outside is better

Methodism, Mission and American Heavy Metal

A few weeks ago I read George G. Hunter's new book "The Recovery of a Contagious Methodist Movement." Part of the Adaptive Leadership Series, it was one of the collection of books released prior to this most recent Methodist General Conference.

During my time at Asbury I never took Dr. Hunter, but I knew he was pretty serious. This little book confirmed that thought.

What stuck out the most to me was this idea, found on pages 41-44. A catalytic Christian movement will begin when "hopeless" people are reached. The category of "hopeless" is defined by any people group outside of the established population of a local church. This is radical outreach because it means incorporating people that are definitely "not like us".

The center of the early Methodist movement involved reaching out past established and churched populations. John Wesley's version of this involved miners, field workers and the folks driving the engine of the industrial revolution in England. In America, it took place among others on the outside. The Methodists were famous for going to the hardest, meanest and most "non-churched" and socially "hopeless" parts of the local population.

NPR has a great article showcasing a community in the Northeast and their gathering at the Maryland Deathfest. In "Portraits of an American Metal Festival", Lars Gotrich showcases a deep community. This is just a glance into a pre-existing people group, with a catalytic number of people. They are already connected, share a common set of sensibilities, issues and beliefs.

I would bet in many communities, similar people groups exist. They will have gathering spots, identifiable leaders and local variation. Here is just one example of a culture outside of the boundaries of most local congregations. I bet they don't know the doxology or the difference between a stole or a vestment.

In each of our communities there are countless sub groups of people that we can quickly identify as "not church people". But if we are truly passionate about the saving and healing grace of Jesus Christ, and his commissioning to create disciples...it would be in our interest to start learning about these new groups of people.

We all want to see our churches grow. But until we learn to look outside our own comfort interests and notions of who is in church, we will not see that growth. Jesus went to the outside and Wesley went to the outside. As Methodists, this journey to the outside is part of our DNA. Let us place ourselves back inside of it and find who might previously have called hopeless.

Is Congregational Worship Necessary?

I stumbled upon this blog post tonight. The pastor is explaining why his church will disband weekly worship in favor of an extremely intense discipleship ministry and a once a month large meeting.

Some of it sounds really good. He hits the nail on the head regarding several issues. For those that have a heavy heart for missions and the justice of God his language really fits into the movement that the evangelical church has been going towards in correcting some of its inclusiveness and narcissistic ways.

 But I think this is a great example of doing all the right things completely wrong.

 

Can a church that doesn't worship truly be the church? Before you go wild on me, read the whole post. The pastor gives the idea that the actions in worship aren't formational enough to be important.

I am not saying we do away with them, but we preach and sing too much and serve and love in radical ways far too little.  The answer is not to add love on top of the sermons and songs, but to decrease the sermons and songs and increase the service and love to create a balance that looks like the life of Jesus.

John Wesley notes that good works are only possible once a vibrant and intense relationship with Christ exists in the heart of the individual. His sermon  The Almost Christian speaks about justice being evident to those who still haven't turned their hearts over to Christ. Justification by Faith  mentions that the things of love cannot truly be done in the name of Christ unless we have we have directed our own entire love to him. Finally in his sermon, The Way to the Kingdom, Wesley really develops this by explaining how our good works are only truly righteous when they spring from the inward spirit that is truly only devoted to God.

 I don't mention these things to question the faith and salvation of these folks, but to plead for worship. Hebrews 10:25..."Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." The eschatological makeup of the Church in worship lives with the expectation of the return of Christ.

 When the worship meeting becomes an evangelical outreach only, I would agree with many of the reasons for an evaluation. But worship should never been seen as a pragmatic event to draw people in. Worship develops a ragtag group of people into an eternal priesthood. We worship because we love Jesus Christ and want to join with the church around us, before us and in front of us in praising the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Worship staunchly stands against the world and says "No!!!

Worship stands in an intense relationship with justice. The Old Testament prophets had two messages for Israel; That their worship was bad and the poor in the streets were neglected. My friend JD has mention that if injustice exists in the streets idolatry is present in the sanctuary. The two are not held in opposition or competition, but a co-eternal dance. Mission and worship are in deep cahoots with each other.

Worship develops us into a people that can face the world head on, and bring the kingdom to it. We can't participate in the missio dei without also participating in the doxo dei.

Related Posts:
Geek to Chic: brand identity as Christians
Hymnaling (and being Methodist)
What drives us in Worship?

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This was originally posted at Levite Camp, a community fostering a theological conversation on worship design.

Geek to Chic: brand identity as Christians

Earlier this day I received an email notifying me Williams-Sonoma has Star Wars cookie cutters on sale. I chuckled a little bit, because I usually assume Williams-Sonoma is a bit high brow.  It appears Geek has gone Chic, with even high end outlets realizing the power of the geek.  Wired Magazine has a blog called GeekDad, and Japanese culture has seen the rise of the Otaku, a status once looked down upon as unproductive.

Geek has become big business.

So much, even the Martha Stewart crowd gets into it. The popular Apple vs. PC commercials show the transition from a former negative (pc) to a new (and cooler) definition of being a geek.

Our culture will conform to anything if a seemingly positive result will emerge.

No matter what the negative may be, if quantifiable gain appears, we will sacrifice previous feelings to push progress.  This topic of "geek" is tongue in cheek, but nerds truly have revenge now.

The topic of progress and relevancy often pushes the church forward.  Adaptability is a key concept in mission.  Contextualization is key.

James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (NRSV)

The hinge point in this verse lies in the and. We are called to engage and provide in the world, but while doing so we are to avoid the pitfalls of the sinful world.  What is interesting in this verse is the relationship between "undefiled" (ἀμίαντος) and "unstained"(ἄσπιλον).  At first glance they appear as synonyms. But the meaning and shape of these two words lie within the sacrificial tradition of Israel (BDAG is the quickest way to research this).  Sacrificial animals were required to be spotless and undefiled.  Christ is presented as a spotless lamp in Revelation.

Our actions of mission are sacrificial.  In them, we represent the Father's covenant promise to forgive sin, through the person Jesus Christ, and echoing the tradition of Israel in the Old Testament.  In this process, we need to be extremely careful we are not greatly conforming to culture.  When we lose our prophetic and sacrificial presence, we lose our mission. Just because a quick gain can be found, do we trade this in by offering something that doesn't match up with our character (Star Wars cookie cutters fitting in with $500 knives)?

Do our transitions break our greater resemblance of Gods people?

Do we still look like him constantly, are we obviously pursuing holiness because God has commanded it (1 Peter 1:15)?

More simply, have we broken our brand identity?

Just as jarring as the cookie cutters relates to the suburban high end cooking store, when Christianity as taken in the world so much we no longer appear to be outside the culture, our alarms should be going off.