I found this on my computer today in a walk down memory lane. I wrote this back in 2009…

The city of San Francisco is a unique place. A place unlike anything I’ve ever before experienced: a place filled with limitless hopes and dreams, ideas bursting with creativity and a people with just enough reckless gumption to make it happen. Never before have I been surrounded by such an educated, spirited, “go for broke” community as what I’ve experienced here. I love this city.

As I sit in coffee shops and benches in the park I see a city full of people united under a common ethos: an ethos driven in large part by success and a hope that their success will lead to making this world a better place for all people. You don’t have to be in the city long to overhear a conversation about someone’s newest idea for making people’s lives easier, or to experience your first protest of the system of injustice that continues to clamp down on “the least of these.” It doesn’t take long to recognize that both of California’s Senators and the Speaker of the House come from San Francisco with aspirations of transforming this country into a nation that takes care of all people at all times. This fight against injustice is fought on the doorsteps of City Hall, in the 9th Circuit of Appeals, the State Supreme Court and the United Nations Consulate, all located within a block of each other in the heart of the city. Politics is the religion of San Francisco.

As we, in San Francisco, stand up to the political leaders of our day to fight against injustice, so too did Jesus. As wealth and greed work to oppress the minority, the widow, the orphan, (the “least of these”), so too was the environment surrounding Jesus in his day. Good News from the lips of Jesus was simply this:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4.18-19)

The city of San Francisco has lost its faith in the justice of God. For too long the Church has sat idly by and allowed injustice after injustice to pile on the shoulders of the people, and the church is to be held responsible for cheating this city of its faith (a faith in the tradition of St. Francis). It is time for the church to awaken from its slumber, to once again fight for the objectified and oppressed, to come together and allow God to prove his justice here once again in and through the name of Jesus and his Holy Spirit. It is time for the Church to once again prove that there is real hope in the name of Jesus, and the hope found in Him is far greater than that found in the religion of politics.

The Good News is simply this: Jesus has come and all are welcome to join in His Kingdom movement to turn the tide of injustice and reveal the new reality that awaits. It is through this endeavor that together the Church can make Jesus famous once again.

This past week IKON got a little bit of press. There was an article in the New York Times about our little start-up ‘hipster’ community, as well as a follow-up post by the columnist with his own personal observations about our community. I have to admit, I was pretty proud of our community and really humbled that we were portrayed so well, displayed so prominently through someone else’s eyes. It really is a unique experience.

However, there is something that we as the IKON Community have to remember: Good Press doesn’t make a good church. You do.

This is something I shared with our community on Sunday morning. It’s certainly nice to receive accolades and attaboys, it’s nice to see something that you’re a part of get such a prominent stage, it can certainly swell our heads and make us think that we have somehow arrived… but we have to remember, good press doesn’t make a good church. You do.

We will only ever be as good as our commitment: Our commitment to following and practicing the way of Jesus; our commitment to each other by gathering weekly on Sundays and in in our groups; our commitment to love, to justice, to generosity. We will only be as good as our commitment.

Good press is nice. It certainly feels good, it feels validating, but it doesn’t make us a good church–we already were. The good press we received was because of what the columnist observed and witnessed of us who were there. He witnessed, participated in, and observed what we have been about for a long time. He witnessed you in action, loving, caring, doing… not just talking about it.

Good press doesn’t make a good church. You do. And you have.

On Sunday morning shortly before the end of our 11a Gathering many in our community witnessed an incomprehensible tragedy. A security guard in the neighborhood was struck by an outbound 14 bus and pinned underneath directly across the street from the Chronicle building (where IKON Gathers weekly).

I can’t begin to tell you how unbelievably proud I was of our community’s instantaneous response. Kris Wilkow, Mabi Knittel, Michael Connolloy and Deborah Ramsgard (two first responders and two nurses) sprinted out the door and underneath the bus to check his vitals, to pray with him, and to keep him calm until the Fire Department arrived. Caleb Bowers ran down the street and directed traffic while several others worked to care for some of the witnesses and the MUNI driver, Kari Hayden led a prayer inside the Chronicle building for the man and his family. It was an amazing response of love and courage in the face of such a horrific incident.

That evening I received word that the man died from his injuries at the hospital late in the afternoon. Please be in prayer for his family, for comfort and peace. Be in prayer for the MUNI driver and the witnesses who experienced something horrific today. And please be in prayer for those within our community who were with the man underneath the bus as they begin to process the events of that morning.

There are several who have expressed a desire to reach out to the family of this man and provide them with support. Although the hospital has released his name, the family has expressed a desire for privacy and space as they grieve and wrestle through what is next. If down the road they desire any help, we have a team of people who are ready to care and support the family in whatever ways they need.

I am extremely proud of how our community rushed into action so quickly. I love our boldness and our eagerness to rush in and make a difference. Despite the difficulty of this mornings events, I am proud of you.

