TWO TRENDS?
1. In his controversial new book Revolution, George Barna predicts that in the coming years many local congregations will close their doors. Kevin Miller of Christianity Today’s Leadership Journal writes, “Who’s leading the coup d’état? Some 20 million people, dubbed Revolutionaries, who live ‘a first-century lifestyle based on faith, goodness, love, generosity, kindness, and simplicity’ and who ‘zealously pursue an intimate relationship with God.’” However, explains Miller, unlike the Great Awakenings, which brought people into the church, the new movement Barna describes “entails drawing people away from reliance upon a local church into a deeper connection with and reliance upon God.” You can read more of Miller’s assessment, find other links on this topic, and join in the conversation at http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2006/01/barna.html

2. The Fall 2005 issue of Leadership Journal features an article about a church in Washington D.C. that is “Doing Church at the Metro Stops.” The article begins, “You don’t expect a church to meet in a nightclub in Washington D.C., a coffeehouse on Capital Hill, and the movie theatre complex at Union Station. But that’s what National Community Church does. ‘We’re practicing Orthodox Christianity in some unorthodox places,’ says lead pastor Mark Batterson.” Doing church at the most visited destination in the nation’s capital has its advantages; using the movie theatre there to hold their services and meetings, the church has its own metro stop, bus stop, parking garage, and food court right outside. Additionally, “the location removes an obstacle to anyone intimidated or threatened by a church building. The congregation is 75 percent unchurched and dechurched; 80 percent are single; and 80 percent are in their twenties.” The entire article may be found at http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2005/004/11.15.html. The article is adapted from the forthcoming (May 2006) book, The Multi-Site Church Revolution: Being One Church in Many Locations, by Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, and Warren Bird. More information about National Community Church is available at the church's website, www.theaterchurch.com. 

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TRUE IDENTITY
A Vail, CO newspaper carried a story just before Christmas about a lady who boarded her flight and had a drink spill prior to departure. For whatever reason, heated words were exchanged between this lady and the flight attendant. The conversation turned so ugly that the lady was asked to get off the plane. She refused, and was eventually escorted off by air marshals. All over a spilled drink! The newspaper article concluded by noting that the lady is the wife of the pastor of one of the largest Protestant churches in the U.S.

Last Sunday my pastor said in reference to John the Baptist, “Our personal identity—how we see ourselves—determines our actions, how we see our mission, and how we treat other people.” He encouraged us to reread the Gospels’ accounts of John the Baptist and to list the components of John’s view of himself and his aim in life. This is an amazing exercise! John was crystal clear on who he was and what he came to do. He knew he was not the Christ, but that he came to point others to Him. He knew he was to baptize with water, while pointing to the One who later would baptize with the Holy Spirit. He knew he was not worthy to untie the sandals of Messiah, but that he had been found worthy to know and declare the Lamb of God.

As we read the verses about John, we see that there was no question in John’s mind concerning who he was and what he was called to do. John did not seize the day for himself; he used every minute to point to Jesus. That was his calling and he was clear on all points—his identity, his actions, and his mission.

My pastor is right. How we see ourselves does impact how we act, how we treat others, and how we carry out our mission. I do not know what happened on that plane with the spilled beverage. Maybe it was just a terrible day in a series of terrible days. Maybe the flight attendant exhibited an inappropriate demeanor toward this lady. Maybe this pastor’s wife used poor judgment in dealing with the flight attendant and things just got out of hand. But maybe this lady who spilled her beverage thought, “I am the wife of the pastor of one of the largest churches in this country and I deserve better than this!” Maybe the way she viewed herself determined the way she treated those around her that day.

Could that have happened? Absolutely! It happens regularly in my life—when I am cut off in traffic, when I am treated poorly by a customer service representative after a 30 minute hold, and the list goes on. When I am convinced that I deserve better than whatever it is I’ve been dealt, it is all too easy to blow up about the things in life that really do not matter. When circumstances turn against us, there are a million ways to shed humility and lash out from an inflated view of who we are.

John was very clear that he was not the Christ. It must have been tempting to nudge just a little bit of the Messiah’s notoriety his way, given his mission in life. But John would have none of that. Hear his words. Respond to his clarity. Allow John’s willingness to think clearly, act honorably, and live purposefully to shed light on your own identity. I believe that there is something very healthy and godly about taking note of John’s decision to maintain a proper identity. It will determine how we treat others and how we carry out our mission.

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A Prayer of St. Augustine
“Come, 0 Lord, in much mercy down into my soul and take possession and dwell there. A poor dwelling, I confess, for so glorious a Person as You. Yet, I am preparing for a fitting reception of You, by holy and fervent desires of Your own inspiring. Enter then, and adorn my soul, and make it a worthy place for You to inhabit, since it is the work of Your own hands. Give me Yourself, without which, even if You should give me all that You ever have made, yet this would not satisfy my desires. Let my soul ever seek You, and let me persist in seeking, until I have found, and am in full possession of You. Amen.”

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The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky (various editions and translations)
(Reviewed by David Korb)

I recently decided to reread Dostoevsky’s incredible novel, The Idiot. If you have read Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov or Crime and Punishment, you will not be disappointed, and you may even discover that this is your favorite of the three!

Dostoevsky’s intention is to portray a most beautiful man—Prince Myshkin—who is seen as a Christ-figure. In the novel Myshkin is honest and kind, trustworthy and integral. He does not care for wealth or public hubris, but cares only for the truth. He values the simple things in life and avoids the traps of materialism and the lust for power so prevalent in society.

Myshkin is so different, so countercultural that people do not know what to think of him, so they call him an idiot. Dostoevsky writes, “My intention is to portray a truly beautiful soul,” and he throws that beautiful soul into a corrupt society that dubs him an idiot. The overriding question throughout the novel is, Who is really the idiot? Is it Myshkin, or the person consumed with power? Is it the person who cares only for the truth, or him who cares only for his own advancement?

The ending is truly shocking. The conclusion is that in this corrupt world, the only place for a truly “beautiful soul” is a mental ward, because in the end they will appear to be an idiot. This novel is a must read for pastors and missionaries. There are myriad illustrations and applications to our lives today.

The Challenge of the Disciplined Life by Richard Foster
1985, 1989 Harper San Francisco, 272 pages (Reviewed by David Korb)

This book was written twenty years ago but is as relevant today as the day it was written. Foster writes about our obsession with money, sex, and power, and calls us to a higher discipline—a Biblical discipline—in these arenas.

Foster writes, “The crying need today is for people of faith to live faithfully. This is true in all spheres of human existence, but is particularly true with reference to money, sex, and power.” He discusses the dark and light side of money and the vow of simplicity. He discusses sexuality and spirituality and the vow of fidelity. He talks about power as something that can either destroy or create and the vow to service.

I must admit then when I pulled this book off my shelf to read again, I wanted to put it down after the first chapter. I felt like he was just rehashing the same old things. Then I thought about the struggles in my own heart and in the hearts of those with whom I intersect, and I continued reading. I am thankful for the challenge it has again brought to my heart—to embrace the CHALLENGE of the Disciplined Life toward simplicity, fidelity and service.

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