Apatheists

Eddie Gibbs in Leadership Next brought a new term to my vocabulary - Apatheism. Defined on Wikipedia as a portmanteau neologism (a haplology combining apathy with either atheist or theist) for the position that God may exist but is of no real importance to one's daily life. Gibbs says that today's church leaders need to train God's people to reach this growing group. They are not theists, nor athiests, but apathetic about either side - they just don't care what you think ... and some of them may even be "christian." The wiki listing goes on "Apatheism is not synonymous to atheism, but is rather a particular form of agnosticism, in the sense that it holds that the question whether or not God exists may be meaningfully asked, but is not worth asking." I think we are going to have to train Christians in new ways of evangelism. The old arguments won't work with these postmoderns. They may grant us the argument ... it doesn't mean they'll believe. Hopefully we have lives that demonstrate something worth considering. What a challenge for the future!

Breakout Churches: Thom S. Rainer

Thom Rainer really likes Jim Collins' Good to Great. So much so that he applied to the church. The book is helpful in determining what might be wrong in some churches, and encouraging in that he sees God doing great things in churches. The main issue is knowing what you are all about ... having a clear sense of pupose ... knowing why you do what you do ... having deep passion that drives the entire church. One of the key insights is at the end of the book. His research team came to the conclusion that the best churches didn't often let the "tail wag the dog." Then one of the researchers pointed out that most of the not-so-great churches didn't really even have a dog ... just a bunch of tails. This is an interesting book worth the read - especially if you liked Good to Great. He's not talking about every church that seems successful. And he's not talking about just mega-churches. The research is pretty scary ... The huge majority of churches - large and small - are plateaued, which is a nice way of saying they are in slow erosion. And most of those think they are doing very well. Mostly because they have no "dog" to wag.

Brutal Reality

Brutal Reality Jim Collins was the first to popularize it as a leadership practice in Good to Great. Thom Rainer picks up the same theme and applies it to church leadership in Breakout Churches. Andy Stanley makes it a main theme of his Next Generation Leader, where he says that a vital practice of leadership is the courage to face current reality – even if they are “the brutal facts” per Collins. Earlier writers like Max DePree spoke of the same concept when they indicate that the first job of a leader is "defining reality". Stanley says there are seven things the leader who wants to confront “real reality” (or the brutal facts) must NOTdo:

• No pretending.
• No blind eyes to truth.
• No exaggeration.
• No shooting bad news bearers.
• No hiding behind numbers.
• No ignoring constructive criticism.
• No isolating self.

Of course this has to come from recognized leaders – all others will just sound like cranky people.

Quotes from Really Old Guys

"If you is, what you was, then you ain't.": (John Jasper) is the quote that captured my interest and led to looking deeper at this web page. This is a site full of great reminders of what it means to serve as a preacher and teacher of the Word. It isn't about being "cutting edge" or relevant. It is about God and His Word clearly taught.

The Power of Simple Affirmations

We don’t always realize the power of simple affirmations of truth. I once wrote an article for a church newsletter entitled “No Compromise.” I’m pretty sure that it was an rip-off of Keith Green’s album by the same name, but it felt right. It was something a 26 year-old, arrogant, Christian leader would write. It was about my commitment to a high call. My commitment to obey God, to not sin, to be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and never bend to the demands of culture. Of course, I almost immediately proved that I could not live up to the words – though I’m sure I had a pretty good exterior. It was the inside that was messed up. Through a series of interesting “coincidences” a former mentor and youth pastor was led to drop me a note affirming my commitment but ending with some wise words – “If you do compromise, don’t forget the grace of God!” Wise words to an emerging leader because he knew I would fail and he wanted me to still know God loved and valued me. He knew it wasn’t about performance, but dependence. I’ve not forgotten his words written almost thirty years ago. For some reason I often recall this simple note. I am still committed to the slogan – but far more aware of my weaknesses – and the kindness and grace of God! Sadly I have compromised – sometimes no one knew and sometimes it was very evident. In every case the grace of God has become far more real. I can only hope that I might have the same opportunity to speak long-lasting truth that will have long-lasting impact in someone’s life.

The New Gospel: Marketing Purpose & Passion

Marketing is one of those issues that seems to have taken the evangelical, baby-boomer dominated church by storm. I guess that I find myself skeptical about the reliance on the formulas and techniques. It feels like manipulation. To some degree, all churches “market” – we make things as comfortable as possible, we clean the bathrooms, carefully monitor the temperature. We also make every effort to communicate well and keep the message understandable and interesting -- but we don’t need any of these to really communicate the message. Didn’t Jesus say something about people knowing what we are about as followers of Jesus because of our demonstrated love for one another? Dick Staub brings to light the marketing machine that seems to be taking the christian world by storm. Sounds like we might soon be able to do away with the Holy Spirit. Yeah, I’ve heard the admonition that “God is using it so just be quiet”, yet it still feels like manipulation and I wonder about the purity of motives. Staub links to a disturbing article - it seems that it may be sooner than we think that we will need to have a marketing background to be a shepherd of Jesus' flock.

Random Quotes I Wish I Could Practice

“Learn to say no. It will do you more good than Latin.” – Charles Spurgeon. A hard lesson for many of us to learn. A harder lesson for some in the church to let us learn. Amazing how often we can operate out of “should” and “ought” and therfore say “yes” to things that may add little to our lives. Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing. I find it highly instructive that Jesus walked away from crowds of need in order to spend time alone (Mark 1:39).

“It is much harder to spot the sin of inaction than almost any sins of action” – Paul Coughlin, No More Christian Nice Guy.  Why is it that I far too often sin by not doing something? I don’t step into a battle that cries out to be fought. I don’t speak truth into a situation out of fear? I don’t say “no” to activity when it is best. I don’t pray when I need to. I don’t love. I don’t care sometimes. Coughlin’s point is well taken – few people will point out these potential sins which may damage my soul (and others) more than I know.

Paul Coughlin also says “Confusion is not always a problem to be solved”. Yet, almost everytime I’m in the midst of confusion I will try to solve it. He goes on to say, “it can be a detour that eventually leads to a better life.” Been there done that…why do I so quickly forget?