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Extreme Church Makeover

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You know those “Extreme Makeover” TV shows? They have the Extreme Home Makeover where they completely remodel a house, and the regular “Extreme Makeover” where they transform a person.

I watched one of the regular Makeover shows a few weeks ago where they took some “loser” dads and turned them into “cooler” dads. It was amazing to watch the outward transformation take place.  One long-haired, bearded, overweight trucker ended up looking like a CEO of a Fortune 500 Company. They did the same thing with several other men on the show.

But I had to wonder if the changes in clothes and hair styles were going to make these men better husbands and better dads.

I kind of doubt it.

There is something similar going on in Christianity today.

extreme makeover church edition

 There is an attempt in Christianity today to resurrect the church out of the dredges of irrelevance by making it “cooler” than the way church was a decade ago. 

Churches have cooler names, like “The Summit” and “Mars Hill.” We install top of the line sound and video equipment to make the “church service” seem more like a concert. Every room is equipped with plasma large-screen TVs. The pastor wears jeans and a t-shirt and says “Dude” a lot. If you don’t make it to church, you can watch the sermon on your iPod instead.

However, in all of the effort to become cool and relevant, is the church becoming more effective? The answer depends on how you define “effective.”

For the church to become effective the way the Bible defines it, it’s going to take a lot more (or a lot less…) than blue jeans and plasma screens.

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Questioning the Church

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question the churchWhen it comes to church, the Bible teaches a lot more and a lot less than we think it does. The main things we think of as “church” may not be biblical at all, while the parts we disregard and neglect, may be the central truths to church.

To get at which is which, I suggest questioning the church. We must question everything. We must put the church up on the rack, and interrogate it. …Maybe that image goes too far, but you get the picture.

The three most simple questions are “Why? Where? What if?”

Ask “Why?” About Church

First, we have to ask why churches do what they do. Why do we meet on Sunday? Why do we have building? Why do we have sermons, and Sunday school, and music? Why?

A fun exercise is to take any one thing the church does, and ask “Why?” seven times. See what you come up with.

Ask “Where?” regarding Scriptures About the Church

If in asking “Why?” you ever answer, “Because the Bible says so” then you must bring out the second question, and ask “Where?”

Where does the Bible actually say what you think it says? Are you sure it says what you have always been taught?

If you do find a passage that seems to support the church practice in question, you need to do some serious Bible study to make sure it really says what you think it says, and you’re not just using it as a proof text.

I recently talked with a man who says that all churches must have big, expensive, luxurious buildings because the Temple was big, expensive, and luxurious. Well, he’s right about the temple, but is that really what God is saying to us today? Long hours of study are required to find out.

Another popular idea today is that “true” Christians must attend a church building on Sunday morning to truly be part of the church. Does the Bible really say this? Where? And don’t try to quote Hebrews 10:25… it doesn’t say what you think it does.

Ask “What if?” About Church

As we are asking the “Why?” and “Where?” questions, it is helpful to begin a list of “What if?” questions. Asking “What if?” helps us envision another way of being the church that will enable us to look, live, and love more like Jesus.

For example, if we asked “Why does the church meet on Sunday?” and found that there was really no good Biblical reason why, then we can ask, “What if the church met on another day of the week?” Of course, if you did find biblical justification for meeting on Sunday (as you might), you can still ask “What if we didn’t meet on Sunday?”

If we asked, “Why do churches have buildings?” and realized there was not good Biblical requirement for church buildings, we can ask, “What if the church did not have a building?”

It is this final stage that you can begin to dream, and plan, and create a vision for what the church could be. This is where we plan, pray, and stay up until 3 am talking about how great things could be.

After asking all these questions, what will church look like in the end? Truthfully, there is no end. This process is never ending. We will always be reinventing, refining, recasting, revising. That’s the fun of it.

What aspect of church have you questioned recently?

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Most Christians are afraid of the dark

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A while back Jeremy wrote:

If the church wants to join God in storming the gates of hell, in defeating the darkness … We must find the mean places, the dark places, the dangerous places, and take the church there. We must go to the greedy, the liars, the cheats, the thieves, and show them generosity, truth, and honesty. We must find the places that even the cops won’t go, and go there with Jesus instead. Where do the most murders occur? Where do the addicts and prostitutes hang out? Let’s meet there.

Why Don’t We Enter the Darkness?

Most of us are afraid.

We’re afraid that we’ll be harmed physically.

We’re afraid we’ll catch a disease.

We’re afraid we’ll get dirty.

We afraid we’ll be robbed.

We’re afraid people will want our money or our stuff.

