearing rhat "20 percenr of the church does 80 percem of the work." And thar's jusr the way it is. I'm sad to reporr that the rnessage has changed. thar "lO percent I now hear more frequenrly of rhe church does 90 percent
there is little, if any, difterence between Christans

and non-Christians regarding addiction, divorce, depression, volunteerism, or giving.

of the work." In a day where a disciple is often defined as the opposire of a consumer, we're consuming more and more. The more we consume, rhe less change we will see. Pasrors are not imrnune. Eighry percenr Of rhe men leading fight depression, surveyed the way, 70 percent constantly

of their adulr children

have had to seek and rhe fruir of as Christians is

professionaJ help for depression, and 50 percenr of pastors' marriages end in divorce.f We're failing to see transformarion the Spirit, even in our leaders. Where we send the rnost confusing message in our lack of love for our neighbor we're most commonly doorsrhe humiliation some Christians. No greater example known and our love for one anorher. I'm toa ernbar-

Jesus said that we would be known by our love for one another, yet for our infighting. rassed to talk about some of me things I've heard said behind closed and floggings rhat can take place among the

is found than a simple scroll rhrough

Facebook news feed during the recent presidential

election. I almosr

deIeted my account. Ir's way roo easy to get sucked imo all the trash rhar some Christ followers write. Some of ir was plain hatred and ugliness. discrerion. HelJo, everyone; the entire world is watching. Use some Dab ir with a litrle love while you're ar it. It should sadden to a perfect Christ. We

us to realize how far away we are from being like Christ. We truly are an imperfect people hanging desperately

101

BAREFOOT need to stop clinging estly, mournfully,

We need to stop clinging to the "idea" of being transformed, and

CHURCH

to rhe "idea" of being rransformed,

and hon-

and humbly ask hirn to break our hearts for the rhings that breaks his. The effort of our pursuit has ro match the gravity of the idea. That's the place where we can be used and transformation begins.

honestly, mournfully, and humbly ask him to break our hearts for the things that breaks his.

HOLlSTIC

DISCIPLESHIP

When Jesus rold us ro go and rnake disciples, he rneant thar we would begin a new way of life. Yer mos r of us do not feei made new. Many of us feellike we're on the hamster wheel o f spiritua

1 formation, c and norhing is c h anging.

Greg Ogden offers seven rnarks

We're learning a lot, but we're nor experiencing an equal arnount of transformation. of discipleship cal standard and the reality of fairh: to proactive ministers to spirirually disciplined force thar can be used to identify rhe gap between the bibli-

1. From passive participares 2. From splritually

undisciplined

3. From privare faith to holistic discpleship 4. From blending in to a counterculrural 5. From church is opcional ro church is essential 6. From biblically illirerate ro biblically informed 7. From shrinking from personal witness to sharing our faith5

At first glance, rhis seerns Iike a list we would deem more appropriate for pastors and church leaders than for the common embrace even one or two of these rnarks, much less all seven. are even a semblance if what we're doing is really working. Only as we soberly assess the way things are, can we have any hope of gerring to the way things were designed
(O

believer.

For the rest of us, we've lowered the bar far roo much, failing to

If rhese

of what truly marks a disciple, it's time to ask

be. We have

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OUR UNDERSTANDING

OF DISCIPLESHIP

hope because Jesus as rhe Lord of the church seeks for his bride to be without spot and blernish, for rhrough his church his life wilJ be manifesto Christianity our culture ifChristians lives of me Christians would be incredibly influential in
50

consistently lived their faith. Most nonrhey judge Chrisrianity by rhe they see. The problern is thar millions of

Christians don'r read the Bible,

Chrisrians don'r live like Christians.P For years church leaders have tried to come ro a clear and agreeable understanding
fWl

of discipleship. Alang the way we've continued by denominarional or methodologi-

[Q

imo snags only magnified

cal preference. discipleship.

In order to advance the conversation,

ir might serve forms of

us best ro identify some key needs facing our rraditonal

1. We Need

to

Believe We Can Change

ar rhe rate to than a three

We are simply not seeing the fruir of transformation see our discipleship transformed deeper" throrrle processes create the spirirualIy

we might clairn, expect, and even hope for. Ir's more common arrogam

people living on rnission. We still feel rhe urge to "go we may be in Bible studies

and "be fed" aIthough

to four rimes a week. It's as

[Q

if we're spinning

our tires with the Yet, "his divine our

rhe f1oor, but we're nor going anywhere.

power has given us everyrhing knowledge (2 Perer 1:3).

we need for a godly tife through

of hirn who called us by his own glory and goodness" revealed in the church ar Corinth,

There was as similar situation Paul wrote

[Q

thern:

Brothers and sisrers, I could not address you as people who live by rhe Spirit but as people who are srill worldJy-mere infams in Christ, I gave you milk, not sol id food, for you were not yet ready for ir. Indeed, you are srill not ready. You are 5ti11 worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you nor worldly? Are you not acting like rnere humans?
I CORINTHIANS 3:1 - 3

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BAREFOOT Paul reveals

[Q

CHURCH

thern rhat whatever they were doing to grow their The evidence was not that they didn'r of jealousy Both are juvenile and selfish and

faith, ir was not working. and quarreling

know the law or rheir religious dury; ir was the remainder in their cornmuniry,

are evidences of the flesh, not of rhe Spirit. The very fact that there was division in the church showed Paul thar they were not ready to tackle the significam be happening: We have rnuch to say about rhis, but ir is hard co make it clear to you because you no longer try to undersrand. ln fact, rhough by this time you ought to be teachers, yOll need someone co teach you rhe elernentary rruths of God's word ali over again. You
00

issues of mission. gives us some insight as to why rhis might

The author ofHebrews

need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives

rnilk, being still

an infanr, is not acquainted with the teaching abour righteousness, But solid food is for the mature, who by constam use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
HEBREWS5:Il-14

As a parem there's nothing more liberating than when you break rhrough a growth stage with an infamo There are several milestones thar seem to aecompany a sense of freedom for rhe parem, the child, or bom. An infant begins to sleep rhrough the nighr, or a toddler is finally potty r.rained. It was prerty liberaring when our youngest headed off to kindergarten and when our oldest was old enough to babysit. Bur none as when a baby moves from milk and beiog handwas as meaningful

fed to solid food. There are a handful of significam things that happen in this moment: they can now learn to feed themselves, Mom and Oad are ser free and the child is able to rry a variety of orher foods, and me opportuniry
[Q

increase consumption

triggers even more growth.

Hebrews rerninds us that growing up is good. But there are some deficiences we have that miglu stunt our growrh.

We lack a sense of urgency. As parems we can'r wait until our kids

feed themselves. Church leaders are often so concerned and distracted

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OUR UNDERSTANDING

OF DISCIPLESHIP

by the rhings that keep rhe engine churning that we often pJace little value on the urgency of making disciples. Sunday comes every week, and we easily allow ir to rake precedence. And it's not jusr rhe fault of church leaders; as believers we are 50 consumed by everyrhing else "church" that we neglecr me rime ir takes to meditare on God's Word. Many of us only pick up rhe Bible once a week (if rhat) on Sunday mornings. "We have much [O say about this, but it is hard to make ir clear to you because you no longer try to undersrand" (Hebrews 5:11). We lack the ability to feed ourselues. The goal of every disciple should be to 1earn how to feasr on rhe Word of God without being complerely dependem on an oursde teacher. We should become so familiar wirh ir thar we become teachers ourselves. Most of our currenr discipleship rhyrhms create dependency, not trust and release. "In fact, though by this time you ought to be ceachers, you need sorneone to teach you the elemenrary trurhs of God's word a11over again" (Hebrews 5:12). Wefeast too infrequent/y. When we are complerely dependem on orhers, we're only gerring a portion of what they have to offer. And we only get what they offer, when they offer ir, nothing more. We consume what they have. We need Sunday morning, Sunday nighr, and Wednesday church or we srarve. If we were to take the time to sit down and feast on Scripture ourselves, in addirion to being under rhe reaching of other godly leaders, there is no imit to whar we cou1d digest, The fruir of rhis repetition is rhe fruir of rhe Spirit and an abiliry [O discecn right frorn wrong. Believer, you have access [O a Bible, Prayerfully read ir, and keep reading it. Ask me Spirit [O lead you and do wharever ir says. Ir wilJ change your 1ife."But solid food is for me mature, who by constant use have trained rhernselves to distinguish good from evil" (Hebrews 5:14). 2. We Need a More Holistic Understanding ofDiscipleshp There is a deficir in our collective understanding of whar a disciple 100ks like. Maybe this is part of the problem. Some theologians understand ir, and pastors have a vision for ir, but mosr believers

105

BAREFOOT

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do noto We either oversimplify overcomplicate

ir to a reduced list of disciplines Joint Staternenr

011

or

it with terrns only a seminary professor could underDiscipleship

stand. The Eastbourne Consultation arrernpted to capture it this way:

While rhere are valid differences of perspecrive on what constitutes discipleship, we define Christian discipleship as a process that takes place within accountable relationships over a period of rime for the purpose of bringing believers to spiritual maturity in Christ. Bblical examples suggest thar discipleship is borh relational and inrentional, both a position and a processo We become disciples by turning Eram sin through repentance and rurning to God through faith ... The process of discipleship is played our in a vital life-giving relationship to God mar enables us to walk in rhe light as He is in the light, and do rhe will of the Father (I John 1:7; john 4:34). Jesus said if we hold to His reaching, then we are really His disciples (John 8:31), and we demonstrare rhis rhrough loving one another (John 13:34-35).7 The statement goes
011

to identify the marks of a dsciple:

Alrhough the process of idenrifying effecrive discipleship tools or merhods is affected by the culture and setting, we affirm thar 1. The life of a disciple is marked by subrnission to Ch rist, Jesus said rhat we cannot be His dsciples unless we give up our very lives (Luke 14:27). 2. The marks of true repenrance in the life of a disciple are evidenced by ongoing transtormation, compassionate
tians 5:22).

personal holiness,

service, and me fruir of me Spirit (Gala-

We acknowledge rhar perfection will not be achieved until we see Him face to face. True disciples do fail and are marked by hurnble repentance in response to personal failure, bur recognize God's forgiveness and restoration in the journey.f 106

EXPANDING

OUR UNDERSTANDING

OF DISCIPLESHIP

That's

a preay

involved sratement.

And it's worrh noting

thar in

the documem Christendorn

was revised six times prior to its release. "The mere today regarding a most importam facer of our faith,

facr that ir was revised six rimes speaks ro the lack of continuity namely discipleship ... Their docurnent,

in its revisions and lack of

We should consistently consider new

specifics, only serves to illustrate rhere is a problem; and that being, a universal and direction lack of real consensus and regard ing discipleship."?

We may never flnd or develop a complete context, This tension. presents

concise enough list to please everyone and fit every may be by design and part of our and should keep us in is We do, however, need to be aware thar ir a unique problem

ways and new forms to draw closer to the image of Christ.

search of any and alI missing elemenrs. Maybe the search itself is part of the processo Discipleship indeed "relational all-engrossing. and Intentonal, and a process." Ir must be comrnunicared We should consisrently both a posirion

as a holsric effort that is

consider new ways and new

farms to draw closer to rhe image of Christ. This brings up a third need of discipleship, 3. We Need to Consider A few rnonths through presenred words, More Deeply What We'ce Neglecting a leadership meeting for ministry. walking us The goal In orher to

ago I attended

how to develop strategic initiatives was to ultimately desired strategy idenrify outcornes

start with the end in mind.

first, then work backward

develop a reasonable

to ger there, one s(ep ar a time. The evaluarive nature, ar unattainable

beauty of this process is found in irs intuitively You can'r help but realize the goals are unrealistic starting poinr as reality, strategy

if

you work your way back to the present and you're not ar the same If we are to devise a successful our churches, he challenged of disciple-making this approach in when

we must firsr assess rhe gap between

where we are

and where we are called to go. Jesus promoted

rhose who would foUow hirn to firsr count the cost. 107

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"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see whether you have enough money to complete it?" (Luke 14:28). The Easrbourne Srarernent on Discipleship clairns: "The marks of (rue repenrance in the !ife of a disciple are evidenced by ongoing rransformation, personal holiness, compassionate service, and rhe fruit of the Spirt."lO Essentially whar rhey're offering is a list of four desired outcomes. Instead of srarting where we are and evaluating discipleship by what we're doing, we should take a look at whether or not we're accornplishi ng what we hope to accomplish. Whar we' 11 find is that almosr every bblica I result of discipleship is somerhing that is out of our hands. "We cannot change ourselves, just as we cannot change the world by ourselves. Ir ls rhe Spirir's rninistry to brng about changed lives, transformed communities, and redemptive can gain ali the rninistry in rhe world. Trus reflects rhe duality of
in the

We

knowledge

We need rhe Sprit more than we can fathom. We can gain all the knowledge in the will be no fruit, no world, but wirhour the Spirit there will be no fruit, no rransformation, no personal holiness, transformation, no no compassionate service. Here's a not-so-secret personal holiness, secret: if you're a believer in rhe Son of God, me no compassionate Holy Spirit lives inside of you. I'rn convinced servtce, he's speaking as well. The question is this: Are we Iisrening? I think we listen more rhan we'll admito Honesdy, ir's rare that we come to a decision never having a sense for what is right. The Holy Spirir does not sit stagnant; he moves with conviction. In Thessalonians, Paul had to rernind the church of rhis power:
the Spirit there

world, but without

the church as an organization that is both holy and human."!'

Because our gospel carne to you not sirnply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirir and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitarors of
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us and of rhe Lord, for you welcomed rhe message in rhe rnidst of severe suffering wich the joy given by me Holy Spirit.
I THESSALONIANS

1:5-6

We are experts ar creating confusion and clouding clariry when we want to jusrify our acrions. I've purchased rhings, done things, neglected rhings, said rhings, and thought rhings thar I know were not the best things to do-alI along reasoning with myself, intentionally ignoring, and choosing nor to lisren. We choose not to pray about sueh decisions because we already know rhe answer. We fool even ourselves. Bur that's an easy thing to do when we wanr to be fooled. Let's be honest for a momem. Knowing what we know about God, does he really want us to serve rhe poor? Is there any chance our lack of doing so negarively impacrs our transformation? I would argue yes. Is there any chance doing $0 would radically help ir? I would once again argue a resounding yes. Take a moment to consider the pages of Scripture, rake a year if you need. Does he desire that we be agents of peace (Matthew 5:9), ministers of reconciJiation (2 Corinthians 5:18 -19) and renewal (Colossian 3:1O)?Should we fighr for the orphan (James 1:27) and plead the case of the widow (lsaiah 1:17)? Does he really want us to fighr injustice (Isaiah 58:6)? Should we show merey (Matthew 5:7)? Ask God to search your heart, and ask the Spirit to speak. Do me a favor. If your answer is no, then stop reading and throw this book away. You're wasting your rime. If your answer is yes, it begs an additional quesrion: Why don'r we then? The only logical answer is humbling: we simply choose our way over God's way. Earlier we discussed how just one zero in a class ean drop even a perfecr grade to a failing grade. The problem with our current forms of discipleship is not necessarily found in what we do well, it's found in what we've neglected. In many of our cases, it's rhe lack of chasing the Spirit and the cornpassionate service that follows. Wirhom them, we will ultimarely fail ar borh transformation and personal holiness. We need to keep studying and memorizing Scripture. We need to keep praying and holding each other accountable. We need to
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continue

spending

seasons in topical and equipping

Bible studies.

And in addition to those rhings, we need to figure out how to delighr in the ways af Jesus more often, We need to cornrnir more af our ways to him (I suggest aLI of thern). It's literally impossible to do so and choose the way of self. Take delight in rhe
LORD,

and he will give you rhe desires af your heart, Commic your way to rhe
LORDj

trusr in him and he will do this: He will rnake your righteous reward shine like rhe dawn, yaur vindication like rhe noonday sun.
PSALM

37:4-6

4. We Need a Reproducible

Process That's WJ.l1lng to Let Go is the spirit af recurrent disciple

Ar the very heart of dlscipleship

making. As long as our discipleship process remains rigid and dependent on its initiaror, it will aIways faLIshorr of irs potential. Jesus saved every church considerable time and effort when he wrote rhe mission staternent thar gives us our marching orders: "Go rherefore and make disciples of alI nations" (Matthew 28:19). Whar is a disciple of Jesus but one who is sei finitiaring, reproducing and fully devored to him? What seems unarrainable is rhat there would be churches filled with discples who do nor have to be pushed, rnorivared and cajoled.l2 This brings us back to our first poinr. Is it possible that we're not seeing the spirirual motivation and devotion Are we creating fruir of transformation disciples? resulring in sei fdoes not because we're not making true disciples?

codependent

Cadependency

hlassom; ir does not reproduce, That's whar the cornmercial ing us whether

ir only creares more codependency. said anyway. I'm not so sure rhat
00

"We're a nation oJ consumers. And tbere's notbing wrong with that. " the credit card company who made ir is a credible authority ar not that's a problem. rell-

BU[ ar least they gat rhe

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first pare righr-we're reproducing

certainly

consumers.

The greatest enemy to More times than not,

disciples is our desire to consume.

we don't want to be released for ministry.

We' d rarher someone else and

provide what we need and jusr consume ir. And it'd be nice to have some hot coffee waiting there too. It's a love-hare relationship, we've experienced. make disciples, It's killing our hope of becoming ir's killing any chance of our helping someone e1se experience what disciples who

THE WAY OF THE

RABBI

Jesus was once asked poim blank what we need to do co inherit erernal Iife, he was asked by someone who already knew ali the ruIes. His response? Give ro rhe poor. We know the law, yet this is probably the rnosr obvious discipleship tool we miss. 'You shall nor comrnir

"You know rhe commandments:

adultery, you shall not rnurder, you shall not sreal, you shall not give false testirnony, honor your father and mocher.''' "AlI rhese I have kepr since I was a boy," he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one rhing. SeU everyrhing you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
LUKE 18:20- 22

I assure you, this wasn'r about rhe cash. Jesus didn't himself. There is We are confronted
50

need this

rnan's money to help the poor. This man needed to help the poor much wrapped in what happens when we do. at rhe very soul of our existence. This wasn't the rhis discipline for making disciples, and

first time Jesus encouraged ir wasn't his lasr time either.

Bur when you give a banquer, invite the poor, the crippled, rhe lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Alrhough rhey cannor repay you, yOll will be repaid ar the resurrecrion of the righteous.
LUKE 14:13-14

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In a mamem,

Zacchaeus

discerned what Jesus required of him:

[Q

But Zacchaeus stood up and said

rhe Lord, "Look, Lord!

[Q

Here and now I give half of my possessions I have cheated anybody our of anything, rimes rhe arnount."

rhe pOOI, and f

1 will pay back four

Jesus said to him, "Today salvarion has come to this house, because rhis man, roa, is a son of Abraham."

