Thoughts from another teacher on believing

I am reprinting this from a blog post I made several years ago...still compelling to me.

"...the God-life is not about believing all the right things about Jesus. It’s not about being able to recite the creed without crossing your fingers or believing that Jonah was swallowed by a big fish or having an instant, now-you’re-saved, “born again” experience. It is about being willing to let go of everything you think you know and allowing yourself to be drawn into the mystery that is God.
“Believing,” as John uses this word, does not refer to some intellectual process that happens in your head. To “believe” in something is to give your heart to it. The God-life then is about giving your heart to God. Your broken heart. Your disbelieving heart. Your divided, angry, fearful heart. Your hard heart. You do not, of course, have the power to transform your own heart, but you do have the power to offer it, no matter what condition it is in, to the God who is able to make all things new.
My wish, my hope, my most earnest prayer, is that church could be a place, the very place, the best place, for our children and our youth to bring their questions. And for us to bring ours. And then, as we wrestle with the questions of how we are to live and work and worship, as we grow in trust of God and each other—slowly, gradually, over our lifetimes—a new spaciousness would emerge allowing new things to be born in us and in the world.
“Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart,” wrote Ranier Maria Rilke,
and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer. "
--credit given to The Rev. Deacon Eyleen

measurement of success in a simple congregation

In my last entry I gave you an idea of what a simple church might look like. The next question is how to "get 'er done." Here are a few key concepts:

Clarity is "the ability of the process to be communicated and understood by the people." The church must have a clear blueprint for the making of disciples and everyone who attends or comes in contact with your congregation should be able to see how it all works--how a person becomes and grows as a disciple through your congregation.

Movement is "the sequential steps in the process that causes people to move to greater areas of commitment." It is never enough to move into the church. We must move through the process of becoming more what God would like us to be. It is the work of the church to assist us in this process.

Alignment is "the arrangement of all the ministries and staff around the same simple process." The church must be organized fully around its discipleship purpose/process. The team must rally around the what and the how.

Focus is the ability to eliminate ministries/activities outside the process/purpose and only add those ministries/activities that fit your church's process/purpose.

Here's to learning how to become a simple church.
plou

simple church

In an age of quick fixes, perfect programs, new and improved products, we make an assumption that one of these may apply to the church. Some may help for a time, but usually peter out.
I read a refreshingly simple book recently called just that, "Simple Church," by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger. The book's premise is simple. After evaluation of many growing churches across the country the common denominator was an obvious discipleship process that any member or even visitor could quickly identify and begin to live. The way it was presented was different from congregation to congregation, but basically the discipleship process always helped a person connect to the congregation and Christ, grow in faith over time, and find a way to serve. Then each congregation developed a unique way to communicate the discipleship process simply and regularly to the congregation and those interested in the congregation.
In this way spiritual development (making disciples) moves from the sideline to the center line of each church's ministry--right where Jesus wants it to be.
I invite you to consider becoming a simple church--a church that loves God and others enough to develop a plan to help people connect to God.