The Church | Black Coffee Reflections

Violence in the M.E. – Let’s Make a Movie Part 2 – Responding to the Polite Push-backs

September 24, 2012 by Tim Leave a Comment

In my previous post, I suggested that Christians make a documentary “Open-Letter” style movie to Muslims in the Middle East in an effort to seek forgiveness, reconciliation and peacemaking.

Like many blogs, there are a number of hits but only a few comments. The ones I receive are generally positive (which I am grateful for) and the push backs that I get are usually from my friends in the form of emails or conversations (which I am grateful for as well). But it does make it a bit more challenging to facilitate conversation here so I asked permission to share a few thoughts in response to the push backs. I hope I communicate them clearly and fairly.

The first is “Let the Arab world take care of itself …. In fact, whenever America (or the West) gets involved, we’ve added further hurt and done more damage.”

This is problematic for me on a number of levels.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Culture, Reflective, The Church

Responding to the Violence in the Middle East – Let’s Make a Movie

September 21, 2012 by Tim 2 Comments

Between the busyness of the ministry fall launch, my thoughts have been pre-occupied by the violence in the Middle East in response to the offensive YouTube movie The Innocence of Muslims.

Today, I find myself reading news of the violence in Pakistan that is said to be in response to this film and now it’s almost two since weeks since the murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others in the American Consulate in Benghazi and I find myself wondering what should/could be down about this.

Every time I see an angry demonstration in the Middle East, I think the following things:
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Culture, Reflective, The Church Tagged With: Ambassador Chris Stevens, The Innocence of Muslims

Church Programs – “Is This Stuff Really Worth It?”

September 14, 2012 by Tim 1 Comment

Intended Primary Audience – Church ministry types, vocational, non-, bi-, and all who labor for the Kingdom.

As church staffs, ministries and calendars are gearing up for the respective fall launches and kick-offs, just about every September I ask myself in exhaustion something similar to what so many other ministry-types ask, “Is this stuff really worth it?”

There’s the mad rush to find volunteers, the countless emails, the meetings, the copier that gets jammed, the complaints, the apathy, and the overly-excited folks which leaves you wondering if you can deliver up to their high expectations, therefore making them future complaints. It’s ridiculous to say out loud, there’s the fear of punishment with shame (“This is not only your job, but your calling“), and so many do not vocalize this until they have their foot out the door.

You hear a lot of complaining about “programs.” That word has been the whipping “individual” (this blog is politically correct) for missionals, emergents, neo-reformed, youth ministry types, and anyone disenchanted or overworked in the Church. We say things like we should be more about people than programs. And it’s easy to agree with a statement like that. We talk about over-programming. We talk about Purpose Driven Church (Purpose not programs!). We talk about Simple Church (Simpler Programs!) We say Jesus didn’t have any programs but we create dozens of them based on a pattern of ministry. (Groups of 12, pairs, inner circles of 4 and then there’s Acts 2, Pauline models, etc).

If we look at most church websites, we see a variety of ministries, “programs” with descriptions that some times promise more than a presidential candidate. “Come to Thirst/Fountain/Oasis/The Well ;) and the Bible will finally make sense to you!” (For the record, I teach a ministry called Oasis so know I’m poking fun of myself too.)

Be fair though, if you click on a church website and don’t see any ministries, you might assume that they are not doing much outside of their Sunday morning worship service. And frankly, for most, I’d say that’s a fair assumption.

Like it or not,
Small groups is a program.
Simple Church is a program.
Churches meeting in bars, living rooms, coffee shops, abandoned dealerships in the heart of the city offering presence-centered incarnational redemption to the community, is a program.

I like a lot of these things – One of my main responsibilities is supporting small groups, I liked the Simple Church concepts that Rainer and Geiger helped us work through, I like pub church gatherings and value incarnational ministry.

But we have to admit, some of this is quite semanticical (that’s a word right?). And while we generally mean the same thing – all these things are programs because we are dealing with numbers of people. And groups of people need organization. They need a dedicated time and place needs to be organized. Volunteers need to be found (we do rightfully criticize if everything is professionally run), but that means these volunteers need to be vetted and if they work with children, they need background checks, and it there are not enough, there needs to be a rotation schedule, which requires a spreadsheet, database and an email chain. Curriculum, worship elements, service opportunities, refreshments, I could go on and on but in some form or another, this is a program. Especially if you do this with any type of regularity.