Paul labeled Tabitha

a disciple. Here are the marks of her dis... she was convert his ser-

cipleship: "In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha always doing good and helping rhe poor" (Acrs 9:36). The angel who carne to Cornelius, reporred in Scripture,

the firsr Gentile

claimed that the very reason he was rhere was "Three days ago I was in my Suddenly a rnan God has (Acts

because God not only heard his prayers, but remembered vice to the poor: "Cornelius answered: in shining lO:30-31). The aposdes, pioneers af the New Testarnent house praying ar this hour, at three in the afrernoon. heard your prayer and remembered

clothes stood before me and said, "Cornelius,

your gifrs to the poor"'"

church, knew thar

if they did anything

"[ames, Cephas Barnabas

of value, they should continue to serve the poor: when they recognlzed the

and john, rhose esteerned as pillars, gave me and

rhe righr hand of fellowship

grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circurncised. along" (Galarians Believing matter way-and of doing. 2:9 -10). "Believing is also a Believing is trusting that Jesus' way of living is Ali they asked was that we should continue to rernernber the poor, rhe very thing I had been eager to do ali is not just a matter of knowing.

the right way, and trusting die that way."13 We've been talking

ir enough thar one is willing to live that ad nauno one

about the elernenrs of discipleship the Holy Sprit, giving back-

seum. Bible study, surrender,

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OF DISCIPLESHIP

would disagree wirh rhese marks of a disciple - but most people never uansfer these practices from me church campus to an acrual lfe, According to our role model, Jesus, surrender rneant dearh in every possible way: rnarerially, rela- The Holy Spirit tionally, and physically. Surrender unril there was norhing lefr but redemption for a broken world. The Holy Spirit is a blazing fire, charring every rernnanr of selfishness and pride left in OUI souls, an unquenchable fire rhat cannot be ignored ar denied. Giving back means giving ali; any inferior definition is pure deceprion. Our money, our resources, our gifrs, our time, our dreams, our selfish ambitions, our comfonrhese we give back in their enrirery, Anyrhing less is not discipleshp ar all, Ir is simply a elever
is a blazing fire, charring every remnant of selfishness and pride left in our souls, an unquenchable fire that cannot be ignored or denied.

substrution by a crafty enemy who has figured out how to use our own weaknesses against us, rocking us to complacent sleep wirh a consumer version of the gospel and knowing ali rhe while he is making goats out of sheep.

TANGIBLE

TRANSFORMATION

Earlier roday I sat down to starr this chapter on how social action impacts discipleship when I was inrerrupted by a call frorn my wife. She said seven words, "Brandon. Come home. We got our referraH" Then she hung up. Nearly a year ago we started the long journey of internacional adoption. After spending some time in Africa with The Eden Reforestation Projects and falling in love wirh rhe children of Erhiopia, our hearts were affirmed rhat thar's where we were to adopt. Jen handled the whirlwind of paperwork like a pro. It's like applying for rwenty mortgages at the same time. Quite a process: family history, addresses, references, financiai reporrs, physicals (even the dog), fingerprints, and home studies. We submitted our dossier and

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made the paymems, thanks to some Incredible friends and supporters. And we waired. I tried my best not to think about it toa often, hoping the rime would passojen's srrategy was a little dfferent, adoption blogs, Facebook groups, ernail chains, and the adoption agency website were a daily obsession for her. Today we were given the narnes, faces, and heartbreaking stories of a beauriful little five-year-old girl and seven-year-old boy we were going to adopt. There are experiences in life that simply change usoSome are good. Some are tragic. But they change who we are and what we're about from that poinr forward. While we've yer to realize rhe full impact adoption will have on us, this is cerrainly one of We seem to think those experiences for usoLfe will never be the same.
discipleship is

an agreement to knowledge instead of a commitment to a

Following Christ should change our lives. We should not be the sarne. Disclpleshp should be transforming. Yet when we think abour OUI spiritual development, it's easier to see a change in our practices than in our passions. We continue to add rhings and replace things, yet our hearts remain

gospel that makes

the same. We seem to think discipleship is an agreement to knowledge instead of a cornmitment ali things new. to a gospel that makes ali rhings new. r share my story because I want you to know thar my hope is completely different roday from where ir was a handful of years ago. I've seen the same in others. While I know I have a ways to go, I cao honesdy say rhar me way I think is differem. The way I feel is different. The way I love is sirnply differem. My faith journey is now a joy. My ChUICh experience is life giving. And for the fim time, I actually do life with the people I'm in biblical community wirh. Most of us change over the years. Yet few can look back and identfy supernatural God-level transformation and link ir to a clear and concise discipleship processoWhen we add serving the least imo the mix of our passion for God's Word, worship, and cornrnuniry, we take something already grear and make ir better,

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I received businessman

an ernail the other day from one of rhe founding who's done just abolir everything

rnernbers of our church. His story is sirnple: an exrrernely successful

in life and has been

radically changed Brandon,

by serving the leasr. He writes:

JUSt wanred ro put words to whar's been going on in my life over the last few years and share ir with you. You know rhar each rime we do the homeless grill-our downrown, my pOSt is at rhe front of rhe line handing out the tickers. I love ir because I ger to talk
[Q

everyone we serve.

ln case you didn't know, they caJl me "ricket-man." They have called me thar for a few years now. A few years of my own metamorphosis ing"
OI'

from "dude too busy to norice suffer[Q

"dude roo quick

judge who deserves help" to "ticket-

man." I hand out rickets so thar we make sure we have enough hamburgers for everyone in line. I am no longer "dude who flies frst-class to Sydney" or "dude having a drink at the rop of rhe JW Marriorr in Hong Kong"; JUSt"tcket-rnan." Those who were my age would remember David Byrne chopping lettuce on his arm to "Once in a Liferirne" singing, "You may ask yourself, 'Well, how did I get here?' " Thar was me lasr week on a stinking hot Austin summer

day, hugging a homeless gliy I did not know wondering, "Well,

how did I get here?" Something happens when yOli serve. Something yOli cannot conrrol, You srarr with ali sorts of obsrades, fear, incomperence, and even a desire to avoid rhe hopelessness mar occurs when you realize that you do not have me power wirhin you to fix people. Somerhing changes and you stop seeing people and you see a person. Maybe even for a f1eering second yOli see a person rhrough God 's eyes. And
yOLl

see rheir

heart and rhey see yours. And you see rhern see your heart and thar is when you get ir. Serving was never about rhem. Serving is about getting gripped in rhe heart by God. And he rouches your heart through rhe ones you serve. Iam nor who 1was. And ir has

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nothing to do with anything I did. Ir is the heart connection ro individuais as you serve with no agenda other rhan telling them, "1 see you, you are a person and 1 accept you for who you are io rhis mornenr." I am ricker-rnan, for me. Something
crazy is happening

and serviog has been rransformarional

at ANC. We are a simple church. everyone to be in

We teach through missional Men Impromptu

Scripture

on Sunday, provide a fifrh Sunday pro]-

ect for people to serve collectvely, and encourage communiry. are getting

Yet for those who ger involved and take ir together ar 6:00 a.m. to study Scripture. rraf-

upon rhernselves to take it to the next levei, their lives are changing. wornen's Bible studies are popping up in living rooms.

Teams are being formed to increase awareness and fight human ficking. People are giving up their rime borhoods.
(O

mentor at-risk kids, Friends

are teaming up and engaging the needs of single moms in rheir neighFarnilies are joning forces to walk with the homeless to organizations to serve help thern off the streets. Many of our families are adopting ar doing foster care. We have people srarring nonprofit until it's already happening Transformation is our goal, not serving for the sake of checking the box of service. specific needs in our city. And as their pastor, I rarely know about it or done. Ali of this is taking place by the initiative of a missional people engaging need rhe besr rhey know bow. 1 d ge. We a 11k now how to increase our k nowie We've grown up in a culture rhat values learning. But when we fail to engage the Spirir and live our what we're learning, we will fail tO be transforrned. We must come to a new understanding of whar ir means is

to be a Christ follower in the Spirit and a new willingness to be on mission togerher. Transformation the box of service. of people who

our goal, not serving for the sake of checking "Transformarion understand

is facilltared by the godly influence

and integrare rheir fairh and are willing to get involved

in the lives of orher people."14

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We have a famiJy who is fairly new to ANC. God took thern on a roller-coasrer ride after meeting a horneless man and he1ping him daughter. They are the perfecr "ger involved in the lives of other people."

get recon nected with his estranged

exarnple of rhose willing
[Q

While their story is arnazing, ler me just show you rhe fruit of their story from part of a recent ernail. Serving rhe leasr has been
50

life changing

for our fam-

ily that I can't even begin to tell you all che changes thar have transpired. The blessings we have receved and are still receiving could only come &om God, who is working
50

presemly and by serving the

powerfully in our lives. If anyone would have rold me rnonths ago thar our lives were going to be rransformed leasr of these, I would have neve r believed ir. I am honored thar God called us to be his servanrs, We thank God for enrrusting us with rhis amazing assignmem. he leads us next. Our family has seen God's grace, his love like never before, and we wait patiently to where

117

CHAPTER

Embracing the Tension

o chapter

1 I briefly menrioned

a pastor friend in Austin who had

planned a message series around rhe idea of engaging need in rheir He had planned for ir to be a four-week series culminarout a once-a-rnonrh service project provokIr was a great series. Crearive, Thought ernphasis was hijacked,

communiry.

ing with small groups carrying through community. iog. And chaJlenging. being a monrh-long by a one-time

But sornewhere along the way rhe vision for its and ir was reduced to a

single sermon. Likewise rheir monrhly service projecrs were replaced missions offering on Sunday. friend who arrends a pretty tradicional mission minisrry friend, he was in the middle church in
[Q

I have another Similar

the Dallas area with a pretty rraditional to my Austin

marcho

of some prerty He wasn't a pas-

heavy tension abour his holistic church experience. Bible srudy, led ao usher tearn once a month,

tor, but he artended every Sunday, was a discussion leader for a men's and hosred a community group at his home. Yet, he still felr as if his faith was sha11ow. The best way he could describe ir was rhar he was bored with church, and ir felt as if whar he was a part of was not significant. He did nor feeL as if he was growing spirirually, and his minisrry efforts were anything bur life giving. The good thing was rhat he was outside of the church walls. a1so keenly self-aware rhar as a consumer he was simply perpetuatiog rhe problem. Rarely dd he do anything

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Most of rhe things he did participare existing church campus, was planning upcoming

in, he also benefired from. Like more on rhe rhat his church

many of us, he had a strong urging to do more-nor but more our in his community.

In the middle of this tension, it was announced

a day of service. He was rhrilled weekend the church was planning

to hear rhar on an their ciry

to dose their doors on

a Sunday morning

and partner up with others rhroughout

to serve rhose in need. This was way our of the box for rhem. On the agenda were rwelve projects across lhe city that he could choose from. People were encouraged to invite neighbors who didn'c not to simply take the have a church home. They were encouraged just go to church. Two weeks later, rhey stopped making the announcement. never did a sign-up. Never communicated After a llttle invesrigation, a Sunday morning compromising Email after email poured celed. The date just came and wenr like any normal Sunday. my friend found out thar canceling of backlash. the pastor of service created an amazing amoum in from mernbers accusing They rhar the evenr was can-

Sunday off, bur to make ir a day where they could be the church, not

the gospel and bending

to the "ways of the world."

Deacons and elders held special meetings to figure out how to confront rhe pastor abour his reckless leading. Here was their grearest concern: How would rhey make budget without taking an offering thar day? Ir was a similar story with my pastor friend in Austin. Everything was fine unril small-group leaders found out rhey had to give up another day of rheir month to rninistry, They were the first to adrnir rhey were toa busy. Berween church, Bible study, soccer practice, and their fantasy basebalI drafr, they just didn't have the time to add yet another church thing to their calendar. Both churches canceled their pIans, borh citing that ir was causing too much tension within was becoming dered to the thought the church to continue. Just the idea a divisive force. With so much tension, they surrenthat God must have nor been in ir.

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EMBRACING THE TENSION

Ir's interesting how much we are willing to work through tension on things we deem worrh fighring for. Ladies wilJ spend hours debating the location, somehow navigating hurr Feelingsand opinions, for next year's Chrisrmas brunch. Leadership teams will rneet, pray, and cry for weeks over rhe rheme of vacation Bible school. We'll spend tens af thousands of dollars and just as many hours sitting with a consultam navigating the tension of a building campaign. But the mornent we experience tension in serving, we give up and assume Gad's not in it. Why is that? Why are we willing ro struggle rhrough so much wirh programming and events, then give up so easily on sornething that is so cJearly mandated by Scriprure?

TENSION

ANO THE SPIRIT

Here's the shorr and biblical answer to why we have 50 much rension: "The flesh desires what is comrary ro rhe Spirir, and rhe Spirit what is comrary to rhe flesh. They are in conflict wirh each other" (Galatians 5:17). Whenever there is somerhing powerful on rhe horizon, something truly of Whenever there is God, we can pretty much expect it to come wirh something poweror create some tension. Ir may not even be in us, fui on the horizon, bur it will exist in someone dose. In fact, I'rn something truly of nor sure I've ever seen a powerful mavement of God that didn't create some type of opposirion. God, we can pretty Recemly we've had a few dozen families much expect it to in our church feel the call ro adopt or serve come with or create orphans through foster care. In fact, it's such some tension. a high percemage of people I literally sit back in awe seeing God move. Adoption is a good rhing. It's a great thing. Yer God may not call you to adopt. Giving financially to help others who want to adopt but can't afford ir is also a gaod thing. It's also a great thing. However, you may nor be able to do thar eirher. Even if you have the means, ir'spossible thar God may

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BAREFOOT not lead you to give. Although abour or to rhose not adopring. Tension. We've experienced want to go downtown

CHURCH

no one has ever said a negative word we've had people leave our church

because they fee1 "bad" that they're not adopting.

the same thing in serving rhe home1ess.

NO[

everyone is drawn to this type of ministry, And for those who don't and feed the homeless, they feel tension when we do go. We need to make sure we protect our hearts and we search our motives when we start feeling accused or defensive. Before we run our or lash out, we need ro take a moment and ask God to search our hearts. And when rhe opposition comes, we shouldn't be surprised by
OUI

it; we should be careful not ro be scared away too easily. Obstacles are everywhere. As rhe church, and in
More often than not, tension serves as a starting point for something in

human

reasoning, we can we

easily find a reason not to do just about anything really need to do.

More ofren than not, rension serves as a starting point for something in need of change. Ir can often expose areas of neglecr or concern that never would have been brought to life Maybe we're supposed in need through

if left unchallenged.
sornerhing else

it's to force us to consider

need of change.

to be doing. Maybe it's to mentor a Sisrer, to serve a family or ro rake up rhe with Chariry partnering a local nonprofit,

kid rhrough Big BrotherlBig fighe for clean warer in me world rhrough Water.1 Whatever purpose.

it may be, we can be assured that tension has a

THE ROLE OF TENSION

As a dad with young kids, I've surrendered not have anything house. Ir takes only a moment for somerhing to the fact rhat I will to be abused, lost, or nice, ar least not until my kids move out of my

broken. As a dad, it's a way of life that l've learned to accept.

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EMBRACING

THE TENSION

About a year ago, my eighr-year-old decided that he needed to do some pull-ups. The only problem was that he happened to be in the passenger seat of my wife's car and rhe only rhing he could rhink of to "pull-up" on was rhe sun visor. As you could imagine, he didn'r take the rime to rhink ir rhrough, and ir didn'r go well. To this day if yau were to sit in the passenger seat of my wife's car, you would have a sun visor dangling loosely ar abour eye level. Your natural response will be to rry to push rhe visor back to its upright position, bur yau will fail. Yer somehow, you will try again ... and again ... and again. Until someone let's you in on the fact that it's broken and no longer srays pur, The visor does nor look like ir's broken. It's in perfeer form in irself. 50 ir's impossible to anticipate what will happen when you attempt to move ir out of rhe way. While the hook on one side is in perfect condition and keeps ir from falling off, the easing on the other side of the visor attaehing ir to the ear is eraeked. This sun visor is held in plaee by tension. The problem is that rhe easing that ensures tension is broken. And alrhough I can have ir replaced for a few hundred dollars ar the Nissan dealership, I ehoose to ler ir hang as ir may. Witholit rension, ir will nor sray in place, neirher up nor down. It just flops around some- We can rest where in the middle. assured We can rest assured rhat tension always has a purpose. Whether ir holds us in plaee or jusr creates that tension a rnornenr where we have to eonsider our position or always has a eheek our motives, ir always comes with an opportunity purpose. for growth. And ir ean be a grear rhing for a chureh needing change. ''A congregarion that is being led by rhe Spirir wiU sometirnes experience as mueh ehange from interruption, disruprion, and surprise as through planning and straregizing."2 The problem is thar we rarely foeus our attention on the righr thing. Tension always accompanies an opporruniry, a ehallenge, or a thing to consider, When we plaee our foeus on eliminating rhe tension, our foeus beeomes the tension itself instead af the thing we

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should be considering.

This reveals our narure to eliminate the thing change.

causing the tension instead of dealing wirh much-needed

If I were to simply remove the broken casing on my sun visor, I would no longer have a visor on the passenger side of my caro This may be fine when driving ar nighr. But the visor serves a purpose. At cerra in times, without ir, I simply cannot see. We shou1d not foeus on the tension itself that is eaused by serving rhe poor. We should foeus on the roor of the tension. Is it reasonable? Does ir come from a pUfe place? Does ir reveal a bigger prablem? Is sornerhing these questions ehanging broken that needs fixing? If rhe ehureh were to ask and look for an honest answer, we' d find some life-

solutions.

TENSION

ANO

LEADERSHIP
wirh brainstorrn through

Last spring I was invired to sit in on a leadership workshop abour a dozen other pasrors. The goal was some strategies for equipping
tO

leaders through

ereating a mode! for

residencies rhat could be used in each of our churches. Throughout rhe daywe had the opportuniry to inrroduee ourselves and our minisrries, share eaeh of our stories, and present the vision of our ehurch. Toward the end of the day we were talking about rhe responsibil-

iry given ro us through

Ephesians 4 to equip the body for works of sirnple ways to give margin to does this rhrough

serviee. The foeus was to brainstorrn sharing the srructure missional communiry; scrarch."

our people in order to rnake ministry to the poor a possibiliry. After of how Austin New Chureh one ofthe pastors looked at me and said, "In

order for me to do that, I' d have to blow ir all up and start over from He was both righr and wrong. Rghr in that in order to do exacrly what we do, he would indeed have to start over. We were a ehureh pIant that started with a mission-minded to begin to ehange the trajectory DNA fram day one. But he's also wrong. There are rhings he can do and steps he can take of bis chureh. But that wasn'r rhe

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EMBRACING THE TENSION importam staning part of what he was saying. Rather, ir was the facr that his point was not ignorance. He recognized the rnassive arnoum such a major shift in his rninisrrv, reality abour tension: in no p1ace rhe misWe have to help our people recognize their tension and evaluate whether it's

of tension thar wou1d surround This brings up an irnporranr sion, Church

is ir felr more than by rhe people leading renson in their own lives and journey; key is in making

leaders not onJy have to strugg1e with rhey are a1so to

responsible for leading others through the same. The sure we aren'r the ones adding rhe tension. We have to help our people recognize rheir tension and evaluare wherher see rheir tension rheir tension. ir's from a good or a bad p1ace. Somerimes it's berrer to help someone rhan ir is to help thern eliminare

from a good or a bad place.

