Demographics Archives - Passion for Planting

Think Again: Why Religion is Good for Us

Sean Cronin — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Today’s post is written by Mark Clark. Mark is Senior Pastor of Village Church in Vancouver, a close friend, and co-creator of our courses The Art of Better Reaching and The Art of Better Preaching.

By Mark Clark

Religious people live, on average, seven years longer than non-religious people.

“Hold on, what?” you might be saying.

Fair enough. Let’s back up.

In his book Think Again organizational psychologist Adam Grant says that we can’t be afraid to be influenced by actual data in forming ideas versus what we thought was the case, or what we feel is the case or what we would rather be the case, in any given scenario.

For example, would we be open to changing our views on something we really believe in if data arose that said our prior conclusions had been wrong? Oftentimes we reject such data for a plethora of reasons, the most powerful of which is that we have become comfortable in our beliefs about things, and contrary data messes with that.

“When it comes to our knowledge and opinions,” Grant says, “we often favor feeling right over being right… we favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt.”

This is a scary thought, but is proven over and over again in the realm of psychology, and as a pastor, I have seen it over and over again in ministry – whether that be people who hold hard against a theological conclusion that the Bible is clearly laying out because they have prior ideas, or behaviors that don’t line up, or people who have an interpretation of a passage and can’t stand the thought that maybe that isn’t saying what they thought it was.

We see this right now in our political debates online, whether they be about actual politics or the downstream discussions popular right now about vaccines, COVID orders, church and state debates, etc.

People have their views and they believe and promote data and ‘facts’ that support those views and ignore contrary data. It’s true about all of us.

People have their views and they believe and promote data and ‘facts’ that support those views and ignore contrary data. – @markaclarkClick To Tweet

The lack of humility on one side or the other should be your first clue that maybe the person you are staring at isn’t open to think again or look at an issue from a different angle at all.

You know what they say: to a hammer everything is a nail.

To some people right now every idea, news story, piece of information they receive is only meant to fit into the narrative they have decided is true already, and that’s that. There is no convincing them otherwise. It’s a scary place to be, to be honest.

Jesus warned against people who aren’t so much deceived by others, though of course that is a part of this kind of person’s situation as well most times, but those who are self-deceived. And therein lies part of the problem: we don’t know what we don’t know.

Thus, I would say humility and open-mindedness to data and ideas is central to us as we find our way through this new world.

Which brings us to my point:

I want to turn this idea of ‘thinking again’ and aim it at an idea so rooted in the post-Christian west that I am sure it will mess with our brain a little. It is the idea that religion is good, indeed, great for society as a whole.

Of course the popular narrative of the western world over the last one hundred years or so, and especially the last 30 or 40 has been that religion is ‘poison’ as the famous atheist Christopher Hitchens used to argue. That religion creates war and atrocity, judgmentalism and racism, intolerance and ignorance, across the populace. Images of people denying science, hating others, doing violence against people, rule the day.

I grew up with this narrative. Not explicitly told me by people of course, but by osmosis. Through my education, reading, movies, television, the news, general conversations with friends.

This is the assumed truth of our western story. Atheism, or at least agnosticism, produces a better, more progressive society. Religion, a stunted or even backward trending society. So much so that in Universities and in the public square today it is just part of the unspoken story, and because it is thus, it also in some ways, goes unchallenged too.

This is the assumed truth of our western story. Atheism, or at least agnosticism, produces a better, more progressive society. – @markaclarkClick To Tweet

But what if the data said otherwise?

What if your anecdotal story of that one religious uncle you know, or that one group on Facebook that time, was all called into question by the facts? Would you be willing to change your mind?

I don’t imagine a short blog post like this will do that, but let’s at least start the conversation. I would like to think you are open to ‘think again’ when it comes to this question, and I think you should, and here’s why.

The data tells us we’ve been wrong all along, and that story of the triumph of secularization is just plain false when we ask the question: how religion impacts and affects the cities, neighborhoods, communities, nations and individuals it exists within.

More pointedly, when the question is: does it have a positive or a negative impact on culture, the overwhelming reality is that it has a positive, not a negative one. In fact, it isn’t even close. The atheists are wrong. And by a long shot.

A STARK CONTRAST (see what I did there?)

Rodney Stark is one of the most celebrated and respected sociologists of religion in the world. “He has written over 30 books, and more than 140 articles on subjects as diverse as prejudice, crime, suicide, and city life in ancient Rome, and has twice won the Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.”