We’re afraid that somehow “those people” will break through the walls we’ve built around us, tug at our heart strings, and we’ll end up giving them our money, stuff and time.

Dwell in DarknessWe’re afraid we’ll be contaminated by their sin.

We’re afraid we’ll stop seeing their sin and start seeing them.

We’re afraid we might start loving them, sin and all, but we think we’re supposed to hate their sin.

We’re afraid we might learn to like them.

We’re afraid we might remember that Jesus loves them, but it is our arms Jesus uses to wrap around them.

Why Do We Think They Will Come to the Light?

My wife and I had moved. We visited a church service at a local church. One of the men confronted me at the front door. “We believe men should wear suits and ties to church to show respect to God.” I wasn’t wearing a suit and tie. I told him I didn’t believe that way, and went in anyway. 

At another church, an elder told me, “We don’t want people attending here until they get themselves cleaned up. We don’t want couples coming here who are living together but aren’t married. We only want good Christian people here.”

Why would anyone want to “come” to church if those are the attitudes they find? The people who most need to hear won’t come near. We make certain of that. Why would anyone have even the slightest interest in going any place where they know they won’t be accepted?

What’s The Answer?

Jeremy’s answer is simple. “We must go” to them — to the adulterers, prostitutes, thieves, tax collectors, Gentiles, sick, needy, poor, greedy, selfish, and to all who dwell in darkness.”

It is safer, warmer, less-threatening and more comfortable to keep our distance from those who dwell in darkness. But if we really do follow Jesus, if Jesus really is our Good Shepherd, need we fear evil? Is Jesus with us or not? 

Perhaps the question I must really ask myself is “Am I with Him?”

If I’m with Him, I don’t need to be afraid of the darkness. So go with the sinners are. Don’t be afraid. Jesus will go with you.

So don’t be afraid of the dark. When you’re with Jesus, no sin can harm you.

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Ten Signs Your Church Doesn’t Understand Mission

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church mission failHow can you tell if your church doesn’t understand it’s mission?

Sometimes the signs are pretty obvious that the church really doesn’t want to reach out and love others. But other times, we just don’t recognize the attitudes and behaviors which indicate a failure of our mission to be Jesus to the world.

Here are ten things you might hear in a Sunday service which will clue you in that your church leadership fails to grasp our mission to enter the dark and dangerous places of this world with the Gospel of the Kingdom or the fact the church is something we are, not something we attend.

(Note: In my first church, I said almost all ten at one time or another.)

  1. At the beginning of the service: “Well, let’s go ahead and get started. Hopefully more people will show up. Let’s begin by praying for those who are home sick or still on their way.”
  2. At the beginning of the service: “I guess the bad weather outside is keeping people at home.”
  3. At the beginning of the service: “I guess people are taking advantage of the nice weather outside and going to the lake.”
  4. During the prayer time: “Father, we pray that you would bring the people of our community to Jesus and help them to believe the gospel.” (Churches generally pray about this more than they do it.)
  5. During the opening prayer: “God, we invite you into our presence today.”
  6. At the beginning of the prayer time, you hear “Father, we come into your presence today…” (What? Is He only in church?)
  7. During the call to worship, there is an invitation to “leave your worldly cares behind.”
  8. During the opening welcome, you are told that “This is a safe place for you and your family.”
  9. During the opening welcome, you are invited to “Relax and enjoy your time. Get your batteries recharged.”
  10. In the announcements, you learn that there is a budget windfall, and to make the church more attractive to the community the board is trying to decide between repaving the parking lot or repainting the building.

There are dozens of others. Feel free to add to the list by leaving a comment below.

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What if there were no churches?

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Brandon ChaseThis is a guest post Brandon Chase. Brandon is a baseball player at heart; a practicing Crossfitter, golfer, hoopster and guitarist; fueled by meat, cappuccinos and chocolate. He writes about learning to Live by the Life of Jesus Christ on his blog Zōē Perissos. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Marie, and has two daughters McKinley and Delaney. They live in Fort Worth, TX.

Like Zōē Perissos on Facebook or follow Brandon on Facebook, or Twitter.

If you would like to write a Guest Post for the Till He Comes Blog, begin by reading the Guest Blogger Guidelines.

Do you remember doing Science Fair projects in school? You know, the ones where you did an experiment in order to answer a question, solve a problem, or explore a “what if?”