TENSION

ANO GROWTH
to whar he calls a "lens" in rhe role of tension as a

Craig Van Ge1der draws attention

which the book of Acts helps us understand

part of rhe work of rhe Spirir in rhe church's 1ife. This interprerive lens of growrh and development of the church in the book of Acrs anticipated the expansion of rhe church rhar wou1d continue to rake place throughout rhe ages. In the rnidsr of rhis growrh and developmenr of the church, rhere are indications thar some intencional srraregies were used. However, rhe acruaJ growth and developmenr of the church under the 1eading of the Spirir was often inrroduced as a result of conflict, disruption, interruprion, and surprise.f We are the church. lt makes sense thar our personal growth and development ofGod's would come by the same rneans. Tension is not a sign On1y when we recognize his presence do absence. In facr, ir's the opposire, Tension is mosr likely rhe

evidence of his presence. we grow in his presence.

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TENSION
Tension is common

AND THE CHURCH

in our church culrure. It's what we're known of

for. In fact, how we respond to it is often whar keeps people away. Wirh that in mind, ir's criticai rhat we come to an understanding tion and the righr rnotivation for tensian. why ir's there. There's a huge difference between rhe wrong motiva-

The wrong kind af tension occurs when we protect whar we do. The right kind of tension occurs when we proclaim what God does. The wrong kind af tension comes when we make it about us and our kingdom. The right kind oftension make ir abour God and his kingdom. The wrong kind of tension comes fram using Scripture Scriprure define our lives. When Jesus sem out the twelve disciples, he let thern know to expect massive tension: Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 00 my account you will be broughr before governors and kings as witnesses to thern and to the Gentiles. But when rhey arrest you, do not worry about what to say ar how to say ir. Ar that time you wilI be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, Farher speaking rhrough you. Brother will berray brorher to dearh, and a father his child; children will rebel aganst their parenrs and have thern put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who srands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecured in one place, flee to another, Truly I rell you, yOli will not finish going through me towns of Israel before rhe Son of Man comes.
MATTHEW10:17-23

comes when we to

defend our lives. The righr kind of tension comes from letting

but the Spirir of your

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EMBRACING THE TENSION Ir's risky to be d.ifferent in the church. The life of a disciple comes ar a cosr. A life on mission comes with being misunderstood.

Unfor-

tunately believers tend to flog each other in our day. We find it hard to believe thar there's not an ulterior motive ar hidden agenda when someone makes us uncomfortable. We have a hard time embracing change or relaring. We are suspicious, To be rnisundersrood by other Chrisrians can be one of rhe rnosr def1ating things about serving rhe leasr. We must always guard the line berween doing whar we do to please ourselves, to please others, ar to please Chrisr. Perer reminds us thar, "If you are insulted it's the righr kind because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for lhe Spirit of glory and of God rests on you" (1 Peter 4:14). When of tension, from the right morivation, in American worth living in. There is a tendency Chrisrianiry to think we can that choose a parh without tension. Most of us would prefer to chart our journey that way. But God has called us to join his journey-one is more amazing, wonderful, scary, awesorne, engaging, passionate, and rewarding than anything we could ever dream of I like how]effVanderstelt, it when he said: I'd like ro take a more optimisric view of rhe Spirir. Possibly rhar the rension does nor go away, we don'r necessarily ger over rhe hurnp, but me Spirit changes the way we view rension, We can take pleasure in rension when it comes from "wanting to wam to do sornerhing good." One of the reasons we need to do ir in community ... we're in ir rogether, we can remind each other what is right. We're there for each other in our rnoment of need, doubt, and struggle. And we find our joy in rhose relationships." We don't lead fcom the safety of me fringe. We take up residence in rhe fray. Where change is happening Where change is necessary. pastor with Soma Comrnunities, put dangerous, we can be sure it's a tension

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There we hnd ourselves in a unique tug-of-war berween what was, what is, and what could be. We are faced with the realiry that we are rhe catalysr in the momento A rension ensues berween ambitions We are ternpted to bail
00

and fears.

our goals crystallized.

but discover thar under pressure our vision becomes remarkably A hundred

voices attempt to sway uso

And we find we must lean imo God with a faith deeper rhan we have ever known. Change happens in the very place where many Jeaders flinch, fear, and fail. The tension we resisr is acrually by designo

It resrs us, ir tries us,

It conforms us to His image.

The tension is necessary. The tension makes us strong. The tension is good.'

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CHAPTER

Partnering with the Nonprofit World

career, earning in the top 10 percent of women in rhe United Srates. Ar first glance you would have never known that she hared waking up and going to work every day. Like many, Susan casually checked artendance, safe disrance fram one another, Church strangers to a communiry the box of Sunday church but all rhe while keeping her faith lfe and church life at a for her was imporranc,

y friend Susan was not unlike many today chasing rhe American dream. She seemed to "have ir all" wirh a successful sales

ir never seemed to make the jump from a place you go to sit among of faith to do Iife with. Ar rhe end of 2009, wirh the hopes of adding some significance to her Iife, Susan and a handful of friends decided as their New Year's resolution rhar they would be intenrional once a monrh. With all the networks about serving rhose in need and relarionsh ips rhey had worthwhile,

made over the years, they knew if they did something many were likely to join thern, In January

rhe group decided to starr doing room rnakeovers at shelter. They started their service and over the course of the first two rnonths

a battered women and children's with thirty volunteers, they had remadeled

every roam in rhe shelrer, By March the word

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had spread abolir whar these "everyday" people were doing, and the story began to grow. Emails were forwarded, projects were chosen, and tearns were filled with volunteers wanting to join in on the "giving back" crusade. That month they served a family of five children who were left to rheir grandmother afrer their mother had died in a tragic car aceidenr. Within three rnonths, this humbled group of thirry reached an astonishing five hundred volunteers. The group now has over eighr hundred volunteers involved. After seeing such a void in her comrnuniry for something like this and realizing she could be a part of filling ir, Susan quit her job to take on the task of form i ng the "Austin Angels" as ao offjeial nonprofit organization. Their goal was to choose one "need" project, evenr, or cause a rnonth and pool rheir hurnan resources to provide as much support as possible, many times partnering with other local nonprofit organizations. I first met Susan through Chris Marlow, who runs another nonprofit in town called HELP (Help End Local Poverry). Their two organ.izations had deeided to join forces that rnonth wirh yer another nonprofit, Cornmunities in Schools. Each year CIS sponsors drives for supplies rhroughout the ciry for underresourced didn't take long schools. Chris had posred on Twitrer that theywere short some backpacks in order to meer their goal. We just happened to have taken in a large number of backpacks fram a donor, and I was quick to ler thern know rhey were available. A few hours later, I met Susan at ANC to hand
that the Austin Angels were doing exactly what we hoped

It

for me to realize

over a few hundred backpacks. Ir was enough to sponsor an entire elernenrary to do in serving school. Ir didn'r take long for me to realize that the our community. Austin Aogels were doing exactly what we hoped to do in serving our comrnuniry, I was astonished by rhe rnomentum rhey had in such a short time and was rerninded how uniquely postioned a "nonfairh-based" nonprofit was to empower such a diverse group of people ro serve.

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A few weeks larer, I was pleasantly surprised (Q see Susan and a handfuI of her friends arrivi.ng on a Sunday morning ar ANe. In Susan's own words, "The moment we walked through me doors we knew we were horne." Later that year, the Austin Angels joined ANC in parmership along with "Music for che Ciry" and "Restare Austin" ta plan an event ealled Restore the Innocent in order ta increase awareness of human trafficking. Ir was the beginning of another beautiful relationship berween Austin New Church and others already daing amazing things in our ciry, A handful of the local Angels now call ANC rheir ehurch home. Each is conneeted and serves regularly with an ANC Restore Communiry. Each month their "Serve Your Ciry" event is rhe eurrent Austin Angels project. Perfeet if you ask me. lo an ernail, Susan shared with me, "I have never felr more at home with what I believe in. For the first time I have found a church where faith is put into action." Almost every one of my nonprofit friends has a story like Susan's. They saw a need and, wirhout the restraints of anything organized, created their own organization to rneet the need. Not ta be some kind of nonprofit renegade bur to do ir rhe way they drearned. From rhe graund up, they give everyrhing they've got to make a differenee. There's something to be learned frorn our nonfaith-based nonprofit partners. Some are secular beeause they do not have faith. But many ehoose to be nonfaith-based because rhey realize the hurdles they have to jump thraugh to ger people involved in faith-based initiatives. This is clearly the result of the baggage the church holds today. We rnust take seriously OUf relationships as we form the structures of our ehureh. If ehureh "does what ir is" and we hope to be missional, we eannot ignore preexisting organizarions and rheir efforts in our contexto A missional eec1esiolagytakes seriously rhe organizationallife of the church both in its expressions of local missional congregations and paralocal missional strucrures, Oeveloping such an
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ecclesiology in Norrh America will require a careful evaluarion of the diverse paralocal organizations acter of missional structures generally.1 We've found a lot of life in balancing nering with fairh-based
We choose to partner based on what they're doing, how they're doing

rhar now exist, and how of rhe biblical char-

rhey fit into a more holisric understanding

the scale between organizations.

partBut we or

and nonfaith-based

don't choose our partners not they are faith-oriented ernrnenr. Neither for the church. Neither ro make a difference. such organzations in getring it done. The nonfairh-based

based on wherher

in rhe eyes of the govas a biblical

rype serves as a replacement is structured

entity, But both act as service agents for people We choose ro partner with based on what they're doing,

it. and

how

effective they are in getting it done.

how they're doing ir, and how effective rhey are organizaton has one who

major advantage larger than thernselves compelling.

in my mind:

unbelievers

serve regularly. We've found it true that "people find a mission that is They want ro change the world. new way They do nor respond in rhe sarne way to a church that is sedenrary and waiting for rhe world to come to it."2 It's a refreshingly for skeprics of fairh to see Christians by-side with thern. I'm confident when they are serving side-

ir will be good news for {hem to

realize mar we serve a God that cares desperarely about some of rhe very rhings they do. This hir me when my Resrore Community a water station ar rhe LIVEstrong of thousands running, walking, Challenge was volunteering for

lasr year. Lirerally tens

of people (if not more) gathered on the streets of Austin smiling, volunteering, in the narne of fighting serving, and cheering. We cancer. 1'11 never forget

were ali gathered

seeing the mob of runners cresr the hill in front of me. They weren't just fighting against a terrible i11ness. They were fighting for people. Each of us knows someone who has been impacred were to join the fighr, why wouldn't by cancer. If we we lock arms with other Chris-

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tians as well as skeprics, arheisrs, and agnostics in hope of being hope

[Q

each? Our goal would never be to take Susan our of her sphere of influ-

ence and say, "Hey, thar Austin Angels thing was grear, bur now rhat you go to ANC we wanr you to use your gifrs to oversee this thing we've been working
00

for rhe pasr rwo years." No way! I'd rather around whar she's already doing.

empower her to form comrnunity

WHY
a meeting

PARTNER?
[Q

Several years ago, and prior church. While we had experienced eral years of ministry growth

planring

ANC,

I was sirring in state of our

wirh our senior sraff dscussing

rhe current

explosive growth in our firsr seva pretry advanced

and were srill mainraining

rate, ir was hard nor to norice the exodus as well. Each year more and more on the front aboli! whar was

it seemed rhe back door was gaining happening too-obvious

door of our church. And as we sat in conversation statement, "If the common
[Q

and how we could stop ir, one of oue staff made the allrherne of people leaving is be more, then why don'r we take a

that rhey feel like rhere's gor

serous look ar what they say is missing?" The search for what is missing has become an all-too-cornrnon task of today's church. enough, We're woodering if we're nor being creative needs to play with people feel welcome.

if our services are too long, if

me band

more energy, or if the greerers aren't making part of somerhing Sunday morning that 1S significam is not enough

"Jesus is on people's rninds and in rheir curiosiry, They want to be a ... Being anorher specraror ou for rnosr people who have not yet be enough for rhose who have found

found Chrisr, and ir shouldn't Him."3 We naturally

take a look ar rhe thiogs we're doing and won-

der how we can do thern better. Rarely do we rake a look ar what we're not doiog and wonder a new opporruniry.

if we should.
in the church today as how rhat

We should see the rise of social concern

Bur we rnust be careful in relearniog

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Iooks in a comrnuniry

that has thrived for so Iong wirhout uso We are not only
[O

faced with a unique opportunity increases

These existing organizations are often a lot farther down the road to serving than we are, and we have a lot to learn from them.

reclairn a role in social some much-

renewal for the sake of rhe gospel, but also to do so in a way that parrnership and promotes needed kingdom-mindedness. From the beginning, ANe has valued kingdomminded partnerships. We've recognized that rhere are orhers out there who are already taking a srand, already making a difference, and already fighting
[O

for some of rhe sarne things we want are people serving reguJar1y thraughout

fight for. oue city, are

And rhey're doing ir well. We've realized that rhere and they're doing ir jusr because ir seems like the right thing to do. These existing organizarions ofren a lar farther down the road to serving rhan in our ciry,

we are, and we have a lor to learn frorn them. There are several nobrainers as to why we choose to partner wirh nonprofirs 1. Nonprofits a church we've decided that

typicaLLy have a great reputation in the community. As

ir we're

going to serve our ciry, we're going are rypiof the

to do so in ways rhar benefir our ciry, nor just uso Nonprofits

cally of me city and for the city, But that's not the reputation question our agenda. With that type of reputation While nonprofirs

church. Most people ourside me church see our efforts and instantly we're often limited in what we cao do, where we can go, and how much we can get accornplished, organizarions adminisrrators, well-connected staff rnernber, are often the mos! well-connecred know ciry officials and school in the city, churches remain some of the most isolated Nonprofits are connected nonprofit
OI

voices in our comrnuniry.

to resources, and know who the "go

to" people are. What we can spend rnonths spinning our wheels on, a can make happen in days.
{O

2. Nonprofits are experts in their field ofwork. Rarely does a pastor, even layleader have rhe time ar the abiliry invest in one task beyond surface levei. The resulr? Ask your best business leaders in your church who have artended a mission trip. Mosr have

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been underwhelrned and expect the same next rime. On the other hand, nonprofits do what they do, and only what rhey do. They are rhe experts on the ropic. They know the current legislation and processes. They know the h isrory and culture of rhe communlty. They've had years of success, and even more irnportant, they've had years of failure to learn frorn. We have a lot ro learn from thern. The typical project or efforr by a local nonprofit offers a better serving experience and ofren carries a more significam impact on rhe communiry. Insread of spending ali our time planning rhe event itsdf, we can be spending our rime cultivatlng relationships, considering follow-up, and prayerfully seeklng gospel-centered movernent. 3. Partnering with nonprofits offers a neto posture for the church. The church has a repuration of being withdrawn fcom culture. Wherher ir's true or not, we're seen as snobby elitists who rhink we know how best to be a blessing. I'm always amazed when we show up ro partner with a nonprofir and see the levei of surprise by our colaborers. They sirnply do nor expect to see a church group partner wirh rhem, You can alrnost read their minds, "Whar's your agenda, bro?" The good news is, they are so used ro seeing us do our own thing that when we acrually do somerhing outside of ourselves thar benefits thern, the impacr 1sso much greater. 4. Nonprofit partnership is an easily reproducible strategy. In order to keep gospel-centered missional communiry central, everyrhing we do is through our Resrore Communities-and every cornrnuniry is unique. When we serve prirnarily through our nonprofit partners, and we have a simple reproducble process, it becomes a plug-andplay process for our Restore Communiries-regardless ofhow many of them we have and regardless of rheir focus. For each of our nonprofir partners we ask a sirnple series of questions: "If you had fifreen to twenty adules serve you, what would they do? How long would you need them? What kind of rraining goes imo it? And whar would rhey need to bring?" We don't tweak the projecr to fir our need. We do exactly what rhey ask. Instead

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of spending ali OUI time as sraff planning, promoting, recruiring, and rraining, we spend our time assimilating opportunities (O serve, communicating the process, and empowering our people to go. The nonprofit handles the restoThe besr part is that's what rhey' d hope for us to do anyway. They don'r wanr us with thern for our agenda; rhey jusr need someone [O heJp thern with theirs.
5. Nonprofits need uolunteers more often than they need money.

Aside from time, the lack of resources is the most common excuse churches make nor (O serve rhe poor. Ir may even be rheir own fault because of the organizacional srructure we've created, nevertheless, it is ofren rrue. Too often we fail (O do something significant because we don't have the budger to make ir happen, While rnosr global nonprofits rely heavily on personal sponsorships and donations, many local nonprofits are resourced rhrough government or privare grants. Serving globally is a significanr and necessary part of serving the least. That said, serving locally wirh an already funded organization provides a great opportunity for a church looking for sornewhere (O start, These nonprofits have warehouses filled with donated supplies. They have staff designed [O make sure that your volunteers are coordinated well and that everyone has enough wonhwhile smff (O do. While they' d certainly appreciate a financiai donation, a working relationship does not hinge on ir; often rheir greatest need is people. True, there is a lot of crossover. Plenty of local nonprofirs need funding, and global organizations still need people. But roy hope here is to rernind us that a lack of money should never stand in OUI way. There are plenty of opportunities to start without firsr shelling our cash.
6. Nonprofits haue more non-Christians inuolued tban Cbristians.
FOI many unbelievers, the nonprofir organization has become their church. Serving with nonprofits has proven to be one of the most significant ways fOI our people to serve shoulder to shoulder wirh rhose far from Christ. And we are there, not because they are our projecr, but because we're serving together on a project, Ali kinds of barriers

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come down when that happens. With that in mind, we often try to serve at projects where we know there will be other volunreers from the community as well. 7 Serving with nonprofits provides a platform to serve selflessly. The church rardy servesseillessIy.We can often find a beneflr in one way or anorher from our service. Whether it's a hope thar someone will come [Q our church, a building mar is painted thar we actually rneet in, or a public acknowledgment for what we've done, we love our kudos, Ar ANC, when we tell our peopIe to do whatever sorneone eIse needs us to do, we do me sweating, and they get me credit; rhat changes things, When we do extreme cIassroom makeovers wirh Cornmunities in Schools, neither the teachers nor me principais know ir was ANC who did ir. They give credit to CIS. And we are helping to empower eIS to make more of a long-terrn irnpact in that school that lasrs long after we're gone. As church leaders, we need to spend more time figuring our ways to get our people serving, bur to get them serving self1essIy.

