Looking Back for the Future

"The further back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." - Winston Churchill

Churchill was a big believer in how history can inform current decisions. Nowhere do I believe this is more true than the church. The start of the church is the best place to be informed on the future of her direction.

Unfortunately, it is common (and easy) to read our own traditions into the formation of the church in the early days, and assume we are doing what they did back in the day.

This never hit me until I read Wagner's Acts of the Apostles, and I was blown away by his different perspective. Not that I agree with all of Wagner, but how he saw different and beyond my presuppositions. It opened my eyes.

Here are a few things that are intriguing from then to now.

• There are no pastors in the book of Acts and yet this is our primary leadership structure.
• There are no women pastors (no pastors at all), but women play a key role - even as prophets (Acts 21)
  
• There is no systematic theology, or exegetical teaching.
• Miracles are common - even expected as the gospel moves forward in power.
• God speaks to people directly
• New believers got baptized fast - when they decided to follow.
• THE Apostles where not the only apostles (Acts 14).
  

There is more, but these are a few that I did not see because my tradition blinded me to what was really being said (btw - this is the same type of thing that got our boy Luther to post his 95 burs in the saddle on the door at Wittenburg).

Texas Retreat #2

On Sunday morning we tackled, in an interactive way, six principles of kingdom growth.

• The Principle of Abide / Obedience (of being a disciple) (John 15)
• The Principle of Sowing (the Farmer of Mark 4)
• The Principle of Oikos (Households) (Matthew in Mark 2)
• The Principle of “People of Peace” (the Samaritan woman of John 4)
• The Principle of Apostolic Mission (The 70 in Luke 10)
• The Principle of Mission Focused Prayer (Jesus from Matthew 9)

On hindsight, I think I tried to cram to much of this in and would be better served to space it out over the weekend. I had the whole group divided in teams of five representing their campuses. Each team had a big poster board and a scribe as they worked the process.

• On Abide we covered divine truth, nurturing relationships and apostolic mission.
• On Sowing, we worked through observations of the farmer, seed and soil.
• On households they listed each 'tribe' they could identify on their campus
• On POP we talked about the seed surfacing people who are ready to respond
• On mission, each team spent 10 minutes building a quick plan to 'out themselves and the gospel' among a few of the tribes they had identified in less than a 48 hour period. This is where we spent most of our time.
  

By the end of the time, there were a number of good plans in place and a number of teams were really excited about what could happen. However, I must admit that it was a bit too rushed and I think many of the students where simply not thinking bold enough (or concrete enough). I could have done a better job pushing the boldness quotient.

Time will tell.

Courage Leads

“Men do not follow titles, they follow courage.”
- William Wallace in Braveheart.

Braveheart has some excellent scenes and some even better lessons. One of the best, is the difference between positional authority and recognized authority. In the story, Robert the Bruce has all the positional (organizational) authority, but simply lacks the courage and will to lead. He does not possess the courage to embrace radical change for a radical new (and better) future. Instead of leading, he recognizes trends (or hopes to) and intuits a particular response. In a sense, he tries to put a stamp on what is already going on . . . and hopes to get it right.

Wallace on the other hand sees the clear picture of desirable future and calls for courage for people to follow. The crux of this come when Wallace tells Robert the Bruce that he would follow him if he would step out and lead. If Robert would have simply stepped up he could have commanded great men. But he chose to play it safe.

Men followed Wallace - not because he had the position, but because he had the courage to lead.

This is a great picture of the future direction of the church in the west. It is an ancient way that lends itself toward the apostolic, bold, crazy leadership that attempts to change the future in God's name. This type of leadership is already evident in the church of the east, and now we are coming into it as well. Cool.

"Badges, we don't need no stinking badges."

Four Reasons We Struggle with Movements Everywhere

I believe there are a handful of areas where Cru will need a significant paradigm shift in order to move forward in our stated vision of movements everywhere so that everyone knows someone who knows Jesus.