In one of his books which I read recently he sketched out some fascinating conclusions based on detailed sociological data that are so contrary to popular opinion and the assumed narrative of the post-christian west that most will greet them with a filter of suspicion, or outright disbelief, but as we said above, that doesn’t mean they aren’t true – only that we may be victims of our own self-selected confirmation biases, fooled by our own carefully curated news, opinions and information, if not about a number of things in our lives, certainly in regard to the areas Stark explores using America as a microcosm example of the west at large.

So what areas does he explore and what are his conclusions? And what does it mean for us?

HIS CONCLUSIONS

There are a hundred and one things his data concludes which you can read for yourself in more detail, but here are some of the more interesting ones. And again, let’s remind ourselves, his conclusions are based on actual research done by an actual sociologist and his colleagues, not what passes today as research – i.e. a google search, and a scroll of your Facebook feed, and that website which has those Youtube videos by that doctor.

In his rigorous and pointed style Stark shows that the academic literature routinely ignores evidence of religion’s beneficial social effects. He demonstrates that religious people:

Are the primary source of secular charitable funds that benefit victims of misfortune whatever their beliefs
Dominate the ranks of blood donors and other prosocial behaviors
Are much less likely to commit crimes
Far more likely to donate their money and time to socially beneficial programs and to be active in civic affairs. (The impact of religious people on volunteering alone is an estimated $47 billion annually in the United States alone!)
Enjoy superior mental health – are deemed happier, less neurotic, and far less likely to commit suicide
Enjoy superior physical health – have an average life expectancy more than seven years longer than that of the irreligious
Read more than their irreligious friends and neighbors
Are less likely to believe in the occult, UFO’s, Bigfoot, etc.
More apt to marry, less likely to divorce, and report higher degrees of satisfaction with their spouse.
Religious husbands are far less likely to abuse their wives or children. This is of course contrary to the story that religions create systems of oppression in the home because of ‘male patriarchy’.
Religious fathers are more likely to be involved in youth-related activities such as coaching sports teams or leading Scout troops, etc.
Religious couples enjoy their sex lives more, women are more likely to have regular orgasms, and sex happens more often.They are also far less likely to have an affair.
Religious students perform better on standardized achievement tests, are far less likely to drop out of school, obtain better jobs upon graduation, and are far less likely to be on unemployment (the studies for all of these and especially this one and all surrounding crime stats, etc., factor in races/geographies across the U.S.)
In 247 studies done between 1944 and 2010: religion has a positive effect on society in regard to crime, deviance and delinquency.
Crime rates in the US compared to the decidedly less religious countries of Western Europe are glaringly less in many categories, with the exception of homicide rates: Denmark has nearly two-and-a-half times as many burglaries per 100,000 people, and is exceeded by Austria, Switzerland, the U.K., Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands. The same is true for theft, and assault rates.
Urban stats going from present-day back to the 1920s shows that the higher a city’s church membership rate, the lower its burglary, larceny, robbery, assault and homicide rates.

Stats going from present-day back to the 1920s shows that the higher a city’s church membership rate, the lower its burglary, larceny, robbery, assault and homicide rates. – @markaclarkClick To Tweet

I point all of this out to not only because it plays a fascinating role in forcing us as individuals to constantly be open to re-thinking what we thought was true and why we thought it was so (a much-needed posture of humility is needed in this regard on both sides of the political aisle), but also to challenge the powerful, overarching narrative of our time – that God and religion have no place in society and that the real hope for us is fill in the blank: education, technology, the arts, science – as if those are antithetical to religion.

Not only is that a simplistic, reductionist narrative to sell the public, it is blatantly wrong.

The data not only doesn’t back it up, it actually draws the opposite picture.

That without religious people and groups, society as a whole, including most importantly, the marginalized, would be far worse off.

Without religious people and groups, society as a whole, including most importantly, the marginalized, would be far worse off. – @markaclarkClick To Tweet

We see this reality play out over and over again. Nicholas Kristof, a columnist for the New York Times wrote an article years ago wherein he explored the work of an unknown evangelical Christian doctor who ran a hospital in Angola, where the child mortality rate was the highest in the world. He raised his family in one of the most dangerous places in the world.