NEW PARTNERSHIPS There's a lot of baggage mar exists between the nonprofir world and the church. Nonprofits have been burned before, and they are gun-shy. One guy promises no agenda, jusr service, and rhen the other guy is secrerly handing our tracts or taking prayer requests in the comer. It's a gospel-centered bait and switch. We've seen nonprofits lose a lot of credibility with those they serve because of ao insensitive Christian with an agenda. We do this sornetimes unknowingly. We may have the besr of intentions, bur we ofren ler our pride get the best of usoWe feel noble that we're fi nally off the sofa and in the streets, We come with the posture that literally screams, "Hey, we're a church, and now we're going to solve all your problerns." We rreat people like projecrs, We're condescending, And we're doing anyrhing but making things better for rhe organization we're trying to serve OI the next church trying to make a difference.

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How cofounder

we approach of ANC's

developing nonprofir

a new parrnership

might

be and in and

the mosr importam

part of the processo Matthew branch relationships

Hansen

is the

called Resrore Ausrin wirh nonprofirs

focuses most of his time developing our ciry, Through for ser vice, helping oppression. what Matthew rhese relarionshps

our hope is to create conduits

to expose people to real issues of poverty

Much of what we have dane in our city is the resulr of considers the six steps to effective partnerships,

1. Start with a common redemptiue purpose. When Jesus sem out

rhe sevenry in Luke 10, he told thern to look for "a man of peace" (Luke 10:6 NASB). We often read this as, "Look for other Christians." We have to remember tians.' that rhis command was given while Rather, Ir was In Jesus was still alive, meaning ar besr, there were only sevenry "ChrisThe "men af peace" were not followers of Christ. that was being prodaimed. these were probably influential values of rhis new kingdom rhrough parrnering men who shared much of rhe same

wirh rhese men of peace thar the rowns to which of Chrisr's sending non-Christians his disciples, he was for his

the disclples traveled would ger to hear about rhis new kingdom. short, frorn the beginning using parrnerships between
OUI

and Christians

redernprive purposes. When we look ar world roday through the lens of rhe gosin the pel, we see a God whose heart is broken for the AIDS victirn, the orphan, the enslaved, and the oppressed, and we find nothing Scriptures organizarions to serve thern. In fact, ifwe understand thar tells us we should only partner with other Christian the ide a of the in in order to love and serve the broken and purposes. The one rhing that ir's a Christian

man of peace correctly,

oppressed of our city and world, we need to find other nonprofits our ciry who have similar redemptive qualifies a nonprofir organizarion, for parrnership bur rather whether is not whether

rhey are serving the least of these,

much like rhe church should be. 2. Prioritize developing relationsbips. While s(ep 1 sounds good, and ir is, you will run imo dfferences partnerng wirh nonfairhas

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WORLD

well as faith-based nonprofits when worldviews collide. From church to church we vary in our beliefs. From denominarion tO denomination we vary. Most certainly from the Christian world to rhe unbelieving world there will be some huge gaps. The remedy for this is simply relationships. Ir is not enough to jus r do work for a nonprofir, rather, ir is worth the efforr to begin tO build relationships with key leaders in rhe nonprofir you wish to work wirh. A solid nonagendaoriented relationship will take yOlibeyond any worldview difference you may run into. 3. Trust tbeir leadersbip. If you've found that you can'r trust their leadership, then move on tO a different nonprofit. Don'r try tO question or change whar they do. We have to trusr rhar their wheel has already been invenred, and our changing rhings will only complicare rhings. We often spend toa much rime trying to invent somerhing that is already working. The point is not coming up with our own deal in arder to rake creditoAs the church, we are to lead people imo a kingdom !ife. The best way to do this is to allow them to enter into environrnents of service as easily as possible. We need to jump on board with whar is already happening so thar the people we are leading have the grearest opportunity to spend rheir rime acrually serving. 4. Loseyour agenda. Ali toa ofren rhe church walks imo a situation or partnership with an agenda. You have to remember thar you are coming to serve rheir agenda, and you can do rhis because you have "shared redemptive purposes" (see srep 1). 5. Giue away the credito This is not about you. This is not about the nonprofit, This is about rhe opportunity to serve those abour whorn Jesus is deeply concerned-the oppressed, broken, and poor. If you are willing to partner with local nonprofits who have spent years building credibility in different areas of service, take a backsear, and don't seek a name rhrough rhis. Be willing to follow thern. Trust thar God has parrnered you with thern and humbly allow them to lead you as you serve their cause. 6. Commit to be auailable. There is nothing rhar builds credibiliry like being on call for what you clairn to believe in. There is a

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stigma with nonfaith-based nonprofirs rhar rhe church is only willing to serve on their time, with [hei r agenda, and with their specs. We begin to rangibly deconstruct the view of rhe church beld by nonfairh-based organlzarions when we are willing to be on call to rhe redernptive purposes we claim to believe in. Do this long enough, and your local nonprofits begn ro lean on you and your ability to mobilize and lead, and before you know it, you become the go-ro organizat.ion for those in need. We have followed these steps over and over and over. God has given us credibility, and through rhar, we have seen AIDS patients come to faith righr before their death. We have seen homeless become self-sustainable. We bave seen homes built for the horneless, prosritutes, and those who have losr hope. We have seen hope restored, and ultirnarely God is gLarified.

MAKING

YOUR

PRESENCE

KNOWN

In order to develop me best process for partnering in OUI ciry, we rnust make the efforr to know our community. Although there are more nonprofit organizarions in Austin rhan any orher ciry in North America, it was importam for us to know rhar rhey were pretty resisrant to and skeptical of the church. Alrhough I believe rhe redernptive gifr of our city is mercy, we still have to deal with the baggage of skeptics before they'll receive mercy frorn us ar offer mercy alongside
of us.

While not necessary in every context, we decided ir would be helpful to develop an umbrella organlzation ar ANC caLledRestore Austin. We're cerrainly not ashamed to let people know rhat we are a church. But we've found that nonprofits are more likely ro parrner wirh us when we cornmunicate from rhe beginning rhat we're not going to try to "church it all up." I've been around Christians my whole life. That is not an unreasonable fear. The name also gives a Urde more vision for what we're about. And no one seems to be confused as to whether or not they can be involved if they don't go to our

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church. IndividuaIs are more likely to come and serve with us under a more inclusive name. And our people seem more ikely to invite, talk abour, and spread the word about being parr of an organization li.ke Restore Austin, Restore Austin seeks to create both formal and informal parmerships with other nonprofirs rhroughout our ciry, acring as a conduir for connecting volunreers with opportunities to serve. Honestly, ar firsr we were a litrle nervous abour partnering wirh "out of rhe box" organizations thar were atypical for churches. But the more we've stepped out, the more we've realized how diverse the needs are in our city and how diverse rhe inreresr is in serving. With rhar in mind, we've tried to provide as many options as possible in creating a variety of service opportunities for each of our Restore Comrnunities. Here are a fewexamples. Care Communities. Care Communities connect groups of twelve to twenty providing practica] and compassionate support to those living wirh AIDS or cancer in rhe Ausrin area. Groups may be asked tO do anydng: yard work, general maintenance, house cleaning, grocery shopping-depending on each farnily's need. ANC Restore Communiries serving as a Care Community alternare berween farnilies, serving a couple ofhours per week, as a part of a long-term comrnitment with each family. Austin Angels. Ausrin Angels is a nonprofir organizarion formed by Austin locals with rhe desre to give back to rheir community. Austin Angels partner monthly wirh other nonprofits and needbased opportunities to mobilize rhe people of Austin in a collective effort. ANC Restare Communities serve on a monrhly basis wirh rhe Austin Angels. Communities In Schools (CIS). CIS is the largesr dropout prevention organization in the United States. For more than thirty years, CIS has remained focused on heJping kids stay in school and prepare for Iife by idenrfying and addressing the unrnet needs of children and families. CIS provides a cornprehensive solution to the issues that place young people in jeopardy of dropping out. Rather rhan

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duplicating

services or competing CIS identifies

with other yourh-serving

organi-

zations or agencies, niry resources of studenrs rhrough makeovers,

and mobilizes exisring commufor the benefir serve weekly classroorn

and fosrers coopera tive parrnerships quarterly through

and families. ANC Restore Communities and occasionally

rnentoring,

doing extreme

rhrough seasonal events like backpack

drives and holiday sponsorships.

Mobile Loaues and Fishes (MLF). Mobile Loaves and Fishes is

a social outreach rninistry for the homeless and indigent working rhis mission rhrough the use of catering serve regularly with MLF. roward greater creation and hands-on educapooe. Their mission is to provide food, clothing, and digniry to those

in need. They accomplish

trucks that go out into the ciry streets of Ausrin every single night of the week. ANC Restare Communities cate individuais stewardship. environment and smaller communities physical improvernenrs cornmuniry

Keep Austin Beautiful (KAB). KAB hopes to inspire and eduTheir goal is to clean, beautify, and prorect me Austin through

tion. lo order to do rhis, KAB's foeus is 00 litter prevenrion and litter cleanup, beautiflcation, irnprovement, waste reduction, can either and resource conservation, Austin Sunday projects. ANC Restare Communities

adopt an area ta do regular maimenance

or serve quarterly for Serve

Caring Family Network (CFN). CFN provides uaining and assisrance rhrough me process of Fosrering to Adopt, provides state cerANC Restare Cornmunities and indirification for Respire Care, and purs on seasonal events for the fosrer families rhey serve. Trained cace nerwork. viduais serve regularly with CFN in serving ali aspecrs of the foster

Foundation for the Homeless. Foundation for the Homeless is comrnirted to hdping homeless families who wanr to become self-sustainable by providing housing and life skills as they transition ANC Restore Communities cleanup, landscaping, monthlythrough serve rhe foundatlon and general maintenance off me streets, quarterly through on me homes and

sponsoring birthday parties for horneless children.

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Capital Area Food Bank (CAFE). The Capital Area Food Bank of

Texas provides food and grocery producrs to more than 350 partner agencies in twenty-one central Texas counries, In 2009. CAFB provided more than 23 million pounds of food. Volunteers are essential ro the Food Bank. Each rnonth, volunreers conrribute more than 5,000 hours combined to support rhe Food Bank's mission. ANC Restore Communities help through volumeering in producr recovery, ar special events, in teaching classes, as ambassadors, and in a variery of other opporrunities. He/p End Local Poverty (Haiti). HELP is a global nonprofit organization based out of Ausrin dedicated to ending extreme poverty by rescuing orphans, restoring their hope, and eenewing their comrnuniries, ANC partners wirh HELP to help create sustainable holisric environments in areas of emotional support, health care, econorny, and spirituality. ANC Restore Communiries serve through quarrerly awareness and fundraising events as well as individual ch.ild sponsorships, Eden Reforestation Projects (Africa). Eden does more than piam tens of millions of rrees each year. Eden invests in communities through local education, community developmenr, and providing thousands of jobs for rhe indigenous people of Africa. ANC Restore Communities serve Eden through individual sponsorships and attending vision and ministry trips to Ethiopia. The Miracle Foundation (India). Millions of ch.ildren in ndia share a similar story: a Iife of poverty with no fam.ily and lirtle hope. The Miracle Foundation provides these oephans with food, warer, clorhing, shelter, educarion, rnedical cace, love, and most of ali, hope. ANC Restore Comrnunities serve The Miracle Foundation through individual sponsorships and attending vision and ministry trips to India. Nueva Esperanza Orphanage (Mexico). Austin New Church has a working partnership with Nueva Esperanza Orphanage in Mier, Mexico. ANC Resrore Communities and individuais have taken severaI trips to rnake necessary improvernenrs and repairs on their campus. ANC allocares a porrion of our monrhly giving to assist with costs of me kids' education, uniforrns, food, and other basic needs.

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SUCCESSFUL
Recenrly we received

PARTNERSHIP
email frorn rhe volunteer

rhe following

coordi nator ar one of our major nonprofit partners. In ir she expresses some frustration taking a different teer organizarion wirh the church in general, but offers hope for those posrure. Alrhough ANC was named their volunthis email is of the year last year, in my opinion,

the greatest reward they could ever give uso Hi Matthew and Brandon. I wamed to say that we have been uuly blessed by your service to our agency. You reach not only the srudents and famlies we serve but you encourage and serve our sraff (myself included) as well. Prior been pretty
(O

your involvemem with our organization by rhe unwillingness

(O

I had many

discouraged

of

50

churches and believers

partner with the secular nonprofir

world or respond ar ali to the needs of rhe Ausrin community. I went back to me ourreach rable in rhe comer of rhe room and was
50

delighted to see ali rhe ways you are serving people and

agencies in Ausrin, Thank you and I hope that you and the rest of me folks from Ausrin New Church keep responding to God's nudging because he is speaking rhrough you. I hope you can see che many victories in this email. I hope you can see me issues that were addressed. And I hope it encourages you
(O

partner more and more as you keep your eyes

OIl

rhe kingdom. Matt Thomas, some thoughts bishop for me Free Methodist Church of North

America, shared [rom rhe Commission ship and collaboration. see such leadership

on Leadership

Developmenr to

on the posrure of lhe church and lhe role of partnerI agree with every word and am thrilled ar me highest levei: and "un-Christian" and colonialism are

In our presem world, the "new Christian" alike are not interested nally focused Christianiry, Provincialism

in small vision, small scope or inter-

out. They should be. Partnership and collaborarion are in. They
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PARTNERING

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should be. Aware of rhis, ir is significantly

importam

that we

identify, partner and celebrare with rhose who are moving in

the right direcrion, wherher or nor rhey fit in our convencional, denominational box or the grisr of our rheological tradition in and partnership, ar structurally we need ro see that we its narrowest forms. By collaborarion are not funcrionally contributlon prepared to do everythiog and

rhar needs to be done in rhe world. But, we can grow in our and parrner with those who are fuoctionally to partnerships, strucrurally prepared ro do grear work. In time, we will then not only be contributors partnerships around the world." but leaders in deveJoping and Christian groups with other denominarions

145

CHAPTER

A New Metric for Success

This summer my eighr-year-old discovered a new love for fishing. I Any given day you' d find him ankle deep in mud ar the local pond with a pole, a worm, and a prayer. Ir's amazing how much rime he wou1d spend out in the heat staring ar a bobber floating across me warer. And ir was fun warching hirn discover unconventional ways in rrying to catch a fish withour ever having to rouch a worm. While he was smitten with rhe idea of carching a fish, he had developed a pretty serious resisrance to both putting on rhe bair and rouching the fish, In rhe angler world, this is a problem. 50 he developed new strategies for fishing when I wasn't rhere to help. Often rhis meanr combining tackle not designed to go rogether and usually ended with a knotted mess of fishing line. When I' d get home for rhe day, I could always tell he wenr fishing by rhe presence ofhis mud-layered fishing pole sitring on the from porch needing to be restrung. I was bailing him out consrancly. One 5aturday morning we were fishing, going rhrough the regular routine. I baited rhe hook and I threw OU! rhe line for hirn. When a fish bit, I ser rhe hook and handed the pole to him, he reeled ir in, and then I removed rhe hook from the fish's rnourh. The next time I tried to ler rum do it. But I sill ended up rebaiting the hook, throwing out me line again, helping him ser rhe hook, and handing him the pole so he could reeI in rhe fish. Afrer watching
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rum sturnble for about flve minutes, he asked me to remove the hook from the fish's rnouth. We did ths ali morning. My line never hir the water. When we got horne, Jen asked how we did. Wirh a grin on his face he proudly reported that he had caughr eighr fish and thar Dad had caughr exactly zero. Noticing making, he turned a fish someday." Our perception rhrough is our reality, You've probably heard rhar before. insecuriry, selfishness, withour However, our perceived realiry is not always the truth. We perceive rhe lens of biasness, woundedness, valuable and an inflared opinion of ourselves. We know that nothing God's movernent,
Success should first and foremost be determined by who gets the glory for spiritual movement.

the strange face I was suddenly

to me and said, "That's okay, Dad, you'lI catch

in ministry

happens

that our ability is through

the Spirit, and that rnovernent, enables and

we're called by his grace. He orchestrates people, He overcornes our inadequacies, empowers us to respond often claim the glory. Glory cannot

provides resources, and crosses our parhs with orher to their need, and yer we

be shared. Eirher we get ir ar God be deter-

gers ir. Success should first and foremosr Too otten we give credit to a program,

mined by who gets the glory for spiritual movernent. hard work, ar viccrearive insight and chalk up every unexplainable

tory to good leadership. There are some glaring faulrs to this logic. And it exposes a real deficiency in the way we view borh ourselves and the church.

GIVING
ways are higher

CREDIT

We must learn to view success as God views success. Since his than our ways, only rhen will we truly give hirn credito Until then we keep it, and ir has no erernal value. We may say we do what we do to his glary, but if we're not doing what the Bible says to do, ir's srill about us.
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A NEW METRIC FOR SUCCESS Jesus taught (h ar every ounce of value found in obedience, fice, and discipline hangs on lhe command our neighbor (Matthew 22:39 -40). It only makes We
We may say we do what we do to his glory,

sacri-

to love God and to love

sense to consder success through the eyes ofborh. fali short personally

when our pursuit is to be "first"

among our Chrisrian onlookers. Organizarional1y, we falJ shorr by our internai foeus and neglecr of rhose on the ourside. How can we love our neighbor If we were to truly view success by our faithfulness and to negleet the very things tied to how rhey perceive us? Jesus' cornmand to live to pur orhers flrsr, ir would change oue posture to the outside world. Reggie McNeil reminds Renaissance that externally us in his book Missional focused leaders must rale

but if we're
not doing what the Bible says

to do, it's still about uso

their cues from rhe needs and opporrunities We have to care whar's going on outside

of their environmem. the walls of our church.

We rnust always look for ways to bless and serve our comrnunities. In order to shift our foeus, we must shift much of our calendar, resources, church.' If we're going ro become good news to a broken world, we have to change rhe way we are viewed by rhe world. We have to care more about how we measure up to our onlookers than we do our peers. We have to become more exrernally focused by changing based on our impact in rhe world, not the survivabiliry church forms. "No strategy, tactics, in today's culture. The perception Christians and siruation.'? In rerrns improve of traditional success, serving the leasr may nor In facr, attendance The problem lives rhe bottorn line of our organization,
OI

and energy to people who are not already a part of our

the scorecard of our various campaign Chrisrianity

dever markering rhar surrounds

could ever clear away the smokescreen

of oursiders wilJ change only when

strive to represent the hearr of God in every relacionship

ofren decreases when we release people for mission. in pursuit of building organizations 149

is that many church leaders have spent rheir entire leadership

(h ar rise ro rhe apex of church

BAREFOOT

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industry

standards.

"Changng

values and motivations

is not easy,

bur nothing

less will accomplish

rhis shifr."3 We will not rnake the

shift from an internai focus to an external focus unless we are willing to change the way we view success. We cannot shift rhe way we do church withour shifting rhe way we view church.

