THE ATTRACTIONAL JESUS

As I was diving into Alan and Debra Hirsch's new book, "Untamed", something very disturbing occurred to me about the way we view Jesus: I am seeing that our evangelical presentation of Jesus attracts people who don't want to grow. Let me explain.

It has to do with the attitude of those "outside" the Church. Those who are invited in are told not to be influenced by "the world"...because after all, now we are "right". We stop listening to those who are "wrong", because we see them as in "darkness" (wrong). What is more disturbing is that our identity becomes so tied to the hope that we are "right", that we even quit listening to others in the Church who don't agree with us about things. In the name of not being "influenced", we cut ourselves off to the reflections of ourselves through those around us whom God would try to use for our growth.

This very dynamic precludes the one thing that the REAL Jesus told us to do: Discipleship. Discipleship, by any definition, requires close proximity to people who will not agree with us about everything - and will challenge us by reflecting our blind spots. No wonder Jesus said that the "children of darkness are often wiser than the children of light". I think He meant by that comment that we had better listen to those who don't agree with us...they have something valuable to say to us. If we cannot learn from our brother who we can see, how can we possibly learn from God who we cannot see? (see 1John 4:20)

So, I don't think a true image of Jesus will flatter us when our doctrine is "right". The image of Jesus in the Gospels didn't repel the sinners of world and attract the religious. Quite the opposite. He exposed the blind spots of the "righteous" while He drew the unholy to Him. He was irresistible to those who thought nothing of themselves, while those who thought of themselves as righteous only wanted to kill Him.

What is our image of Jesus?

NO BLACKSMITHS

Today I was reading in 1Samuel 13 about how the Philistines had eradicated blacksmiths from the people of God to make sure no one could make weapons. It paints this picture of Saul, the first Israelite King, and his son Jonathan leading this army with no weapons. The king and his son were armed, but the people had been completely disarmed by the enemy's strategy while they were in captivity.

I was hit with the realization that our spiritual enemy has done this to the Church. Where are those with the knowledge of spiritual warfare - those who know what 2 Cor 10:4 is talking about - who walk as Jesus did in setting captives free? Hasn't there been a great shortage of "blacksmiths" among the people of God so that while we still see people respond to the gospel, they are not equipped to walk in victory and freedom? I think we need to quickly restore the ranks of the "blacksmiths" among people of faith - We have been far too vulnerable for too long.

NEW "NORMS" FOR A NEW SEASON

OVER the last 15 months our learning curve has been through the roof - and now the novelty is wearing off and we are seeing how we need to make adjustments for sustaining the Journey.

As with many movements, one of our biggest challenges is keeping it simple. One of the ways we need to simplify is in how people ramp into the Journey. We have been working on the "irreducible minimum" description of our daily/weekly/monthly rhythm, as well as our general vision.

First, the other night we came up with:

"Imagine... if God could live in you?..."

It's a question that could have all kinds of responses, and it describes what is the theme of our ten core values.

Another way we are simplifying is to take the "L" word (leadership) out of the on-ramp into the Journey. We have found so far that, aside from the positive challenge for people recognize their influence, it has had two unintended and unproductive results:

1. Some are intimidated by the reference to leadership and shy away when they shouldn't;

2. Others jump right in and hold to the "leadership" references as a title and license to have power over others.

We think people need to grow into the understanding of leadership, so we now have "Follow-in" as the step people take into the Missional Core of the Journey.

Finally, we have found we need to be clear about what we agree on for our weekly and monthly rhythms - That being part of the missional core is to embrace weekly discipling triads, fellowship in homes, monthly Equipping Days and Missional Gatherings. These are all a part of our lifestyle in following Jesus together. Some find they are not ready to express their faith through such frequent connections, and are not ready to be more than attenders. We welcome people at every stage of wrestling with this, and allow God to continue His work of drawing people into following Jesus in a daily way.

Soon our written materials will all be updated with these new details - Comments are welcome!!