Kristof writes:

“Most evangelicals are not, of course, following such a harrowing path, and it’s also true that there are plenty of secular doctors doing heroic work… But I must say that a disproportionate share of the aid workers I’ve met in the wildest places over the years, long after anyone sensible had evacuated, have been evangelicals, nuns or priests.”

That of course doesn’t mean that religion is true, that is for another day – but it is to say, importantly, that skeptics need to be careful in their argument against Christianity and religion based on a purely social argument.

They need to tread far more carefully when they want to argue that somehow religion is toxic to a culture. It is not. See even the latest arguments from thinkers like David Berlinski, in his The Devil’s Delusion, a secular philosopher /scientist who sees a connection between many of our social ills and atheism, especially in the realm of the question of meaning, and how people absorb suffering.

Sure, ‘this’ or ‘that’ version of religion could be toxic, admittedly, it could lead to racism, or oppressive attitudes toward women, or minorities, etc. That is still true, and something we need to always be fighting, especially given that the central story of Christianity in particular is its central figure, Jesus, dying and serving to raise others up, not being opposed to any, but loving all.

Bad versions and applications of religion are everywhere, and we need to be weary of them.

Stark’s point is not that we should ignore those proclivities, but that we do need to get a far clearer and fuller picture of the positives of religious impact on the west in a cultural moment when the narrative around it is almost exclusively negative.

Bad versions and applications of religion are everywhere, and we need to be weary of them. – @markaclarkClick To Tweet

CONCLUSION

I am not a sociologist, but I am a pastor which means I have a lot of conversations with people who are opposed to Christianity. A lot of them over the years point out how bad the idea of God is for the world.

That story is popular and well-told over and over again so much so that it lives in our consciousness as a fact.

I share this data to simply ask the skeptic to be willing to stop doing what they ask religious people to stop doing on the daily: spreading false-hood.

The idea that religion is bad for society simply isn’t true and it isn’t true in a hundred different ways. Are you willing to adjust your framework of the world and the question of God and the church around data versus what you have heard, or want to be true?

We all have to be willing to doubt our doubts and at least take a second or third look at the question of God as it relates to the experience of individuals, societies, cities, nations, towns, which of course, include your own communities, and be open to the idea that in the end the God hypothesis may prove to be harder to leave behind than we once thought, or, in the spirit of today’s arguments, we may not want to leave it behind at all, because it may be our only way to accomplish socially what we all desire.

You ever wonder why Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., cited the prophets of the Bible in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, versus an atheist manifesto?

Because his larger vision, his dream, could only be accomplished by it being built on a foundation of transcendence.

That is what gave humankind it’s equality. The fact that it was made in the image of God. Not the state, or reasons of the social class, or because it was a more enlightened primate, or whatever other reasons for equality and justice we construct.

His argument, like Wilberforce and so many others before him, was that social good and flourishing was rooted in God. As others have pointed out, it wasn’t that America needed less religion, but better religion.

If we are going to reach the post-Christian west, we need to hold tightly to idea not that individuals alone need to come to know God, but that in knowing him there will be a horizontal impact on the world around it.

A good and flourishing impact that brings shalom even to people who don’t agree with it. Life-giving, not toxic. Serving, not taking. Loving, not judging.

Facts don’t adjust because we feel they should.

We are better to adjust in light of them instead of burying them beneath bias. The truth will set us free, Jesus said. Seems like it is setting others free as well.

Whether they appreciate it or not.

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Is Your Church Ready For Future Evangelism? Take The Free Church Outreach Assessment To Find Out.

Almost every church leader wants to grow their church by reaching more people.

As culture continues to change rapidly into a post-Christian era, though, itu2019s left many leaders feeling like theyu2019re not accomplishing their mission. For too many churches, things arenu2019t going as hoped.

After you complete the assessment, youu2019ll receive a detailed breakdown of your results and get access to a free teaching series that will help you take practical steps forward in each of the five areas.

When youu2019re done, youu2019ll be far more equipped to accomplish your mission.

Donu2019t be discouraged. You can still reach people.