MEASURING
in our leadership

UP
is rooted deep

The desire to measure up to our conremporaries Sunday can make us feellike how much a lowly artended ing ro rninistry,

culture. It's amazing how much a highly attended

the greatest leader who ever lived and

Sunday can rnake us question our call-

Serving the least is not a fast track to massive church growth. It's not glamorous, requires according successful. Last summer I ran into a friend who had planted a church a few years prior to our starting ANe. He's a great teacher and does his "sryle" of church well, and his church has grown pretty rapidly, He didn't know how much my philosophy hold, he might have thoughr We chatted of church planting. went there ... "So how many are you running used to value ar unhealthy ing, pan of me wanted on Sunday?" I wanted to vornit. First, because ir was a rerninder of sornething I levels. Second, and probably more revealto lie to him with rhe hopes of saving face. of minisrry a lirtle crazy. topics rheir nexr had shifted over the past few years. In facr, if he knew some of the prioriries I now clean, or sexy. It's always more messy rhan expected, or ministry rhar, but more time than you hoped to give, and costs more than ro tradicional standards, could be viewed as anyrhing

you have. Ir can easily lead to a type of church

r d gone

for a while, raJking about all the common He broughr up rheir new building,

message series, and how well their youth group was going. Then he

Please hear my hearr. I don't want to care. But I knew oue bot-

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A NEW METRIC FOR SUCCESS

tom line would not impress hirn. What I wanted moment to make excuses to rnaintain

bugged me mos r was rhat credibility in his eyes. That

revealed that I still have a lot to learn,

ATTENDANCE
There is a refreshing shift in our leadership culture thar is beginning
[O

value church growrh differently

rhan in the pasr. I'm a parr

of a network of church planters called the Austin Area PlantR Network.f We rneet rnonrhly at the Austi n Baptist Associarion office for a time of networking, about attendance. unfair questiono Ar first ir felr like rhe elephanr in the room. Bur as rime has passed, you can literally sense that the culture has shifted around uso changing our social norrn. We give each other perrnission lives, and reaching rhose to value
success

encouragement,

equipping,

and vision castand ir comes

ing. And r's funny, almost odd, that you'll rarely hear anyone ask It's become such a clich question, with many variables and assumptions. WirhoLLt context, ir's reallyan

rhe rhings we see Chrisr value. We speak more

of rnission, rransformed
Measuring

who claimed they would never darken the doors of a church. We talk about the gospel and kingdom. We strategize ways to partner to learn frorn each orher. When we orient our ministry attendance, around church we tend ro get either defensive and around mission and the kingmore thankful for his rogether and

through the lens of the kingdom is life giving. Measuring success by focusing on attendance is like a dog chasing his tail.

insecure ar puffed up and prideful. When we oriem our ministry dom, we rend to get increasingly more dependem on God and increasingly movement. Measuring life giving. Measuring success through

the tens of the kingdom on attendance

is

success by focusing

is like a

dog chasing his tail, We ger runnel vision, we neve r arrive, and it will literally drain the rife righr out of us.

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CHURCH

GROWTH

ANO KINGOOM

A Barefoor Church gives priority to the journey over the arrival. It recognizes that people are scartered along the ditch of lfe. And if we're nor intentional, we'lI be so disrracted by our own agendas that we won't even notice rhey're there, which neglects rhe very reason Jesus carne. We live in a church culture where we can easily search, focus, and fight for tangible resulrs regardless of how we get rhere- many times ar rhe expense of running rhrough people, around our culrure, and in spite of grearer needs. This stands in direct opposition to what Jesus revealed as his plan for rhe church: how ir would grow and where our responsibiliry lies, If we're honesdy seeking to reorient our life and ministry around the irnperarives of Scrprure, we have to Jearn to reorient the way we view church growth as well. And I rell you that you are Peter, and on rhis rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome ir. I wil1 give you the keys of rhe kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
MATTHEW 16:18 - 19

This is the first momem in Scriprure we find Jesus speaking about his bride, the church. He clearly lays out the destiny of the church to overcome the gates of hell. Without confusion he cornrnunicates that a successful church would be one that he himselfbuilds. And while it would be builr on the revelarion of God and faithfulness of disciples like Peter, Jesus was clear that growing the chureh was to be his focus, not his followers (Matthew 16:17). Jesus eommissioned Peter to take a broader view of success. According to Seripture, Peter's marching orders were literally to discover and unloek the kingdom. As Jesus built his church, Peter's role was to find the rhings of erernal significance and loosen them - to take the keys and unlock them, knowing that the rhings we bind wiJl be bound eternaJly. And the things we loosen will be loosed erernally.
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A NEW METRIC FOR SUCCESS

It's not a coincidence today that we struggle so much with lening things go. We hoJd on (Q our ways, we hold on to our credibliry, we hold 011 to our repuration, And Jesus never why wouldn't we? By the world's srandards and the gave us the desire of OUf flesh, our idenrities are often farmed keys to the and defined by thern. church. He gave Jesus never gave us rhe keys to lhe church. He gave us rhe keys to the kingdom.When we measure us the keys to success in church and fairh, ir must be done by the the kingdom. standards of bis kingdom, nor our kingdom. If we don't, we're not measuring according to Scripture. This is easier said than done and is an issue af surrendering ownership as much as it is achieving a goal.

OWNERSHIP
Technically, my SOI1 can take credit for the fish "we" caughr that Saturday morning. He wouldn't be Iying in doing 50. We were using his pole. He reeled rhem in by his own strength. We were there on his agenda. And honestly, the day wasn't about the fish, the day was about him. I was glad to let hirn take credit (kinda), That's where we miss the boato We think it's about usoIr's not. It's about the Father. Likewise, we wrongly come to the condusion that it's "our" church. As leaders who've been commissioned to lead ir, we intuitively take glory when ir goes well. lf we're mernbers, we've invested, we've sacrificed, we've been there The church is not ours; for "x" arnount of years, and we've led this program ar sat on thar comrnittee, and so we do the same. But it never was. none of those rhings relinquishes ownership. The We're not church is nor ours: it never was. We're not owners; we're only stewards. We will never value rhe things ownersr we're
only stewards. God values unril we give back whar is already his. Paul deals with the idea of ownership in bis lerter to believers in Rome. At the end of chapter 11, he led thern to

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a deeper understanding and knowledge. ing staternent:

of all God had done and who he was. He his judgments were

rerninded thern of God's mercy and the deprhs of his riches, wisdom, He referenced how unsearehable "For from him and rhrough 11:36). with our appropriate response: and rnarveled ar the depths of his mind. Then he closed wirh a rellhim and for hirn are ali rhings'' (Romans

Then he continues

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your rrue and proper worship, Do not conform by the reneurto the pattern of this world, bur be rransformed God's will is-his

ing of your mind. Then you wilf be able to test and approve what
good, pleasing and perfeet will.
ROMANS 12:1 -2 (EMPHASIS ADOED)

Paul rerninds us that everyrhing He continues

carne into existence because of

God; rherefore ali our effores, ali successes, ali things are due him. rhe rheme in chapter 12 by telling us our next steps. ln about aurselves baek ro as when we light of this rruth we shauld offer everyrhing

Gad. To "offer" rneans to literally relinquish ownership, of worship, but it's aur pro per response. Paul then says we will be transformed minds. To "renew"
OUi'

give a gift. Nor only does this please Gad, not only is this aur duty by the renewing of aur

our minds inabiliry

simply means

to make new ar to take the time to con-

change aur rnind. As Ch ristians, sider seriously things differently.

if we were

[Q

in lighr of God's abiliry, we would see

Our rninds would be made new. We wauld see different way; more specfically, we would from haw the world sees rhings. will change. The glory will be his, But don't miss this: the benefr is rhat when ir happens, we will

rhings in a new way-a see things differently and his kingdom

When we do rhis, everything is ours. The fruir af this exehange

will break through.

gain a new perspective fram God. We'll gain a new spirirual discernrnent. We'U gain a new way to view success.

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A NEW METRIC FOR SUCCESS

When we hold rightly to our chu rch, our programs, our vision, and om ways, we will always view success as our success. It's only when we surrender ownership of everyrhing rhat God will see ir as a success. Only then will we give hirn credit in our hearts. And only then will we have the spirirually driven ability to release our desire to succeed in rhe eyes of the world.

EVALUATING

OUR AFFECTIONS

We have an unhealrhy affection for rhings. That's why even a good thing ar extreme levels can be bad. Anything can become an idol, Thar being said, I assure you growth in itself is a good rhing. In facr, we should all hope our ministries will continue to expando It should be our hope. But we should keep careful watch over how much we like ir. As a parr of the spirirual formation process at ANC, we spend quite a bit of time talking about tangible ways we can become good news as an intuirive way of life. Last night my Restare Community was having a discussion around the gospel as being good news to broken people, I was incredibly encouraged by all the srories of how members of the group were being intentional about the gospel that veryweek. After a time of sharing individual stories, I asked the group to think about how revealing, sirnple, and powerful each story was, and whar it's teaching them about rhe gospel. Then I asked thern to co 0sider what would happen if a group of people collectively gathered around the mission ofbeing good news as a way oflife. What would be the impact on our community? The immediare consensus was that people would want to be involved. That even those resistanr to church would be intrigued. And that ir would change the way people viewed us as believers. They were excired to ralk about how that mighr play out. They were being creative in thinking about ways to bridge new relationships with rhe hopes of mak.ing a positive impact 00 others. They

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were ralking about how rhe growrh would creare the opportunty to form new groups and how rogether the scope of our service could be exponentially larger. They didn't even realize that we were ralking about a biblical model of church where the gospel is central. And rhey were excited about ir growing. They were dghr in rhinking thar people would wam to be a parr of it. J ust 11we are in a the idea was refreshing and lfe givng. Everypredominantly one was intrigued. Everyone was smiling. And our affections were on the mission and the relaunchurched context
and our church is not growing, then there is either something wrong or there is something else.

tionships, not the numbers. The gospel is not sragnant. It's life giving. Healrhy churches grow, but in a myriad of ways. If we are in a predominantly unchurehed context a nd our chureh is not growing, there's either somerhing wrong or rhere's something else. Maybe we're nct hearing what our culrure or cornrnunity is saying. Maybe we're not

struetured to do whar we hope to do. Maybe our affeetions or our foeus is wrong. Maybe Cod is wirhholding growth for a season or for a reason. Maybe Cod wants us to make a ehange, do something radical, move us on to the nexr phase of our life or ministry, or even pioneer a new forro of chureh. Wharever ir is, ir's worth investgating. A growing ehurch does not necessarily rnean a big church. If you're a church that is constandy planting other churches in your communiry and sending people imo the mission field, you may never be any bigger than you are now. I have a friend in California who pastors a ehurch of severa] hundred people. He has the leadership ability and charisma to pastor a church of several rhousand, lf you were to rneet him, you would assume he leads a megachurch. However, over the fifreen years of their existence they have varied between five hundred and eight hundred people in Sunday attendance. During those fifreen years they

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have planted a dozen or so churches in rhe same city, the first was planted during their first year of existence. Every time rhey grow a couple hundred people, they srarr a new church and send off a couple hundred people. Most of their daughter churches are now bigger than my friend's church. In fact, if you were ro add them alI together, they' d be one of the largest churches in America. This is a successful church. JUS! as well, my friend is an amazingly suecessful pasror. His affections are on the kingdom, nor his kingdom.

NEW

FORMS

While our affections can cerrainly be placed on church arrendance in unhealthy ways, I rhink it's incredible when we see explosive rnovernenr or growrh in the church. Especially when rhar growth happens ar a church with a kingdom mind-set and a heart to be good news to their cornmuniry, Matt Carrer pastors a church in Austin called The Austin Stone Community Church.? It's an incredible church that has grown ar incredible rates. Over the firsr few years of its LifeThe Stone grew to several thousand in attendance. There were many facrors thar contribured to their growth. They had a clear caUing, vision, and passion for the people and ciry of Austin, and the presence of God was tangible. As fasr as they grew in their first few years, ir was nothing compared to what happened in 2008, rhe year God presented Matt with the moral irnperative to seU our to mission. This included taking rhe resources they had set aside to build their church campus and instead purchase property in rhe highest-crime-rare neighborhood of Austin. On ir rhey were to build a city center for mission, leaving their existing church (O ser up and tear down every Sunday in a local high school gym. If I were Matr, I wouldn't have slept much. I would have feared everyone would leave my church. I would have feared everyone would rhink I was crazy.And in my flesh, I probably would have been tempted to figure out a way ro do "missional light" instead of "rnissional."

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But The Stone sold out to the mission. new campus, urilized [hei r platform and reoriented

They did everything of their a mis-

God asked of rhern to me besr of rheir ability, They sacrificed rheir to spread awareness their min.isrries around new way of church,
In every form, the moment we seem to have it figured out, God seems to blow up our paradigm.

sional posrure. I'rn sure rhere were snags along rhe way thar I don't know about, I'm sure there were opportunities gained. losr just as there were opportunities But I also believe they did their best to

make each right nexr decision. You might rhink rhar a church their size going rhrough such transirion would have a season of sifring. Maybe tose some people while enduring a few rebullding years. But during (h ar year rhey literally doubled in size. In one year! success is about more than just I think ir's a message to all that in a mornent where we we

I believe The Stone's continued

thern. I think God's up ro something. our size or style. I think it's a reminder thoughr somerhing worked

of us that we can trust God's leading and God's ways, regardless so well, thar is when God considered

that a new way can be even better. In every Iorm, the moment He continuously changes rhe rules. points us away from shrink-wrapping

seem to have ir figured our, God seems to blow up our paradigm. success and

I don't view church growth in rhe same way I used to. Much of this change has come rhrough my personal experiences both in serving as a pastor in the megachurch come through churches rnovernent come through watching God's seeking kingdom and as a church planter, Some has over their kingdom. breakthroughs. Some has Here's God move ar The Austin Stone and orher with proponenrs of the house church

conversations

experiencing

life-rransforming

what I've realized: in a city of more than a rnillion people, ir's going to take all kinds and sizes of churches fi11ed with people cornmitred to rhe rnission and the kingdom lective success-when of God. Our success will be a colGod is glotified in our city.

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TRANSFORMATION
I've heard ir said thar the more rhings ehange, rhe more things lives, sray the same. I disagree. The more things ehange, the more rhings should ehange along with ir. We should hope for transformed increased hope, life-giving relationships, and
If we were to really evaluate transformation in the church as evidenced by

for all things to be made new. This is the type of change I desire as a Chrisrian. And honesrly, I rhink ir's rhe rype of change the world is looking for. Change is a good way to measure suecesso Often change irself is the success. Mostly because it's the work of the Spirit that creates real change. Another rransformarion. rransformation way to think about ir is by If we were to really evaluate in the chureh as evidenced and
OUI

our lives, our relationships, and our joy and peace, it would certainly change what we view as success.

our lives, our relatonships,

joy and

peace, ir would certainly change what we view as suecess.

Ir is nor enough to fil] our churehes; we rnusr transform been rrulyeffeerive.

our

world. Sociery and culture should change if the ehureh has Is the ehureh reaehing out and seeing lves ehanged by rhe Good News of me Kingdom of God? Surely rhe numbers of Christians wll inerease once rhis happens, bur filling seats one day a week is not what the Kingdom is ali about. We do Jesus an injustice by reducing His life and ministry to sueh a sad srory as chureh artendance and rnernbershp roles. The measure of the ehureh's influenee is found in soeiery-on rhe streers, not in rhe pews.6 God is moving in the church roday in ways thar rnake rnany of us uncomforrable. Instead of fearing and resisting ehange, we should Conference consider how God mighr be in ir. Ar the Exponential

in

2009, Craig Groeschel shared the foHowing about change and God's movernent:

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God's God's God's God's

movement rnovernent movement movement

will never be safe, predicrable, and clean. will never be about your rninisrry, will always be abour his kingdom. cannot be based on the old measurements

of success.

NEW KINDS

OF SUCCESS

Success often comes in unlikely forms. For years I've rold people going rhrough mernbership classes rhat our church mighr nor be for them. For years I secretly hoped that ir was. 50 much so rhar if anyone were to leave our church, I would inevirably either wonder what was wrong with thern, or assume they msunderstood something that was happening. That's a pretty narrow perspective. Can ir really be a success when people leave oue church? Honesrly, I've had a few leave rhar were a pretty big relief. Again, sounds mean. Bur when we're in lhe wrong church, sometimes ir rnakes everyone miserable. We rneer, we ernail, we cornplaln, we justify, and we spend countless hours invesring in trying to make a nt-and they end up leaving anyway. Ir's always telling when someone leaves your church and ir feels like a relief. We don't llke ir when people leave our church. Too easily we feel as if they're leaving uso Like we weren'r good enough for rhern. We ger insecure even when ir has norhing to do with us or our leadership. We need to learn to celebrare lhe victories more instead of just mourning rhe loss, When people leave, we should survey rhe season we had with them and learn from our time together. This was a hard lesson for me, but I was cured with a single email: Brandon, Jusr wanted to ask to rake us off your ernail lisr. Seems we found a new church as john is needed in the orchestra thru Easrer. I guess I will join rheir choir.

160

A NEW METRIC FOR SUCCESS We really enjoyed your ehureh and you as a rninisrer etc, bur my husband really likes to go where he ean play in the orchestra. We rried to get him involved ar ANC but it didn'r happen this time ... oh well. Hope you understand. It's obvious they were not a flr for our church. They tried their best. But we don't have an orchestra. We aIso do not have a choir, I'm glad they found a church that did insread of asklng us to dig an orchestra pir or buy a portable choir loft. But my greatest celebrarion awesome. P.S. I have raken clothes down to the ARCH (Advocacy is found in her P.S. Ir was simply

Resource Center for rhe Homeless) rwice now (Iast week I did a sock drive and took alrnosr 200 pairs + clorhes down yesterday with my husband) ... and we found a man who shouldn'r
OU[

be

homeless so we will probably be helping hirn ir's ali b/c of your "Hamburger

Iong terrn and

Sundays." Thanks for rhe nudge

to ger out and do more for the needy. Blessings. ANC was not for thern. Yet we had an irnpacr on me way they now live their fairh. Shouldn'r Shouldn't we celebrare when thar be rhe goal of every church? someone leaves to arrend anorher alJ rhe time.

church instead of jusr Ieaves the church? This happens through dancing me same eyes of endearment frogs painted

People come. Then people go. I wish everyone could see our church thar I do. But some don'r wam Some while preaching. on the back wall of the audiroriurn.

would prefer their pastor to flor wear flip-f1ops to play in rhe orchestra.

Some don't share our prioriry in serving. Or perhaps they just want We talk a good game when it comes to measuring can easily keep track of things that should be importam aren't, Thar doesn't mean we value thern, necessitare a new ernphasis and prioriry? success. We to us bur

50 what are rhe things that

really stretch us? Whar are the things whose shear ability ro count

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Serving me least is a type of coumerculrural never have become counter to a new way of thinking. let's take a mornent intentionally Andrew
OUI

rninistry that should

church culture. Bur ir is. Ir requires

While we should certainly make an effort to and the healrh of our small groups, in an

celebrate salvation, dscipleship, out-of-the-box

to consider some things ofren neglected perspective. shared on his Backyard

CHamo) Hamilton

Missionary

blog a post from W. David Phillips, author of Holy Reu/ired, on ferent ways to measure we determine success. He titled it, Re-Imagining

df-

Success.

