Discussion being continued in the comments.
I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now. A couple of things lately have spurred me on to write it at this time: the first being Anthony Bradley’s post on a similar topic (link here) and the second being a quote by Rick McKinley on the December ‘06 Catalyst podcast. Before I quote that to you, I’d first recommend you read Dr. Bradley’s post first, before reading this post. It’s excellent, and is a good intro to the topic that I’m going to briefly address in this post.
The quote by Pastor Rick of Imago Dei Community (link) is short, but it sums up where we’re going here. Here’s the context: the interviewer of Rick McKinley on the Catalyst podcast (Gabe Lyons) asks him if he’s sick of being referred to as Don Miller’s pastor. Rick’s immediate response is “No, I like being Don’s pastor. I’m a pastor, man, that’s what I do. I work in a zip code with certain people and that’s my story.” This is one of the most incredible job descriptions of a pastor I’ve ever heard. It’s short, to the point, but it gets the job done. So what’s this all about? It’s about what the church is to be. How it is supposed to express itself.
So what is the church? Well, according to Scriptures, it’s supposed to be a missional ministry confined by geography. What do the Scriptures mean by this? Well, quite simply, churches of early Christianity were really only confined to certain cities. They banded together in order to accomplish larger goals, but on a day-to-day basis, they refused to deviate from their target area. They lived, worked, played, and raised their families within an area, according to the will of Jesus. The church at Ephesus was meant solely to reach the people of Ephesus. The church at Corinth was meant solely to reach the people of Corinth. And how? Not through mailers. Not through slick marketing or “sermon branding”. Not through propaganda. But through the message of Jesus Christ.
Am I against sermon branding? No. Am I against church marketing? No. But what I am against is Malachyan worship; Malachi spoke against the priesthood because they began to value their ceremonies and processes more than they valued the message and reason they performed the ceremonies at all. I think the American church is getting this way quick. We place people like Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki on pedestals (don’t get me wrong, they’re very wise in their fields), but we begin to ignore people who really brought (and really bring) the Gospel. Where are all the Bunyan, Edwards, and Spurgeon reprints? There are a few, but they don’t come close to the number of copies of Jim Collins’ and Marcus Buckingham’s books in the some pastors’ libraries.
We are commercializing the message. Look at all the kits produced by churches around the country. They are so general that the local culture is completely ignored. Having lived in so many places, I know first-hand that local culture differs dramatically from place to place (even from town to town within a county, parish, or other region). All-inclusive kits ignore this, and in effect, ignore the people. So what do we do instead?
The first step is this: examine the Scriptures. How did Jesus and His disciples exhibit the message in particular cultures? Take note of when they are in Samaria, how He acts and what He says. Compare and contrast this with when He is teaching in Judea. Then turn to Peter and Paul. Paul’s Areopagus address in Acts 17 is the single greatest example of culture exegesis I can think of.
The second step is this: think about your local culture. What sets your area apart from other areas around the country, the state, and the county in which you are? What distinctives do they have? What needs do they perceive themselves to have? Where in the culture needs redemption? Where is there an analogy to Christ and His message? Answer these questions. It’s imperative.
The third step is this: teach missionally. Right now, “missional” is a buzz word. But to me, it’s more than that; it’s the theology of the Scriptures. Acts 1:8, quoted so often when talking about missions, is a prime example of thinking missional. Live in such a way to redeem the places in your local culture that need redeeming. Teach your people to live in a way that affects the people around them. Teach your people about the water in which they live. And then tell them to swim upstream. It’s the only way Acts 17:6 will ever come true in your area: it will be turned upside down.
Don’t worry about influencing a city across your state, or impressing churches across the nation, or having your church make the news in another city. Make constant ripples in your pond, and eventually the algae will move elsewhere.
I’m going to really dive into Acts 17 in a later post. Stay tuned.
