Go … the ironic path of a reluctant church planter

When I think back about why I chose to learn at The Pines, it really wasn’t to learn how to plant churches. (Sorry).

I had felt for quite a while that Australian churches weren’t really impacting Australia, like we could or should.. like what happened in the Bible. I couldn’t see the blokes at high school coming along to youth group (though ironically some of the tougher guys did And I was frustrated with the lack of progress I was experiencing with the guys at work.

There was no way that the blokes there would come along to church or home-group!

In fact, I wasn’t even interested in getting them to church. Most of the blokes I dealt with had a low view of Christians and Pastors and churches. And church attendance wasn’t exactly in their diary.

That’s not to say I don’t think they didn’t entertain the idea of a biblical God existing. Nor have an appreciation of those who gave selflessly to help those in need. But they did have a problem with …

• Hypocritical Christians
• Preachers telling them what to do when they themselves had big expensive churches, flash cars, asking for money and getting caught in compromising scandals.. and that they were telling others what not to do … all when there are starving kids and people who need help.
• The paedophilia scandals
• Religions causing wars/terrorism
• Evolutionary and other belief systems and lifestyles, that were largely God-gospel resistant
• Christians’ lack of tolerance for alternate belief systems, and other lifestyles
• Bad experiences with a Christian
• Judgmentalism
• And why God would let innocent children suffer

[note : I am referring to perception, without addressing the validity of the perceptions]

You’ll have to forgive me, but back then I was kind-of a long way off considering church planting when it seemed to me that the average un/pre-churched Aussie had such a low opinion of Christians and the church.

To be honest, I would have killed just to see a slight change in people’s underlying negative perceptions of Christians, the Church and … ultimately our Creator. That being said, I can guarantee you that the average Aussie can pick the ‘real thing’ faster than you can say, “Can I tell you about Jesus..” and has a finely tuned ‘bulldust filter.’

Part of our problem is that they can see through us better than we can see ourselves.

But when the then Training Director brought some Pines students to help our local church at Kawana, I said to myself… ‘Here is a group of (young) people who could change the world.’

 And to me, they were dynamic and different to the young denominationally-trained pastors I had come across. I thought the young pastors I had met were awesome and committed Godly people and effective at what they were trained for.

But I saw these Pines students as people that could relate to and impact normal average Aussies (perhaps a bit like school chappys were doing). From where I sat, they were down to earth, full of life and love .. and had something different. And I figured that something good must have been going on, up the hill at The Pines.

And I wanted to get some of whatever they had, into me … 

If there was one aspect of The Pines’ training that I found most helpful, it was the cross cultural ministry training that I received. (Indigenous Theology, Ministry relevant to Australians, and Cross Cultural  Ministry).

The trainers explained how we could integrate and gain acceptance into different cultures and then transplant ‘the gospel’ … and allow the gospel to transform ‘their culture.’ (Hopefully not us transferring ‘gospel + our culture.’) But this required us to bridge the cultural barriers and challenges, which is hard work.

Then I began to realise the cultural divide between average Aussie culture … and our Australian Church culture. And every time we ask someone into our church culture, we are expecting them to bridge the cultural gaps.. and for them to become like us. We don’t realise how crazy we are

Hence, Jesus’ command to …‘Go!!’ ..and make disciples. Not… ‘tell them to ‘come,’ and be discipled.’… (though I’m not going to argue if they do).

I’ve learnt that there is a spiritual dynamic at work, and that when I jump on the train .. or go to a community, that I need to acknowledge that God is above every power and authority, and that it is ‘His’ work .. not mine. If I can get away from my distractions, and do this .. I have found it amazing how He brings things up and generates Godly instances, that I couldn’t concoct.

And I have had a revelation of God’s desire to extend his ‘grace and peace’ to us, and through us .. to the world.

I realise that we (.. or maybe just ‘me’…) are perhaps better at putting our laws and values and expectations on the world… and ultimately our judgements … rather than extending His Grace. If a person gets more acceptance and appreciation and love at the local bowls club or rave dance club or bikie gang … than the church they walk into, we have a big problem.

If they receive Grace there, and judgement and exclusion in our churches because they haven’t met our cultural norms, then we have a problem. And we’ve got heaps of norms for them to navigate, haven’t we?

I now view the sporting clubs and my workplace as a foreign tribe, that I need to integrate with … learn their cultures and ways … and then look for God-created opportunities that allow the things of God to be transplanted into that culture. I apply cross cultural and missionary principles to the Aussie communities I am a part of.

Have I seen any conversions? … No. Well, actually I have … but they are micro-conversions, of hearts and minds and perceptions and attitudes. One could say that they are small increments on the evangelism scale.

To me, we simply have to ‘Go’ … and just ‘hang-out with them.’ We might have to risk compromising our holiness (ha ha! Go and do their stuff with them, in their environment. For me, that meant going to a ‘buck’s party’. For me, that means riding a motorbike, risking death and painful injuries… crazy stuff.

An outward gospel.

We need to ‘wrestle’ with them … on their turf, and gain their respect somehow. We need to find out what tends to open doors in that culture, and what closes the door in that culture. To become one of them, that we might win them… whilst somehow remembering that we are an ambassador for Christ.. representing Him, and His kingdom. 

