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That's Quotable: Tom Clegg and Warren Bird

"The inescapable conclusion is that we must throw out any notion that God is truly at the center of the church's heart in North America. The shift in society's view of the church has resulted in the marginalization of the church and the secularization of society. Christianity has lost its place at the center of American life. Christians must learn how to live the gospel as a distinct people who no longer occupy the center of society. We must learn to build relational bridges that win a hearing."

- Tom Clegg and Warren Bird in Lost in America, as quoted by Hugh Halter in The Tangible Kingdom

This may sound heretical...I'm not sure that Christianity losing its place at the center of American life is all that bad. When the gospel spread most rapidly and effectively, the first 300 years after Jesus' resurrection, Christianity was an obscure, marginal, persecuted movement that was nowhere near the center of life in the Roman empire.

The challenge, and I think the reason why we have a hard time swallowing this pill, is that the cultural shift requires huge shifts in our thinking, preparing, assumptions, living...everything. But, if we make these shifts, I believe we'll move closer to truly living out the Kingdom life Jesus founded, modeled, and called us to live. This shift may just be the kick in the rear-end we need to live in such a way that there is an easily discernible difference in values, behaviors, and relationships between those who follow Jesus and those who don't.

I'd love to hear from you...do you agree with Clegg and Bird? Do you agree that this shift could be good? What are some significant shifts that the church needs to make? What does it look like for Jesus followers to truly live as a distinct people?

The Upside-Down, Alternate Kingdom

From Tim Keller's masterpiece, The Reason For God:

"This pattern of the Cross means that the world's glorification of power, might, and status is exposed and defeated. On the Cross, Christ wins through losing, triumphs through defeat, achieves power through weakness and service, comes to wealth via giving all away. Jesus Christ turns the values of the world upside down...

This upside-down pattern so contradicts the thinking and practice of the world that it creates an 'alternate kingdom,' an alternate reality, a counterculture among those who have been transformed by it. In this peaceable kingdom there is a reversal of the values of the world with regard to power, recognition, status, and wealth. In this new counterculture, Christians look at money as something to give away. They look at power as something to use strictly for service. Racial class and superiority, accrual of money and power at the expense of others, yearning for popularity and recognition, these normal marks of human life, are the opposite of the midset of those who have understood and experienced the Cross. Christ creates a whole new life. Those who are shaped by the great reversal of the Cross no longer need self-justification through money, status, career, or pride of race or class. So the Cross creates a counterculture in which sex, money, and power cease to control us and are used in life-giving and community-building rather than destructive ways." (emphasis mine)

I think it's safe to admit that we have largely lost this ethos as the collective, universal community of Jesus-followers...at least we have in America.  The statistics prove it every year...there is virtually no difference between Christians and non-Christians in terms of behavior, values, and relationships.

Just after the Cross, you would have been an idiot to call yourself a follower of Jesus, yet retain the world's value systems and only wiggle your toe in the upside-down, alternate kingdom that Jesus founded.  You would have been an idiot because you would have been killed for something you only halfway believed in.

We are headed back to the culture the first disciples lived in after the Cross.  Christianity is no longer at the center of American culture.  And I'm not convinced that's a bad thing.

Yes, we should speak up for, defend, and fight for a Christian worldview.  But maybe before we defend it and argue for it, we should actually try living it. Christianity being shoved from the center of American culture just may be the jolt that we need to return to this upside-down, countercultural ethos that defined Jesus and His first followers.

What if we all lived on less so we could give more. What if we leveraged the power and influence we have for those who have none and never will have any.  What if we really embraced the Cross as all the justification we need...we are justified in and through Jesus and Him ALONE! No money, power, or sex can trump the justification of Jesus! What if we rested in that and then ordered our lives accordingly.

This is where I want to live...the upside-down, alternate kingdom of Jesus.  I'm begging God to continue to break me of pride, of my need for justification from other sources, and of my selfishness. At the same time, I am begging Him to give me a heart full of His love and grace shown toward me so that I can freely live it and give it to others.

That's Quotable :: Seth Godin

Check out this post from Seth Godin...HUGE implications for church planting: 

Grand openings are severely overrated. So are product launches and galas of all sorts.

Make a list of successful products in your industry. Most of them didn't start big. Not the Honda Accord or Facebook, not Aetna Insurance, not JetBlue or that church down the street. Most overnight successes take a decade (okay, four years online).

...Grand opening syndrome forces marketers to spend their time and money at exactly the wrong time, and worse, it leads to a lack of patience that damages the prospects of the product and service being launched.

Non-profits do the same thing when they spend months planning an elaborate gala that takes all the time and enriches the hotel and the caterer. Far better to spend the time and money building actual relationships than going for the big 'grand' hit.

The best time to promote something is after it has raving fans,after you've discovered that it works, after it has a groundswell of support. And more important, the best way to promote something is consistently and persistently and for a long time...

If you've planted a church before, then you know the "Oh Crap!" feeling that comes over you the Monday after launch day.  Months and months of time, energy, and money went into planning the first service. Now, you only have 6 days until the next one...and people you don't know what to do with...and no money in the bank account.  Yes, I have been there, done that, and still have the t-shirt in my drawer as a reminder!

Godin would say that's silly...there's a better way!

I'd love to hear from you...what's the most compelling insight, implication, idea, etc. that you glean from Godin's thoughts?

My question for me: Is your mission clear and compelling enough on its own to build a groundswell of raving fans without having to have a grand opening gala-type worship service? If not, then the grand opening is just a crutch that won't hold up the mission.

Your turn...discuss!