The problem with programs is that they tend to take a life of their own. They tend to become a ministry monster, gobbling up attenders, volunteers, the staff, resources, and time. It can be a very hungry and insatiable creature. When it becomes untamable, we fight back and look to pull the plug, resolving that programs are a terrible idea and we should avoid them.

Those who are faithful to their local church can feel overwhelmed and taken for granted by the needs of the program. Those who are new to a church or on the fringes can have an “impersonal” experience because of the program. Regardless of where one is coming from, often many will express, “This place is fake – it doesn’t care about people – only about _____ (the blank is filled with “numbers” or “money” or “being known as the cool church”, etc. ).

The one thing that every program has is people. If ministry is not centered on people than its doomed to be “successful” in any Kingdom sense – we all know this. But “programs” can be a beautiful experience of the Christian faith IF …

… they are truly Christ-centered. However the purpose is stated, if it’s more about following Jesus than “keeping the kids happy” or “giving adults a break from the stress of life”, it will have long term life-giving Christian potential.

… there is opportunity for authentic Christian community. Not just Christians socializing and mingling with other Christians, we’re talking sharing in the experience and mission of the gospel message together.

… there is commitment from all aspects. Anytime the commitment pendulum swings too much to one side for too long, resentment builds and the ministry lags.

It’s so important that we ask ourselves why are we doing what we are doing. Especially during the craziness of launching the fall “programs.” Lives have changed and more can. It’s good that we are seeing that we can do better. It’s good that we are critiquing (hopefully ourselves too). And in some ways, it’s good that we are hustling hard to get done what needs to be done.

One of the lessons that I am learning in the large church model is there are so many different types of people and we need many different types of churches of all sizes and methodologies. Regardless of what context we find ourselves in, what we do matters to each other.

It’s essential that we ask the questions regarding sustainability, mission effectiveness and make paradigm changing decisions but if we are waiting for the perfect ministry model, we’re going to not only find our that our ministries struggling but we will also squander our God-given callings and opportunities.

Are church programs worth it? Well, depending on how you unpack that – yes.

Wishing all those laboring a Christ-filled year.

Filed Under: Reflective, The Church

Reflecting on our Presidential Elections Post 1 – The Post-Conversation

September 2, 2012 by Tim Leave a Comment

Our Presidential election campaigns are the main subjects of conversations, both in person and in social media. The Republican National Convention just wrapped up and now the Democratic National Convention is about to begin. I’m going out on the limb here but I’m predicting that there’s going to be a lot of trash-talk and things are going to get even uglier on both sides (and all sides).

In past posts, I generally insist that as people who have passionate convictions, we still need to come together and dialogue. There is so much great potential in sitting down with another and discussing our differences and our similarities. It’s not just that we [Read more…]

Filed Under: Reflective, The Church Tagged With: Presidential elections

The Willow Creek Leadership Summit Post 1 – After 20 Years, Willow Is Growing On Me

August 21, 2012 by Tim 2 Comments

Grace Chapel was a host site for the Willow Creek Leadership Summit that took place August 9-10. They’ve been part of this for a number of years and it’s a great development opportunity for our staff, our attenders and many pastors and lay people in the Greater Boston area. I kept hearing how people were really looking forward to the Summit and by the time it rolled around, I found myself getting excited about it too. But as I was sitting in our sanctuary, I couldn’t help but reflect on my evolving impressions of Willow Creek.

I remember one night back in high school my dad and I were watching tv and a feature on Willow Creek came on one of those Nightline or 20/20 shows. I remembered thinking a church that looked more like a theater was a great idea, incorporating drama was cool and Hybels came off looking much better than most evangelicals/televangelists tend to do – I was interested. Willow was huge by then but in the early 90’s, it was just coming on the national scene (or at least on my personal radar). They became the thing but like all big things, there was a flip side. It was half-way through being an undergrad that I could no longer handle the term “seeker-sensitive” and about where I got off the WC/Hybels boat. Between the celebritism of Hybels/Ortberg, the hype created by the countless other churches that were now Willow-like, the Association and a couple of friends I knew from college who had various experiences there, I got “Willowed-Out.”

