Tribes, Assimilation and Connectivity

Last year I read Seth Godin's book "Tribes" and found it quite interesting, but I hard a hard time seeing how it could be put into practice, especially in a church or ministry context. Ok, people are getting connected in an increasing number of ways, community is being recognized as more important, but what do you do with that?

Todd Engstrom made an interesting post in his blog along these lines. Godin talks about Senator Bill Bradley's elements of a movement:

1. A narrative that tells the story of who the tribe is and the alternate future they are building
2. Connection between the movement leader and the tribe
3. Something to do, or actionable items

Todd found the second item to be most challenging in a ministry context, and adapted these elements for church as:

1. Narrative and alternate future = preaching and visionary leadership
2. Connection between leader and tribe = assimilation and “community”
3. Actionable items = mobilization

This stirred me to think the following...

• Narrative starts with preaching, but if it’s heard well, should result in stories from the tribe as they add to that narrative.
  
• Connection between people and the leader isn’t as important as connection among people, and connection to the shared vision
  
• Two models for actionable items: one (for a centralized tribe) is to have a structure that supports action consistent with vision; another is a more decentralized approach where individuals come up with their own actions. The former is a powerful organization, the latter is a movement.
  
• It's one thing for the leader to talk about the vision, but you know something powerful is happen when other ministry leaders and group leaders, and then their own people, are talking about the same vision.
  
• Today, might connectivity precede assimilation? The way I saw his blog post was via a tweet he made, which I only saw because I happened to make some twitter comments at a leadnet show we watched on the web. I think that in today's culture, there can be no assimilation without first come connectivity being established, and with some vision being caught by the new person, one that is already resonating with them. This community and shared vision leads to assimilation, which leads to greater community, and so it grows…
  
• This echoes something I learned in a recent class at Rockbridge Seminary - for many people today, belonging precedes believing - and this has deep implications for evangelism and assimilation.
  

Attitude of Gratitude

Your mom probably taught you how to say 'Thank You' when you got a treat, or something that you liked. It's something else entirely to get the raw end of a deal and be encouraged to have an attitude of gratitude. And yet that's what the Bible encourages us to do - "Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Eph 5:19-20).

I Thessalonians 5:16-19 concurs, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire." (NIV). If I can paraphrase - like any good parent, God doesn't like whining. If you want something harder, look at Matthew 5:44 "Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you."  I know it sounds hard, but it's not just feel-good nonsense.

I can think of at least three good reasons for this command to be thankful. First, it is always proper to be thankful to God for all the many blessings He has given us. Second, when we are in rough circumstances, we may not be able to control what happens to us, but we do have control over our response. Third, as Adele Calhoun puts it in her book "Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us" - thankfulness is the antidote to a critical spirit. Simply telling someone to be quiet or stop whining isn't enough - we must go a step further. By finding something worth being thankful for in any circumstance, we do change our attitude. Going through a rough time right now? I don't mean to minimize it or sound trite, but seriously, spend some time responding to God in thanks. You'll be glad you did, and you'll be a stronger and more content person for it.

Celebration and Worship

The Christian life is a life full of tremendous joy! So why do so many of us walk around with a sour look on our faces, and rightfully earn the scorn of our friends as kill-joys? Why does it sometimes seem like smiling, laughing, and celebrating are improper acts of piety? The life of Jesus and His disciples reflect celebration.

As we come near the close of our series on spiritual disciplines, I want to look at a pair of disciplines that experience and proclaim this joy - celebration and worship. They sound similar, and we sometimes confuse the two. We celebrate because we've read the last page in the chapter of history, and God wins! Celebration is praise, taking joy in all the goodness around us. Even in rough times there are things to celebrate, and joy to be found. Joy, unlike happiness, is not dependent on our circumstances. It is a fruit of the spirit, that we expect to find in the life of those in whom the Spirit of God lives.

Worship is sometimes confused for singing and music - or even worse, for a specific kind of singing. It's also sometime thought of as "the service that happens on Sunday morning." Although both of these should include worship, worship is much more. It is our hearts and lives proclaiming the worth or greatness of God, a life of being present with God, of giving Him first place in all we do and say. It's our proper response to who He is.

Another good way to look at these two is that worship is experiencing the greatness of God, and celebration is experiencing the goodness of God. Both celebration and worship rock! :)  "Whatever you do... do it all in the name of Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him!" (Col 3:17)  Worship and celebration together is letting our very lives be a song of praise... Enjoy this song by Casting Crowns...