 Jesus lowered himself and hung-out in a sinful grotty world that really grated against Him… and literally killed Him. And in doing so, He won that world for His father. I suspect that we need to do that, in the cultural microcosms that we interact with.

Exponential Decay – Scientometrics – Atrophy and the Church

I came across an article the other day from the ‘Boston Globe’ talking about the increasing difficulty of making new discoveries.

I discovered (no pun intended) that until recently no one has really tried to measure the increasing difficulty of discovery. The name given to this new type of research is called ‘scientometrics’.

Once upon a time, it seems like discovering brand new things/theories/places was really simple. Article after article was published by brainy people across a broad range of fields containing discoveries that were breath taking and, in many cases, awe inspiring (how to travel faster than the speed of sound, the invention of the cochlear implant, VOIP technology). The reality was it only took creativity, some time and the ability to ask the right questions to come up with a new discovery. For example, the author of the Boston Globe article reminds us that Galileo rolled objects down hills. Robert Hooke played with a spring to learn about elasticity. Isaac Newton poked around his eye with a darning needle to understand colour perception (and yes, you did read that right).

Now days it would seem this is a thing of the past. No simple rubber band game on a Monday afternoon. We need a massive team numbering in the thousands and an atom smasher which costs more than GDP of many smaller countries on this earth.

You can see why governments and large companies are keen to learn as much as possible about ‘scientometrics’ even if it is just to see the best (and by best I mean most economical) way of making scientific discoveries.

Surprisingly, even in the early days of discoveries the very beginnings of ‘scientometrics’ can be seen. People recorded the number of yearly articles published about insights. Some study regarding monetary grants has shown the average age of scientists who receive grants from the National Institutes of Health has increased and the younger scientists have been given less. The young guns are missing out!

Mmmm… perhaps we should employ some ‘scientometrics’ to Christendom. Do we really give the ‘kiddies’ a chance? When was the last time churches really risked a LOT (including money) on someone who perhaps was not yet proven? I’m not suggesting we forget the character of a person. But I am suggesting that we show some trust in who the person could become.

My denomination has introduced a new scheme for Professional Personal Development. Something which I support… Something I am even willing to pay for… But here is the thing. The process grates. For example, the default position is that those who have been in ministry for more years than you can count MUST get with the program. Seriously, if you have been in ministry for so long and you aren’t involved in some sort of professional personal development, then I would suggest you stopped being a good leader many years ago.

However, those experienced leaders who have been around for some time and who not only value professional personal development but have themselves been dedicated to helping others develop must now take time out of their schedule and get with the program. What a waste of time! And worse still, it’s a bit of a slap in the face. It tells them “we don’t care what you have been doing, we don’t value it. You must do what we say.”

They’re the good guys. I think what may happen with the “not-so-good” guys might be even more scary. The rumblings have it that men who have been in ministry for a certain number of years will be matched up with young leaders to mentor them. Hmmmm. It’s ok if the older leaders are good mentors, good leaders and whole-hearted followers of Christ, but what if they’re not?

If, regardless of leadership ability or character, the older leaders mentor the young leaders because,  ‘We have been in ministry for such a long period of time, we have the answers, we can, no we should, mentor all the newbies’, we should shoot this horse now.

Perhaps for the future of the denomination we should match some of those kind of older leaders up with some of the young guns – not so the young fellas can learn from them, but rather, that they could follow the young leaders around for some time, walk with them and see what they can teach their elders!

I know that sounds egotistical, but the truth is that I am not a young guy anymore nor am I an experienced older leader…I’m a bit in-between J

Now moving on… hobby horse has been shot… In ‘scientometrics’  a term has been identified as the ‘exponential decay’. The exponential decay is a curve that illustrates the ease or lack thereof of each discovery every year.

 Interestingly, the curve shows the ease of discovery doesn’t stop by the same amount every year, but rather it declines by the same fraction each year. For example the discovered asteroids get 2.5 percent smaller each year. What this shows is that while the ease of discovery drops off quickly as early researchers pick the more obvious discoveries, it can continue to ‘decay’ for a long period of time. It gradually gets harder without anything actually becoming impossible.

In other words, while discovery can become extremely difficult, it does not mean that it stops. But the key thing is it does reveal what kind of resources we may need to continue to discover things.

To counteract the force of exponential decay and maintain discovery at the current pace, researchers will need effort that meets an exponential increase. So as we discover smaller and smaller particles, or slightly heavier chemical elements, you can’t just expend a bit more effort. Sometimes you have to expend much, much more.

How many of us have experienced the same sort of ‘exponential decay’ with churches?

I am reminded of a chapter from a book by Erwin McManus regarding a condition known as atrophy… a wasting away from lack of use. I have seen some real keen evangelists have tremendous success within churches, leading people who have been church goers for years to Christ. Most of these evangelists have been our more traditional ‘proclaimers’. God bless these people! They devote themselves to the cause. And as a result they pay a price… a price many of us are not willing to pay. Some of those proclaimers have lost to a degree the ability to reach an increasingly isolated-from-the-church and cynical Aussie.

In recent years a new breed of evangelist has emerged who has discovered a “new” way of influencing people and making culture different. This group of people has little regard for the atrophy suffered in the local church and devote themselves to ministry largely outside the established status quo. These people have very little desire to be part of anything that focuses on the needs and wants of the “saved” over the needs and wants of those still outside the Kingdom.

