Fawnix...N-Z (Emerging Church)

Let’s continue by jumping right into the mix with the following quote: “If you perceive our culture and the Church to be seriously flawed and deficient, and want to be a part of the solution rather than an accessory to the problem, then you must embrace the role of a revolutionary and start making good things happen today.”[i]

exodus – The people I met at Soularize were in the process of relocating. However, the nature of this relocation was not necessarily a destination. It was like they had decided to embrace a journey beyond the confines of where they have been. These are people learning how to breathe deeply again. Some were fleeing or escaping from the realization that the mainstream church is headed for a cliff, as characterized by one author in the following: “The current church culture in North America is on life support. It is living off the work, money and energy of previous generations from a previous world order. The plug will be pulled either when the money runs out (80 percent of money given to congregations comes from people aged fifty-five and older) or when the remaining three-fourths of a generation who are institutionalized loyalists die off or both.”[ii] God has a penchant for choosing remnants. I departed Soularize with a feeling that these people were likely them; those called by God to follow His leading in this, the next exodus. The Nexodus.

ograms – The form of service delivery systems was a topic of several discussions I participated in at Soularize. As Soularize facilitator and author Spencer Burke states, “Indeed, these days, the word “ministry” has become synonymous with “program.” Truth be known, we seldom think of doing “ministry” apart from church.”[iii] Interesting how the Christian witness to the world is primarily defined by what happens within the church. Perhaps it’s time to consider a Christian life whose service is an authentic, ongoing part of each and every day beyond the confines of church programs. Perhaps it’s time to champion nograms? Maybe how we do what we do outside of church is more important than what occurs within?

utentional – At Soularize, the intentional creation of outlets where people can be free to engage in the worship and service to others in new, non-traditional ways is cherished. Persons who participate in the creation of these outlets and facilitate this dialogue are commonly referred to as oozers. Yet, our world is increasingly becoming a gated community. Schaeffer says, “First, I am not an apologete if that means building a safe house to live in, so that we Christians can sit inside with safety and quiescence. Christians should be out in the midst of the world as both witnesses and salt, not sitting in a fortress surrounded by a moat.”[iv] We must become outentional, as captured in the following: “If our theology is to be an authentic reflection and witness to God who is revealed in Jesus Christ as the God of the excluded, then we need to embark on the often painful journey to meet with Jesus the Christ outside the camp, among the excluded. Such a journey will leave us uncomfortable and displaced in the “carnivalesque” postmodem world.”[v]

arabox – In an age of skyboxes and botox with people parading toward paradise, there’s a peculiar paralysis within all this. On the one hand the world is screaming for help from individuals capable of doing just that. Yet, those in this camp seem tied to something that they are reluctant to let go of. On the other side are those who are willing to help through an established organization. Movies are a welcome escape for me. When the lights come down and the big screen lights up in front of me, I am transported to an artificial place that provides a respite from the reality of it all. Have you ever noticed the one thing that is certain from one movie to the next? No matter where the movie has taken you, when they turn the lights on, everybody’s still in the same seat they were in when the lights went off. This is the parabox; everybody remains paralyzed in the comfort and safety of their existing box, rather than responding to the cry for help. The individuals I met at Soularize are attempting to explore and develop new ways to respond to the howl for help. Isn’t that what Jesus did?

aradime – Mainstream mindsets, structures and methodologies that presently deliver the Gospel are worth about ten cents. They will last about as long as a dime in your pocket as well. What they do deliver does not endure over the lifespan of a saved Christian in terms of behavioral change that is distinctly different and attractive to someone who is lost ( I despise that word!). As George Barna writes, “Most Christians—not those who merely call themselves Christians but those who have confessed their sinfulness and have asked Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior---have fallen prey to the same disease as their worldly counterparts. We think and behave no differently from anyone else.”[vi] It doesn’t have to add up to this. The attendees at Soularize are not content with the remaining ten cents, but are actively exploring the truth that perhaps, just perhaps, Jesus equipped us with ten sense, five of which we have yet to recognize: a new paradime.

uestchurn – At Soularize, the worth of the dialog is invaluable. In an answer- oriented world, it is refreshing to be with people where one feels safe to learn, listen and contemplate. I have a sneaking suspicion that we do not have the answers because we’ve been afraid to ask the right questions within mainstream Christianity. It’s invigorating to be with people whose hearts are churning with the questions that are meaningful to them: People of the questchurn.