Then I got John-Maxwelled-out and read Hybel’s Courageous Leadership, went to a couple a simulcasts of the Leadership Summits and while I enjoyed parts/aspects of them, I couldn’t really do any more. During my first few years of ministry, I was leery of just about everything. There was the Purpose-Driven Life books, resources, calendar, mugs, coasters ,and … ;) There was also the Prayer of Jabez merch line, the Left Behind series was the fundamentalist Hunger Games. I avoided the CBD Catalog the way I avoid mall on weekends.

Now some of this was where I was personally, some of it was the sub-culture, some of it was bad marketing but I identified Willow as a part of all that. I’m not sure I knew enough to take issue with Willow and while it would take some time to learn this language, I would now say “they” represented the attractional model that so many churches wanted to imitate and my feeling was, “That’s great for them, you/we are not them …”

That started to shift for me a few years ago when I attended a Summit in Wyckoff (thanks for hosting Cornerstone). Then even more so, I started paying attention to WC when they put out their Reveal series as I found myself appreciating their humility and was very interested in their findings. The Post-Christian culture caught up with them and their insights are helpful to the North American Church as a whole. It’s been since the Reveal series that I’ve been most interested in the Summit and again, I found myself excited for this year.

Bill led off with a long, semi-self-depracacting story of him grilling the Thanksgiving turkey and accidentally leaving the grill on for 7 weeks. This opening illustration served as a fairly accurate microcosm for the rest of his presentation. He incorporates great story-telling features (context, the problem, the proposed solution, complication, suspense, etc.) reveals his strengths (all leaders have some), his weaknesses (all leaders have some), he’s both relatable and unrelateable but he’s being himself so that’s good, and then finally offers a conclusion that is both satisfying, humorous, and for the most part, insightful. I think it’s fair to say that’s how the remainder of his hour went and I was happy to listen.

I found myself warming up to Bill, talents, faults, humor, wisdom and all. Scattered between his main points were context fillers like when he admitted that Willow Creek is finally using Alpha and that the tongue-and-cheek reason they hadn’t before was because they hadn’t created it – so they didn’t use it. I don’t know how Alpha people felt about that, I thought it was funny, a bit sad, but revealing.

I also loved the story of the guy who lived so close to Willow Creek that he lost his cat on the church property and told Bill that he mistakingly thought it was a community college campus. I’m not exactly sure why Bill decided to include these points in his message, I don’t believe they were birthed out of any false sense of humility. Instead, I think this is very consistent with the background context of the Reveal study (and I speculate that this story actually happened quite some time ago). It’s the perfect illustration for the short-comings of a strictly attractional model and the need for the church to be missional – the community simply doesn’t care to know who you are – you might as well be a local community college.

Hybels spoke for at least an hour (no countdown clock like Q Ideas ;), shared Willow’s plan of succession with candor and openness (not specifics but the process), gave a couple of his classic leadership insights and themes (like his 6X6 plan) and got the Summit off to a solid start.

I’ll mention more later but I did love the diversity of the presenters, ethnically and the different organizational sectors they represented. While Willow is not the most natural environment for me, I did appreciate so much of what they’ve been doing and couldn’t help but think how much this ministry has grown on me these last few years. Grateful that our church could be a part of this, hoping to post more soon.

If you are interested in attending the Summit next year and live near Lexington, MA – join us – the date is August 8-9, 2013. In the meantime, you can learn more at http://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership

Filed Under: Conferences/Events, Leadership, The Church Tagged With: Bill Hybels, Leadership, Willow Creek Leadership Summit

Reflecting on the Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day A Week Later – Post 3

August 13, 2012 by Tim Leave a Comment

I concluded Post 2 by mentioning I would respond to a couple of the pushbacks I received and then I’ll finish this little series with my suggestion of what Chick-Fil-A could do now. So it’s said, I appreciate how polite those responding have been. I’ve received texts, emails, FB messages, and a DM with various thoughts – all have been gracious, which isn’t always the case in the blogosphere. As always feel free to reply somehow or comment below but thanks for keeping it all so classy.