Take the Church Outreach Assessment now!”,”container_class”:””,”element_class”:””,”wrap_styles_border”:0,”wrap_styles_width”:””,”wrap_styles_margin”:””,”wrap_styles_padding”:””,”wrap_styles_float”:””,”wrap_styles_show_advanced_css”:0,”label_styles_border”:””,”label_styles_width”:””,”label_styles_font-size”:””,”label_styles_margin”:””,”label_styles_padding”:””,”label_styles_float”:””,”label_styles_show_advanced_css”:0,”element_styles_border”:””,”element_styles_width”:””,”element_styles_font-size”:””,”element_styles_margin”:””,”element_styles_padding”:””,”element_styles_float”:””,”element_styles_show_advanced_css”:0,”cellcid”:”c8551″,”key”:”the_pivot_ready_cheat_sheet_1602862985838″,”drawerDisabled”:false,”wrap_styles_background-color”:””,”wrap_styles_border-style”:””,”wrap_styles_border-color”:””,”wrap_styles_display”:”block”,”field_label”:””,”field_key”:”the_pivot_ready_cheat_sheet_1602862985838″,”id”:”1023_1″,”beforeField”:””,”afterField”:””,”value”:”

Is Your Church Ready For Future Evangelism? Take The Free Church Outreach Assessment To Find Out.

Almost every church leader wants to grow their church by reaching more people.

When youu2019re done, youu2019ll be far more equipped to accomplish your mission.

Donu2019t be discouraged. You can still reach people.

Take the Church Outreach Assessment now!”,”label_pos”:”above”,”parentType”:”html”,”element_templates”:[“html”,”input”],”old_classname”:””,”wrap_template”:”wrap”}];nfForms.push(form);

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Want more?

For more on how to interact with the post-Christian west as a Christian leader see our upcoming course The Art of Better Reaching.

If you want more help responding to the skeptics, check out my book, The Problem of God: Answering a Skeptics Challenges to Christianity.

I’d love to hear about 1 thing you’ve had to ‘think again’ about in the last year. While you’re responding below, please be kind. This is no place for outrage or toxic behavior.

The post Think Again: Why Religion is Good for Us appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: Think Again: Why Religion is Good for Us

The post Think Again: Why Religion is Good for Us appeared first on Passion for Planting.

CNLP 417: Simon Sinek on Why the Church is Losing Ground, the Importance of Existential Flex and How Deep, Personal Crisis Spawned Start With Why

Sean Cronin — Tue, 25 May 2021 09:00:00 +0000

By Carey Nieuwhof: Simon Sinek unpacks his back story, including how his grandfather shaped him, how ADHD impacted his leadership and how a deep, personal crisis led to him developing the ideas behind Start With Why.

Simon also talks about how existential flex is so important in a post-pandemic world, and why the church keeps losing ground.

Welcome to Episode 417 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.

Plus, in this episode’s What I’m Thinking About segment, Carey talks about what the Church needs to do to stay relevant.

Guest Links

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Episode Links

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World Vision

This has been an incredibly difficult season for those pastoring church congregations. Many of you—church leaders—are caring for the souls of struggling congregants only to find yourselves burnt out and in need of your own soul care.

Our partner, World Vision, is called to serve the most vulnerable around the world, but also feels called to serve the Bride of Christ. And that includes caring for YOU—shepherds of the flock.

So, World Vision has partnered with Danielle Strickland to provide a practical resource called Soul Care Prayer Postures.

In this FREE web series, Danielle will share rhythms and practices to help create space for God to tend to YOUR soul, and get tools you can use as you lead others.

The Church is a force for good in the world, and World Vision’s heart is for the Bride of Christ to be healthy and mobilized to be the church outside the four walls!

Sign up for the FREE web series today by going to worldvision.org/carey.

Conversation Links

Start With Why by Simon Sinek

Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek

Together is Better by Simon Sinek

The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek

Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe – TED Talk by Simon Sinek

How to Discover Your “Why” in Difficult Times – TED Talk by Simon Sinek

How Great Leaders Inspire Action – TED Talk by Simon Sinek

Church Attendance is Dying. Here’s What’s Next by Carey Nieuwhof

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*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Insights From Simon

1. True success comes from the combination of 3 things:

When asked what led to his success, Simon outlined an interesting framework about what causes true, repeatable success. He’s found that it’s a combination of 3 things: Talent, Hard Work, and Luck. When those 3 things meet, you’re setting yourself up for repeatable success throughout your life.

2. When approaching your work, start with your why.

So many businesses and organizations focus on what they’re doing, and how they’re doing it, but they don’t focus on “why” enough. In his book, Start With Why Simon takes a deep dive into why your “why” is so important, and how to find what you or your business’ “why” is.