1. Apostolic Mission with a Catholic Organization Structure.
Movements Everywhere is a distinctively apostolic type vision. Take turf! However, our leadership structure is decidedly Catholic (not in theology mind you, but in hierarchy). I think this will prove a detriment to growth. From my warped point of view, the ME vision requires opportunities for leaders to move forward into uncharted waters, without having to seek permission from others in the system. See this for more.
(and please here me on this - we have no bad people in this structure - it is actually the structure itself that prevents the kind of growth we desire. I have served at every level of the organization and I can honestly say that I have worked with some of the most wonderful, godly and genuine people in the world - but the system, I think, works against us).

2. Apostolic Mission with a Pastor / Teacher Culture
Don't get me wrong. I live on good teaching and accurate theology. I want to think rightly about the scriptures in all things. However, in a Ephesians 4:11 mindset (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher - APEPT) we cannot afford to gravitate toward being heavily pastoral. From my limited view, a leadership culture than leans toward shepherding and accuracy will be unable to move us to the risky behavior needed for movements everywhere. It seems we will be too concerned with things that have nothing to do with movements everywhere. For more on this read this.

3. Apostolic Mission with a Leadership Development Focus
I am probably way off my rocker, but it seems to me that you don't get leaders by focusing on leaders, you get leaders by focusing on the mission. Leaders are what bubble to the surface when the vision and mission are compelling enough to engage in risky behavior - thus needing leadership. As soon as we try to organize, program and teach our way toward leadership we are in trouble. Leaders are developed in the crucible of the mission focused adventure.

4. Bill Bright would struggle to join us now.
This may be goofy and anecdotal (who needs facts when you have a story!). In Bill's second year as a staff guy (the staff guy) he left Vonette in charge at UCLA and moved on to another campus to begin a new work. He did this because he could - and because he owned the next step of expansion. Staff cannot do this now. Well, technically they can go to another campus, but there needs to be 'coordination' and 'conversations' first. The idea of simply expanding turf on your own merrit is not something that we currently do outside of the organizational systems. In this day and age, if young Bill was wanting to go from UCLA to USC, he would need to talk to his current director, a regional guy, a metro guy, and various components of the HR world, and probably the director of the place he wanted to go. And still it would not be his choice. Rapid it is not. (some have said, "well, big deal - who is asking to do this anyway!" . . . . my point exactly).

Apostolic Genius

Alan identifies six elements of what he has termed Apostolic Genius (defined as the unique energy and force that imbues phenomenal Jesus movements). There may be more, but there are never less.

1. Jesus is Lord - at the middle is this simple but radical confession. This statement oversees all of life. (at first this seems logical, simple and kind of weak - but as you read more on these implication, you begin to realize the highly volatile nature of this radical confession).
2. Disciple Making - the life-long task of becoming like Jesus. Again, this sounds simple, especially with our preconceived notions of disciple making. Disciple making involved bringing every aspect of life into the likeness of Christ.
3. Missional-Incarnational Impulse - every missional movement shows the twin engines of outward thrust and a related deepening. This seeds and embeds the gospel in new locations / people / cultures.
4. Apostolic Environment - this is the type of leadership and ministry required to move ahead. Don't let the word apostolic freak you out - it simply means 'sent one', but the implications are huge.
5. Organic Systems - don't even get me started. Alan says, 'Phenomenal Jesus movements grow precisely because they do not have centralized institutions to block growth through control' - some one get me a tissue.
6. Communitas, Not Community - communities and bonds that come together in the context of a shared ordeal - or those that define themselves as a group with a mission that lies beyond themselves (and engaging in a risky journey).

Here is Alan's take - (this is where I stole the pretty picture).

So the question is . . . how we doin? In each of these categories there is a way that the church in the west has attempted to operated (Cru included) that stunts the functioning of apostolic genius. We must figure out what needs to change and then be courageous enough to change it (or to simply start something new).

I have my opionion (like that will shock anyone) - what about yours? Get the book. When you look at these 6 elements, where do we need to adjust? What are we missing? How do we change? What would you suggest as the next steps?

Over the next few posts, I will try to explore each of these ideas in various ways.