In my mind these people are the ones we need to be spending our time and money on. We should not only be spending time and money of them, but we need to expand our resources in order of magnitude to counter the exponential decay. Scientometrics in the church. Who would have thought?!

Are Australians Resistant or Receptive to the Gospel?

David Garrison has alerted the world to the amazing phenomenon of Church multiplication movements.  I get excited when I hear about Churches multiplying themselves through a society via the rapid spread of the Gospel through relational webs. Most of the success is due to Church people (not pastors) taking the initiative to share the “Good News” with friends and family.  According to Garrison, most of this growth is occurring in Latin America, Africa and Asia. There is no evidence to date of this phenomenon occurring in the West.

 As an Australian I am envious. Why can’t this happen in my land? Garrison and Ed Stetzer write that two significant barriers are our requirement to have professional pastors and expensive plant for every Church.  I admit that these two factors can be significant obstacles to Church planting but I suspect that we should look at a deeper level into our own cultural environment.

 Why? In the story Jesus told about the Sower the two common denominators were the seed and the Sower himself. The aspect that most impacted on the result of the sowing of each seed was the condition of the soil!

So why is the Australian “soil” not conducive to the rapid acceptance and spread of the Gospel of Jesus?

 Of course, my question contains at least two assumptions that I am testing.  The first assumption is that there is such a thing as one Australian cultural identity to which all Aussies adhere. The second is that Australians in general are more resistant to the Gospel than people in non-Western countries where thousands are coming to Christ regularly.

 In regard to the first assumption, I want to briefly say that whilst there may be a broad cultural Aussie umbrella under which we all generally fit, we are better described as a multi-ethnic people. Think about how many teams Aussies cheer for in the World cup!

 In regard to the second assumption, I thank God that in my ministry (over 40 years) I have had the great privilege of leading people to Christ from many different Aussie cultural backgrounds – farmers, uni students, business people, nuclear physicists; boat people from Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia; Latin Americans, Chinese,  Egyptians and Lebanese.  So I know that there are people in each of these Aussie ethnic groups who have been receptive to the Gospel.  But the reality is that many are not interested! Some of my evangelist friends now spend much time preaching overseas with great benefit. But they have few opportunities here. Is this an indicator of resistance or irrelevance?  My son and his wife lead a Church plant team.  They are winning some people from the community  through the slow process of building life long relationships with neighbours and friends who do not know the Gospel. Another young guy who is a Pines graduate leads teams of young people to do what we used to call “street fishing” every Friday night. They ask permission to share the Good news with people on the streets in a few minutes.  There is no relationship, but they are successfully winning young people to Christ and discipling them.  These are two different forms of evangelism but they are both working.  Do they indicate receptiveness?

 The bigger question is, are there discrete groups of Aussies who are coming to Christ in significant numbers?  Ten years ago, the most rapidly growing Australian Churches were those planted among the Chinese people.  Is this still true? If so, what can the rest of us learn from this experience?

 I think we should be seriously researching the Australian “soil” and methods of “harvesting and sowing” that are proving to be effective.  I would like to hear from you about effective evangelism and people that you have found to be open to the Gospel. Let’s learn from each other.  Can you help me?

Why I don’t follow Rick Warren

Thank you to the original author of this article Julia Kate Swodeck for giving us permission to use her post.

First off, I love and appreciate Rick Warren.  I have been to his church on several occasions, read The Purpose Driven Life, and even defended his choice of Hawaiian shirts & khakis, but when it comes to Twitter I just can’t bring myself to click the Follow button.  He is just one of the many christian influencers of our time that consistently unsocialize the social media.  “How’s that?” you say.  It’s quite simple actually…

according to Twitter, Twitter may be used for any number of purposes, but originally it was for the purpose of connection.

Twitter is a real-time information network,

powered by people all around the world

that lets you share and discover what’s happening now.

That’s why I enjoy twitter, for the sharing and the discovering.  I mean, how cool was it that the Kutcher’s took pics of themselves on their way to meet with Letterman and actually @ replied fans?  very cool.   That was just the beginning.  Since then, those that seemed so “special” and “distant” have become semi-normal & near.  Not so, for many in the Christian celebrity realm.  Heck, not so for even some Christian pseudo celebrities (local church leaders, staff members, bloggers, singers and musicians that are way too cool for Sunday school).  As usual, Christians are most skilled at the “one-sided” conversation.  We love to encourage our followers with scriptures, inspirational quotes, RTs of Rick Warren’s admonishments to pastors and lovely exaggerations of how AMAZING our churches are. [note: there are amazing churches, but it is impossible for there to be as many as we claim, for if there were, we would have a very different world.]  This behavior results in the following:

the #christianunsocialmedia where advice is plentiful, but humanity is sparse .