3. The Church’s inability to change is causing its own irrelevance.

Simon points out that a large portion of the church is behaving similar to how the music industry behaved as iTunes disrupted them. People didn’t stop listening to music, they just changed how they listened. Similarly, It’s not that people are losing their spirituality, it’s that they just aren’t turning to the Church for answers.

Quotes from Episode 417

It’s not that people are losing their spirituality, it’s that the church is losing its relevance. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

The responsibility of a church is not to get people in the pews. The responsibility of the church is to spread the gospel. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

People are spiritual and in search of community, in search of belief, in search of belonging, in search of hope, and in search of vision. They’re not getting it, and so they’re looking for it in other places. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

The church, as an industry, unfortunately looks a lot like a lot of other old-fashioned industries which is, ‘This is the way we’ve always done it.’ @simonsinekClick To Tweet

The solutions we find to the challenges we have when we’re children become our strengths as adults. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

There’s a formula for success, this zero-sum formula, which is talent, something innate, hard work, and then luck. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

We all have innate things in us, like the strengths we build when we’re kids, and if we invest in building on those talents, they become even stronger. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

We see the world through different lenses because of our childhoods and our upbringings. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

I am living proof that in adversity comes opportunity, and in hardship comes renewal and rebirth. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

I didn’t set out to tell anybody anything. I set out to share something that had profoundly changed my life and my view of the world. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

As a species, we are constantly searching for explanation. The most confounding things are things that seem to lack explanation. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

A why comes from the past. It’s where we come from, it is objective, and it never changes your whole life. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

I imagine a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired, feel safe wherever they are and end the day fulfilled by the work that they do. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

The obsession with the finite game means we see more and are more short term-ism. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

Finite-mindedness dominates business theory and political theory of the day. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

Wall Street breaks economies because they are making decisions for the good of themselves in a finite manner, rather than allowing companies and allowing executives to make decisions that are for the good of the whole. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

Existential flexibility is the capacity to make a 180 degree strategic shift in order to better advance your cause. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

If you don’t have the just cause and you don’t have the trusting teams, that existential flex will probably fail. @simonsinekClick To Tweet

In the future church, the church is going to meet anytime, anywhere, sometimes.Click To Tweet

Consumer Christianity isn’t about what you bring to the mission, it’s about what you squeeze out of it.Click To Tweet

Read or Download the Transcript for Episode 417

Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?

Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.

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Is Your Church Ready For Future Evangelism? Take The Free Church Outreach Assessment To Find Out.

Almost every church leader wants to grow their church by reaching more people.

When youu2019re done, youu2019ll be far more equipped to accomplish your mission.

Donu2019t be discouraged. You can still reach people.

Is Your Church Ready For Future Evangelism? Take The Free Church Outreach Assessment To Find Out.

Almost every church leader wants to grow their church by reaching more people.

When youu2019re done, youu2019ll be far more equipped to accomplish your mission.

Donu2019t be discouraged. You can still reach people.

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The post CNLP 417: Simon Sinek on Why the Church is Losing Ground, the Importance of Existential Flex and How Deep, Personal Crisis Spawned Start With Why appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: CNLP 417: Simon Sinek on Why the Church is Losing Ground, the Importance of Existential Flex and How Deep, Personal Crisis Spawned Start With Why

The post CNLP 417: Simon Sinek on Why the Church is Losing Ground, the Importance of Existential Flex and How Deep, Personal Crisis Spawned Start With Why appeared first on Passion for Planting.

The Coming Church Split (It’s Not What You Think)

Sean Cronin — Sun, 16 May 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Is there a split in the future church ahead?

Unfortunately, I think the answer is yes.

It’s not your typical (and usually awful) church split about doctrine, polity, personality or the color of the carpet. It’s bigger than that, and for the most part, you won’t even realize it’s happening until you look back a few years from now and see what took place.

If you look a little more carefully right now, you can see that as the post-pandemic world takes shape, there’s an emerging divide between churches that are well-positioned for the future and churches that aren’t.

Essentially, the split is between churches that will be effective in accomplishing their mission and churches that won’t be.

We’ve seen a similar split over the last five decades between churches that drifted from historic Christianity orthodoxy and churches that didn’t. Between churches that embraced change and churches that didn’t. And we saw it in churches that understood the culture and those who were oblivious to it. And pre-pandemic, that split left approximately 15% of churches growing and 85% of churches plateaued or declining.