"We are prone to measure success by how many and how much. And who is a grear leader by how many and how much."" to provide meraphors rhar will describe how we ir appropriare He was chaJIenged to share a few: 1. The number 2. The number 3. The number church 4. The number of calls from comrnunity leaders asking the church's advice 5. The number of organizarions 6. The number 7. The amount using the church building ministry of emergency finance meetings that take place of dollars saved by the local schools because during of adoptions people in rhe church have made

measure success in the church in the future. I thought

of classes for special needs children and adulrs of former convicted felons serving in the

to reroute money to community the church has painred the walls

8. The number of people serving in me community the church's with you normal worshp hours 9. The number of nonreligious

school professors worshiping

10. The number of churches your church planred in a ren-rnile radius of your own church8 That's a great listo And each point requires
LORD

us to look from a

differem perspective familiar. "But the

than what might come mos! naturally. Sounds said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appear162

A NEW METRIC FOR SUCCESS ance or his height, for I have rejecred him, The but the
LORD LORD

does not look appearance,

ar the things people look ar. People look at the outward looks ar rhe heart''' (l Samuel 16:7).

THE INTANGIBLES
I'll admir ir. Vince Young has not yet proven to be a great NFL quarterback. claiming But as a Texas Longhorn fan I will die on rhe hill of He was a man among he was a great coJlege quarterback.

boys. And when the game was on the line, I'd put the ball in Vince Young's hands over any pIayer in the history of college foorbaU. Yet Vince wasn'r whar critics called apure mechanics defaulr were often scrutinized. were the "lntangibles." mechanism quarrerback and his had the But whar he unquestionably And often againsr

The stuff you can'r measure

on papeL His

was shear athlericisrn.

odds, he simply found ways to win. There are cerrainly intangibles the line, rhey typically matter require some one-on-one of the Spirir in our lives. Without regardless rhern, rhere is no way we can clairn to be successful, the size of our church, rhe vastness of our minisrry, of our calling. and to faith and church. They are the bur when rhe garne's on They are also things you can't nail down and rneasure,

more than anyrhing.

the things that each one of us musr keep an eye on personally. They rime wirh God, and they are the evidences

the uniqueness

50 here are a few questions

to ask

concerni ng the inrangibles of our faith journey.

QUESTIONS TO ASK CONCERNING THE INTANGIBLES OF OUR FAITH JOURNEY Do We Really Love?
One day we'll all stand before God. Ir will be a day like nane other we've ever experienced. begin to grasp the dimension I cannot fathom the ernotion. I cannor of understanding rhar will be new to

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usoAnd 1 cannot imagine the rhoughts rhat will be going through our minds as God speaks his first words to uso However, somehow 1 feel as if I can denrify a few of rhe things rhat he won't say. "I was really disappointed with your arrendance last Sunday." "The problem was thar your lobby wasn't big enough." "I'm glad yOli never took a Sabbarh. 1 invented rhose for rhe lazy." "Wow, you gave waaaaaaaay toO much to missions." "I wish yOliwould have put more effort into your website. Seriously lame." "Yup, you were righr all along ... rnetaphor." I'rn obviously joking about the list. I'm just rrying to draw attention to the things that seem to rake prioriry in our lives, the things we worry about that sreal our atrention and affecrions, and the things that can become huge dlstractions to whar's really important. Could you imagine for a moment standing before a holy God, who loved the world 50 much thar he gave his only 50n, and have him say to us, "I just wish you would have loved others more"? Jesus told us [bar there is nothing more irnportant. It's the greatest of all commands to love. There is nothing we can do, achieve, ar build that has any value aparr frorn love. Paul put ir this way in his letrer to the church ar Corinth: If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, bur do nor have lave, I am only a resounding gong ar a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift af prophecy and can fathorn ali mysteries and all knawledge, and if I have a fairh that can move rnounrains, but do not have lave, 1 am norhing. IfI give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship rhat 1 may boast, but do not have lave, I gain nothing. Lave is patient, lave is kind. Ir does not envy, ir does not boast, ir is not proud. Ir does nor dishonor others, ir is nor
164
p007

was rotally a

A NEW METRIC FOR SUCCESS self-seeking, wrongs. ir is not easily angered, it keeps no record of

Love does nor delight in evil bur rejoiees wirh rhe

rruth. Ir always pro teces, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres ... And now these rhree rernain: faith, hope and love. But the grearest of rhese is love.
I CORINTHIANS 13:1 -7, 13

There are so many choiees to rnake where faith and reallife often when we have no idea what to do. Here's a suggestion: in doubt, choose love. Can't decide if you should give? Choose love.

colwhen

lide. We feeI rhe pressure to make rhe fight decisions and lead others,

Can't seem to swallow your pride on a foolish matter? Choose love. Having a hard rime forgivillg someone? Choose love. Rather keep your rime for yourself than help someone in need? Choose love. Whar would Jesus reaJJy do? Choose love. One of the reasons I believe in a Barefoot Church is because I

believe in rhe power of love. Not just as a feeling, bur as an acrion. Jesus was clear that we were to serve the least, and he was clear that it should always be as an act of compassion. toward one another as well. And through God, not us or our actions, A new command I give yOli: Love one another, As I have Our love should extend thar love, people will see

loved you, so yOli rnust love one another, By this everyone will know that yOli are my disciples, if you love one anorher,
]OHN

13:34- 35

Do We Have Peace
We are doing a study through ar ANC. Ir's a pretty challenging the book of Romans study, The topics are righr now
50

closely

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connecred,

and ir can get so academic thar ir can be difficult to keep rhemes of Romans

each week fresh. However, one of rhe redundam is one that always refreshes: peace with Cod. Therefore,

since we have been jusrified rhrough

OUf

[a1th, we

have peace with God rhrough

Lord Jesus Christ.

ROMANS 5:1

Peace with Cod is found to be a favorite theme rhroughour wrirings. reminder

Paul's and a

In several of his lerrers to rhe church he signs off with a of the way of Jesus.

hope for peace. He uses ir as a blessing, an encouragemenr,

The word "peace" in Romans of peace encompasses

5 comes fram the word eira, which

back to Cod

means "to joio" and implies being "ser ar one again." The docrrine

rhe idea that we are reconciled

through Jesus and are now ar peace with him. Once separated. Now back togerher. Just the idea is refreshing to me.

50 few of us Iive in peace. We have such a desire to prove ourselves that we're consrandy srriving for the next thing
Being at peace with God means we can take a

we can do for Cod. Whether not require something

in ministry

ar life, this If Cod does

can become a chasing afrer the wind.

of us, why do we require ir

of ourselves? If Cod considers us ar peace with hirn, then why are we nor ar peace with ourselves? Being ar peace with Cod a breath, means we can take Because of to relax, and stop performing.

breath,

retax,

and stop

performing.

Christ, we don't have to prove ourselves worrhy

God. We no longer have to Find our identiry in rhe approval of orhers, And we don'r have to be perfect. Jesus took care of that. Peace is the gifr of Jesus and should be a huge part of any believer's success metric. prioritles, insecurity, The lack thereof is evidence of upside-down bring
L1S

or selflsh ambition.

Does something

strife? We should evaluare whether or not it's of]esus. complete lack of peace? Most likely there's a reason.

Do we have a

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A NEW METRIC FOR SUCCESS

Peace lleave with you; roy peace I give you. I do not give to you as rhe world gives. Do not ler your hearrs be rroubled and do not be afraid.
JOHN I4:27

Do We Have Joy?
The most obvious and yet least measurable rhe Christian something \ife is joy. Joy is not somerhing you have, something you respond facture. Joy is sornething you rejoice in. Nehemiah your srrength" (Nehemiah of all the benefirs of we can do ar rnanuyOLlbring to others, to, and something
LORD

you share, something

rerninds us that "the joy of the

is

8:10). Not only do we want joy, we need that so many believers are lackso many pastars deeply

joy. Yet, once again, ir's something lng. And according importam.

ta recent srudies, ir's something

are lacking. If we do nor have joy, we're missing sornething

I was floored as I plugged the word "joy" imo my Bible search

programo Not at rhe nurnber of times it's mentioned in the Bible, bur by where rhe Scriprures say ir comes froru, Ir may appear as The majority of Scriprure joy, bur only a handful Scripture reminds

f I

picked the ones thar best make the paint of my book, but I didn't. us what happens when we have of the verses describe how ir actualJy comes.

reaches that we experience joy ...

When we trust in our salvation. "Surely God is my salvation; Iwill trust and nor be afraid. The
LORD,

rhe

LORO

himself, is my strength and

my defense; he has become my salvation." With joy yOLlwill draw warer frorn rhe wells of salvation,
ISAIAH I2:2-3

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When the Spirit is present.

Ar thar time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these rhings from the wise and learned, and revealed thern to little children. pleased to do."
LUKE 10:21

Yes, Farher, for this is what you were

And the disciples were filled with joy and with rhe Holy Spirit.
ACTS 13:52

When justice is present.

When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.
PROVERBS 2I:15

When we prornote peace.

Deceit is in the hearts of rhose who plot evil, but rhose who promete peace have joy.
PROVERBS 12:20

When we love.
If you keep my commands, you will rernain in my love, just as and rernain in his love. I

I have kept my Father's commands

have rold you this so that my joy may be in yOti and thar your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
JOHN 15:10-12

The Bible c1early links our joy to one of two issues. First is rhe understanding rhe promotion and resting in our salvation through Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit. The second is the presence of justice, of peace, and the existence of love in our lives.

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These rhemes sound remarkably similar [O rhemes of Micah when he wrote what God requires of us: "[o act justly and [O lave mercyand to walk humbly with our God" (Micah 6:8). We should pray for these rhings. And we should be fairhful to respond to rhe Spirir's leading .in rhese things. If we calce to hearr Chrisr's calling on our lives to a ful! life (john 10:10), then joy should certainly be a part of the equarion, If we do nor have joy, we should look deeply imo whar we are doing and why we are doing ir. Are We Faithfu.l? I'm arnazed that people still come to 0UI" church. Alrhough I know rhere is an increasing desire in our culture to serve rhe least, J still drive up on a Sunday morning wondering if this will be rhe day no one shows up. Someti mes I wonder if ANC will scratch the itch for people for a while, rhen eventually they'Il come to their senses and find a church rhat firs rhe American dream a little better. And honestly, rhat day could come. With rhe consisrenrly decreasing church attendance across rhe American landscape, ir could come for ali of usoIt's a possibiliry rhar in oUI Iiferime, church as we now know ir could cease to exist in its currenr formoI'm not saying church will disappear; I'm saying that our current forrns are certainly being challenged. I can't help bur wonder if rhe worsr-case scenario for each of us were to rake place, could we stand before God and clairn rhat we have been faithful to thar which we've been called? The grearest gift rhar God gave us ar ANC was the cerrainry of our calling. He never rold us to rry ro build a big church. His vision was c1ear for us to serve rhe leasr, invest in his kingdom, and make disciples who do rhe same, and he would build his church. So that's what we've tried to do. And we've been forrunate that the church of our dreams has emerged. There have been times that our vision has forced us to make some unlikely decisions. We often joke how ir seerned as if we were trying to sabotage our church rather than plant one. More than once we've

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been faced wirh a difficult leadership decision that appeared opposition to building sustainabiliry we planned

or stability. Here are jus r a few:

011

Alrhough

to hold our first public garhering

Easter, we felt we should make a different first impression the community comrnuniry-wide additional other than a "come to us" evento food drive. celed ir and channeled

in

50 we can-

ali our launch resources into hosring a to figure out when to add an to have

The next year while struggling

service for rhe Easter crowd, we landed on having wirh the homeless communiry 58 percent

just one, moving our service outdoors and downtown worship and share communion we serve. ln our first year as a church piam we committed projects. On our one-year anniversary we gave over $20,000

of our church 's rithes to mission and led over 125 service (more so

than 75 percent of a11we had) to an East Austin ministry they could secure a place to meer in a strategic locarion, During yeal" rwo, we moved out of our rented mulrirnillionAlthough dollar fine-arts faciliry imo rhe back room of an old dance academy in a diverse south Austin neighborhood. vision, and we felr ir gave a false firsr impression rors abour who we were.

it was cheaper to stay, the fine-arts faciliry didn't rnatch our to our visi-

Lasr summer we had emergency board meetings nearly every week to discuss our financiai crisis. Yet at the same time we hosted another church plant ar ANe, partnered for their launch, and encouraged with [hem our people who lived in and events

their are a of rown ro leave our church and join [hem. We've cornplerely stripped our ChLlCCh of programs us tO be creative wirh just abour everything accomplish as a church. to give room for people to live on mission. This has forced else we rry ro

170

A NEW METRIC FOR SUCCESS I remember an ernail we received from a single mom in our community needing $900 to bail her our of a tough financiaI situation. it was the lowest We got her request on rhe same day Tray inforrned me that we only had $1,200 in rhe bank. With payroU approaching, poinr of our church 's financiai history. I remember sitting ar my breakfasr rable by Jen, wirh Tray on the phone, thinking thar we jusr can't do anymore. Trying to convince myself thar we've done enough-thar ir to give this rime. But we did have ir to give. She needed $900 and we had $1,200. I hung up rhe phone, looked across the rable at Jen, and cried. We had to give ir. I remernber feeling that maybe ir had reaLly come to to survive. Whatever it took we were ftom this, That we wouId give the money away and ir was over. Close the doors. Reinvent our srructure going ro do ir. My exact words to jen were, "If we're gonna go down, we're gonna go down swinging. God didn't call us to wirhhold someone in need." So we gave rhe $900. The next day we got a $10,000 a privare supporrer wirhin twenty-four an unexpected check in rhe rnail. It was from four rimes now, each who didn'r artend our church and had no idea hours of a rnassive financiaI sacrifice, each rime that have made much amazed by rhe stories I we've given and given-and

we've finally hit our threshold, And it was okay. We just didn't have

where we were financially. This has happened gifr of $10,000.

I know rhere are leaders and churches grearer sacrifices than these. I'm constandy

hear. Bur here's my point: if the doors of our church closed tornorrow, I would consider whar we've done a success, and

rd

look for-

ward to whar was nexr. Why? Because to the best of our ability, we've been fairhful to whar God has called us to do. We've used that as rhe primary rimes-even barometer in derermining our next sreps so many we've seen when ir didn'r seem to make sense-and

such direct fruir and ministry in following, that we feel confidenr we are the church we are supposed to be. If ir ended abrupdy, we could hold our heads h1gh knowing that God was up to somerhing new.

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A friend of mine named Brent has planred a church called The Well. In fact, they're probably even more radical than we are in posturing the church to serve the poor. It's a beautiful faith cornrnunity filled with people 00 mission. Three years into rhe piam, he and his family felt the cal1 to leave The Well for full-rirne missions in Mrica. 50 rhey went. Most church planters could never imagine leaving rheir church. [ share the sentimento And I would imagine rhar at one poinr, Brent had felr rhe same way. But rhis cerrainly didn't mean thar his ministry ar The Well was in vain. He wasn'r balling on the church. Ir didn't mean he misheard God when he started ir. It just rneant that he was still faithful, regardless of where the journey rook him. He and his wife, Leah, now serve as pastors to a village of families and orphans in Uganda who are HIV positive or have full-blown AIDS. An emire village set aside. I believe with all my heart that when we get to heaven, Brent and Leah will be at the nom of the line and one of the fim to hear, "WeU dane, my good and farhful servants."

THE TRUTH ABOUT SUCCESS

Ler me be rransparem for a momento I think we already know what God values more than we'll admito Just take whatever is selfserving and do the opposite. Anything that makes rhe name ofJesus famous is success. Anything bringing us glory s not, We need to apply some of the same principies to measuring success thar we would in characterizing how we grow up as adults, We need to speak truth and stop using self-serving and foolish reasoning. We need to learn to do right, to seek justice, to encourage rhe oppressed, to defend the cause of me fatherless, to plead me case of the widow, and to become the man 01' woman God inrends us to be (seeIsaiah 1:17). When I was a child, I ralked like a child, I rhought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a rnan, J put rhe ways of childhood behind me.
I CORINTHIANS 13:II

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A NEW METRIC FOR SUCCESS

Ultimarely, Christ, champions

we rnust rneasure

ali success

rhrough

rhe lens of

I hope that's what ali rhe above is abour. We have to be of his gospel. We have to ask whether or not we are develwho are compelling to our city. Ar

oping a disrincrive people ofGod

rhe end of ir ali, whar we build will burn IIp unless it's abour Chrisr.

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CHAPTER

10

Becoming a Barefoot Church

ast month I had the opporruniry to spend a couple of days with Hugh Halrer and Mau Smay of Missio and Bob Logan of CoachNer ar rhe Missio Inrensive in Denver. Ir was a grear day of frank discussion and practical discovery. Afrer processing rhe day, Bob made a fitting point on his blog: If we could irnplemenr even 20% of the ideas-and rhis is true of the ideas ar rnost conferences-we'd be rniles ahead in rhe church roday.This is why I've been rhinking about implernenration lately.50 many grear concepts, but what do we acruaHyDO? Andhowdo we do ir?Take an idea-any idea-and ask, "Whar would that look like? How could we pur legs to rhar idea?"! My hope as you finish this book is that wharever you choose to apply, that it's not what is easiest or most strategic, but what is most Spirir-led. I pray thar somehow you've been led through a journey of self-discovery ar a sou! levei. I pray rhar you've been confronred with tension, the good kind, and that you've alJowed rhe Spirit to sift you through. I agree with Neil Cole's words from Church 3.0: Unforrunately, as the world looks ar OUI churches, particularly in the West. it sees only what people have done OI what pragrams

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rhey are doing. The world is nor impressed. In response, we scheme and plor and plan: "What can we
CJ

to make our cburch

more appealing to the people in our communityi" This is, once again, the wrong questiono Ir's as if we're uying to boost God's approval ratings. It is God's name rhar is ar risk, not ours, and we are nor responsible for prorecting His reputation. He can handle rhar, by Himself, just fine. A betrer question is, "Where isJesus sem at work in our midstt" Where do we see lives changing, and communities Gospel?2 My prayer is rhat we discover that we give ourselves
My prayer is that we discover fully the joy of the gospel and that we give ourselves permission to Ilve in the margins.

transforming

simply by rhe power of the

fully rhe joy of rhe gospel and to live in rhe margins. By now

permission

yaLl know I believe deeply in the journey to rhe end of our selves, the place where Jesus is otren found, and where God is ultirnarely glorified. That place is where peace is found. Ir's where joy is faund. Where contenrrnent in our [ourney is found. As Alberr Schweitzer once said, "One thing I knaw: the only ones among yau who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve."3 Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson offer a profound yet simple srarting poinr in their book On of a leader 1S to
(Q

lhe Verge: "The first responsibiliry define reality.'>4 If we are trying

get somewhere, to where we store in a shopland on the red and plot the

we must first identify our srarting point in relarionship want to go. When we are trying to find a particular the floar plan of all the shops, Our eyes imrnediately dor with an arrow poinring the pathway to ger rhere.' In arder to give some practical our contextual

ping maU, the first thing we do is locate the directory that displays to ir that says, "You are here!" Once we

know where we are, we can locare oue inrended destination

next steps for implemenring

concepts of a barefoor life, ler's do so by defining our srarting poinr, reality, and our current church culture.

