The Inorganic Church

I have to be honest, I’m totally late and groggy when it comes to organic food. My wife’s is adamantly organic in our food choices and for the most part I haven’t really cared. Often times when it comes to food for me, ignorance is bliss. The other night we cuddled up and watched a short documentary on PBS called the “Botany of Desire.” The show highlighted the practices of genetically engineered potatoes that are created to meet the demands of french fry suppliers in America. It attempted to explain the unintended consequences of speeding up the process of growing potatoes. After thinking about the documentary a bit I realized I’m adamantly organic but in a very different arena. When it comes to the building and growing of a church community I get a bit bothered by the “genetic engineering” taking place on a large scale.

1.To launch a church “Big” many try to engineer numerical growth by appealing to immediate gratification. This is done using overstatements about what God’s doing. I just received marketing material for a church plant that hasn’t even launched yet and their marketing already says a “significant movement of God” is happening. I find this inauthentic and an attempt to engineer excitement. This kind of speech really turns off the post-christian who is looking for transparent, no cliche, around-the-table, earthy community. The pursuit of doing things in culturally "big" ways has had unintended consequences on the DNA of average Christians. What most see as "big" really isn't what God sees as big; new building campaigns vs invasive home hospitality, thousands of dollars raised for big missional impact vs spending your hard earned time with real live needy people, preaching that produces altar call decisions for Christ vs living missionally amongst your neighbors while realizing evangelism takes a long, long time.

2. To make people feel God is blessing "our" church leaders, lean on the engineering of dynamic musical worship. From one of the fastest growing evangelical churches their website touts “come experience worship that will leave you speechless,” “God show’s up and leaves us in awe.” This kind of engineering declares what God feels like when he shows up. But this American interpretation of how God shows up unintentionally creates addicts for visible blessing they can see on a Sunday. But Post-Christians are aching and longing for a God who shows up without fanfare and promotional slogans. Funny thing, that’s exactly how God showed up when He finally came to earth in Jesus; vulnerable, humble and relational. Why not stick with this approach?

3. To grow people spiritually, churches attempt to engineer discipleship through expert run programs. Efficiency has replaced effectiveness. We’ve created a corporate Wall Street like church. In businesses, it’s about moving people from A to B as fast as possible, but has nothing to do with making people. Typically we have one charismatic guy with the vision and a culture of volunteerism to help that one guy get his vision accomplished. It’s the genius with a 1000 helpers. So while churches may claim to have “leadership or discipleship development programs,” what they really have are “volunteer pipelines” that are run by managers. Many churches are organizationally efficient, but aren’t affecting the lives of people the way in which Jesus imagined an organic family would. Living breathing people are formed in the context of shared life. The more we share life, counsel, time, truth and trust together in close proximity the more our Jesus-way rubs off on each other. Maybe in the engineered discipleship mode we run the campus well but don't create apprentices of Jesus. We’re keeping the machine of the church running but doing practically nothing to move the Kingdom into the cracks and crevices of our neighborhoods.

For me, staying disciplined to organic church practices is tough. Everything and everyone seems to be screaming for a quick return, a loud impact and an emotionally unbelievable experience you can brag about. I do not want the demand to drive how Axiom Church farms. I am convinced the engineering techniques the church unquestionably applies has created pew sitters that live their spiritual life through vicarious means. We’ve created producers instead of gardeners.

The Pursuit of Humility

A few years ago on personal retreat at a cabin I set out to catch some moles in the garden of my heart. I was not at rest going into that beautiful cabin with a warm and raging fireplace. I was anxious and unsure what God was doing in me and through me. After a couple days of digging I sensed the Holy Spirit setting a new agenda for me to live into. This new agenda was concerning my own humility or lack of. Inspired by Peter Scazzaro and Henri Nowen’s writing’s the following was what I wrote down in my journal. New tracks were being layed down for my character; humility does not come naturally so it must be an intentional pursuit. I revisit this journal entry quite often to refresh my focus on pursuing humility.