The coming split is a split between the kinds of churches that will thrive in the future and the kinds of churches that won’t.

The criteria between effective and ineffective churches continue to morph and accelerate as the world re-opens in at least four key areas.

The question, of course, which best describes your church?

Here are four emerging divides that are developing before our eyes.

1. Online-Optional Versus Fully Hybrid

The disruption of 2020 and beyond catapulted every church into the digital age whether its leaders were ready or not.

The pivot to online ministry is not just a technological change, it’s also a philosophical one (or theological perhaps…although for these reasons I’m not sure it’s truly theological).

As the post-pandemic world becomes a greater reality for a growing number of leaders (I understand the pandemic still raging in many areas), many leaders are showing their true hand.

For a lot of pastors, online church lies somewhere between a necessary evil, an unfortunate necessity, or a service they offer that’s an option for people who can’t get there for the “real thing.”

In all likelihood, those church leaders are going to have a difficult future ahead of them.

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There’s a smaller group of pastors and leaders, though, who are fully embracing a hybrid church model: deciding to become 100% physical and 100% digital.

They see digital not as an ‘accommodation’, but as both real ministry and an abundant opportunity.

Forward-thinking pastors realize that the best answer to the question “Should ministry be digital or physical?” is “Yes”.

Forward-thinking pastors realize that the best answer to the question ‘Should ministry be digital or physical?’ is ‘Yes’.

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Almost everyone these days lives in the seamless slipstream of digital/physical lives. You order your groceries on your phone and then walk into a coffee shop in person to pick up a cortado.

Similarly, you text your best friend, only to put down your phone and chat with your son in real life in the kitchen who shows you a YouTube video he finds hilarious.

This is life. I’m guessing it’s also your life because, well, you’re reading this online.

If you live a fully hybrid life, and the people you’re trying to reach live hybrid lives, why wouldn’t your church fully embrace a hybrid ministry that seamlessly slips between physical and digital presence?

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2. Bringing People Back Versus Moving People Forward

As the new world opens up, many church leaders seem hyper-focused on getting people back to church.

On the one hand, I get it. It’s been a long, exhausting season. And we all long for normal. I do too.

But bringing people back isn’t a vision. Moving people forward is a vision.

It’s hard to move people forward if you’re obsessed with getting them back.

Bringing people back isn’t a vision. Moving people forward is a vision.

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Increasingly, one of the splits that will happen is between church leaders who are focused on recreating, reviving and restoring older approaches to ministry.

Signs this might be happening include thinking

If we could just get a few more people to come back, everything would be okay.
I wish we could just see the room full again.
We really need to get back to where we were in 2019, and then we can move ahead.

Pastors who focus on moving people forward instead of bringing people back will have a much better future.

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3. Churches That Embrace Versus Churches That Judge

Switching gears a little, another emerging line centers on the attitudes church leaders have toward the community they’re trying to reach.

So let’s start here: Judged anyone lately?

Sadly, the answer for most of us (including me) is… yes.

From the guy who cut you off in traffic, to the off-beat person who’s not picking up the social cues you’re sending, to your weed-smoking neighbor… it’s so easy to judge as the culture becomes more and more post-Christian.

And judgment just gets worse from there. It’s the basis of racism, sexism and almost every other ‘ism’ you can think of.

Churches that embrace the people they’re trying to reach will have a much better future than churches that judge them.

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Judgment is also fundamentally incompatible with authentic Christian faith.

Jesus said Christians should be known for how deeply we love. Yet for years now, studies have shown that in the eyes of many non-Christians, we’re known for how deeply we judge, not for how deeply we love.

The problem in many cases is not that unchurched people don’t know any Christians. The problem is that they do. And they don’t like us—for good reason.

A Barna study revealed that 62% of lapsed Christians said the #1 quality they look for in a person with whom to discuss faith is ‘non-judgment.’

Only 34% said they know any Christians who possess this quality.

A recent Barna study revealed that 62% of lapsed Christians said the #1 quality they look for in a person with whom to discuss faith is ‘non-judgment.’ Only 34% said they know any Christians who possess this quality.

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Sigh.

In the evangelical church today (and, yes, despite the reputation, I consider myself an evangelical), the hard edge of ‘truth’ has crushed many. And one of the most frequent expressions of loveless truth is found in judgment.