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BECOMING A BAREFOOT CHURCH

STARTING

POINT

The most frequenr question I hear is rhis one: "Where do I start?" Honestly, ir depeneis. Are you ralking abour a church? A nonprofir? What's the history (i.e., baggage or success) of the organizarion in relarionshp to what you're rrying to do? Each answer changes the game plan a bit, as ir should. Fortunarely, there is no shrink-wrapped plan for engaging need collecrively, it takes both thaught and effort. This is our backdrop for everyrhing else. There's a second set of questions: Who are you? Whar rype of authoriry do you have? Do you have a corporate agenda? Whar's your role in the organizarion? Ultimately what I'm asking is, is ir your place to make a change? The answers to rhese questions mighr give some clariry as to whether this change is to be abour you, the organization you wanr to see changed, or borh. The good news is thar anyone ar any rime can Every Christian become more socially acrive, It's a decision of the has been given mind and heart, You can do so at any church, of any the priestly size, wirh any mode1 or structure. The most beautiresponsibility of fui part about our journey is rhat it's our journey, and ir rnusr starr wirh a personal response prior to a being a miniscorporare response. There is always a bigger picrure, ter of hope and but our piece of that bigger picture is critical. Ir's reconci liation. tied to our hearts and minds and has everyth.ing to do with our conrentrnenr, peace, and joy as we seek to srand bJameless before a holy God who is ar work in our world. Every Christian has been given the priesdy responsibiliry of being a minister ofhope and reconciliation. Whether or not we embrace that calling irnpacts us; how we embrace ir impacts others.
For the Layperson

First, go do ir yourself. The besr yau know how. Just do something. Seek out more understanding and seek out sirnple opportunities, Make care packages with your family for Valentine's Day and hand them out to the horneless, spend a day of volunreering ar rhe
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local food pamry, sponsor a single mom for Thanksgiving Chrisrmas, your eyes
(Q

dinner or to do but
[Q

or volumeer

at the nursing home. Pray for God to open

a new levei of need and a new levei of willingness the journey. I know thar sounds simplistic,

something, I assure you, your eyes will be opened. Then embrace that's how it starts. Make each righr nexr decision. T ake ir one step at a time and be faithful in rhe mornent. Here's a gual'antee: ir will begin create tension in your life. But as we dscussed earlier, tension is good. Maybe you're pan of a church that embraces service ro the poor. If so, ser up meetings wirh the appropriate staff to figure our how you can get more involved.
We simply cannot expect everyone around us to jump right into the journey at the place where we are.

If not, pray for your church and your Share your heart, bur don't programs, and Be considerate for rninistries,

pasrors, and be patiem. be annoying.

merhods, and values that currently existo People have poured oue rheir heart imo existing rninistries, one around rhey beleve in them. We sirnply cannot expect everyus to jump right imo the journey ar the place where we are. Mosr of us don't know what to do with our tension. It's importam onto someone your that we don't displace our tension and else. Always deal with yourself

Ife first. Be willing to be a part of the answer.

of our church or event they in your faith
[Q

Thls is especially rrue when thinking leaders; we cannot expecr everyone else come up with, we've missed rhe poinr. If you don't feel as comrnunity our hope is simply to consume whatever new ministry

make me change for us, If

a you

have any rype of support

(Q

and you continue

experience

roadbloclc afrer road-

block, first prayeefully ask God to search your own heart and motive. Ask him to reveal any place you've srepped out of Iine or have been divisive. If you continue to feel like a fish our of water, find a new church home. Ir's not youe place to lead rhar church where you want it to go. If ir were, God would make you their pastor. Chances are, God already has the pastor on a journey, and he already has a vision for that church and for those people, One day we'll see and undersrand.
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BECOMING A BAREFOOT CHURCH For the Unchurched Be a learner. community or Dechurched Be willing. Christian Do ir yourself firsr, Pray, But you rnust find a faith

Do rhe same things just rnenrioned. Be available.

on mission and join rhem. The ehureh you dream of is rhere. I can't help

Ollt there. Ir may nor look like rhe chureh of yOllr dreams (yet), bur maybe you're supposed to be a part of its getting but believe this journey comes to rnind: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who is to be shared. This verse from Hebrews

promised is fairhful. And ler us consider how we may spur one anorher on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meering together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another-and ali the more as yau see the Day approaching.
HEBREWS ro:23 - 25

For the Associare Pastor or Ministry Director The most importanr thing for you to remember is rhat yOll are subrnirted nor rhe lead pastor of your church. You have willingly

yourself to the leadership in plaee. If the vision of your ehureh is ro serve and press into issues of merey and justiee, then praise God, go to yOllr pastor, and ask him how he feels yOll should best utilize your gifts, abiliries, and authority to furrher rhe cause. However, if the rwo of you are nor on the same page, yOll should pray for wisdom like you've never prayed before. There are two major dangers for associare pastors and ministry direerors who are ar a ehureh with a lead pastor who does not hold their passion for social action,

It can become a diuisiue issue. This is a rouchy subjeet for many.

Even if you think you hold the authority around what we're talking and permissions. about, to shape your rninistry ir's always best to speak wirh thern. Don't srarr with

your lead pastor first. Share your heart and your agenda. Ask for boundaries Then honor asking whar your ministry unnecessary tension-rhe leaders or volunreers think. If rhey jump bad kind. Even division.
179

on board, yet your pastor has a different vision, ir can end up eausing

BAREFOOT

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We can miss our ca//ing. Is ir possible that God is using this tension to move you into a new season of ministry? We've spoken extensively about holding rhings "loosely" as followers of Christ. If we feel confidenr thar we are to press imo social action but do not hold the authoriry as a leader to do so, maybe ir's time to move on. If you are resisting this possibility, I' d like you to consider if you're holding your current position roo rightly. Start by asking God to reveal the reasons you wanr to stay. A paycheck, good insurance, your new house, and grear schools are not legitimare reasons. However, give yOlir pastor a faie shake first. Who knows, maybe God is moving you within lhe organization. Maybe your pasror is considering the same, and yOll mighr be rhe voice of reason taking him off center. It's also possible you wll lose your job. If you cannot honor what God is calling you toward in your life where you are, this is rhe besr th.ing that can happen for you. T can't write this part of the journey for you, bur I assure yOli that you know the one who cano

Lead Pastor or Church Planter There is literally nothing holding yOllback exeept you. You have the aurhority. You have the calling. And you have the gifting and ability to do whatever God is calJing you to do. That being said, you should srill start at home. Prayerfully involve your wife and family. Prayerfully digest the tension in your own \ife and ways. As we alI know, we cannot lead others where we have not gane ourselves. In regard [Q your church, yOlicannot outsource a cal! to social acrion; you have to champion it. This is not a new rnethod or srraregy; ir's applying a biblical rruth in a new way, and ir rnust starr with yOli.

THREE

NECESSARY STEPS IN MOVING FORWARD PERSONALLV

1. Be convicted. This has to be sornething thar God is purring on

your heart for the right reason. If ir is not, ir will be burdensome to you and your leadership. Starr with prayer and end with prayer. Ask

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BECOMING A BAREFOOT CHURCH

me Spirit to show you where you yourself are faJling short. You don't even have to know exactly what you're being convicred about, you jusr have to feel something, know somerhing has to be done, and be willing to do somerhing about it. 2. Be conuinced. Serrle rhe issue of rheology. Study the Scriptures, NO( everyone agrees, so expect conflict: pray and do some more research. One way or another you'll eirher land on seeing social action as a significam piece of the gospel, ar a oecessary pan of a Christian's life running parallel to the gospel, or something completely unconnected. Two our of three of rhose demand a response. Wirhout being convinced that you are pressing forward our of biblical mandare or moral imperative, your leadership will lack the power and confidence you need. Those following can see rhe difference. 3. Be confident. Confidence is the fruir of the firsr two steps. When the rension comes, you will either forget why you're doing it and bail out or rernember God's leading and instruction and fight for ir. There will be a time when you'U feel you have to remind God thar ir was his idea. He already knows that. Do you? Leading people through chaoge is an art, nor a scienceespecially when leading orhers toward engaging need for rhe first time. There are variables, many obstacles, and severa] paths that can lead to similar outcomes. Each of OUI stories will be unique, and half of the journey is discovery. Don't lirnir yourself before you get out ofrhe box.

THREE KEYS TO LEADING OUT-OF-THE-BOX INITlATIVES TOWARD SOCIAL ACTION 1. Be creatiue. Things will not go as planned. Serving the leasr is nor near and tidy. We will constantly have to be thinking abour how we can accomplish specific things rhrough unconventional means. This minimizes strucrural change and is necessary in (a) discovering existing forms that can best be adapted to accomplish our new objectives, (b) utilizing individual gifts to succeed in unlikely ways, and

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(c) thinking

ou! of rhe box in an area where we've been conditioned This is not something rhat will happen spendYou won't drive and city and meet If to capture

to follow the norm. 2. Be intentional. find

OU!

ing six hours a day ar Starbucks rhrough your comrnuniry,

sipping on a frapaccino. directors

what you need to know ar your Iaprop. PrayerfuJly rneet wirh nonprofir read books on culture and community,

demographers,

wirh your mayor. Nothing information homelessness.

we do should be withour

a purpose.

you plan an event to serve single moms, use rhe mornent less man, ask hirn what misconceptions

about their grearest needs. If you're talking to a hornemost people have about means being a learner and steward your If you're mentoring a kid ar school, find out if you

can serve the mom as well. Being intencional efforts accordingly.

again. Know what you're rrying to accomplish

3. Be responsiue. There's a huge difference berween reacting and responding. to question When rhings do nor go as expecred, don't throw up Be prayerful and your hands in frusrraton. Don'r give up. And don't allow the enemy

alI rhe things you've already sertled.

find our what the next best decision is; rhen go do ir. I know this seems a lirrle happy-go-lucky, to changes along rhe way. but dori'r look ar rhings as failures; Find alternatives and be open instead, look ar them as opportunities.

CONTEXT
We live in a post-Christian changes the way the church and postrnodern contexr. This should interacr with society, because Dr. Stuarr is the culrure that emerges story and as the institutions convicrions decline

the way sociery views the church has certainly changed. Murray teaches thar "posr-Chrsrendorn as the Christian defnirively shaped by the Christian

fairh loses coherence within a society that has been to express Christian

rhat have been developed in influence."6

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BECOMING A BAREFOOT CHURCH Murray offers seven significant rendom to post-Christendom. in order to view appropriately tian society. From the center to the margins. In Christendom rhese are marginal. From majority to minority. In Christendom prised the (ofren overwhelming) tendom we are a minority. From settlers to sojourners. In Christendom Chrisrians felt ar home in a culrure shaped by their story, bur in post-Chrisrendom we are aliens, exiles, and pilgrims in a culrure where we no longe r feel ar home. Frorn privilege to plurality. In Christendorn many privileges, but in posr-Christendom munity among many in a plural sociery. From control to toitness. In Chrisrendom churches could exert we exercise influthe emphastatus guo, control over sociery, but in post-Chrisrendorn From maintenance to mission. In Christendom sis was on maintaining but in post-Christendorn environmenr. From institution to mouement. In Christendom ated mainly in instirutional we must become again a Christian If we are to become rnissionaries these shifrs seriously, voice in
OUI

ecclesiological

shifrs from Christhese in a posr-Chris-

Ir is criticai rhar we undersrand our place as Chrisrians

rhe Christian

story and the churches were central, but in post-Christendorn Chrisrians com-

majority, but in post-Chris-

Christians

enjoyed

we are one com-

erice only through wirnessing to our story and its implicarions. a supposedly Christian

ir is on rnission within a conrested churches oper-

mode, but in posr-Christendom rnovernent?

to our culture, we need to take how our conrext

If we do not understand

impacts our process, we will become less and less relevam, and our comrnunity will continue to decrease. We can no longer We must hit the streets wirh the brava do of a traveling evangelist. come in humility; in peace, and in love.

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CHURCH

CULTURE

Starting something new can be chaJlenging. Bringing change to something rhat's been around for years can be shockngly cornplicated. Craig Van Gelder does an amazing job of discussing the types of change we encounter in rhe church. In doing so he encourages us to consider both our currenr church culture's resisrance and complexity of change. "Not ali changes imroduced imo a congregarion have the same level of complexiry or difficulty associated wirh them, and not ali elicit the same levei of resistance.l'f There are four rypes of change we need to understand: 1. Irnprouement. This is imroduced in one of rwo ways. The first way is by rhe addition of a new initiative where something is being added to a present ministry that was not presem before. The second way to make an irnprovemenr is to upgrade an aspecr of rhe minisrry; "These planned changes do not fundamentally challenge the core values ar beliefs of a congregation. Whe they may encounter some resistance and introduce some pain, these can usually be dealt with in fairly simpie ways-practicing good cornrnunicarion, meeting with a few key people or groups, or inviting feedback and suggesrions."? 2. Adjustment. "An adjustrnenr is a type of planned change thar adds another dimension to the processo In this case, a congregation is required to unlearn the way ir has been doing somerhing and to relearn a new way to do it."lOSince this rype of change requires rwo responses from people, lerring go of something old and adjusting (Q somerhing new, this may come with even more resistance but still can be introduced withour making any fundamental changes in vision, core values, ar beliefs. 3. Revision. This happens when a change is introduced rhat requires a redirection of ministry ar reorienration of the basic vision of a congregation. "Here somerhing in rhe core identity of the church is being shifred, ar some of the core values and beliefs are being challenged and changed."" Here a leader musr anticipare and plan to proactively engage resistance. Avoiding ar ignoring resistance will only prolong the realiry. In rhis situation, Van Gelder recornmends
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BECOMING A BAREFOOT CHURCH (a) extensive conversation communicarion with key leaders and groups most affected for feedback, and (c) c1ear may

by rhe change, (b) regular opporruniries

on why the change is being made.l/

4. Re-creation. This comes ar a time where a congregation

and values may be obsolere. "The process of re-creating cared for many congregarions

literally have to reinvent itself in order to survive. Their core identiry is cornplibecause rhey ofren resist changing until leadership in a congregaa re-creation. If

ir is roo late. Usually there is a time lag of years between re-creation being required and when those providing seIdom can a congregation tion are able to come to grips with ir."13 Van Gelder rerninds us thar successfuUy go through change is inevitable, then the sooner the better.

PHASES
Change happens

DF CHANGE

in waves. There are low points and there are

high points. Just like a wave, there is a cycle of change that repeats

irself and builds on itself while moving forward. The type of change
you are encountering, your context, and your church culrure should how much you "bire off" with each cyele. resisrance, all factor into determining

If you need to go slower beca use of a deeply ingrained

rhen each cycle should be more specfc and focused. While there are several cyeles to change and while the objectives may change each cycle, each phase repeats itself. Objectives case-by-case scenario. Phase One: Communication Communicate now. Communicare Communicare a convincing case for whar you're lacking. a elear plan for where you hope to go and why. a elear and honest picture of where you are musr be derermined on a

Phase Two: Preparation Prepare your congregation creative. with the bigger picrure. Bc

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Prepare your irnpacred groups wirh a vision supporting big picture. Be c1ear. Prepare your key leaders by equipping role. Be concise. Phase Three: Transition Transition possible. Transition Transition while owning rnistakes or misconceptions and keep
[O

rhe

thern for their new

rhe original plan-as

much as rhat

force a change of plano

by communicating

where you are along rhe way.

Phase Four: Reinforcement Reinforce why you're making the changes. and a plarforrn Reinforce your leaders with encouragemem for evaluation. Reinforce your commitrnent why it's important, Phase Five: Recommunicate and repeat to whar the change is about and

Revise based on where you are now. Recast the vision from your new starting poinr (celebraring any movernenr). Repeat the phases of communication, and reinforcement. preparation, transition,

MAKING
This year I'rn helping of rhe rnost frustrating rhinks their son should

CHANGE

A REALlTY
tackle foorball Every parem Every parent

coach my son's peewee

team. Wirh the kids ir's been a blast. Wirh the parents, ir's been one rhings l've ever experienced. be the starring quarterback.

rhinks rheir kid should play more than they do. And every parem has an excuse for why rhey can't get thei r kid to practice yet somehow

186

BECOMING A BAREFOOT CHURCH manage to make every garoe. Including me. I wish we could rake

what we now know about the season and call a big far "redo" on rhe parem meeting ar me beginning cornmunicate ahead of uso It's good when everyone knows what to expect, That doesn'r come naturally, especially when making a major change in the way we do we can to cultivare a culture of church. We need to do everything a new type of cultural expectation. of rhe year. As much as we rried to expecrarions up front, we sirnply had no idea what was

f1exibility during change. The best way to do this is to comrnunicate The following are four objectives social action. we've found to be critical to imroducing

1. Make it a priority. In order to create a culture of service, we

have to comrnunicate ways. and structure serving as a prioriry, nor an add-on or optional evento We can do this in a nurnber of

a. Platform. The most underutilized

morning. sometimes me journey,

platform
[Q

is Sunday

We need to use ir not only make is wairing

preach our ser-

mons but also to cast vision regularly. out before we share. Bringing

The mistake we in on of

until we have ir alL figured your congregation wirh a confession address

possibly even starting

neglecr, can be one of the most powerful This is a great time to proacrively objecrions, concerns, ar misunderstandings. willing to utilize our Sunday mornings municate

ways to lead. anricipared If we are not

to regularly compriorserve.

serving, it's simply not our prioriry. to serving being an everyday

[Q

b. Prayer. In addition
specifically

iry, we called our people to a month We closed the month amazing

of prayer lasr year

on how God may be leading [hem

with a week of guided study and became one oF the most we've ever had ar ANC.

a day of fasting. That weekend times of comrnitment

And the rninisrries that resulted fcom mar season of prayer form some of the very heart of who we are today, We need

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prayer withour

change.

How much more do we need ir

while leading others through change?

c. Scripture. We would never rnake a point during a sermon

without building a scriptural foundation, yet we tend to expect people to serve jusr because they should. Share nor only Erom your heart, but also Eram your BibJe. Scripture has plenry to say about serving the least. We can have confidence that the Word wilJ not return void, to do; they are being asked by everyone

d.

Leaders. The best leaders don't have to search for some-

rhing significant

to join their effort. One oE the rnost effecrive things we can do is to schedule a JUDch OI a coffee with a key leader, share our heart with thern, and ask thern to be a part of it. Don't expect thern to fully undersrand
OI

whar you're doing

why, but ask thern to be a part of exploring and evaluat-

ing the processo Starring pilot groups or "resr" minisrries are some of the best ways to find early adoprers. 2. Give permission. Permission means letting go and is therefore one of rhe toughest rhings to do. However, giving permission to try new things and ers have breakthrough
[O

think ourside of rhe box can be one things a leader can do. New leadthrough being empowered. to check the box.

of rhe most empowering

moments

Unril we let go, our peopIe will continue We also need to give permlssion some things:

for our leaders to stop doing

a. Permission to stop showing up to every program, freeing up time

[O

fully vest themselves in their new mission. outside of the church. for every group

b. Permission to not uolunteer on campus, freeing up time to

pioneer ministry
C.