I don’t follow Rick Warren, but I get his tweets daily thanks to the Rick Warren Retweet Disciples. You know who you are… you’re those people that would love to tell your pastors how you really feel, but instead you let big daddy Rick say it, by way of retweet.  But does Rick ever RT your RT or @ reply your gratefulness of his wisdom?  He doesn’t.  I know he doesn’t because he set up his twitter to speak, not hear.  Rick’s tweets read like a page from a book and I’d rather just buy the book.  In case you weren’t aware, it’s for pastors to receive wisdom as he tweets it out.  Here is an actual tweet I pulled from his page:

Twitter can be a useful discipline for commuicators* communicators

if u use it to practice saying big ideas in brief ways. 2:11 PM Apr 17th via web

On the other hand, a week ago I purchased a book, Plan B, from Amazon.com and tweeted that I was looking forward to its arrival… the author, @pwilson (lead pastor @crosspoint_tv) direct messaged me & thanked me for buying his book.  He even wished me a great weekend.  When the book arrived I tweeted of its arrival and sure enough, @pwilson messaged me again “enjoy the book & the rain.”  I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it must be to manage tens of thousands of followers, but somehow @aplusk (Ashton Kutcher) seems to manage nearly 5,000,000 followers and still has the time to bring awareness to social causes, share wisdom, share twitpics, home videos, and even @ reply followers internationally.   Here’s the point… I am not so sure that it’s okay for us to be so busy that we can’t be normal and reachable, that we can’t discreetly reveal our humanity to those that have been kind enough to click the Follow button.  This is our chance as Christians to reveal our humanity to the masses.  After all, within the masses are skeptics, critics, wanderers, and seekers… the harvest is plenty tweeps.

So that’s that.  That’s why I don’t follow Rick Warren.  It’s nothing personal, I just don’t use twitter to be communicated at, but rather to communicate with.  Why do you use Twitter?  Are you tweeter and a listener?  Do you think @ replies and other interaction between followees & followers is beneficial?  What say you Tweeps?

go to www.titherofinnovation.com to see the comment discussion, including a kind and generous reply from Pete Wilson, author of Plan B, lead pastor at Cross Point Church in Nashville.

Where are the leaders?

About six years ago the German football team was at a crossroads. They were playing what many people thought was a boring brand of the beautiful game. They were a defensive team and while they could sometimes win on the counter when it came to winning a game with their own strategy they really struggled. Losing Euro 2004 was the final disaster and the German Federation did some thinking. They changed leadership and philosophy but MOST IMPORTANTLY they changed their approach to developing players.

Jurgen Klinsman was brought in as a manager with new ideas. Klinsman had recently been a player so he was more of a practitioner instead of a theoretician. Also, he had played a couple of seasons in the English premier League which is undoubtedly the most watched football competition in the world and is known for its attacking flair. Ironic when you consider the way they played in this years World Cup in South Africa.

At this years World Cup the Germans have been inspirational. A young team. Fearless and the only team who has consistly found a way to score goals – lots of goals against different opponents. They planned six years ago for what is happening now. They deliberately found a way to develop the players they needed to lead the world again in the game of football.

We all bemoan the fact that it is proving hard to identify and prepare the catalytic leaders we need to sustain planting movements in our country. But what have we actually been doing? We have been training pastor-teachers. This is important too. But if we want a planting movement we have to find and develop fearless young leaders who will pay any price to do evangelism and disciple-making. My guess is they won’t go to our present training institutions because they simply don’t want to be pastor-teachers.

To find these catalytic leaders we must change they way we talk about mission; then we must change the way we relate to the young catalytic but difficult to manage young men and women in and around our churches; then we must change the way we train them and above all we must change the way we support them in an ongoing manner.

Anyone want to have a discussion?

God is not fair

Today has been an emotional day and it’s only 9.15 in the morning. I’ve just finished reading an article written by my wife regarding the terrible start in life our son Zeke had. I’ve also been keeping up with the saga of someone who’s been ripped off in an online transaction (read about it here, but be warned, there is some bad language). I recognise millions of people have so much more to contend with than I do and lately just about any story of powerlessness or injustice makes me think of  ‘fairness’ or more importantly the lack of fairness in the world today.

I can’t even watch a simple kids’ movie like ‘Air Bud’ because of the tension raised (oops did I say that out loud?).

Perhaps the triggers for you are different. Perhaps the trigger which gets you started on the ‘fairness’ issue is when you have dealings with the Tax Office. Perhaps it’s when you get a phone call from the credit company on the weekend ‘with a please explain’. For some people the whole topic of ‘fairness’ comes to light when past experiences with the local church are recalled.

In the past I’ve brushed over the topic of fairness and done my best to avoid thinking about it (and avoiding movies/news/documentaries which have any sort of tension based on unfair circumstances – hmmm that explains why I’ve seen every episode ever made of Mythbusters and Top Gear).

Why do I do that? And why is it becoming more of an issue now? For one thing, at my stage in life and having begun a church planting journey alongside my family and friends, the issue of fairness presents itself on a regular basis. My friends who have chosen to plant a church with me have given up everything for the cause and for God. But the results so far are not what we expected.

In fact, it doesn’t seem fair. And now, to be exposingly honest, it seems some churches which don’t have any focus on evangelism seem to be blessed with resources well beyond us.

I wish I could ignore the blatant discrepancies - just keep going and continue to assume all is well… all is fair.