The first was on what do I think Dan Cathy should have said? Before I go further, if this is the first time reading this series, [Read more…]

Filed Under: Culture, Reflective, The Church Tagged With: Chick-Fil-A, Dan Cathy, homosexuality, Mike Huckabee, Social Justice, The Church

Reflecting on the Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day A Week Later – Post 2

August 9, 2012 by Tim 4 Comments

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, though it’s been a week later since Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day, I’m still processing.

This whole Chick-Fil-A scene affirms the position of the futility of the Christian engaged in the “culture war.” Last Wednesday, “taking a stand”, ordering a chicken sandwich and setting a sales record galvanized countless people. But at the same time, it hurt countless others, those within our community and those outside. The point is simple, If the Church truly desires to reach out in love, the culture war is the wrong approach.

I know some are eager to point out that “the truth hurts” and so forth and I get all that. This is ever more reason that the culture war [Read more…]

Filed Under: Culture, Reflective, The Church Tagged With: Chick-Fil-A, Culture, Dan Cathy, homosexuality, Mike Huckabee, Reflective, Social Justice, The Church

My Review of A Faith of Our Own by Jonathan Merritt – #FaithofOurOwn

July 19, 2012 by Tim Leave a Comment

A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars by Jonathan Merritt will likely be a highly recommended book from me for a long to come. Jonathan gets a lot right and it’s excellent starting point for conversation between conservatives/moderate/liberal types and just as important, for Builder/Boomer/X’er/Millennial types too. I find that not only to be impressive, but very needed.

According to the publisher …
“The book “illuminates the spiritual ethos of this new generation of believers who engage the world with Christ-centered faith but an un-polarized political perspective. Through personal stories and biblically rooted commentary this scion of a leading evangelical family takes a close, thoughtful look at the changing religious and political environment, addressing such divisive issues as abortion, gay marriage, environmental use and care, race, war, poverty, and the imbalance of world wealth. Through Scripture, the examples of Jesus, and personal defining faith experiences, he distills the essential truths at the core of a Christian faith that is now just coming of age.”

Starting from the beginning, I must say that I loved the foreword by Kristen Powers, a Fox News political analyst and New York Post columnist. She begins by saying, “Six years ago when I became a Christian … the first thought I had was, “I can’t be a Christian because I don’t want to be a Republican!” – Perfect way to begin this book. Also glad she attends Trinity Grace in NYC – great church.

Among what I like about the book is who Jonathan is. See, his father is James Merritt, who was the President of the Southern Baptist Convention for a few years. He’s a “player” in the Evangelical South, was an advisor to President W Bush and currently is the senior pastor of Cross Pointe Church in Duluth, GA. I like that Jonathan is clearly not riding his dad’s coat tails but figuring out his own path (hence the title of the book). In fact, I imagine a good bit of what he’s saying has made things difficult for the both of them (regardless of whether is father agrees/disagrees). I always admire those who have a lot to lose. I pray God will give them wisdom, that “insider” people will be supportive to what is actually being said and the message will be blessed and lives.

I also liked how Jonathan talks about his experience at Liberty University (where I also did my undergrad but at a different time), I liked how he talked about growing up a Southern Baptist (as I did not. But my wife did and I know some of the stories ;) I like how he talks about politics, generational humility, issues like social justice and creation care and I loved his presentation at the Q Conference in DC this year (I hope to blog on that another time).

I couldn’t help but laugh as he shared the story of being a high school student and having breakfast with his father and Jerry Falwell at the IHOP in Lynchburg. Interesting story of pretty much being drafted to attend LU. It also reminded me not only of the number of times that I saw Falwell there but also the time that my friends and I got yelled at by Jerry Jr. and his wife and were threatened with school discipline. I’m telling you we didn’t even really say anything that bad … :)

Which Brings Up Falwell
A lot of attention is spent on him, his role as leader of the Moral Majority and the political mentality that he caricatured. Initially, I was caught a little “off guard” by this as I was concerned Jonathan would get bogged down with Falwell’s character and end up ironically fighting his own version of the culture war but he does a good job at avoiding all that.