hytHim – There exist undiscovered sounds, songs, prayers, dances, tears and gestures that God’s people must come together to express. There are rhythms that bring joy to His heart that He longs to hear. The folks I met at Soularize are those dedicated to bringing this joy to fruition. This is RhytHim.

aabath – EC’s understand that we’ve been bathing in the wrong stuff. American society is drowning in a sea of red ink incurred obtaining cars, homes, comfort and pleasures. For many of us, it’s time to take a break from all this and drain the tub. It’s while seated in the empty tub that we shall come to reposition ourselves to be restored and refilled with His Spirit. It’s time to confront the implications of the Saabath.

hipracked – In the established church today, there are a number of ships that are need to be hung up on the rack or brought into dry dock for repairs. These include leadership, discipleship, relationship and worship. In far too many churches today, the worship service has become a warship servus whereby the crew gathers once a week to turn it’s attention toward the most immediate, external threat to it’s ongoing survival. Typically, these threats are socio-political issues of the day. Christianity has been shipracked.

chedzophrenic – “I just can’t seem to find time. Where did this week go anyway? Just a minute. Just after I complete x.” Schedules have become the master of the post-modern life. The extent to which our lives conform to schedules becomes symptomatic of the presence or absence of some degree of serenity. This isn’t healthy. It’s schedzophrenic.

trucksure – At Soularize, I was sure struck by the concern over the extent to which mainstream Christianity has separated itself from the world. “Christian apologetics is not like living in a castle with the drawbridge up and occasionally tossing a stone over the walls. It is not to be based on a citadel mentality---sitting inside and saying, “You cannot reach me here.”…..the purpose of apologetics is not just to win an argument or a discussion, but that the people with whom we are in contact may become Christians and then live under the lordship of Christ in the whole spectrum of life.”[vii] Perhaps we must contemplate new forms for a more effective witness of Christ to the world: a new strucksure.

imething – Every time I see the strong arm of the church waving to flag down another buck, I want to puke. As Barna writes, “It is quite astounding that Although Protestant and Catholic churches have raised and spent close to one trillion dollars on domestic ministry during the past two decades, there has been no measurable increase in one of the expressed purposes of the church: to lead people to Christ and have them commit their lives to Him.”[viii] I have come to the conclusion that Jesus is not interested in the first fruits of my money as tithing. On the contrary, today, He is vastly more interested in the first fruits of my time. My time is more intimately tied with my heart. When I tithe my time attached to my heart, my wallet follows. This is timething.

ransversion – There’s a contradiction within the conviction that conversion is an event. ( contraviction ). “The Post Evangelical should be seen as the beginning of a journey, not the end.”[ix] This is transversion.

ndone – There were two things I overheard at Soularize that are characterized quite nicely by Francis Schaeffer in the following: “As we seek to meet the problems there are two things which we must strenuously seek to avoid: First, settling down and accepting the present situation simply because of the inertia caused by those who speak of the problem of the churches’ young people and speak much of missions but who simply do not want to question the familiar because it is too painful to do so. The problem is the evangelical, orthodox churches, institutions and programs are today often under the control of those who are in this category. This control is both organizational and financial. Thus, there is a tendency NOT to “rock the boat.”…..Mature Christians, and Christians in places of responsibility, must summon the courage to distinguish, under the Holy Spirit, between unchangeable Biblical truth and the things which have merely become comfortable for us. Second, the development of an intellectual and cultural snobbishness or elitism. This can easily come about unless we help one another not to fall into it. Such an attitude grieves the Holy Spirit, destroys rather than builds and is as offensively ugly as anything can be. We will make mistakes, but by God’s grace we must strive to avoid either of these two errors or a choice between them.”[x] Some things must be undone.

alYou – Contrary to your experience in a vertically oriented, value-laden world, you are gifted. Your life is a gift. God knows this. We need to act upon this truth as stated in the following, “There are three people living in each of us: the one we think we are, the one other people think we are, and the one God knows we are.”[xi] As Brennan Manning says, “It takes a profound conversion to accept that God is relentlessly tender and compassionate toward us just the way we are [Emphasis mine] – not in spite of our sins and faults (that would not be total acceptance), but with them.” [xii] The men and women I met at Soularize are people who seemed terribly comfortable with themselves. I believe they may be onto something the rest of us can learn about our true ValYou.