Fellowship and Community

Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25, The Message).

You might not think of gathering together with other people as a spiritual discipline, but it's a very important one. It's not that something is hard or unpleasant that makes it a discipline, but whether or not something is important, provides an indirect benefit, and is something we should be intentional about.

Glen Woods writes "Solitude and silence have long been touted for their benefits as spiritual disciplines. In the crowded, marginless West, there is still much merit to reclaiming their appropriate places in our lives. However, we would do well to learn community as spiritual discipline as well. Think of it this way. Whereas solitude calls for us to take time away from the crowds to pray, listen, worship, and communicate with God alone, community calls for us to be the presence of Christ among others. Solitude and community are both necessary; they also both tend to be either ignored, or receive out-of-balance focus."

He goes on to list five distinct benefits of intentionally pursuing community:
1. Learning to love your neighbor as yourself (yes, this especially includes your enemies).

2. Learning to practice the fruits of the spirit, realizing that others are showing forbearance to you even as you are attempting to do so for them.
3. Learning to give, not out of legalistic duty, but out of love.
4. Learning to become vulnerable, allowing others to speak into your life.
5. Refining your character is integral to the abovementioned points.

Accountability, not being a lone ranger in the faith, and having other people who can speak truth in your life, is particularly important. The discipline of community helps address the problem of self-centeredness. Are you involved deeply in the lives of others - do you have a small group of people you get together with to intentionally care for and love one another, spurring each other on in the faith? God created us for community.

Service and Secrecy

The way up? It's the way down.

"Jesus took a towel and a basin and  redefined greatness." -Richard Foster, "Celebration of Discipline"

Service - it's not just a spiritual discipline, but a way of life, a view of life that demonstrates you love God and you love people. As a practice it can help with devotion and with humility. It's the intentional practice of serving others, even through the most menial of tasks, with an attitude like you're serving our Lord Himself, and doing it in His name and for His glory. "Whatever you do, whether in word in in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" (Col 3:17). The discipline of service helps us avoid arrogance, helps us appreciate those who serve us, in addition to giving a tangible benefit to those we serve.

A highly related spiritual discipline is that of secrecy. It goes hand and glove with service, as secrecy is an intentional disdain of recognition for a good you've done. Secrecy allows us to love others in a more genuine way, unconcerned with whether they notice or love us back. It also helps keep us free from becoming a people-pleaser, and codependency on the praise of others. The attitude is what is important here - you wouldn't go and lie to deny that you did the act, but you simply do it with an attitude that our love for God and others doesn't depend on getting a 'Thank you'.

This week I and some friends are exploring these and other spiritual disciplines. Some practical examples of service and secrecy include: cleaning a toilet while praying and praising God, cleaning up the floor or highway when no one is around, making an anonymous gift, or simply changing your attitude in doing something you normally do where you choose not to be concerned with whether or not you are thanked. I must say, it makes a huge difference in your heart and for your sense of self-importance when you do things like this and turn them into a devotion time serving and praising God Himself.

For more info on the spiritual disciplines of service and secrecy, see Donald Whitney's "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life", Richard Foster's "Celebration of Discipline", or articles at The Reading Room at The Water's Edge.

Learning from my children

We had a great conversation around the lunch table today. It started off talking about 'what is a coach potato?' which of course led to talking about the cartoon "Jo-Jo's Circus." On that show the parents spuds weren't setting the best example for their little one. My youngest reflected "That's not very good, is it?" I told him no, but that parents can learn from their kids too and that we can learn from their example. "Really???? How!?" came back the question. I told each kid one way in which their lives or hearts were an example for me to follow. My daughter's extreme thoughtfulness and caring about others; my oldest son's ability to laugh in any situation; my middle son's attitude of contentment and willingness to hug absolutely anyone, anywhere; and my youngest boy's always demonstrating that despite mom's love for taking care of us we needed to be sure to show her lots and lots of love too!!

Wow! It's hard to express how their faces lit up, knowing that their dad sees great things in them that I learn from them. My daughter (the thoughtful one) said "Well, I learn from you too - I love how encouraging you are!" One son really appreciated how we could talk and pray together about things that were on his mind. They expressed appreciation for mom too, for just how much she loves them, and for how she would encourage them when they were down, and to get get back on the bike when they fell off :)  This was one of the most awesome weekends I've had in a long time, but I'll remember this conversation with my kids for a long, long time. I'm so blessed!

