"The abnegation of reason is not the evidence of faith, but the confession of despair."
- J.B. Lightfoot
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate. The more clearly we learn to recognize that the ground and strength and promise of all our fellowship is in Jesus Christ alone, the more serenely shall we think of our fellowship and pray and hope for it.
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
A few years ago, I sat in my mentor-pastor Mike Ayers?s living room and tried to express my convoluted thoughts on the call of the Church to the lost. Mike and I off and on have been working on a book on evangelistic ecclesiology. It?s still in its formative stages, but it is a labor of love and the product of a long-time partnership anyway, so we?re not really in a hurry. I remember, though, trying to say some things to him that evening way back when and having no idea how to say them. All I had was the feeling that the way we were inviting people to follow Jesus was fundamentally flawed.
What we were doing seemed to be working in some respects, though. Our little church had seen the conversion of Jewish intellectuals and atheistic philosophy nerds and rebellious kids from broken homes. We were doing some things right. But the basic issue for me then was an odd feeling of being in limbo between competing evangelistic theories. We were rightly dismissive of the practice of the sort of churches we had left behind, in which after every service a minister would present what essentially amounted to Pascal?s Wager to the congregation and then got those who decided to take the bet to sign on the dotted line for some fire insurance.
On the other hand, so-called ?seeker churches? like ours, at the time, seemed to follow the same philosophy but just made it more comfortable. If not that, what seeker churches seemed to offer prospective converts was some sort of glorified self-help philosophy. Make your marriage better, your kids well behaved, your career more successful, your life peachy keen. I will not doubt the benefits of following Jesus can have on all of those things, and I won?t deny that the Bible speaks to some of them, if not all. But Christianity is not a tool to make life better; it is life itself.
I am more articulate on these matters today than I was then. I basically just unloaded an aimless ramble on Mike, not even sure then what I was trying to say. To his great credit, Mike was getting it and, thankfully, was feeling much the same way.*
What I remember saying was my point was that I felt like we should be calling the lost into something, not just away from something. Obviously, conversion entails wrestling with our sinful nature and repentance from our life of sin. Obviously the fear of hell and separation from God are worthy motivators to choose the alternative. But calling people away from sin and death into Six Steps For Successful Living won?t keep people for long. (I?m finding now that I still have trouble putting my finger on the thing I most want to say.)
Basically, my hope is that we are inviting the lost into an alternate reality, into a kingdom life that buzzes and hums with God?s active presence and abundant grace and love. As a writer, I like the analogy of Story as it relates to the life of discipleship. Even back then, I remember telling Mike something like, ?Imagine if we could invite people to take part in a great Story that is going on.? We invite people not to merely incorporate church into their lives as something helpful and beneficial, but to incorporate their lives into the Church ? the community of persons following Jesus together ? as something radical and revolutionary in their lives and in the life of the world.
The way conversion is sometimes expressed these days is that the Christian life gives us tools with which to write our own pretty good story. But really it is more like the Christian life finds us smack-dab in the middle of a Story that is already being written ? indeed, we are nearing the fantastic and climactic finale. (Best to play our part as soon as possible!)
We cannot write this Story into existence; we must recognize that it is already being composed by a far greater Artist than we, and we must jump in, immerse ourselves, and see where our character arc takes us.
Once again, Pastor Bonhoeffer:
We are torn out of our own existence and set down in the midst of the holy history of God on earth. There God dealt with us, and there He still deals with us, our needs and our sins, in judgment and grace. It is not that God is the spectator and sharer of our present life, howsoever important that is; but rather that we are the reverent listeners and participants in God?s action in the sacred story, the history of the Christ on earth. And only in so far as we are there, is God with us today also.
* Thankfully, also, the so-called ?seeker church? has evolved somewhat and grown beyond its initial focus on just not being like the traditional church. The movement, like those of us in it, had some growing pains to go through and some bugs to work out. I believe that most seeker churches today, the ones that really understand the philosophy and aren?t just trying to be hip, are doing a great job of reaching and discipling the unchurched.
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Comments on "The Call to Discipleship: An Invitation to the Story":
2. John O.
- 07/15/2004 5:23 am CDT
Great post. The life of the church and its invitation to the world should be one that is rational, accessible, and attractive. In their common life, abundant with joy and overflowing in endeavors of reconciliation, charity, and justice, Christians should be the 'beautiful people' that others are almost irresistibly drawn to. At the same time the life of the church and its invitation to the world should be one that is radical, alternative, and transforming. The church does not offer the gospel as self-enrichment but as self-surrender. It is a painful indictment of many American churches that we have managed to make the church and its invitation both less attractive and less radical. I say 'we' because I am a minister in a 'kinder, gentler' traditional church and I live on the receiving end of the indictment.