Matthew 20;

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.   2 “When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.   3 “And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place;   4 and to those he said, `You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went.   5 “Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing.   6 “And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, `Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’   7 “They said to him, `Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, `You go into the vineyard too.’   8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, `Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’   9 “When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius.   10 “When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius.   11 “When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner,   12 saying, `These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’   13 “But he answered and said to one of them, `Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?   14 `Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.   15 `Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’   16 “So the last shall be first, and the first last.”

I just find this passage incredibly applicable to my planting situation at the moment. I mean who would be happy with working for the entire day… doing a good job… but with one hour to go in the long day a new co-worker is brought out into the field to work beside you and that worker doesn’t even raise a sweat. The time comes for payment and you all get exactly the same amount?! It would be an understatement to say I’d be a bit ticked off!

So because of the situation I find myself in, and because of passages such as this one in Matthew, I feel forced to say it, and I wish I didn’t have to say this, but God is not fair!

Several years ago I was called into Caboolture hospital, because a priest could not be found to administer the last rites to a dying man. This elderly man and his family were moved into the “death room” as it was commonly called in the hospital. I agreed to go see the man and his family, but explained to the hospital staff who called me that last rites ‘are not really my thing!’

When I arrived in this small room, the family were all sitting quietly, actually quite a number of family members were there and it was a very uncomfortable moment. I felt I was there more for the family than for the man lying on the bed. So I started to engage them in conversation about the man. I was trying to get them to talk and remember the good life this man may have had with them.

However a little way into the conversation the man woke up. He was far more alert and active than I had been led to believe. I explained to the man who I was and that I would like to talk to him and pray with him. I also made it clear that I do not give last rites… as if I have any power to forgive a man’s sin! But I told Him he could meet the person who could, Jesus.

He made the point and was very clear on it, that he did not want to be a hypocrite: how could he follow God now after living a life without him. It seemed so unfair to him. 

Being a young and inexperienced Pastor I tried my best explain to him God’s way are not our ways. I tried to explain to him that our mind is not God’s mind and we can not fathom the depth of God’s perspective on this question, “Is it fair for someone to live their whole life one way and then in one final fleeting moment turn around and plead for mercy, and get it?” I looked for a water tight theological explanation to explain the ‘unfairness’ of it all.

Knowing what I now know I would have said something completely different. Rather than try and be all theologically nice and in control, I would be far more direct. I would answer him by simply saying, “No you are absoulately right! It isn’t fair! But, luckily for you and me, God is not fair”.

 He doesn’t treat us fairly. What does the Bible say about us, “We have all sinned and gone astray”.

If He was fair we would all be hell-bound.

Personally I think this notion of God being fair is silly and needs to be removed from our mindset. What happens when we tell our kids that God is fair and will treat you accordingly? Several things; first, our kids could think God will always come through for us in the way we expect… that we won’t face persecution. We won’t have to stake our lives on faith. If you take this view, God is seen more as a large scale and fairness is proportional to the amount of good one does in life. So when push comes to shove for our kids, when things go bad and it seems as everything is against them as it surely will be at sometime in their lives… they will say, “Well He didn’t come through for me, and so I’m off… to look for something which is fair.”

At best our kids might grow up and become fine ‘respectable’ Christians. We can see evidence of this type of thing within christendom today and sadly even in our own lives. For example, lets imagine God comes to town and all sorts of people are saved - people who are of questionable repute. 

How about mass murder Jeffrey Dahmer who kept body parts of his victims in his fridge? Who was saved just before his own death? We can’t figure it out. We can’t put the pieces together, the scales don’t balance. It is easy for us to harbor bitterness towards those who haven’t done as much as us.

Do you get what I am saying?

We end up having a Christianity which is more about “me” than about “Him”. Because what becomes paramount to us is the notion that God must treat us fairly.

This passage in Matthew is starting to be more like the prodigal son passage. The older brother missed the company of the father ‘because of his good works’. He could not see through the injustice to sit at the party with His father and brother. The older brother was trying to work his way in and the unfair grace shown to the younger brother grated.

The more I think about this the more I see these early workers are very much like the older brother from the prodigal son story. The younger brother worked so he would be indebted to his dad. The older brother who we generally look up to as doing the right thing in the story, works so that his Dad is indebted to him. When the younger brother comes back and the feast is made up for him, the older brother says, “Oh but dad, I have worked so hard for you”.

In essence the early workers are actually saying, “Oh but dad, I have worked so hard for you”.

Perhaps this is more of the point of this passage. Perhaps the passage is showing it is not so much the work we do that earns the reward. Perhaps it is more to do with the Farmer/Father than with us. God does indeed treat us unfairly. He rewards when there is no obligation to reward. He blesses when there is no reason to bless. Even our best deeds are like filthy rags before Him.

So how do we handle fairness? How do we continue losing everything and counting it all gain?

I could imagine some of those earliest workers thinking, well tomorrow I will just start work late in the evening.

Or in a today’s perspective, I could imagine some reading this passage and saying, “Well if God is like that farmer, then I will just wait till the last moment”. Kind of of makes sense doesn’t it?

However, there is one fatal flaw with this idea. Take notice that it is the farmer who goes looking for the workers. The workers don’t find the farmer!

No one knows when the farmer will come calling. No one knows the day or hour. Life has the tendency to change in a blink of a eye.  I’m certain I could go from testimony after testimony of people whose lives have been turned around, completely changed in the blink of an eye because of some events in their life or in a loved ones’ life.