The Pursuit of Humility

1 – Recalibrate under God’s acceptance more than seeking acceptance from others – I’ve often felt the pull to be measured and valued by my skill level, my charm, the strength of my knowledge, my accomplishments and whether people agree with me. My Application: In response I will massage into my life a rhythm of solitude and space where I intentionally seek to be still, recalibrate with God, vent, and listen to what He says about me. I don’t study in these times. I purpose to sit still for a long period of time. Once a year I go to a monastery to have a few extra days to reclaim my emotional status before God. To be honest this is a gear grinding discipline for me since I’m an ADD type dude.

2 – Live in transparency and authenticity – I’ve noticed if I keep enough space people begin to idolize me and assume I’m a spiritual giant without doubts, fears, honest struggle and insecurities (this is one of the reasons we won’t podcast our sermons at Axiom). My Application: Be more regular in my teaching and counseling to mix in “this is how I’ve blown it”. In my closest relationships initiate sharing my present fears, doubts, struggles and discouragements even if for a moment that someone thinks I’m a weaker pastor because of it.

3 – Be willing to subject myself to authority – I’m a rebel by nature so I’d rather be independent. My Application: seek to submit to someone even if you don’t agree with everything they are about.

4 – Don’t injure those who inflict harm on you – The drive to retaliate in some way is in all of us, it feels powerful. I do this by talking slightly negative about someone who has wronged me. The last thing I want in my soul is bitterness that creates a cynical, disillusioned outlook on life. My Application: I’ve embraced a life principle of not seeking justice for the ways in which people treat me but only for the injustices done to another. This one frustrates my wife sometimes. She says “I wish you would defend yourself.” Thomas Aquinas said “To desire the good of another” was the definition of loving our enemies.

5 – Speak Less (with more restraint) – Its easy for me to think my opinion needs to be shared because I have one. It’s also a temptation to talk instead of actively listening. My Application: Hold my tongue for as long as I can. Tell myself I’m not the smartest one in the room. Validate what someone is saying first before I express my thoughts on a subject. Don’t talk over someone else. “The wise are known for their few words.”

6 - Be deeply aware of being chief of all sinners - After 15 years of successful ministry, a healthy marriage and family and 100's of hours of study it is a serious temptation to compare myself to the brokenness in others and think “I’ve got a lot over them.” My Application: Reflect concretely; reciting my sins, secret motives, ugly thoughts and heartless dispositions before God by writing them down in my journal to see them.

7 - Think in terms of serving instead of leadership - As a pastor, power and status are a currency that stirs up ugly stuff in me. My Application: Work to prop others up by coaching them to influence. Deflect attention sent my way towards others achievements and worth. Recount in front of others what other people are doing right. Lead in such a way that those you are leading believe they discovered change on their own. Don’t seek to take credit for ministry I’ve done,

8. Lean into conflict instead shying away from it. - When someone in my community has a problem with me sometimes it makes me nauseous other times it make me defensive. I've found that self-righteousness and arrogance breeds in me when I avoid a person who has hurt me.My Application: Don't let the awkwardness linger. Don't wallow in self pity and don't allow myself the lazy space to mentally rip them apart. Seek out a cup of coffee with that someone who I think has a problem with me. Ask them point blank "have I done something to offend you?".

Some stuff I’ll be working on for a long time. Thoughts?

Am I Going Crazy?

I hear the voices and I hear the questions. Is this guy crazy? Has he gone over the edge? Some background; my family and a team of other crazies have gone for broke to plant a missional church in the heart of the city of Syracuse. We see the world through unique eyes - seeing visions of a community that could be, when most people look and see nothing. Church planters, in my experience, straddle that fine line between being legitimately crazy and unequivocally called by God. Craziness and calledness often times look remarkably similar. Whenever I meet or hear of a new church planter, my first response is to question whether or not they are crazy or called. And as I continue to follow Jesus down this road, I am beginning to realize that people now must be thinking the same thing of me, “Is this guy crazy? Or is God actually up to something out there in Syracuse?

I don’t know if it will make anyone feel any better, but I’m asking the same question of myself pretty regularly. I know that church plants are failing at an alarming rate - over 80%. For every success story, there are many more stories of failure that will cause you to lose sleep at night. Even the success stories can be frightening! It’s amazing what people have to go through and sacrifice in order to birth a vibrant Christian community. Knowing these things takes away the ’sex appeal’ of church planting pretty quickly and forces you to take honest inventory of the questions, “Am I called? or Am I crazy?” “Am I equipped or Am I arrogant?” And quite honestly the only answer I can come up with is that I think I’m crazy enough to respond to the calling.