Falwell is a such a difficult figure for his controversial statements, positions and his personality. I too will never forget coming home from college break and my friends asking about the Telaetubbies thing, “What goes on at the weird school of yours?” “Umm, I don’t know really …” (I saw it more of as a financial appeal to the Builder Generation grandparents to support his ministry against the gay agenda and so forth but whatever the motivation, it’s definitely an example of the culture war mentality). Falwell has just said so much into a microphone, so much good and so much absolutely awful that I find him a difficult person to reconcile – and honestly, I want to. We can certainly learn from him and for those interested specifically on this, I recommend Blinded By Might by Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson.

What I Really Liked

What I really liked about A Faith of Our Own is that Jonathan pushes back on a good amount of the conservative mentality without breaking fellowship. In an early chapter he describes a patriotic service at a previous church where his father pastored and how uncomfortable that display of nationalism was. Clearly he doesn’t break fellowship with his family as evidenced by the fact that he not only still attends his father’s church but serves on staff. From what he shares, they both have changed their views on a number of issues over the years and seem to have respectful dialogue on the ones where they differ.

I appreciate this because this is extremely true for me and my family. This includes my parents, in-laws, relatives and many dear friends. And that’s among the reasons that makes it relevant and worth sharing. As we all know, convictions and opinions on religion and politics can bring such amount of tension that can hurt the family dynamics – isnt that why we are not supposed to discuss them with each other? I think this book is helpful for the many like me that enjoy a growing relationship with his family but continue to think differently (because today’s context is different).

Which brings up my only “complaint.” As I was reading, I grew uncomfortable with the title, A Faith of Our Own as it implied that Jonathan was leaving one faith adopting a new one of his own or abandoning his family in search of a new one. The book is focused more towards the X’er and Millennial but clearly there are a number of Boomers who have embraced it was well. It will be interesting to see what Jonathan’s does with his next book.

Some have critiqued the book saying that “Merritt hasn’t said anything new” here. To their point, I will admit that I’m not sure how much I learned that was “new” but learning “new data” isn’t the only reason I read. I found that statistics were used well, liked that he interacted with people like Robert Putnam and David Campbell, continued parts of the conversation from David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, and quotes people from Niebuhr to Lewis to Wink to Mouw. I’m glad that it’s books like these that are published, selling well, and again, I think this is a great starting point for needed conversation and this is perhaps what I like most. A Faith of Our Own gives language and reference points for Christ-followers who desire to converse with each other at different points of the political and generational spectrum.

Meaning I could give a copy of A Faith of Our Own for my dad and his reading of it wouldn’t make him defensive – which is what I hope to do.

You can see more at his site (bio, more video clips, speaking schedule, etc.) jonathanmerritt.com.

Favorite quote of the book:

“I’ve interviewed dozens of young people who have defected. I always make sure to ask them why they left the church and what might make them consider returning. The word that has consistently emerged is “authenticity.” They do want to follow Jesus, and they do want to be a part of the church. But they want a faith community that is free of agendas. Today’s Christians encounter the Jesus of the New Testament – the One who emptied himself to dwell among us – and they find Him calling us away from the pursuit of power to a life that looks more like the one He lived (p. 80).” I have had similar conversations, I have critiqued some of this and have said some of it myself. This is the very much part of the conversation that many of us are having.

Grace Chapel/Metro-West Boston friends, this fall we are planning to use this book in our Reading Circle that meets after GC@Night in our cafe. Stay tuned.

Note: I have not been asked to review this book by a publisher or by the author. Like all reviews however, these are my sincere opinions. Thanks for reading.

Filed Under: Christianity, Culture, Reflective, The Church Tagged With: Christian Political Engagement, Jerry Falwell, Jonathan Merritt, Politics

Reflecting on Sunday’s Message, Women In Ministry, Depression and Hope

July 17, 2012 by Tim 7 Comments

This past Sunday, our Pastor of Global and Regional Outreach, Jeanette Yep gave a powerful message as part of our summer series entitled, “Psalms: A Soundtrack For Our Lives.” You can watch/listen to it here.