Hurry Sickness and the Practice of Slowing

“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”  (Mark 6:31)

For some, solitude and silence are killer disciplines. For others, the one I'll discuss today may be even harder. It's the spiritual discipline of slowing. John Ortberg's excellent book on spiritual disciplines, "The Life You've Always Wanted" has a chapter on 'An Unhurried Life: The Practice of Slowing'. An excerpt can be read in Christianity Today - "Ruthlessly Eliminate Hurry". The disease we all face is 'Hurry Sickness'. When we have hurry sickness, we are haunted by the fear that there just are not enough hours in the day to do all we need to do. We find ourselves chafing when we have to wait. (Oh boy, do I know that feeling, especially in my professor days back in Boston!) While this in itself isn't a great attitude it gets worse when we find ourselves rushing even when there is no reason to, we snap at people due to a tension level that won't go away, and we lose our sense of gratitude.

What's the cure for hurry sickness? It doesn't just work itself out by itself, it takes training - the intentional practice of slowing. Ortberg puts it plainly - "Deliberately choose to place yourself in a position where you simply have to wait... Drive in the slow lane.. Declare a fast from honking... Force yourself to eat your food slowing... For a month at the grocery store choose the slowest/longest line. Get in it. Then let someone go ahead of you." I can see the looks on some of your faces even now. Ironically, the weirder you thing these ideas are, the more you are probably suffering from hurry sickness and the more you should slow down!

My own pillar of sanity and slowing is keeping the sabbath. Not as a must do, but as an intentional offering of the day back to God, in which time with Him, time with people comes first. This has been my practice for over twenty years, even in the most insanely busy times of my life. Though I'm sometimes not the most patient man in the world, I would be far worse off if I ignored the wisdom of God's plan for my time. The Sabbath is like an eye in the hurricane of life's demands. Take one day a week, and banish hurry. You might be amazed at the difference it makes.

Solitude and Silence

"Silence is frightening because it strips us as nothing else does, throwing us upon the stark realities of our life." - Dallas Willard, "The Spirit of the Disciplines."

Though we were meant for community, and though communication is essential, often we saturate our lives with noise and company in an attempt to fill a void in our hearts or to avoid allowing ourselves time to think. The spiritual disciplines of solitude and silence are powerful tools for a deeper communion with God. They are also disciplines that come far easier for some of us than others - as my wonderfully charming and gregarious wife can attest! For contemplatives and ascetics, it's an essential time, both for recharging our batteries and for drawing near to God.

Donald Whitney discusses these in his classic "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life" (Chapter 10 on this subject can be found at his web site). There he defines the discipline of silence as "the voluntary and temporary abstention from speaking so that certain spiritual goals might be sought." Solitude is related, it is "voluntarily and temporarily withdrawing to privacy for spiritual purposes... Think of silence and solitude as complementary disciplines to fellowship. Without silence and solitude we're shallow. Without fellowship we're stagnant. Balance requires them all."

Whitney gives some excellent reasons for practicing silence and solitude:
- To follow the example of Jesus
- To better hear the voice of God
- To express worship to God
- To express to God
- To be physically and spiritually restored
- To regain a spiritual perspective
- To seek the will of God
- To learn control of the tongue

Ruth Haley Barton wrote a book on just this subject, "Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God's Transforming Presence." In it she shares some tips for this practice.
1. Identify a sacred place and time for you
2. Begin with a modest goal (the length isn't as important as the regularity)
3. Select a comfortable yet alert physical posture
4. Begin with a simple prayer expressing your openness and desire for God
5. Close your time in silence with a prayer of gratitude for God's presence
6. Resist the urge to judge yourself on your expectations in silence

Others have pointed out that solitude and silence require attention - if you don't engage the mind you'll fall asleep :)  Consider memorized Scripture, meditating on it; consider an attribute of God (as well as the fact that He is present); consider the faithful actions of God in the past (both in your life, in the church, in history); and listen in active stillness.

If you find yourself constantly in a state of hurriedness and unease... consider the benefit of silence and solitude in the pursuit of godliness (and sanity!)

Fasting and Prayer

Fasting as a spiritual discipline is intentionally abstaining from something that is good for a period of time for the sake of spiritual growth – for prayer, to humble ourselves before God, to increase our awareness of our reliance on Him. Usually fasting is abstaining from food, though it may also be from drink, sleep or sex (I Cor 7:5). The goal is never to earn brownie points, show God or our friends how cool we are, to punish ourselves, or to make God change His mind.  Isaiah 58 warns about fasting for outward show, when instead God wants our hearts.

