even if they never attend church

“Who are you? Why are you here?” demanded the Muslim woman, dressed in traditional garb as she held the garden hose she had been using to wash her garage door.

“Thank you for asking,” I replied with a smile. My name is Glen and I am from the church next door. I visit the kids and families in these apartments once or twice per week just to say hello and brighten their day.”

“Oh.” Her grim demeanor remained. She asked again, “Who are you?”

I repeated my answer again. Scruffy the puppet looked on in my arms as the children gathered from throughout the complex to touch him and beg for his attention. She didn’t seem impressed, but then she asked, “Do you have a good hose? This one isn’t doing the job.”

“I am sorry, but I don’t.”

“Oh, that’s okay.”

“I wish I did have a hose, but maybe one of your neighbors has one you can borrow.”

“Maybe.” She went back to scrubbing, seemingly satisfied–at least for the moment–that I was harmless. So, I turned my attention to the children and let them play with Scruffy. The other adults seemed amused by it all. Several children I have not previously met were attracted by the commotion and felt emboldened to approach me for the first time in several visits to the complex. It was a positive time of first contact with many.

I then went to the other apartment complex. I received a warm reception from many of my regular kids and I was introduced to a new family who, as it turns out, intend to allow their children to attend within the next couple of weeks. I invited them to come as well, and they may do that. Then I spent some time with several dads I have gotten to know. We talked about the building industry of which some of us are a part. I shared that I am a truck driver and warehouseman in floorcovering. I could feel the credibility gap closing with that comment.

Being missional means being relevant to the culture in ways that create connections without compromising moral standards. The puppet. My workboots and comments about the workplace. The friendly conversation about a garden hose. They are what helps me to be all things to all people the best that I can. It is about life together through common interests. It takes time, I know. The cultures (plural intended) I am attempting to reach are, in most cases, tough nuts to crack. Language barriers. Differing customs. Religious barriers. Misconceptions to overcome. An interloper who does not live in the immediate community. This is why I spend time there without making demands or only trying to recruit people to attend church activities. Sure, I do invite them, but I do so in the natural flow of our conversations. I want them to know that I am interested in them even if they never attend. And I am. So is God. Are you?

What is the Point of Church? Worship, Mission, & Connection

Tonight was my first night of small group. I have not participated in an intentional small group for over twelve years, so it was interesting getting back into it. They are a great group of people.

During discussion of the Sunday sermon (which I did not hear since I am with the children every Sunday), a question was raised about the purpose of the church. Two words came immediately to me: mission and connection. I missed a third which I should have raised as the most important: worship. These are some thoughts which occur to me as I reflect on my long history in various kinds of evangelical churches, ranging from Baptist to charismatic with an assortment of other traditions co-mingled through the years.

Worship: Worship is about God, not about us. Or me. Or you. Just God. But why do we in the evangelical traditions twist it all around? Why the worship wars over style, and who gets to sing what part, and who gets a solo, or whether people should be allowed to express praise through dance, various postures, or rattling a cymbal? We miss the point because we focus on us, not God. We search for churches where we feel we can be comfortable with a worship style, and leave when the style occasionally accomodates a younger or older generation. We create traditional services and contemporary services, further dividing generations and styles of worship and perpetuating the consumer mentality among our parishioners. We risk becoming primarily consumers of style, rather than worshippers of God in substance. We are critical of those we do not understand, causing all affected to miss out on the whole point of worship. We need to get over ourselves and focus on God, seeking to glorify him in all we say, sing, and do. Worship should be an exaltation of the Most High, and a humbling of ourselves before him as we surrender our lives and our will to his purposes.

Mission: Newsflash. The mission field is here. Biblically. Practically. And it’s about time we understand this. When the apostles were dispatched in Acts 1:8, they were sent first locally, and then to ever-expanding territories, and finally to the uttermost parts of the world. That calling continues with the church today. For those in my local context, it begins where they live, work and play. For me, it is Portland, Oregon. Portland and its surrounding communities are my Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria where I am called to have a missional impact for Christ among the people. We also dispatch people abroad, all around the world. But it starts locally. As mission. Viable. Critically important. An integral aspect of the daily rhythms which characterize our lives.