On top of taking the plunge to plant a church in the middle of one the least Christian cities in the country, we’ve also decided to birth it quite differently. We are opting out of modern church growth strategies of marketing campaigns, critical mass methods, production oriented worship services and appeals to people already enamored with churchy stuff. True to what God has been doing deep within me for years, we are forging our church through some very odd means and even to some, odd theology. But we have faith.

For a couple of years, I’ve held off taking the plunge because there was no way I would ever believe that God was calling me. The looming potential of failure can quite possibly make me pee my pants. But I have since come to grips with the fact that God’s economy is a bit different from mine. Success will not be found in how fast and furious we grow numerically or whether we gain credibility amongst the Christian community. Success is found in an obedient heart and adaptability to God’s vision. So this whole thing is a Divine experiment in obedience and adaptability for me. You may think I’m crazy, but I think I’m getting used to it.

Easily Offended

The greatest leaders I know are not easily offended. Instead, they practice the habit of overlooking offenses. They purpose not to brew on how they’ve been wronged or treated unfairly. There is something that clicks inside our heart when we let the feeling of offense take over. It clouds our judgment and causes us to lead out of frustration. I know from experience the world of conversations we can create in our head. We begin mulling over our possible responses, comebacks, and ways in which we will reclaim our reputation.

About 3 years ago I was convicted that I had not been practicing the spiritual discipline of taking the high road. Being offended is a choice. Every leader should own this verse: "The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression." (Proverbs 19:11)

There are certainly times when it is legitimate to be angry. The Apostle Paul says, "Be angry, and do not sin" (Ephesians 4:26). Anger can be a valid response to something that is wrong. But it can quickly become toxic—not only for those to whom we direct it but also for ourselves. This is why the Apostle James admonishes us to be "slow to anger" (James 1:19, 20).

Between the stimulus and the response is the power to choose. This is precisely what makes us human. We don't have to respond with like fire. I desire to be a leader that leads out of “stillness and quiet.” This requires a new conversation to be mulled over in my head “I belong to God, He is my defender, I belong to God, He is my defender.” I am convinced that righteous anger and being offended should be reserved for the “other” in my life. I am compelled as a leader to look out for the weak, the abused, the manipulated, the lonely, the trampled on and the unloved. I hold my fire for advocating for others.

Jesus modeled the same in his journey to the cross. It says in Colossians 2:15 that "Jesus made a public spectacle of the power and authorities.” A natural question would be; how did he do that when we was the one naked, whipped, lied about, mocked and hung? Because Holy love always wins in God’s economy.

Book Review #1: Launching Missional Communities

About 3 weeks ago I stumbled upon a resource that couldn’t have dropped out of the sky at a better time. In our church plant in Syracuse we have been forging a new model of church in the heart of the city. Our growing launch team has been training under the radar for the last few months, diligently deconstructing and then reassembling a fresh biblical take on the Story of God. I’ve been committed to this tedious, sometimes painful and sometimes awkward process. I’ve felt for a long time the epic truths about why God launched the “human project” on this earth, how we participate in it daily and where everything is going is lost on most people who call themselves Christians. This overarching narrative should dominate our church life and conversations as followers of Jesus. Instead, for most Christians being a Christian is about avoiding sin, doing your quiet time, raising safe Christians kids and serving the programs of the church; which somehow all adds up to glorifying God. At Axiom we challenge that quite a bit.

A piece of reassembling what God is about and has always been about is seeing the thread of community throughout the scriptures. God is communal. He has passionately pursued sharing with His "human project" the implementation of His great hopes for this world. He has consistently elected gatherings of people to partner with Him in the mission or renewal, justice, order and rescue. He called Israel and now the Church to partner with Him to spread His shalom and holy love in His world. Community is at the center of the effectiveness of this mission. Community is a failure if the end result is our personal friendship needs being met. Supernatural Community is about joining God together in being Priest’s in this world.