I remember a great evangelist who once said that he would rather lead a child to the Lord any day over some adult! Because that child had a whole life time ahead of them to serve Christ.

So the application is this, if God is calling you, regardless of your age and where you are in life. GO! Because, you don’t find him, he finds you, and who knows when he will be coming your way again, if ever!

That goes for us as a whole community of faith as well. It worries me to think that even now we could be missing out on some terrific outpouring of His Spirit in evangelism, because when He has come looking for workers we have said, “Nah, not today. I’m not ready”, or the “Results won’t be worth it”.

Don’t waste your life, don’t waste a minute of it!

This passage in Matthew contains wonderful truths. And the advice is simple. Go with God when He calls you. Don’t focus on what others are getting paid. Don’t be jealous that some other ministry is succeeding and yours’ seems to be failing.

Actually on that note have a look at:

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,   2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God

Do you see that? Run that race which is set before you! It’s personal, like in a running race, we all have our own lane, we need to keep focussed on the end and stay within our lane. The Bible picture is not so much a race between contestants, but an individual race. We each run the race which God has set out for us, not for anyone else.

What a liberating view this is. Most of my Christian life I have wanted to be a Billy Graham. I wanted to preach to thousands and see thousands respond. I had a chance a few years ago to go to the US and I even went to the Billy Graham museum. I tell you by the end of it I was ready to give my heart to Christ. If someone was at the door at the end and ask me if I knew Jesus and would I like to meet him, I would’ve said lead me in prayer now!

I came back to my home church and I preached like I have never preached before. And not one person responded! This repeated for several more weeks. I was so disappointed. I was shattered. Every inch of my body, every amount of energy I had was put into writing and speaking those sermons. I truly believed that in doing so I could have even just a potion of Billy’s results.

I felt like a big old displacement cruiser. You know the difference between a displacement and planing boat?

I had all this horsepower for evangelism and preaching, but it didn’t matter because the hull just couldn’t displace anymore water.

I was trying to run in Billy’s lane, not the lane set out for me.

I am now far more comfortable and aware of the lane and race He has put me in. It is to enhance, equip, excite and even evaluate God’s people for evangelism and new ministries.

Hebrews 10:36 says For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

If I stick to that purpose, if I don’t focus on what others are getting paid or what others are doing ministry-wise, then guess what? I will receive a prize. A fair wage for a fair day’s work. Much like the early workers in the Matthew text.

To be honest I’m now more interested in developing those who will get in and do the had work. My heart breaks for those in my group who have given it everything and continue to give it everything, who are longing to see a greater move of His Spirit. I want to be with those people, more than those who just come in see some results and say ‘look at me’, or worse  come in and only stick around for a short period of time because the results didn’t come fast enough. If you are struggling with the fairness of it all… if you are jealous of other people’s ministries say this with me – ‘I will look at God not at the blessings He provides in the results. I will do whatever He gives me to do and leave the rest to Him!’

2 Timothy 4:1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:   2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.   3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,   4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.   5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.   6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.   7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;   8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.  

I charge you be ready to go when He calls, in season or out of season. In other words even whether you feel like it or not. Be patient, endure. Keep your eye on the prize – and by the way the prize isn’t a ‘successful international ministry’ and the race laid out for you. And one day you will receive a prize from none other than Jesus Christ Himself.

Man can you imagine that. You are standing in heaven. Jesus comes to you face to face, and He says, “Well done you good and faithful servant”.

Amazing stuff. But totally unfair!

Because we learn from the Bible that it is Jesus who sort us out in the first place – just like the farmer did with the workers, and that any good works we do are actually as a result of Jesus. Our good deeds are what? Like filthy rags. The reality is that crown is all His work! And we get it. Totally unfair.

I want to run the race set before me so I can get the biggest, coolest looking hat with the most jewels in it. Not because I want to show off, not because I want to get paid more than the people around me. But so I can take it off in heaven and lay it back at His feet and cry out ’Jesus, it wasn’t me! It was all you! You are worthy – not me! It is all about you! You have been more than fair! You have been wonderful – mighty – majestic – too marvelous for words. And I can do nothing but stand in awe of you!’

Internet Evangelism – home of the wild west

Almost every week I get an email from some Christian organisation asking me to sign a petition regarding something ‘bad’ on the internet. Every second day I see another news headline talking about the dangers of facebook. A recent news headline in Australia has been about defacement of a young schoolboy’s tribute page with disgusting porn images. Last week I saw another story about a teenage girl being lured by two men to her death through her facebook page. All this talk about facebook and yet not much about myspace. (By the way, myspace isn’t exactly a field of daisies either. “Lowlights” include video images of terrorist beheading captives.) I tell you it is a wild world out there in cyber land!

Here in Australia we are having the ‘internet filter’ debate. Our government wants to force all ISPs to use a government-approved list of acceptable and unacceptable sites. Some Australians don’t trust their government to run such a thing, some Australians don’t see how it’s even possible. Some Australians think at the very least the government should make the list public. However, making the list public would actually promote some of the sites which frankly shouldn’t be seen by anyone. It becomes even more complicated by the fact that already hackers have shown how easy it is to circumvent the filter, and I should mention the filter does not work in filtering out peer to peer networks where most of the material the government is trying to filter out is shared. To make the filter debate even more silly, the same people who have shown how easy it is to circumvent the filtering system have also show how easy it is to make the list of unacceptable sites known to the greater public.