Connection: I had an epiphany tonight. I have had all kinds of valid reasons which were preventing me from being an early adapter to our small groups.  In the end, I decided to sign up for one of the groups and go, even though my prior reasons were ringing loud and clear in my thinking. So, go I did. And then when it was done and I reflected on the experience, it occurred to me I had been crying out for connection for years in my local situation. And when the opportunity was presented to me, I initially found reasons to decline. In the end, I went for it, recognizing that my initial concerns, valid as they are, can still be addressed in constructive ways while affording me opportunity to be with others. Already, I experienced a deeper level of connection with those in my group because we took the time to gather in a home and pray, read Scripture, converse, and allow others into our lives. And that was just the first session. Imagine what might happen if such gathering were to happen regularly? Oh wait, we meet again next week. And that is a good thing; a connecting thing.

Initializing Missional Discipleship

I visited some of the children at both apartments after work today. I did a walk through to say hello and see how their week is going. I did not knock on any doors. I only spoke with those who were outside and available. At the north apartments I was greeted by friendly hellos from some, and sullen looks from others. The former know me. The latter have seen me, but have not yet gotten to know me. So, I asked about their day and how the first week of school is going. One little girl said that she loves art. I asked her if I could see her projects when she begins to do them and she agreed. Some other girls colored pictures, while a smaller girl cut out flower shapes with drawn smiley faces on each petal. They smiled sweetly as I complimented their work.

As my rounds of that complex neared an end I conversed with several children who sat on their porch. I noticed a book near the door. A New Life Application New Testament paperback, with the words “Are You Thirsty for Streams of Living Water?” printed on its face. I wasn’t surprised. Low income housing does not necessarily mean that people do not know God, or that they do not have an interest in him. I remember thinking, “Yes. Yes, I am thirsty.”

I said my goodbyes and then walked to the east apartments.  Three of the regular girls came running to me. The scenario was similar to the other apartments. I asked about their week. They told me a bit about school and how they are doing. Three older boys did their best to look cool. You know, nonchalant, like they could care less to see me. I kept the conversation with them simple. I told them I was simply there to say hello, and not to gather any one for church. They seemed to relax a bit, especially when I moved on to a few other children. One little girl stood with her mother in their balcony on the third floor of the apartments. They both waved happily. I waved back and conversed from below, inviting them to church Sunday and letting them know I plan to be around from time-to-time.

Missional community deliberately sets aside overt message delivery which is free from apparent concern in favor of overt care and interest. This adds personal credibility to the pervasive message of God’s love through Jesus in the lives of the missional interlocutor. I feel alive in this milieu. It is risky because of its organic nature, meeting people on their terms and in their contexts; indeed, choosing to live incarnationally in those contexts to some degree.  

I find myself wanting more interaction with them, especially with the parents. I pray it will be possible in the coming days as I explore what it means to be a missional disciple.

Final Midweek Kids Club at my Church

It’s over. It’s just beginning. I’m sad. I’m relieved. It is a new day for my church. Tonight we had our final Wednesday evening event ever at my church. We concluded it with an upbeat talent showcase of the children’s favorite talents. It was fun, hilarious and always enlightening. Several danced, others sang, still others jumped rope, played piano and recorder, and had fun the entire brief night. I even got into the action, playing a little improvisational piano early on, doing an improv funny face routine, and then attempting to jump rope, against my better judgment.

But now it is over, and just beginning. I set aside the burden of mid-week programming and all of its challenges and joys, and I turn my attention to strengthening Sunday mornings, encouraging parents, and doing organic missional work in the neighborhood.

Something inside me is changing. Indeed, it has been for a long while. I remain committed to Christian Orthodox faith convictions. I also feel emboldened to attempt initiatives that wouldn’t know a box, much less be postured outside of one. Creativity favors the brave who dare conceive original thoughts, yet retaining humility to remain accountable to orthodoxy in the development of their missional orthopraxy.

Missional Discipleship: Beginning a Conceptual Journey

In the past several weeks I have been posting thoughts on my facebook account, partly to archive them, and primarily to invite discussion from others. As I have done this, combined with my readings offline, I am come across a term which isn’t terribly innovative, but seems profoundly meaningful for me at this stage in my journey. Although I created the term for myself, I have since discovered through a simple internet search that many others before me have used it in their own ways. Nevertheless, for my purposes, missional discipleship sets two popular concepts in a phrase so as to imply a necessary relationship between the two. I believe it is the kind of thing Jesus meant when he told the fishermen from the outset that he would make them fishers of men, and later that he was sending them to go and make disciples of the nations. Missional discipleship  unites mission and discipleship. It is not one and then the other. They coexist in a necessary unity, providing for each other the context in which faith content and maturity may be nurtured while being unleashed.

So then, I am wrestling with the concepts with a view toward rigorous biblical interpretation, and relevant practical application. It has implications both for ministry in general and children’s ministry in particular.