So the practical question is how do the people of God; work together, play together, eat together, share life together, do justice together, digest His Word together, love their neighbors, welcome the stranger together for the sake of building for the Kingdom of God? I personally do not thank the traditional model of church wrestles with that question well. At Axiom Church we have been ardent about grinding out a model of doing church that creates space for authentic missional community. We are not content in owning the cliche of saying we have community because we have a few small groups and a place to serve n the church.

As we’ve been swimming in this divine experiment of figuring out what church looks like with a communal ethos at the core, its been hard to find tried and tested resources. I’ve read a truck-load of theory books on community over the years but could not find authors who were working communal driven models out in real-time. That was until I bumped into a book from two U.K. guys called "Launching Missional Communities: A Field Guide" by Mike Breen and Alex Absalom. This book is straight up, undiluted practice on how to frame church around missionality and community. Over the next few weeks I’m going to blog/review my way through it. So far this book has been packed full of treasures. I’ve already been marking up my copy so much it looks like I’ve lost my mind. Church planters like me who are fending off traditional launch plans packed with dollars, buildings, and numbers crave content like “Launching Missional Communities”. Check back as I tear through this puppy and see what goodies are translatable to 'Cuse.

Sometimes God Pushes Pause.

I remember about 9 years ago I was counseling a young married couple through some difficult stuff in their marriage. We had been meeting for about 2 months and were coming to the end of our sessions together. There was a significant moment when in closing both the husband and wife said “Dan you saved our marriage, we couldn’t have done this without you.” I recall that statement and the feeling that rushed over me and I liked it… too much. The power of being needed and being the only source of help was intoxicating. Little did I know but that moment kicked off a year of private ego stroking and a pursuit of more opportunities where I could be the spiritual hero. It wasn’t until the end of that year that God graciously pushed the pause button on me. I hate pause. I like to keep moving, keep going to get to the next part. But God is less concerned with getting us to the next sequence. True to His character he is more concerned with the state of our heart.

I was tempted to blow past the pause God wanted me to take. I thought I was doing fine up to that point. But God wanted me to stop all the action and movement. When I honestly decided to cooperate with God’s spirit, he exposed in me the sticky tar of ”being needed and essential” that had gunked up my heart and motives.

This wasn’t something I was warned about in my pastoral training. I didn’t hear about this sly temptation that would steal away my pure love for serving others and turn it into food for my needy identity. Actually I was taught to have the answers, fix people’s problems and help free people up; all the while perched on my place of spiritual authority. Something so formulaic and seemingly Biblical was actually making me less internally formed by Jesus. My identity and sense of value was rooting itself in compliments and who I was to the people I was leading. Then I stumbled upon a book by Brennan Manning titled “Abba’s Child”. That treasure of a book came from God’s hand at the right time in my life.

The most searing chapter was titled “the imposter”. It tore right through my layers and pulled into the light a hungry ego I was nurturing through outwardly holy means. Funny thing is it was robbing me of true intimacy with Jesus. I think I had convinced myself I was close with God because I was having a regular “quiet time” and God was proud of me because of it. But I started to see my own masks, pretenses and outward displays of saintliness for what they were… smoke screens that covered who I truly was. Nine years ago God’s careful hand broke me. The core of my discovery was about how I identified myself.

God created us to draw life from his Son and how he sees us rather than compliments and good opinions from even the most well intended stranger. I still have to revisit this elementary but recalibrating truth; “I am in the beloved and Abba Father sees me for who I really am and still offers me unconditional love. I am who I am because of God’s love for me not because of what I can do for you or how I am seen by you.” Wanting to be needed, or to be the hero, or be the spiritual authority is a bottom line issue of acceptance that builds a weak identity.

Some tell tale signs that you might be leading or serving out of a false sense of identity are:
1. Being easily offended or defensive when your opinion is not well received
2. Being quick to take the upper hand in a conversation
3. Needing to be acknowledged for your significant role in someone’s life
4. Convincing yourself you can fix someone’s life if you were given control
5. Seeing your counsel as coming directly from God

Is God pushing the pause button on you?

Leading From a Still Soul

Leadership is often viewed by the masses as an opportunity to move people in a certain direction or to accomplish a certain task with a group. The end goal is often about being productive. Within the church that productivity translates into equipping people to do the work of the ministry. As a leader inside the organized church for the last decade there is a sly temptation upon my soul. You see, being a visionary and a strategist I want to see us climb mountains, grow stuff, step over blockades and mission new frontiers but the temptation to lead and respond from a dark place in my soul is always there.