The purpose of fasting is "to take our eyes off the things of this world and instead focus on God. Fasting is a way to demonstrate to God and to ourselves that we are serious about our relationship with Him.”  Fasting was described and encouraged in both the Old and New Testaments. Jesus says “when we fast” (not if) in Matthew 6:16-18 where He reminds us to fast in secret. Jesus Himself fasted for 40 days (Matt 4:2) at the start of His public ministry before calling the disciples. Fasting was not uncommon in the early church (e.g. Acts 13:2-3).

Campus Crusade for Christ has an excellent guide to fasting which covers why we should fast, how to fast safely, how long and what type, preparation, physical issues, and how to break your fast. There’s even some good information on fasting from the “Dummies” series: “Fasting provides self-discipline in an undisciplined age.” and “Fasting fosters concentration on God and his will.”  I would say fasting is particularly recommended for:

• Seeking a renewed commitment and fresh start in your devotion for God
  
• Seeking direction from God before a major decision or big event
  
• Seeking physical healing for a loved one or someone going through a rough situation
  
• Seeking deliverance from sin, temptation, or anything else where you seem stuck
  

If you’ve never really done any prayer and fasting, give it a try, and start small! Skip a lunch and take the hour to pray. Pray for other people, for guidance, in confession, with a listening heart. Before dinner when you’re feeling particularly hungry, take some time again to pray, to humble yourself before God, and to be acutely aware of your reliance on Him. Break the fast with a healthy meal (not a large pizza!)

The Show on Leadnet - Church Bull Session

Today Leadnet had a brief show and call-in program "Church Bull Session". This is a weekly show (Tues at 4pm) where Leadership Network's Dave Travis, Reggie McNeal, and Chris Willard will be shooting from the hip on a number of ministry topics and current events. I was able to ask a question by twitter as well as follow-up with a call-in question. I got to tell Reggie that I loved his book "The Present Future" and only had to throw it across the room once :)

I asked "What does missional leadership development look like in a church trying to be more externally focused". (Answers below are from memory, I don't have a transcript)

"It's about Deploy-and-Debrief, not Train-then-Deploy, and it's a very different mindset." In other words, you create opportunities for people to serve (especially outside the walls of the church), then intentionally talk about what happened afterwards. The traditional approach would be that you announce training, give people the skills to do something, then send them off to do it. 

Be intentional about what you recognize and celebrate. Be sure to put high emphasis on what is going on outside of the church. For example, when you recognize children's ministry, add "Not just you involved in ministry here, I mean everyone who in ministry to children. Teachers, stand up. Volunteer tutors at the high school, Foster parents, grandmothers who are caregivers, stand up and be recognized. You guys are doing wonderful work in children's ministry!"

I then asked about how to encourage a shift from ministry inside the church to outside...

Every member a minister was an important biblical teaching that came out of the reformation, but there's an important aspect that it misses. Every member of the church is a also a missionary, called not only to serve but to share the gospel to those lives they touch. Rather than a replacement of every member a minister, it's more of a change in focus in where they are deployed, and a greater sense of mission in what they do. It's not about finding a church ministry for everyone, it's about releasing people for service to other people where they are already deployed - serving in their community, among their family and friends. It's about encouraging the use of their time and spiritual gifts to touch the lives of those outside the church walls.

My next question: "How do you make the shift from equipping for internal ministry to releasing for external ministry and for developing the mindset of every member a missionary?"

Churches need to adopt the Home Depot approach - You can do it. We can help!  Too long we've had the attitude (implicit or explicit)  "We can do it. You can help."

Another idea is to bring in several community leaders over time - fire commissioner, police chief, high school principal, gang leader, and have them share what's going on the in the community and how they can help make a difference.

One other great comment made on the show, when another caller asked "How do you motivate people to get involved in the community?"

You don't! Give it up, stop trying! Instead... create a venue for service where they can actually do something. When they see that what they're doing is actually impacting lives, it will motivate them in a way you never could by talking about it. Change the behavior, leading by example, and the motivation will come powerfully and naturally.

For more on these ideas, you may want to check out Reggie McNeal's new book "Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church." (I'm falling behind on reading, I really need to get this one myself!)