Reflections on a Revolution

Of the four books I am to read for my Missionary Life and Work class, I am currently focusing on one in particular. It is The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. I’m primarily focusing on this book because I have a 3 page critique about it due in around 2 weeks; and you certainly can’t write a critique on a book you haven’t read. Anyway, this book is basically stating that the current state of the Western church is insufficient in meeting the needs (all aspects) of today’s culture/society. They have gone through the history of Christianity and identified “wrong turns” and have picked apart the Christendom era as the essential reason for the church being the way it is: a time in history (particularly in Europe) in which Christianity became infused into the culture/way of living and thus became a mindset in living life and not a relationship with Christ. It makes sense. Then they identified the 3 core flaws of today’s church: that it’s attractional, dualistic, and hierarchial. In chapter 3 there was one particular quote that really stuck out to me; it went as follows: “The way forward is not to tinker with its [the church’s] external features (i.e. worship service times, preaching times, seating capacity, etc.) but to rebirth a new movement on different ground.” I agree to a degree.

The way forward for the Church is certainly not to revamp the building structure or sing more contemporary worship songs. No, the way forward is a fundamental change in the DNA of the church. Western churches (in general) have become far too complacent with reaching others for Christ, in being a light in the community, and in ministering to the spiritual needs of today’s society. We can see in the general population just how unpopular church is becoming. Why? Because the church cannot relate with those not in the church. I believe Jesus identified with all types of persons, both “religious and non-religious”, and was able to confront both about their relationship with God in such a way that they understood. That’s what the Western church needs to be able to do.

The 3 fundamental flaws presented in the book were interesting yet accurate. Firstly they say the church has become “attractional”, taking a “come-to-us stance” which of course is unbiblical. Secondly, the church has become dualistic: “We talk routinely about the ‘world out there’. What else can that mean other than that we, the church people, are ‘in here’?” (Good point). Thirdly, the church is hierarchial, “…deeply indebted to what we see as an overly religious, bureaucratic, top-down model of leadership, as opposed to one that is more structured around grassroots agendas.” I agree with them that hierarchial leadership can hinder goals of an organization and can impose bureaucracy; our governmental system is the perfect example. I believe it can happen in ‘religious organizations’ also, however, I split ways with the authors when they present a solution to this problem. They focus on a radical revolution and in a round-about way suggest the church return to how it was in Acts, to almost an underground movement. They call on the Western church to literally break into factionalized “sub-communities” (Christians own coffee shops, shoe stores, etc.) and slowly infiltrate the community for Christ by building relationships with the locals. It’s as if they don’t want to ‘step on toes’ by not openly sharing their faith. I fully understand the importance of LIVING a Christ-centered life, but there comes a point where actions only go so far and you must TELL them about salvation and how Christ died and was resurrected for them. Anyway, obviously that’s just a few of the thoughts I have on the book. Now I have to go write a 3-page critique.

In an e-mail I sent out last week to my support base, I talked about ‘divisions’ within the body here at Southeastern by exploring a few of the arguments that commonly occur on campus. Though this happens (and I’m sure it happens on any Christian campus in the nation) it in no way hinders a conducive academic or spiritual environment. In fact, the Southeastern campus in no way stifles growth. It is a wonderful environment that has stimulated so much growth within me even just in this past month.

Anyway, here is a quote that I found inspirational from an incredible man. I often have to remind myself of this “principle” as I frequently find myself sharing my dreams/visions with others, only to have them criticized or belittled.

You can have anything you want -- if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.- Abraham Lincoln