With people comes opposition, negative feedback, vision confusion, obstinate attitudes, slowness in retention and straight up personal critique. These often feel like arrows at our identity, our mission, our calling and our leadership proficiency. So the natural tendency is to steamroll over people who voice concern or to demonize them in our mind as “against us”. It’s easy to see people who slow us down or call our methods into question as obstacles in the way of the mission.

That’s why I’m slightly (emphasis on slightly) uncomfortable with using the war motif in association with doing ministry. There is a lot of pontificating going on in literature that frames ministry in battle terms. If we are honest this approach appeals to baseline impulses in us to defend ourselves and respond out of anxiety and anger.

Leadership challenges offer souls sessions or clear opportunities to face our real selves and to navigate why we are triggered by opposition, feedback, confusion, questions, and critique. It is convenient to blame, shame, get defensive, become argumentative and squash the reasoning and case presented to us by a brother or sister in Christ. The dark place in our soul screams “they are rejecting you,” “your incompetent,” “your useless,” “your better than them,” “no one understands you,” and “they’re not with you”. These emotions, thoughts and knee jerk reactions then become part of the self-concept and the “lens” through which we lead others. It leads to all kinds of gross misinterpretations and assumptions. Inconsequentially it becomes very hard to hold onto high caliber leaders and to woo people to follow you into unknown kingdom territories.

Leading out of stillness is a spiritual discipline and a probably the most important homework for a pastor/leader to press into.

A Key Issue in the Church of the Future.

Check out this short but great little article on Multi Ethnic Churches.
The Theology of Multi-Ethnic Church | Out of Ur | Conversations for Ministry Leaders

The America we live is quickly becoming and is a mash up country of different cultures. How do we build a kingdom community where ethnic preferences collide. Does one ethnicity have a trump card? This has great implications on worship styles, leadership approaches and family structures. To me the most obvious effect of ethnic diversity is on what kind of hermeneutic we use when reading the scriptures.

It's important to understand that around the globe people read very differently; they interpret, apply and ask different questions than white westerners do. Truth is defined differently around the globe and the globe is at our doorstep. In the West we are Rationalist, asking "can we argue this, then it must be true", in the North of the globe they are often Pragmatics asking "will this work, then it must be true", in the East they are Renewalists asking will it bring change, then it must be true" and in the South they are Communalists asking "is it good for all us, then it must be true". The American church of the future will have very different challenges if it wants to be hospitable in its mission to the cultures around us.

Mr. Insecurity

I felt compelled to be a little transparent with my ongoing story in this entry, as I’m hoping God will use it to encourage someone to lean into Jesus Christ with authenticity and lay hold of him to find their stability.

I’m 33 and entering another phase of life. I’ve had a few realizations this last week about how radical of a transition I’m in, not just because I’m in the process of planting a church for the first time but more because of the quiet deeper work God is doing in me. When I was 15 I remember the daily struggle and internal wrestling of trying to figure out who I was amidst the sea of teens fighting for their identity in school; jocks, druggies, players, churchy-types, goths, and loners. I remember the constant wonderment “where do I fit, am I any of those things?” Insecurity and identity has been a lifelong theme and a point of spiritual work in my life. I remember buckling under the pressure once as the quarterback in high school during a key game. The overwhelming eyes and expectations to be a star, to lead the team, to wow everybody caused me to fold and even look like I forgot how to throw the football. I’ve been a youth pastor for 14 years now, traveled throughout NY/PA as a speaker and counseled many marriages and families into health. You’d think I’d find my confidence by now. I’ve read great books “Abba’s Child” by Brennan Manning, Henri Nouwen on identity in Christ, went through great counseling, received spiritual warfare but that disposition of self-assurance still seems to allude me. It surprises people that I wrestle with this but I still feel like that adolescent sometimes. I’ve actually had a passing thought over the years that this insecurity is a curse or a thorn in my flesh given to me by God, I’m not really sure that’s my reality but either way I thought it.