I stumbled across this amazing idea over on Kickstarter.com. It’s called ArtBloc, a mobile art and performance space created from two shipping containers.

After watching the video (below) and seeing a couple of the schematics I couldn’t help but think, could this be a cheaper way to launch churches or new campuses around a city? Talk about the ultimate mobile church concept…

At IKON one of our staff values is Collaboration. We are working to make sure that nothing is created alone. We’re always working in a team of at least 3 people to create so that we are leveraging our community’s strengths and constantly equipping others to do the work of our community. So, all of our Sunday morning messages, classes, experiences, etc. from idea to finished product are created and edited by a team. Our entire Sunday morning experience from songs to scripture to creative elements are created and developed as a team. All of our curriculum from idea to finished product in our Family Groups are created and developed by a team. We want to be a community that creates together because we believe that our ideas (collectively) are better than your ideas (individually).

While we were on vacation last week, Tracy shared this excerpt with me from from Tina Fey’s new book Bossypants. I found it a great little essay not only for the rules of improvisation, but ultimately rules for better and stronger team collaboration.

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Excerpt from Bossypants by Tina Fey, p. 82-85:
“The first rule of improvisation is AGREE. Always agree and SAY YES. When you’re improvising, this means you are required to agree with whatever your partner has created. So if we’re improvising and I say, “Freeze, I have a gun,” and you say, “That’s not a gun. It’s your finger. You’re pointing your finger at me,” our improvised scene has ground to a halt. But if I say, “Freeze, I have a gun!” and you say, “The gun I gave you for Christmas! You bastard!” then we have started a scene because we have AGREED that my finger is in fact a Christmas gun.

Now, obviously in real life you’re not always going to agree with everything everyone says. But the Rule of Agreement reminds you to “respect what your partner has created” and to at least start from an open-minded place. Start with a YES and see where that takes you.

As an improviser, I always find it jarring when I meet someone in real life whose first answer is no. “No, we can’t do that.”"No, that’s not in the budget.” “No, I will not hold your hand for a dollar.” What kind of way is that to live?

The second rule of improvisation is not only to say yes, but YES, AND. You are supposed to agree and then add something of your own. If I start a scene with “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,” and you just say, “Yeah…” we’re kind of at a standstill. But if I say, “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,” and you say “What did you expect? We’re in hell.” Or if I say, “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here” and you say, “Yes, this can’t be good for the wax figures.” Or if I say, “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,” and you say, “I told you we shouldn’t have crawled into this dogs mouth,” now we’re getting somewhere.

To me YES, AND means don’t be afraid to contribute. It’s your responsibility to contribute. Always make sure you’re adding something to the discussion. Your initiations are worthwhile.

The next rule is MAKE STATEMENTS. This is a positive way of saying, “Don’t ask questions all the time.” If we’re in a scene and I say, “Who are you? Where are we? What are we doing here? What’s in that box?” I’m putting pressure on you to come up with all the answers.

In other words: Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles. We’ve all worked with that person. That person is a drag. It’s usually the same person around the office who says things like “There’s no calories in it if you eat it standing up!” and “I felt menaced when Terry raised her voice.”

MAKE STATEMENTS also applies to us women: Speak in statements instead of apologetic question. No one wants to go to a doctor who says, “I’m going to be your surgeon? I’m here to talk to you about your procedure? I was first in my class at Johns Hopkins, so?” Make statements with your actions and your voice.

Instead of saying “Where are we?” Make a statement like “Here we are in Spain, Dracula.” Okay, “Here we are in Spain, Dracula” may seem like a terrible start to a scene, but this leads us to the best rule:

THERE ARE NO MISTAKES, only opportunities. If I start a scene as what I think is very clearly a cop riding a bicycle, but you think I am a hamster in a hamster wheel, guess what? Now I’m a hamster in a hamster wheel. I’m not going to stop everything to explain that it was really supposed to be a bike. Who knows? Maybe I’ll ned up being a police hamster who’s been on “hamster wheel” duty because I’m “too much of a loose cannon” in the field. In improv there are no mistakes, only beautiful happy accidents. And many of the world’s greatest discoveries have been by accident. I mean, look at the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, or Botox.”

“The 21st century will not be dominated by America, China, Brazil, or India but by the city. In an age that appears increasingly unmanageable, cities rather than states are becoming the islands of governance on which the future world order will be built. Time, technology, and population growth have massively accelerated the advent of this new urbanized era. Already more than half the world lives in cities and that percentage is growing rapidly. Just 100 cities account for 30% of the worlds economy and almost all of its innovation.”
Foreign Policy – Beyond City Limits

Gospel Eco-Systems (Tim Keller)

This was my hope in moving to San Francisco, in starting a church–a community of people on the same page, on mission together striving to change the world. This is why we chose the city, one of the most influential cities in the world, one of the most influential cities in the United States. I believe the only way we can actually see the restoration of the world take place is by going into the cities and creating renewal.