I’m certainly glad I’m not in 7th grade anymore, and don’t have to whip out my tri-panel display board and fret over whether the Judges are going to like my project. But, I do have an experiment, while hypothetical, that I’d love to see tested:

What would happen to the Church – the Body of Christ, if it were forced to exist without:

  • Officially designated church buildings or offices
  • Paid, full-time vocational ministers
  • Institutional or otherwise officially organized groups or factions
  • Tithes, Budgets or Ministry Plans

As I stated, I realize this experiment is an anecdotal exercise. Truly, it would take an extreme set of circumstances (or… a magnificent move of God) to arrange a new playing field such as this.

But what if?

What would you do if you woke up one morning, and suddenly, as if in an alternate reality, you learned that following your Lord, practicing and growing in your faith – being a Christian – had to be done differently…

What if…

what if there were no churches?What if there were no “churches” to “go to?”

What if there were no buildings where Christians gathered once or twice per week?

What if there were no “Ministers?” No “Pastors?” No “Preachers?” No “Leaders?”

What if there were no denominations? No groups of like-minded people who practice the same theological or doctrinal expression and traditions?

What if there were no institutions to which you would tithe or give? There were no tax deductions? No budgets directing the allocation of funds or mission statements or plans dictating ministry form?

You would have prayer, the Bible, and people – but none of the above.

What would you do? How would you move forward? What would happen to the Church?

What would happen to the world?

Hypothesis: Revival

I am giddy as I fantasize about this query.

Can you imagine? The Body of Christ being released into the wilderness – amongst the darkness and danger and wolves of the world – with no “church” building to retreat to on Sunday, no “Pastor” to listen to week after week, no tribe to look for answers in tradition and no tax motivation or direction on where to give money?

To many, this sounds like chaos.

To me, this sounds like Heaven on earth. This sounds like the Ekklesia. This sounds like the Body under the Head. This sounds like the Bride in radiant Oneness with Her Groom. This sounds like the Family of God. This sounds like a dwelling place for the Lord.

This sounds like Jesus.

It was He in fact who said He was sending us out like sheep amongst the wolves. He said just as He is Light, so too are we, shining in the darkness. He said that the world was dangerous, but that He had already overcome it, and that we were the real dangerous ones in Him.

He also said He was the Head of His Body, the Church. He would lead; we would be equal, united and mutually beneficial members to each other, and the Body as a whole.

He said that as sheep, we listen to His voice and hear Him, as He leads us, and we follow.

He said there was no room for division or faction – only Him.

He said nothing about giving a certain percentage. He asked for everything. He did not direct ministry. Ministry is His Life – and It is to be taken everywhere, all the time, as He directs.

These were the simple, but profound instructions a small group of followers received from their Lord. They didn’t have buildings they erected and gathered in. They didn’t place titles on certain people or create offices around them. They knew nothing of denominations. They were not given percentage of giving or mission plan guidelines.

Instead, they gathered with each other, two or more at a time, at varying points in the day, every day, in as many varying forms and expressions as possible.

When they gathered, Christ, by the Holy Spirit, “lead” the meeting. He set the agenda. He was the agenda. He was expressed and His Life was given, and out of that expression and Life came mission direction and action – always in the form of humility, service and Love. Money and possessions and resources were given freely, generously, spontaneously and continuously – with no thought to percentage or personal benefit. Ministry was organic, dynamic, and viral.

Their simple, but powerfully obedient response to their Lord’s commission, changed the world.

The early Christians did not have anything that we do not have today. In fact, they had so much less. But the advancement of the Kingdom and the Life of Jesus was so much more explosive in their time.

This begs the question:

How did the early church do so much with so little? And… How are we doing so little with so much more?

And these are indeed good questions. But they are not the best question, which is:

What do we have now, that they didn’t have, that may be hindering the Kingdom?

While the answers to that question cannot be fully treated in one article, might I submit that in part, they include:

  • The modern day church building as the form and function of what we believe to be “church;” and if “gone to,” the primary function and practice of Christians.
  • The submission to, and sometimes idolatry of those in the position of “Pastor” or others in “Leadership,” to the point where, under the clergy/laity caste, the Priesthood of all Believers, and the identification of and free functioning in Spiritual gifts is retarded.
  • The division of the Body of Christ into many thousands of dis-unified parts, many of which give no more than lip service to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Head.
  • The oftentimes abused teaching of tithing, and the door that it closes to creative opportunities to be generous in giving and serving and loving outside of a corporate bank account and budget.

God is not hindering His work in our age. He has not designed that this time be marked with less power and wonder and expansion of His Kingdom.

No, man has done that.

Maybe, just maybe, this little experiment should not be anecdotal or hypothetical at all.

Maybe, we’ve always had the prescribed steps, ingredients and answers to this all along?

We have Him. He is all we need.

Maybe He is calling His children to get ourselves – our stuff and our ideas, out of the way…

…and follow.

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