179 pages
At the end of Pagan Christianity, the authors called for and gave practical steps on how someone could leave the church community they were attending because of the vast amounts of pagan practices being employed by the traditional church body… Smay and Halter do something quite the opposite, something rather noble, and in fact something that looks out for the health and well-being of the church instead of someone’s personal preference. This is the kind of talk we need to hear, and the action we need to see in the church today to bring us together in unity and walk through the changing cultural landscape that is before us:
If you recognize that you are a part of a traditional-attractional church structure, don’t punt! The best response is to create the missional pyramid from scratch with a few missional people of your choice and start right where you are. If you leave, nothing beneficial will happen in your church. But if you—with a humble desire to influence or model a new way—launch out with a few friends while staying connected to your church, you’ll not only enjoy the freedom of being on mission, you’ll be able to influence and inspire more people within the existing structure to change…
We ask for a small handful of would-be missionaries to pilot incarnational community. If it works, then we believe the grassroots success will spread to more people in the existing structure. Most pastors have no reason not to want this experiment to succeed. They want you to live out this calling, but part of their calling is to also hold the saints together. Structures don’t change easily through challenge or critique. They change best as people within the organization change and model new approaches. So, instead of pointing your finger at your pastor or elder board, go live out this ancient way and pray for the larger community to eventually move forward with you… If it works, you’ll have helped move your church into new territory. If it doesn’t, you’ll have a great time with a few friends. How bad can that be?
I greatly appreciate this approach, and I could imagine a better way for the church to begin working together amidst different philosophical approaches. This is the antithesis of “I’m taking my ball and going home” which has become way to prevalent in the church today.
Related posts:
- the tangible kingdom: creating incarnational community (pt. 4)
- the tangible kingdom: creating incarnational community (pt. 2)
- the tangible kingdom: creating incarnational community (pt. 3)
- the tangible kingdom: creating incarnational community (introduction)
- the tangible kingdom: creating incarnational community (pt. 1)
so, if you’re looking for a church, what should make you want to stay and reform from within? leadership?
i think it’s the relationships that you have with people that should make you want to stay and reform from within.
leadership should be a moot point in a grassroots movement. right?
the leadership issue is a good one to wrestle with, however!
I’m not sure you fully answered Eric’s question. If one is looking for a church, your response assumes he already has relationships within a church that attracted him in the first place. Then, because of those pre-existing relationships, he will want to stay.
From my experience, we search out a church that provides a comfortable place in terms of worship, doctrine, Biblical leadership, opportunities for fitting in, and people with whom relationships can be built. (If you want to beat me up over “comfortable” go ahead.)
I’m not sure what you mean by “leadership should be a moot point in a grass roots movement.” Leadership is a critical element regardless of grass roots or highly structured traditional organizations, religious or otherwise. How you define leadership in terms of roles and expectations of leaders is probably more important. In fact, for one to “go live out this ancient way and pray for the larger community to eventually move forward with you…” is leadership. True leadership is really creating an environment in which others choose to follow. So, I don’t think it is a moot point, I think it is an essential criterion for effective ministry at any level.
If Eric had asked me, my response would be that yes, leadership is essential to encouraging newbies to stay in a new church home. Part of the emphasis of that leadership is to encourage all members to continue to work out their salvation by living lives that glorify and emulate Christ. This leaves a lot of room for practical Christian living whether it is called incarnational community, traditional-attractional, or simply a body of believers in Christ living out their common faith in a unified manner.
Pagan Christianity? was a brilliant book. I greatly appreciated the authors’ noble fearlessness to expore and uncover deeply held traditions that are not in the Bible and that have redefined church from what Jesus intended. I’m looking forward to the sequel.
noble and fearless aren’t the first words that come to mind when thinking of pagan christianity… and if you’re looking forward to the sequel, well you just read it… this is barna’s sequel to revolution.
i wasn’t assuming that eric was looking for a church… i was taking his question as a generality, or from a third-person perspective. that’s the reason for the relational response. in terms of leadership i was speaking from the grass roots level. the leadership of the church shouldn’t matter whether you decide to stick it out on a grass roots level or not. sometimes the example is all that is needed to change perceptions.
the sequel is called Reimagining Church. It comes out this summer, it’s mentioned in the book several times.
hopefully the sequel will be much more gracious… it’s time for a new tone in their writing.