And now the Internet debate has intensified with the government’s new national broadband network – an issue so complicated it would take hundreds of articles to do it justice and I would still only scratch the surface. Should the government roll out another network? Despite the fact the Australian people have already paid for a network to be rolled out in the guise of ‘Telstra’.

Frankly all of these issues are only issues because we have people who are ignorant of the real issues. Decisions seem to be made with one thing in mind… the lowest common denominator… the largely ignorant population.

Sadly, this ignorance has become a breeding ground for the most well-meaning people. As a result some of the most well-meaning people have become pawns used for other political reasons. Some of these well meaning people have come up with petition after petition and have created proposals which are a terrible waste of resources. Further, these proposals will do damage to some businesses, further erode the responsibility of parents to care for their children, continue to increase the cost of providing internet services (which will be passed on to consumers) and create mistrust.

And here is the worse bit: it will not stop people viewing things which are immoral, distasteful and illegal. In fact, it might make it harder for the enforcement agencies to police.

The state of the ‘internet’ here in Australia actually caused me to consider joining the ‘pirate party’. An ordained Baptist minister wanting to join the pirate party. What has happened to me?

So I went to the pirate party’s web site… (quickly just in case it is going to be put on the government’s banned list ;-P) and I looked to sign up. But I didn’t because I couldn’t find the information I needed (and because the site looked like a 12 year put it together, which is a likely scenario). Not exactly the professional alternative voice I was looking for!

Whenever I get an email from a Christian organisation asking me to sign up to the ‘we want the filter list’ or the ‘facebook is evil club’ a little part of me withers… I feel further and further away from “main stream” Christianity. I wish I could articulate what I know and in so doing some make people aware of the even greater issues behind the debate. Or to show some alternatives which might help rather than ‘tear the Internet down and just don’t use it’. I know these people who send me petition after petition to sign are well meaning, God fearing people. But… the message coming across to anyone who is a bit internet geeky is one of ‘retreat’ or at best ‘react’.

I propose an alternative… An alternative in wish we neither retreat nor react, but actually adapt, overcome and lead!

That was the background information. Moving on. Why would any Christian be interested in Internet evangelism? Why should someone who is part of the ‘internet is evil club’ want to taint themselves with internet evangelism? Or why would someone like me who feels at odds with what mainstream Christianity is saying about the internet want to be involved in internet evangelism?

Apart from the obvious fact that we don’t have a choice when it comes to evangelism… it’s a God given requirement, for me it is because my ministry, my life, my church’s life is all about seeing opportunities in which God’s people cross paths with culture and community. The internet provides just that sort of opportunity.

The internet can be a front door or a side door for so many people into a community of faith. In my church setting we have just as many people who not yet followers of Christ as we do believers. The internet provides a way for those not yet following Jesus to keep in touch with the church (and I mean the people, not the building of course), to interact in a deeper yet non-threatening way through blogging, twitter, facebook, forums, online games, the list is endless! As someone who has been heavily involved in internet evangelism for more years than I care to remember… I’m certain people are more free to go deeper on the internet. And yes before some of the nay-sayers say it, that is also one of the problems with the internet.

But for large number of “de-churched” people in Australia (people who have experienced the church at some time but for whatever reason have dropped out), the internet provides at great doorway for them to re-enter. Tools such as video podcasting allow people to experience your gatherings first and try them out. You might say, ‘Doesn’t that just make it easier for people to drop out of the church?’ Another fallacy I afraid… all those who have tried video podcasting in a professional way have not experienced that problem one bit!

These things I’ve just mentioned are good reasons why some of our more traditional churches should be involved in internet evangelism. But things get way more exciting when we look at how some of our newer church plant models can get into internet evangelism.

Let’s say for example a church plant was looking to start up in high rise buildings in the city. Those of you have tried to plant in high rises know it’s next to impossible to get your foot inside the door (unless you live there). One effective entry point is as follows:

Parents who live in these buildings are concerned with the types of online games and the types of people their kids play with online. What if you could offer the people inside these buildings a secure network of game servers, which are heavily moderated and enforce a  stricter ethical code? These game servers could also be local game servers, so the kids don’t even need to have to go online to play. This type of ministry does get you permission to enter the building and knock on doors to advertise. In fact this type of ministry can also be seen by the developers as an aid to fostering community within the buildings. The game servers could even run building verse building days. As someone who has been successful in online gaming ministries I can tell you that something as weird as online games can and will lead to conversions and can and will lead to church multiplication!

Regardless of what sort of internet evangelism you want to be part of… social networking, web sites, forums, church pages, online gaming…the problem has always been the same. It is the problem that the IEC is working hard to over come.

That problem is the 99% rule. 99% of Christian sites are useless for evangelism. They rarely escape their own comfort zone and don’t have a “product” to sell. In other words there is no reason for anyone to visit let alone to keep them coming back.

So here is what I think we need to be doing.

Tell stories of our positive internet evangelism results with your churches. If you have none, I’ll share mine and you can use those! We need to demonstrate it as a working medium that is effective!