hander – People at Soularize were very comfortable about wondering while you wander about the why, where, when who, what. The world is repulsed by modern day fundamental evangelicalism that pretends to have every answer to every question before it’s asked. “The certainty that I do not know, that is the secret of going with Jesus.”[xiii]

ceptance – For a people who are emblazoned with the moniker Christian, the biblical truth of acceptance has involved somehow evolved into xceptance. Mainstream Christianity is littered with except this, except that and except you. I recognized an almost unanimous feeling at Soularize that this xclusivity just has to go. As Brian McLaren says, “In the process of being against something worth being against, one often becomes for something not worth being for.”[xiv] Unfortunately, Christianity has become world renowned for its xceptance.

abut – “But – that three-letter, four-letter word. It permeates our language. It’s a nasty little word. It allows us to lie to ourselves and to severely limit ourselves, without even knowing it.”[xv] The people I met at Soularize were determined to move beyond yabut. Christianity has been terrorized by disciples who routinely say, “Ya, I want to have a more intimate relationship with Christ and impact the world around me for His glory, but…” The truth within yabut expressions is that it ain’t never gonna happen. The lie within Yabut statements is that we authentically desire to take the risks, make the sacrifices and change. Yabut’s are like rabbits…they’re everywhere. Christendom is overrun with them. The persons I met at Soularize recognize the necessity to move past yabut.

knot – There’s something uplifting about being surrounded by why not people. Yet, taking risks and change always create a knot in the stomach as one ponders one’s next move. “Desperate problems cannot be solved without strong commitment and risky actions on the part of ordinary Christians.”[xvi] The Soularize attendees I interacted with were distinctly Yknot folks.

hero – The established measurements we have come to rely upon to define role models, success, progress and heroes have been misleading. We’ve fallen deeply in love with numbers within mainstream Christianity. “The act of joining a church or sect is not necessarily the same as the internal process of conversion. While we can more or less measure the numbers of those calling themselves Christian, the inner dynamics of religious change do not lend themselves to counting of any kind.”[xvii] Maybe it’s time to consider the truth that Jesus spent an awful lot of time talking about, becoming less is more. Maybe Christ’s heroes will actually be this world’s zeroes. It’s not too late to become one, a zhero.

After spending three days at Soularize with emerging Christians, I was overwhelmed with the sense that it’s time to jump the curve. "Jumping the curve means leaving one stage of development for another....it involves leaving the comfort and familiarity of the old world of conventional wisdom, processes, traditions, leadership styles and products.....If that were not intimidating enough, those who do jump will find that the next curve does not even exist yet. In fact, it is being created by the leaders who are in the very process of guiding their organizations through "midair" the gap between today's fading epoch and the demands of the new era that is still unsettled and in evolution"[xviii] As I read the New Testament, I became aware that Jesus jumped the curve and He expects the same from His those who called by His name.

Again, this article is not an attempt to be cute, creative or cocky. It’s an invitation to join in the dialog about emerging Christianity. It is my prayer that He has spoken to you somewhere within the body of this verbiage and that you are called to your knees. Soularize reminded me of the response of the Israelites to the challenge of Nehemiah: "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work.”[xix]

I will close with the words of Tony Campolo, “Being a Christian isn’t just believing in God and being good. It involves a commitment to change the world. Christians are expected to be part of a movement that will make the world that is, into the world that ought to be.”[xx]

Bibliography & Notes

NOTE: The quotes used in this article have been selected to amplify the points this author is making. The use of these citations does not represent any sort of agreement between the parties regarding the points I attempt to illustrate. Readers are encouraged to read the works of the authors cited in their entirety and draw their own conclusions.

[iii] Burke, Spencer with Colleen Pepper, Making Sense of Church – Eavesdropping on Emerging Conversations about God, Community and Culture, emergent YS Books - Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI Copyright © 2003 by emergent YS p.87.

[xiv] McLaren, Brian & Campolo, Tony Advetures in Missing the Point – How the Culture Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel, emergent YS Books - Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI Copyright © 2003 by Youth Specialties p. 242.

[xviii] Imparto, Nicholas and Harai, Oren Jumping The Curve – Innovation and Strategic Choice in an Age of Transition, Jossey-Bass Publishers San Francisco Copyright © 1994 and 1996 by Jossey-Bass, Inc., Publishers, p.74.

[xix] NIV - Nehemiah 2:18

[xx] Campolo, Tony You Can Make A Difference – High Voltage Living in a Burned-Out World, W Publishing Group, A Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. Copyright © 1984 by Anthony Campolo. Revised Edition 2003. p. viii.