21st Century America Is Poised for a Church/Parachurch Partnership

Churches who are unwilling to work with other ministries are doomed. In the past, one of the reasons that churches and Parachurch organizations have had a hard time working together was the issue of

Right & Wrong

Vs

Life & Death

In a very real way the Community and Seeker Church mentalities have paved the way for a strong Church/Parachurch partnership. There are powerful influences in the church today that are saying that Life & Death are more important than Right & Wrong. They are not prepared to throw out their theological convictions; but they are not likely to see the timing of the Rapture as a make or break issue. We have far more important issues to be concerned about then the timing of the Rapture, we have a Post-Christian culture to be concerned about. Anyone who is familiar with American and European history has to be concerned that the U.S. is on the fast track to becoming as secular as Europe.   

Historically, American churches, operating in a Christian culture, have felt that they had the luxury to stake out their theological turf based on their many “distinctives.” They could afford to fight about questions like the timing of the Rapture. But today churches no longer have the luxury to have a long list of distinctives. The list is still there but for most groups the distinctives, that they are willing to die for, comprises a very short list. There are just too many pressing social issues in a culture that is rapidly being paganized. Even the government is pleading with faith-based organizations to get involved with social action ministries.

One Advantage of the Para church Approach is: There Is No Address

The church was the most effective during its first 300 year, before it had an address. One great advantage the Para ministries have in the area of mission is that they rarely depend on their addresses or facilities. The ministry impact of most Churches, on the other hand, tends to be defined by their addresses and facilitie

Para organizations have a history of strategizing to reach various people groups on the fly. They are not slowed down by buildings, they are passion-based, not location/facility based. Para organizations do not need to provide collective worship and edification to be authentic. Therefore they can travel like Wesley did, “lean and mean.”

Our experience on church staffs has taught us that it takes a huge investment for churches to accommodate their ministries, especially their children’s ministries. And the children’s ministries may be the most important ministry that a church has, so it is a good investment. While churches have seen the value of well-developed children’s ministries, they seldom see the value of well developed ministries to the hundred plus people groups in the U.S. But the good news is that churches do not have to start from scratch to reach the people groups, there are already good organizations in place, and we just need to travel with them.   

A great history lesson

The biggest difference between 18^th century Wesleyans and 20^th century American Protestants is that the Wesleyans made a priority commitment to holy living, (worship and edification), and to the poor (mission). Most of the Wesleyans remained Anglican and attended Anglican churches. However, they participated in Wesleyan societies, or small groups. For example Robert Raikes, who hired the first teachers to go into the streets on Sundays and teach street kids, (i.e. the father of the Sunday School Movement) was a Anglican who had been influenced by Wesley.

The early Wesleyan Societies provided a “ministry passion outlet” for lay people similar to the “ministry passion outlet” that America Parachurch organizations have provided  since World War II. The body of Christ, i.e. the church, is organic and if the organizational structures do not provide an outlet for “ministry passion” the larger body will create one.

We lost the culture...Why?

Several years ago my friend Frank took a walking tour in London that ended up at Wesley’s chapel. As the tour group approached the chapel the guide said, “The 18^th century in Britain was Wesley’s century.  He influenced how we thought and how we acted, he influenced the entire culture.” That is an incredible statement: one man, or more accurately a particular group of people, was a major influence in the most powerful country on earth. Wow!

He said, "I don’t know what the others on the tour expected Wesley’s chapel to look like. But I remember the first time that I saw it, I was shocked." It is very modest to say the least, in fact it is both small and stark! The Wesley’s chapel is the total opposite from both the magnificent European Cathedrals and the kind of facilities that church growth experts in the 21^st century America would recommend. (Wesley had two chapels, one in London and one in Bristol, both are small and modest).

Wesley’s chapels may have been simple; but they were epicenters for a massive penetration of British culture by the Christian faith. The Wesleyans of 18^th century had few resources in terms of facilities, schools or wealthy members, and yet they deeply penetrated their culture.  The Protestants of 21^th century America, on the other hand, lost their culture despite having enormous resources. Why? Later this week I will give you at least two reason.

The Quest

A few years ago my friend Ken Baugh and I wrote a book called, The Quest for Christ. We thought it would be a defining moment in the landscape of discipleship. But in the unfriendly landscape of consumer Christianity it was a flop. Why?

 There is a statement in Matthew 10:37-39 that is shocking!

“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” We may do much Christian service as volunteers but at some point we have to “lose our lives.” and become servants.

One comes away from that passage understanding why Paul told the Philippians to “work out your salvation in fear and trembling.” Jesus and Paul are talking about every Christian’s calling, both their General Calling to live a Christian life and their Special  Calling to discover and pursue the good work or works that God prepared in advance for them to do.

The most challenging and disturbing word in Matthew 10:33-39 in our opinion is the repeated word anyone. In a sacerdotal system only the priests have to worry about their Calling. But, in Protestantism, thanks to the Priesthood of the Believers, no one gets off the hook.

All any Christian needs to be able to discover their calling is a personal relationship with God. But, it can be very helpful if they are part of a supportive Church.

Every church that wants to see everyone in their church have the opportunity to find and follow God’s ministry assignment for their lives faces four “Passion Challenges.”

1. Create a Passionate Friendly Environment
2. Create a Passionate Friendly Infrastructure
3. Create Passionate Friendly Places to Stand
4. Personalize Passion

20/80 Dilemma

When 20% of the people do 80% of the work in a church, the church leaders usually think that they have an 80% problem. But, in reality they have a 20% problem. Obviously the 20% who are the power brokers have designed the ministry of the church in such a way that the 80% are not interested in participating. The 80% are not interested because churches are designed so that only the 20% can be a Somebody. The secret is to encourage the 80% to pursue their calling to ministry and design an infrastructure that is capable of recognizing their calling as the work of the church. Not very many churches have the nerve for this.

What Is My Ministry Calling: Part Five

8. The Primary Tool That God Will Uses To Enable Us To Discover Our Calling is Our Emotions. A while back my friend and co-author Frank made the above point while speaking in a church. Following the message a lady let me know that she was very upset. She was an adult teacher in the church and she always taught people that emotions were the “train’s caboose.” According to her the head is the “engine,” we should be sure we know ourselves, our abilities, our spiritual gifts, our experiences, and then make a rational decision about where we should pursue ministry. Of course to know of those things people needed to go through the class that she taught. I use to teach SHAPE workshops, it is an acronym created by Rick Warren for S = Spiritual Gift, H= Heart, A= Ability, P= Personality, E= Experiences, it was a vehicle for people to wrestle with one question, “If they could do anything for God in the next year, what would they do?” That is the “H,” in Heart, emphasis on heart…passion, but I have noticed that everyone that taught it after me put the emphasis on discovering their spiritual gift. Almost like the discovery of their gift would bring about some kind of Christian nirvana. It never does. People discovering their spiritual gift is a really good thing, the Bible tells us to make sure people are not uninformed of theirs, but without igniting their passion it just adds to our intellectual baggage. It creates a huge problem when people think that they have to jump through a bunch of intellectual hoops before they can know God’s leading. It makes people dependent on those who understand the hoops. It is what we call the Medicine Man or Witch Doctor factor. Medicine Men and Witch Doctors gain their power from knowing mysterious things about God that the average person doesn’t know. Could it be that the reason that God designed us to find our calling primarily through our emotions, i.e. our passions, is because we don’t need “religious power brokers” to help us understand our emotions. We know many Christians who are pursuing their calling. Some know their spiritual gift, or gifts, while others don’t. Some pondered their personality and or their abilities before they found their calling, others didn’t. But they all have one thing in common; they all know their passion.