We need to understand internet evangelism is not about preaching, it is not about slick professional tracts in a new medium. It is more about being a good journalist and employing a user-friendly interface. We need to encourage churches and individuals to make effective sites for nonchurch members, sites which are based on a common interest or common ground.

And here is the biggie for me… train potential web evangelists. Internet evangelism has massive implications for the spread of the Gospel into the whole world and there are practical ways and means to do that effectively.

The Pines Training Centre offers a Unit on Internet Evangelism. If you would like to know more please get in contact with me asap.

The Cost of the ‘Tune in Drop Out Revolution’

I blame people like Barna for ruining my life… I have tuned in and dropped out. I have been in the ‘ministry’ now for some time and as I reflect on those years, I wonder how could I have been so wrong on so many things?

In all of those years I experienced a degree of discontent within ministry, with churches I led, with ministries I was involved in, with my life. But I didn’t ever consider that discontent was God telling me ‘tune in and drop out’.

I have undergone a revolution of epic propotions. I am no longer that interested in how many turn up on a Sunday, nor how much money is given in the plate, or how many people are involved in small groups, or how trendy and professional the worship is. Actually it is even more than that… My sense of security, self worth, and even significance is no longer wrapped up in the things I do… Something. Has. Happened.

And it has ruined my ignorance.

It is no longer “my ministry, my church, my preaching” and therefore I’m not the one who brings about change. It is God’s words, it is God’s work, it is God’s love, His Spirit, His gospel which is the power.

So yes, I have tuned in and dropped out. I have dropped out of the rat race of ministry and have tuned into God and now I am letting Him do the work! Novel idea, hey?

I no longer try to be an evangelist. I no longer do evangelism and have just started to invite people into my life, a life which I share with the King.

Now I know some might say I’ve taken the easy way out, that I’ve given up on ‘the work’ just so I don’t have to do the things which need to be done… valid things like pastoral care, evangelism and let’s not forget to mention the other things like whipping people into a tithing frenzy or just plain old being involved in things like teaching sunday school.

I even teach a thing called ‘posture evangelism’ with the same degree of determination as I teach ‘proclamation evangelism’.

But I’ve noticed a very disturbing trend… a trend which needs to be addressed and fast!

Some of the people who have known me have taken what I’ve said about posture evangelism and have used those things as permission to do exactely what I was talking about before. They have given up altogether with doing things. They have taken the easy way out. It would seem that some have used this talk of a revolution as nothing more than an excuse to complain and whinge about someone or something, and an excuse for not putting in the hard yards.

Part of what I’m trying to articulate has been discussed before in the argument of ‘living a missional life’ as opposed to doing ‘evangelism’. I recently twittered the saying the other day ‘that evangelism exists because we do not live a missional life’… the reaction was gold!

So I want to balance the ledger a little. While I have said many times ‘I suggest we stop doing ‘evangelism’ and start living a life worthy of inviting people into’, this is only part of it.

Tuning in and dropping out is very costly, as I see it, but costly for all the right reasons. If a person does tune in and drop it is in fact a much harder, much more costly life, and that person will pay the price for that decision. But in my mind the reward is a life driven by the primacy of the gospel and the subsequent natural outworking of the priority of evangelism.

You might ask, ‘How can posture evangelism or missional life as opposed to proclamation evangelism, be so difficult or even costly?’

First, personal experience indicates living a missional life is harder than you can imagine. It means being available at any time, particularly for those who you share your life with. When you want to spend a quiet night with your family, but you get a call to go out for dinner or a BBQ… which do you choose? A BBQ or dinner doesn’t sound like a costly thing, but when you weigh it up against spending time with your family it can be!

Second, missional living can be difficult when you realise you need to sacrifice your need to be right all the time in order to give others the best possible opportunity to see and understand Christ in you.  Sometimes we can give the right answer at the wrong time. Sometimes the right answer can not be appreciated because the other person hasn’t developed the relationship with you to such a degree that they are ready to hear the answer.

Third, it’s hard to live the missional life with people who don’t have the same circumstances as you. Now this is a tricky one to explain and it’s not often spoken about (maybe in case others might think less of us? Not sure). Sometimes we find ourselves in situations which will over stretch us.. in many areas. But take finance for example; sometimes we might have to surrender our three step plan for financial freedom just so we can be with the others we’ve invited into our lives. Sometimes the other person has no idea of the hardship it might place us under. However, this in itself can be a talking point and can be beneficial in helping the person see an even bigger issue.

Fourth, it is hard to live the missional life as opposed to doing evangelism or proclamation evangelism because we come under attack from those who should know better… sadly this is the hardest and most unnecessary hardship. We can become ostracised by those within the Kingdom. People who we may have once looked up to. People who are gospel people. People who are gifted at presenting the gospel. It is sometimes easy for them to think we have deserted the gospel when the reverse is often true.

If you’re living the kind of mission life I’ve described above, you have probably given up more than ever for the sake of the gospel! The security you once experienced in “going to church” will no longer be the security you now have. It is important if this is true for you that you first find security in the loving grace of God and you seek out like-minded believers to help you… even if it is simply to increase the size of the net you are fishing with!

I encourage you to pay the price of living a missional life and to be ready at all times to give an account of the gospel. Always look for opportunity!