As I’m planting this church, knowing full well God has downloaded this vision into my being, I still wobble a little with fear that I will buckle under the expectations. My internal ongoing discipline is to wash my mind over with the truth that “I don’t have to fit in or live up to others expectations but instead I’m God’s beloved, his workmanship and I’m secure in him.” As I look at the ministry and dynamic kingdom work I’ve enjoyed I can’t help but see that the wind of God’s spirit has been at my back pushing me along and giving me progressive victory with what I’ve put my hands to.

I’ve always been a bit of an odd lad choosing to make my own way, pick up a little of this and little of that and then diving in to carve out a new path with excitement but trailing 2 steps behind me has always been Mr. Insecurity. I think this is why I’ve always found 1 and 2 Timothy so appropriate for me. Timothy is a young leader, struggling with confidence in the face of great challenges, older men and a new work. I’d like to think I’m more rooted in Christ than I’ve ever been, Colossians says “hidden in Christ”. I know one thing is true: it’s the only hope for this recovering 15 year old.

Clearing Space for the Gospel: Part 1

The gospel needs room, room to breathe. We don’t realize it sometimes but we can gradually suffocate the gospel’s power in our lives and in our church communities. It happens ever so slowly. The centrality of what Jesus Christ did, began, said and accomplished can be scootched to the perimeter of our spiritual life without us being aware of it. In my assessment I don’t think we intentionally take something that is at the center of our lives and move it aggressively to the back corner of our lives. In most cases something else subtly begins to take center stage and whatever was there before finds that it doesn’t have space anymore and so vacates the center. In the next few blogs I want to briefly converse about 3 different agendas (politics, moralism and pragmatism) that end up crowding out the power and life of the Gospel in a church or in an individual life.

For this post let’s look at political agendas.
There is an interesting back story to Judas the betrayer. Judas was a rich man and an active member of the Zealot Political Party of the Jews. This political party was advocating for the forceful removal of the Romans out of Israel. This Zealot Party believed that when the trumpet sounded and the Messiah returned to reclaim His thrown He would over throw Rome in an epic battle. Zealot’s where known for carrying their sword with them at all times to be ready for the Jewish take back that the Messiah would begin. So here is Judas following Jesus around for three years, listening to His every teaching about the coming kingdom. What Judas and the majority of the disciples where hoping and expecting Jesus to do, was over throw the Roman Empire for the glory of God and the reinstallment of the Chosen People to their rightful place. Judas wasn’t only expecting and preparing for this, his theology was fused with his political fire. Hence the problem when Jesus refused to be a political leader. Jesus gradually aired out His agenda to inaugurate and establish a different type of kingdom that was supernatural. Judas was let down. He felt tricked and then we know how the rest of the story goes.

This is a perfect example of a political agenda crowding out the real gospel. Let me get practical and pointed about the application. I know and meet many believers who are wrapped up in the current political environment. They see that every twist, every news flash, every law passed or not passed somehow has grave implications for Christianity in America. Be careful. Jesus agenda is not our earthly agenda. His approach, strategy and kingdom way is not glued nor tied to the political landscape. When we look at Jesus tactic of bringing about his beautiful and glorious kingdom it’s quite backwards. Instead of a power-over move, what I mean by that is; instead of getting a position or leverage that comes with authority or gaining a louder voice in the culture, Jesus went the route of power-under; sacrifice, humility, and fierce servant love (Phil 2:1-11). That is a completely different politic. Kingdoms of the world seek to acquire and exercise power-over others, whereas Jesus incarnated and demonstrated a kingdom that advances by exercising power-under people.

Let me reign in my A.D.D. and get back to the original point about the gospel slowly being crowded out. When we become ravenous, amped up and are searching for any political breakthrough we may not realize it but the true, undiluted Gospel of Jesus Christ gets less attention, thought, treasuring and in turn, less of a role in our life. Whenever we get too close to any political or national ideology, it is disastrous for the church and for the clarity of what God is all about. The Gospel becomes no longer central. You see the Gospel needs room to breathe, no competition in its sole position in our hearts, lives and churches. It requires us to clear out space.

For deeper reading on this check > "The Jesus Driven Life" by Michael Hardin & "Myth of a Christian Nation" by Gregory Boyd