Permission to foil and learn from tbeir foiLure. ODe rnoment of failure allows a Learning opporrunity from that point forward.

3. Protect margin. We simply cannot ask people to keep adding things to their ministry life. If we do, service will be the firsr
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BECOMING A BAREFOOT CHURCH to go. We have to simplify our forms and find ways to creare margin in subtracrion,
OUI

currenr srrucrures.

Celebrare addition through

It's worth the effort to give your people (ar your-

self) the rime to do what you're asking thern to do weIl. Here are some of the greatest ways to protece margin. a. Eualuate. Cut events and projecrs mission. thar don'r serve rhe

b. Consolidate. Identify your rnosr effecrive existing forms

and find ways to utilize thern as a funnel for discipleshlp. One example is missional community. If we value community as much as we clairn, ir is possible to utilize ir as a funnel for ali things outside the Sunday experience.

c. Resbape. If your comrnunity

groups are your main emphayer meet rhe same adding pur-

sis outside of me weekend gathering, what your communiry

need only on the micro levei, you may need to reshape groups do. Consider poses thar can free up other days of che week. This will increase buy-in for each group and increase involvernenr exponentially.

4. Find a common Language. The rurning

creating a structure vision, Finding to supporr when we landed on a common language a common language necessary groundwork the vision. Everyrhing a Spirirual Formation ing for cornmunion, oflanding

poim

for ANC

in our

rhe vision of our church was to cornmunicare requires you to do the that supporrs what we call Although we

on a strucrure

we do happens through miss.ion, and community.

Funnel and utilizes each biblical call-

discussed these earlier, here's a review:

a. Expose. We utilize the Sunday morning worship time (communion) to expose relarional, physical, and spiritual need rhrough Scripture, creative elements, media, and seasonal focus.

b. Experience. We utilize a regular scheduled evenr to help people experiente need (mission) as a first rouch to serving
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the leasr. We do this every fIfth Sunday, in place of our Sunday morning gathering, communicating prioriry and creating a safe environrnent for first-timers to serve in a group setting.
c. Engage. We utilize missionallincarnational

communiry to not only build relationships, fellowship, pray, and learn together, but also to engage need on a more personal levei (in community). Our missional communities are strucrured ro give away as much time as we keep, alrernaring the foeus of eaeh week on biblical community and service.

Aurhors Hugh Halter and Matt Smay propose thar the kingdom becomes most tangible at the interseering poinr of communiry, communion, and mission. This addresses the problem that surfaces when we foeus on the rhree elements independently and forget to overlap thern. We work hard to make sure we have a time of eommunion with God through worship, Bible study; and prayer. We are committed to building comrnunity the best we know how in small groups. We are willng to serve regularly in various places. But it's too easy for rhose rhings to exist independendy of one another. No wonder we're 50 busy. Is ir possible that the beauty of those things overlapping is not just found in their existence but in their coexistence? As we consider creating a structure to serve the least as a prioriry of our minisrry, we have to think strategically about how comrnunity, communion, and mission most naturally
overlap.

CREATING

A CULTURE

OF CHANGE

Recently I carne across an online interview with Dr, Karyn Purvis, coaurhor of The Connected Child and director of the Institute of Child Development ar Texas Christian Universiry. She was addressing the orphan crisis in the world and sharing what needs to happen in order to address it. "There are scores oflegislators. There are seores of government agencies. There are comrnunity services and cornrnu190

BECOMING A BAREFOOT CHURCH nity agencies. But the real healing, if ir's going ro happen, it's going to happen in the heart of me church."14

Nor Iong ago she was testifying for legislation at our capitol as an
invited expert on legislation for foster and adopted children when the senator who chairs the comrnitree said, "This problem is just too, too big for the governmem. Mine too. Ir doesn't stop with the orphan crisis. Ir extends ro poverty across the world. Ir exrends co issues ofhuman and to the neglected neighbor you and I combined, trafficking and laek of clean warer. Ir exrends to the horneless, to me single mom needing help, widow. And it extends to being hope to our who may be in perfeet healrh and have more money than but has no hope for eternity. We're going to have to God is calling us
(Q

We need the church." Dr. Purvis' response,

"And that's my sentiment."15

In order for the church to collecrively answer rhis call, we each have to enter imo a time of soul searching. be more aware as individuaIs. personally. a rninistry, We're going ro have to hear God's develop to It's

voice and discern to which part of rhis challenge

15 he calling you to make a personal change,

to engage needs Iocally or globaHy, to do an outreach,

adopt, or to fosrer? We have to be willing to consider anything. When we are faithful to his call, he will align our hearts.

nor about what we want co do. It's abour what God wants us to do. Dr. Purvis oEfers a handful of thoughrs for rhe church to consider in stewarding these issues. It's bigger than just teaching something new; ir's abour crearing a new church culture, We have to cultivare a healing culrure-where imperfect. We have to become a forgiving culture-where expected and extended. We have to create a culture of acceptance-where unconditional. We have to offer a cuIrure of permission-where to move until we hear God's voice.l'' lave is we can wait grace is it's okay ro be

191

BAREFOOT

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In other words, we have to become more like Jesus. If we were to cultivare these four things imo our church culrure, we wouldn't have [Q worry about the resto We' d be the church we needed to be. Service ro the least would narurally If we were to culflow out of the grace and compassion of our church culture. It starts wirh each of us. The church is a tivate these four collecrion of Christians either Iiving on mission ar things into our
church culture, we wouldn't have to worry about the resto We'd be the church we needed to be.

avoiding rhe responsibility. If not us, then who? Jesus answers this question on his way imo ]erusalem to be crucified. If we remain silent, the rocks rhernselves will cry out (Luke 19:40). That's a humbling reality that I hope we don't miss, Serving rhe least is a privilege. Ir's an honor. And ir's an opportunity to serve Jesus himself. His words are clear: "Whatever you did for one of rhe least of rhese brothers and sisters of

mine, you did for me" (Mauhew 25:40). If we don't do it, someone or somerhing else will.

THE JOURNEY
I grew up in a family that loved to fish. Several times a year we would load up the truck ar our Colorado home and head to Lake Powell in southern Utah, spending a week or so camping and flshing. One year we woke up in the middle of the night to one of the most incredible storms I've ever seen. Ir was raining in sheets, with lghming flashing and thunder booming everywhere and wind gusts up to seventy rniles per hour. Each of us was standing outside holding a rem post hoping rhe wind would die down so we could go back imo our sleeping bags. After an hour or so of wrestling with me tem, we loaded up the truck and began rhe six-hour journey home. I loved going to Lake Powell, but I always hated the rrip rhere and back. Abour a month later my dad caJled me outside to "come and see something." As I rounded rhe corner I saw the most beautiful rhing
192

BECOMING A BAREFOOT CHURCH ever created: a 1972 Winnebago Brave Motor Home. Now, ler me paint you a more realistic picture. To a seventh-grade But in the real world ir was a thirteen-year-old, boy, rhis was awesome. rwenry-rwo-Ioor atroe-

ity wirh orange couches and brown stripes down the side. Ir was about as long as ir was rall and Iooked like an oversized mystery machine. I was in love. The only thing berter than the caprain's chairs rhat swiveled 360 degrees was the awesome eighr-rrack player with the Oak Ridge Boys singing their gospel favorites sruck in the deck. My life changed thar day. I couldn't wair for rhe next road trip to Lake Powell. Ir was six hours of switching sears, playing cards, raking naps stretched without out on the queen-szed bed, and using the bathroorn having to stop, For rhe first rime, the trip was jusr as much

about the journey as ir was the arrival. When we look ar need in rhe world, when we see the statisrics and see rnillions in need, ir's easy to be overwhelmed. in ignorance, we musr know thar ir's millionsWe can't stay flnding a but we musr see ir

as one: one homeless family oEf the srreets, one orphan

home, one hungry mouth fed, one well in Africa dug, one victory at a time, one disciple ar a time, one after anorher, one ar a time. We rnust foeus on every mile marker along the way. The journey is not about helping God do something he can't do wirhour us. The jourthe church ney is abour being faithful to Chrisr. Ir's about becoming about being good news to a world in need of good news,

thar God wants us to be and rhe church the world needs us to be. Ir's

CLOSING
As you probably academic. I'm a practitioner.

THOUGHTS
1, I'm certainly not an

figured out by chapter

I do whar I do. That can be good or

bad. My hope is thar in the case of this book, ir's a good rhing, and that whatever Jesus. I'llleave for the church.
193

path ir leads you on at the end, you will find De doctrina

yOll with a quote from Sr. Augustine's

christiana. Ir captures best my hope for you, for me, and my hope

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

Whoever, rherefore, rhinks rhat he understands the divine Scriprufes or any parr of them so that ir does not build the double love of God and of our neighbor does nor undersrand Whoever finds a lesson rhere useful have intended
[Q

ir at all.

the building of charity,

[Q

even though he has not said whar rhe author may be shown

in that place, has not been deceived, nor is he

lying in any way. However, if he is deceived in an inrerpretation which builds up charity, he is deceived in the same way as a man who Ieaves a road by mistake but passes through a field same place toward which rhe road tself leads.'?
[Q

rhe

194

NOTES

Chapter 1: There's Got to Be More 1. Craig Van Gelder, The Ministry o/the Missional Church:A Community Led by the Spirit (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), 17. 2. julia Duin, Quitting Church: Why the Faithful Are Fleeing and What to Do about It (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008), 18 (emphasis added). 3. See Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an rdinary Radical (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006), 24. 4. Biblos.com (2004- 2010) hrrp:l/strongsnumbers.com/hebrew/ 2616.hrm (accessed March 23, 2011). 5. Ibid., http://strongsnumbers.com/greek/3628.htm (accessed March 23, 2011). 6. Ibid., hrrp://strongsnumbers.com/hebrew/8199.htm (accessed March 23, 2011). 7. Ibid., http://strongsnumbers.com/greek/1557.hrm (accessed March 23, 2011). 8. Merriam-Websrer, Inc. (2010) www.merriarn-websrer.com/ dictionary/mercy (accessed March 23, 2011). 9. Ibid., www.merriam-webster.com/dicrionary/jusrice?show= 0&t=1288704505 (accessed March 23, 2011). Chapter 2: A Call and a Response

1. J ustin Dillon, Cal/ and Response: A Film about the Worfd 27 Mil/on Most Terrifying Secrets (Fau Trade Fund, 2008).

195

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

2. Riehard 2009),53. 3. Ibid., 59.

Srearns,

Tbe Hole in Our Gospel (Nashville:

Nelson,

4. OiHon, CaL!and Response.

5. Ibid., 101.

6. Ashley Judd, in Call and Response: A Film about the World's 27 MilLion Most Terrifying Secrets (Fair Trade Fund, 2008): formar,

ovo.
Chapter 3: Where Gathering and Scattering Collide
1. Riehard Rohr, Hope against Darkness (Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger, 2001), 48.

Chapter 4: Serving through Missional Community

1. Roberr BeLlah, et al., Habits oftbe Heart: Indiuidualism mitment in American 1983),84.

and Com-

Life (Berkeley: Univ, of Ca1ifornia Press,

2. John Howard Yoder, The Original Revolution: Essays 0'1 Christian Pacifism (Scottdale, PA: Herald, 1977),30-31. 3. Craig Van Gelder, The Ministry ofthe Missional Church: A Community Led by the Spirit (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), 18 - 19.
4. Ibid., 19. 5. George Barna, Reuolution (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2006), 49. 6. Hugh Halter and Matt Smay, The TangbLe Kingdom 2009).

Primer

(Denver: Missio Publishing,

7. Reggie MeNeil, Missional Renaissance: Changing tbe Scorecard for

the Church (San Fransiseo: jossey-Bass, 2009), 140. 8. Darrell L. Guder, Missional Church: A vtsion for the Sending of the Church in North America (Grand Rapids: Eerdrnans, 1998), 153. Chapter 5: Good News for the Unchurched and Dechu.rched
1. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/eolumns/story?eolumnist=mosley_ martzpage-horread'l/mosley -thirty-million-dollars (accessed October 14, 2010). 2. www.eollidemagazine.com/blog/index.php/1452/one-hundred (accessed Mareh, 28, 201l).

196

NOTES

3. www.christianexaminer.com/Articles/Arricles%20Dec09/Art_ Dec09_19.html 4. Summarized (accessed March 28,2011). from Ed Srerzer's bJog on evangelism and social jus-

tice: www.edstetzer.com/2010/03/monday-is-for-missiology-evang .htrnl (accessed March 15,2010). 5. Tirn Chester and Sreve Timmis, ing around 6. Timothy 2008), 78-79. Keller, Generous fustice: How God's Grace Makes UsJust Adult, 2010), xiv, (New York: Dutton

Total Churcb: A Radical Resbap(WheatoIl, IL: Crossway,

Gospe! and Community

7. Tim Keller (Redeemer Vision Paper #1, The Gospel: Key to Change)
www.redeemer.com/aboucus/vision_campaign/resources/ (accessed March 23, 2011). 8. Hugh Halter and Mart Smay, The Tangibie Kingdom: Creating

lncarnational Community (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,

42-43. 9. lbid., 42. 10. Hugh Halter and Marr Smay, AND: Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 23,2011). 12. www.abbaconnecr.net/for-pasrors/greater-impact/ March 23, 2011).

2008),

The Gathered and Scattered 2009), 66. (accessed March (accessed

11. hnp:/ltarumweb.com/blog/2008/06/05/reveaJ/

13. See Darrell L. Guder, Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Cburch in Nortb America (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 128. 14. Ibid., 129. 15. Gabe Lyons, The Next Christians: The Good News about the End ofChristian America (New York: Doubleday, 2010), 8. 16. www.edstetzer.com/20 17. julia Duin, 18. Ibid., 20. 19. Reggie McNeil, Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church (San Francisco: [ossey-Bass, 2009), 5.
197

10/04/ monday- is-for-missioJogy-liber .html Churcb: Why the FaithfuL Are FLeeing and

(accessed March 23, 2011) Quitting What to Do about

Ir (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008), 13.

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

Chapter 6: Expanding
1. Greg Ogden,

OlU'

Understanding of Discipleship

Transformng Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few Gap: Where Have Ali rhe Disciples Gone?" 22 (accessed April 11,

at a Time (Downers Grave, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), ch. 1,

"The Discipleship 2011). 2. Ibid. (www.ivpress.com/title/exc/2388-l.pdf).

3. Ibid., 23. 4. http://maranathalife.com/lifeline/srats.htm

2011). 5. Ogden,

(accessed

May 1.

Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few at a Time, ch. 1, "The Discipleship Gap: Where Have All the Ois25-37

ciples Gane?" (www.ivpress.com/title/exc/2388-l.pdf). (accessed April 11, 2011).

6. Ibid., 36.
7. www.theimentionaldiscipJe.com/gpage2.html 11,2011). (accessed April

8. Ibid.
9. www.theintentionaldisciple.com/gpage.html.html (accessed

April 11, 2011).

10. http://www.theintentianaldisciple.com/gpage2.html(accessed April

u, 2011).

11. Craig Van Gelder, The Ministry ofthe Missional Cburch: A Community Led by the Spirit (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), 151. 12. Ogden, Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few at a Time, 37. 13. Oarrell L. Guder, Missional Cburch: A Vision for tbe Sending of the Church in North America (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 130-31. 14. www.barna.org/stare?page=shop.product_derails&flypage= flypage.tpl&category_id=4&produccid=46 23,2011). (accessed March 1998),

Chapter 7: Embracing the Tension

1. www.charitywater.org/ (accessed March 23, 2011).

198

NOTES

2. Craig Van Gelder, The Ministry of the Missional Church: A Community Led by the Spirit (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), 15l. 3. Ibid., 158. 4. www.planrr.org/plantr-podcasr- 2-who-s tarts-gospel-movernenrs/ (accessed March 23, 2011). 5. Wrirren by Caralysr;seewww.cogun.comCblog/BilLCouchenourl post/The_Tension_Is_Good/ (accessed March 23, 2011); used wirh permission. Chapter 8: Partnering with the Nonprofit World 1. Darrell L. Guder, Missional Church: A VZsionfor tbe Sendng ofthe Church in North Amrica (Grand Rapids: Eerdrnans, 1998), 75. 2. Neil Cole, Church 3.0 (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010), 53. 3. Ibid., 49. 4. www.freemethodistchurch.org/pdfs/leadership/State_oCthe_ Work_2009.pdf (accessed March 23, 2011). Chapter 9: A New Metric for Success l. Reggie McNeil, Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009), 6. 2. David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, Unchristian (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), 226. 3. McNei!, Missional Renaissance, 7. 4. www.austinplantr.org (accessed March 23, 2011). 5. See Darrin Patrick and Matt Carter, For the City: ProcLaiming and Living Out tbe Gospe! (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010). 6. Neal Cole, Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005), xxiii, 7. www.wdavidphillips.com/measur ing-success-in-mi n ist ry (accessed March 23, 2011). 8. www.backyardmissionary.com/2008/06/re-imagining-success. htrnl (accessed March 23, 2011).

199

BAREFOOT

CHURCH

Chapter 10: Becoming a Barefoot Church 1. www.loganleadership.com/2010/09/missio-intensive-day1 .htrnl (accessed Ocrober 1, 2010). 2. Neil Cole, Church 3.0 (San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010), 56. 3. www.quotationcollection.com/authorlAlberr_Schweitzerlquores (accessed March 22,2011). 4. Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson, On the Verge: The Future of tb Church as Apostolic Mouement (Grand Rapids: Zondervan 2011),54. 5. Greg Ogden, Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Feia at a Time (Downers Grove, 11: InrerVarsity Press, 2003), ch. 1, "The Discipleship Gap: Where Have All the Disciples Gone?" (www.ivpress.com/ride/excl2388-l.pdf). 21 (accessed Septernber 21, 2010). 6. Stuart Murray: Church after Christendom (Portland: Paternos ter, 2005),19. 7. Ibid., 20. 8. Craig Van Gelder, Tbe Ministry ofthe Missianal Church: A Community Led by tbe Spirit (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), 167. 9. Ibid., 169-70. 10. 1bid., 170. 11. Ibid., 171. 12. Ibid. 13. Ibid. 14. Dr. Karyn Purvis, http://vimeo.com/13835491 (accessed October 20, 2010). 15. Ibid. 16. Ibid. 17. As quoted in Scot McKnight, A Community Called Atonement: Living Theology (Nashville: Abingdon, 2007), 142.

200

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About the Exponential Series

The interest in church planting has grown significantly in recent years. The need for new churches has never been greater. At the same time. the number of models and approaches To address the unique opportunities Exponential Network. in partnership Zondervan. launched the Exponential Books in this sries: Tell the reproducing church story Celebrate the diversity of models and approaches God is using to reproduce healthy congregations l-lighhght the innovative and pioneering practices of healthy reproducing churches ~quip. inspire and challenge Kingdom-minded leaders ~xponential leaders exists to attract, inspire and equip Kingdom-minded of high-impact. reproducing leaders with the with Leadership are expanding. Network and of churches in this landscape.

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