That's Quotable: Mark Driscoll

Absolutely hilarious quote from Mark Driscoll's latest work, Vintage Jesus:

"The Jesus I was told about could easily have passed for one of the kids in the ghetto daycares near my house who were pumped so full of NyQuil they would sit quietly and drool on themselves while watching cartoons until their moms came to pick them up after work...

Worse still, this weird Jesus seemed to really like sheep. I never saw a picture of him with a baseball glove or with other kids, but I did see him with a lot of sheep. Sometimes they even made us glue cotton balls to construction paper in an effort to make our own sheep so that we could apparently be as weird as Jesus. In short, Jesus seemed freakish, definitely not the kind of guy you'd want on your baseball team because he'd never have the guts to slide hard into second to break up a double play or throw inside to a batter to back him off the plate. Rather, he'd prefer to pick flowers in the outfield and daydream about fluffy sheep while praying for his enemies and keeping his emotions under control."

I randomly thought of this quote today during a meeting and laughed out loud. Driscoll's talking about how Jesus is often portrayed as exclusively meek, mild, and timid when in fact, He was very bold and passionate.

This book is an absolute must read. I am about halfway finished, have made tons of notes, and will definitely be walking through it with some friends who are not Jesus-followers, but are definitely curious.

Can't wait to see their reaction when they read quotes like this one! :-)

That's Quotable: Rick McKinley

"Every town has its places where heaven can show up and the town will welcome it, because heaven's response is much better than the evil that is hurting those to whom we go...'Going' implies that we go somewhere new, to someone not like us, to some culture or subculture where we might not feel comfortable or knowledgeable or welcome. Certainly this means that the sent ones need to become great students and listeners if we want to represent the kingdom well and for the long haul."

Rick McKinley, Lead Pastor of Imago Dei in Portland, OR, in his book This Beautiful Mess.

That's Quotable: Tim Keel

"God did not create a divine subculture and then wait for humanity to join in. God joined the story. God got dirty. God entered. God engaged. And this is the calling of the church as well - to join in and participate in God's story at work in the world."

Tim Keel, founding pastor of Jacob's Well, Kansas City, MO, in his book Intuitive Leadership

So many days, I spend much more time thinking and dreaming about what is out there at the expense of what and who is right here. You and I are not on mission if all we think about is the out there - in fact, future mission is far more effective when we are fully engaged in the right here. The out there will flow out of what you learn and experience right here.

Who is your right here?

That's Quotable: Charles Spurgeon

"If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms around their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for."

- Charles Spurgeon

Doesn't matter if you're cool or traditional, in a denomination or not, liberal or conservative, fundamentalist or emerging, it is ALL about every man, woman, and child having repeated opportunities to hear and see the gospel of Jesus.

It's not about your church or my church. It's about the church doing it's part to be sure that NO ONE in our cities is left unwarned and unprayed for. It's about the body of Jesus wrapping its arms around people's knees in love. Cities change when people meet Jesus...it's our job, above anything and everything else, to make sure they have the opportunity.

That's Quotable: Howard Schultz

"We are at our best when we are entrepreneurial and courageous, push for innovation and reject the status quo."
- Howard Schultz, Transformation Agenda Communication #8

This guy may be one of the most visionary leaders and communicators of our time. Millions of people drink and enjoy coffee today as a result of a dream Schultz had that required him to be entrepreneurial and courageous, to push for innovation, and to reject the status quo. Coffee was ordinary until Howard Schultz made it remarkable.

I wonder how many millions of people would see and hear the gospel of Jesus more clearly if you and I would lead and live the same way.

Status quo is not always what worked 50 years ago...in some cases and places, it's what worked last year...or last week. The shelf life of ideas is far shorter now than ever, which means our commitment to pioneering and innovation must be at its highest.

That's Quotable: Tom Brady

While waiting on The Amazing Race to come on tonight, I caught the tail end of the 60 Minutes' piece on Tom Brady.  At the very end of the interview, he made a comment that raised my eyebrows...

“Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, ‘Hey man, this is what is.’ I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think, ‘God, it's got to be more than this.’ I mean this isn't, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be.”

The reporter asked him if he had any answers.  Brady's response:

“I wish I knew. I wish I knew...I love playing football and I love being quarterback for this team. But at the same time, I think there are a lot of other parts about me that I’m trying to find."

Here's a guy who is on his way to shattering every single season record there is for a quarterback in the NFL, is the field general of what go down as the greatest NFL team of all time, already has 3 Super Bowl victories, dates whoever he wants, wears whatever he wants, has a contract worth $60 million, etc. and he admits that sometimes he looks at his life and wonders, "Is this all there is?"

I immediately fast forwarded 30 years in my life and thought, "If this deal in Columbia is wildly successful, would I look at my life and wonder 'Is this all there is?'"  Satisfaction does not come from accomplishments.  It comes from identity, security, and legacy - knowing who I am in Christ, being that person everyday, and leaving a legacy of faith that far outlives me.

Even though his team demolished my 'Phins again today, God used Tom Brady to speak into my life.  I hope He speaks into yours through this, too.  Being Tom Brady won't satisify you...being who Jesus made you to be will.

That's Quotable: Be the Scrappy Underdog

"Nobody ever accomplished anything by believing the naysayers. And few have done so by sticking to proven ideas in proven fields.

It's those who follow the road less traveled who create new industries, invent new products, build long-lasting enterprises and inspire those around them to push their abilities to the highest levels of achievement.

If you stop being the scrappy underdog, fighting against the odds, you risk the worst fate of all: mediocrity."

- Howard Schultz, Chairman and CEO of Starbucks, in his book Pour Your Heart Into It

***This book is one of the best I have put my hands on in quite some time. I've got a series of posts cookin' for next week, but I had to throw this out there for all you college students, aspiring or established church planters, and change agents who have dreams of something unique happening in your city and in your life.