One of the practical proposals from the mushrooming literature in missional ecclesiology that I think may be relevant to this post is the recovery of catechesis. The early church understood itself as a way of life and had no illusions that its invitation could be distilled to an altar call. Catechesis was its way of 'calling people into something'--inviting people to an experience of alternative community, teaching them the language and doctrine of Christian faith, and summoning them to a transformed ethics and way of life. Catechesis set the bar high for entry into Christian community, yet it was a community that man eagerly desired to enter. Jared, I wonder where you think catechesis might fit in your developing vision and writing project. I appreciate the questions you are raising.
4. Rebecca
- 07/15/2004 6:59 am CDT
Excellent article. When I have a moment, I'm going to go back and read the whole thing carefully. But the very end caught my eye as the words "seeker-friendly" are a BAD word in our church ~ a church plant, as such, headed by John MacArthur. I was just asked by a young lady yesterday who is interested in starting a MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers), "What does 'seeker-friendly' mean because some of the people who are objecting to MOPS are concerned about that?" Ugh.
5. Kevin
- 07/15/2004 5:04 pm CDT
Are you absolutely sure you shouldn't be calling them "to" a "peachy life?" ;-)
Praise the Lord for the vision the Lord has laid on your heart. I think I share large parts of it, though I suspect mine would look different. I've spent 15 years in alternative churches, 10 in an experiment in a neighborhood home church. I stepped out of that in 1999, and am just beginning to get my feet back on the ground.
I'd love to hear what you think the church should look like. Elders? Evangelists? The great commission? Women ministering? Types of ministry? Entertainment? Sociality? Service? There are so many fun questions!
The idea of a story is beautiful, and could naturally lead into true discipleship. I especially love that the story inevitably moves you past bare salvation's milk. Salvation is glorious, and it made us a part of the story, but our part is now. Where is the Lord going now! (There's that pesky eschatology again.) Yes, I like that framework a lot.
6. Quaid
- 02/26/2005 4:32 pm CST
I am reading "The Cost of Discipleship" and it totally rocks. So much so that I popped "Bonhoeffer" in the Thinklings Search-o-matic to see what I could find. This post was one of the few that came out.
It speaks very much to what I am thinking/feeling right now about my life, church and ministry. The book is so convicting on an individual level, but also as a part of a larger ministry.
I believe that the church I am working with is getting away with not fully communicating the tenets of "costly grace" to our members. Forget the calling of the people for just a moment, if you will, (which is probably poor blog-etiquette) and realize how the members of our church are so not getting it!!! It is nearly angering for me.
Back to the call-
It IS imperative that people know that the Christian walk is not just faith, but obedience as well. We seem to skim over the obedience part at times. I fell victim to it myself growing up in church. I knew Jesus as my Savior, but was content on continuing on my own way. No one stopped me. No one even stopped to ask.
As we graciously accept all who darken the door of our church we must assuredly offer their only Hope to them. In the meantime, they must fully understand what such hope requires. Not just faith, but obedience.
7. Quaid
- 02/26/2005 4:35 pm CST
Whoever is reading this:
Read "The Cost of Discipleship" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
If you have not read it, do so. If you are alrady an avid reader, put it on your list of things to read. If you do not read, start with this book.
Put simply: it rocks. If you have not been exposed to the ideas it puts forth, it will most likely jog your walk with Christ in a major way.
Are Bonhoeffer's other works this compelling???
8. Jared
- 02/26/2005 4:39 pm CST
Quaid, yes!
Bonhoeffer is totally awesome. And completely convicting.
If you'd like to see how The Cost might directly apply to the church experience, please read Bonhoeffer's Life Together. It will rock your world.
9. PlaidBerry
- 06/28/2005 7:36 pm CDT
Jared at Thinklings Blog wisely counseled: …we should be calling the lost into something, not just away from something. My hope is we are inviting the lost into an alternate reality, into a kingdom life that buzzes and hums with God’s active presence a...
Christianity is not a tool to make life better; it is life itself.
Excellent point, Jared.
. . .we should be calling the lost into something, not just away from something.
Again, an excellent point. For a long time I viewed my daily walk with Christ as just another thing to do during the course of my day rather than being the focal point around which my day was centered. My life itself has changed dramatically in the 8 or so months since I had that realization. I fully agree: If we are calling the lost away from their sinful ways without showing them an alternative - something worthy of being called to - then we are fighting a losing battle.