I continually work for, hope for and pray that IKON will be this type of community. That as we venture together into this mission of helping people find their way back to God, of seeking after justice for the poor and marginalized, of living intentionally in the ways of Jesus, we will see the change we so desperately hope for and a world restored.

I know these things are possible with our community. I know that IKON has a bright future ahead, and I am excited to be journeying with this band of brothers and sisters in creating the impossible–changing the world through the renewal of all things.

Last week I had the opportunity to join with over 3,000 church planters down in Orlando, Florida for the annual Exponential Conference. It was a good time of networking and connecting with people from all over the country, hearing their stories of triumph and defeat, excitements and challenges. Coming together like this as a community who are on a similar path is extremely valuable to anyone in the preparation stage or early stages of planting a church.

During the conference, it seemed that at every turn, with every speaker and each of the breakout sessions the “topic” of the Holy Spirit was mentioned, sometimes in great detail. (It was nice to hear the Holy Spirit show up in conversations and presentations not being used as a weapon to win an argument or make a point.) It seems as if the Church is having an easier time talking about the mystical nature of the Holy Spirit even if we don’t necessarily know what to do with Him/Her. Yet, at each turn it seemed as if there was a “silo affect” taking place in our approach to the Holy Spirit. It seems that we, as the Church have become fairly comfortable with two separate trains of thought, or silos, that we use to understand the Holy Spirit and yet we never allow these two thoughts to merge into a more holistic reality of who He/She is and how He/She works.

One of the stated categorizations that is perhaps more well known because of how outspoken its proponents are is that Holy Spirit works and it’s our job to join in where the Holy Spirit is working. There’s nothing wrong with this statement but the application of this statement is less than desirable. In this silo, the Christian’s responsibility is to simply wander around aimlessly, with no strategy, no plan, no ideation and simply hope to stumble upon where the Spirit was moving. (This idea was blatantly visible in a couple of breakouts that I attended.) Although there can be some tremendously good experiences and benefits that can grow from this mode of understanding–faithfulness, follower-ship, a submissive spirit–it removes responsibility of the mind from the follower. The Christian, therefore becomes a mindless wanderer hoping to stumble onto the movement of God. Secondarily, we find that the Holy Spirit is already working without the activity of humanity and our participation is voluntary at best and unnecessary at worst (especially if you have a high view of the sovereignty of God.)

The second silo that was evident is the exact reverse. This silo gives more credit to humanity than it does to the Holy Spirit. In this stated silo, the mind of man with strategies and planning, a heavy sense of responsibility for success, is in the forefront. This mode of thinking places a tremendous sense of responsibility on the Christian to go out and do your best with the best thinking that you have at your disposal and in the midst of the “task” simply hope and pray that the Holy Spirit will bless it. This is more of a Type A personality approach to the Holy Spirit. Just lead and “hope” the Spirit follows. This approach relegates the Holy Spirit to an after-thought. The dilemma: If what we’re doing is working, then why is the Holy Spirit necessary? The Holy Spirit’s only role then is to catalyze an already existent human idea. Blessing, therefore is seen as catalyzing a good idea–any idea that fails was obviously a bad idea according to the Holy Spirit’s standard no matter how good it may seem on paper or in practice.

As we continue to transition out of modernism as the church, it seems that we’re still maintaining a categorization approach to our theology. We are still more comfortable with an either/or approach, especially when its in regards to the Holy Spirit. (I wonder if this may have more to do with the schism that’s prevalent between the Charismatic/Pentecostal movement and everyone else.) This is grievously unfortunate when understanding the Holy Spirit.

Jim Collins unveiled for the world in his book Good to Great the valuable and important slogan “The Genius of the And” whereby two seemingly contradictory or incompatible ideas or methods somehow find their way together to create an even stronger or more powerful idea than previously possible. The two silos that the Church is working from needs to be blended together under the moniker of “And” so that we can enjoy a more holistic and fuller understanding of not only who the Holy Spirit is, but how the Holy Spirit works.

Since the beginning of the 1900′s with the reemergence of Charismatic Christianity we have worked hard to entrench ourselves into one of these two silos of understanding in regards to the Holy Spirit. We’ve worked hard to nail down the Holy Spirit to one particular form of working or another. (In fact, it seems as if we’ve treated the Holy Spirit more as an object rather than a subject.) What’s truly interesting about this approach is that I don’t think it’s possible to truly nail down the Holy Spirit to one of these silos. I woud argue that the Holy Spirit will do what he/she wants, when/where he/she wants to do it, to whomever or through whomever he/she wants, however he/she wishes!

It’s when we try and silo the Holy Spirit that we miss out on a great deal of possibilities not only in our own lives, but in the life of the Church. I truly wonder what a holistic understanding of the Spirit looks like, how a truly blended ideation of these two silos functions and what else beyond the two understandings we’re missing out on as the Spirit works throughout the Church and beyond…