The presence of judgment almost always guarantees an absence of love.

I try to remember this rule: If I’m judging someone, I’m not loving them. You can’t judge someone and love them at the same time.

Pastors who love the people they’re trying to reach have a much better chance of reaching them than pastors who judge them.

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4. Ideologically Driven Versus Gospel-Driven

A final gap is widening between churches that appear to be driven as much by ideology as by the Gospel.

Particularly since the crisis hit in 2020, a growing number of church leaders have used their influence to weigh in on everything from politics, to partisanship, to masks v. no masks, vaccines, supreme court nominees, to tax policies, to immigration.

Tim Keller recently weighed in on his surprise over how partisan, political and ideological the church has grown in the last year (you can listen to my conversation with Tim here or watch on YouTube). Rick Warren expressed similar concerns and surprise (my conversation with Rick is here in audio form, and you can watch here).

This is actually quite predictable for a culture that’s rapidly moving from Christian to post-Christian. It’s tempting to want to hang onto power, to blame the culture for changing, or to see politics as your salvation.

Leaders feel overwhelmed, and it’s easy to try to ‘conserve’ the little that’s left and rail against the new attitudes that are emerging.

Here’s my sense: the effective pastors in the future will weigh in from time to time on critical social issues that the scripture engages (racial justice, poverty, moral values, etc—all of which were transformed by Jesus and the early church and created a more equal world).

Both Jesus and the first-century church were paradoxically apolitical while being deeply subversive. They were apolitical in the sense that they were deeply nonpartisan (Herod was a tyrant, but Jesus wasn’t part of a group interested in removing him, and his Zealot followers soon found another agenda), yet subversive in that that they turned the world upside down through an ethic of truth and love that made existing politics pale by comparison.

Scroll through any social media feed today and you’ll see some pastors commenting on everything from which party to vote for, to tax policy, to Supreme Court nominees, and more.

In the long term, that’s probably eroding their influence with the unchurched (50% of whom by definition won’t agree with them), even if it shores them up temporarily among some of their tribe who thank them for ‘speaking the truth.’

And while local church leaders do need to engage the dialogue between masks or no masks, how we treat the vaccinated and unvaccinated, and safety protocols, there’s a difference between creating a safe space for people to gather and tilting the dialogue to an ideological rant against everything that’s wrong with whoever you don’t like at the moment.

There are two groups losing badly when things turn partisan and ideological:

the next generation

and, ultimately, the congregation itself.

The culture needs an alternative to itself, not an echo of itself.

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Most people (including you, I suspect) are exhausted by the division, tribalization, and anger that characterizes culture today.

It’s pretty clear that the culture is tired of itself too, but it doesn’t quite know how to escape.

That’s the perfect opportunity for the church to simply be the church.

An exhausted culture needs an alternative to itself, not an echo of itself.

Authentic, grace-filled, hope-bearing, truthful people are what our friends and neighbors need.

A generation tired of hate, yet caught in its grip, will only be released from it if there’s a clear alternative.

Imagine, if in the next few years in your church:

Love surged.

Hope got fueled.

You could disagree but not be disagreeable.

You focused on what united people, not on what divided people.

In a divided culture, Christians should be the help and the hope, not the hate.

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Is Your Church Ready For Future Evangelism? Take The Free Church Outreach Assessment To Find Out.

Almost every church leader wants to grow their church by reaching more people.

When youu2019re done, youu2019ll be far more equipped to accomplish your mission.

Donu2019t be discouraged. You can still reach people.

Take the Church Outreach Assessment now!”,”container_class”:””,”element_class”:””,”wrap_styles_border”:0,”wrap_styles_width”:””,”wrap_styles_margin”:””,”wrap_styles_padding”:””,”wrap_styles_float”:””,”wrap_styles_show_advanced_css”:0,”label_styles_border”:””,”label_styles_width”:””,”label_styles_font-size”:””,”label_styles_margin”:””,”label_styles_padding”:””,”label_styles_float”:””,”label_styles_show_advanced_css”:0,”element_styles_border”:””,”element_styles_width”:””,”element_styles_font-size”:””,”element_styles_margin”:””,”element_styles_padding”:””,”element_styles_float”:””,”element_styles_show_advanced_css”:0,”cellcid”:”c8551″,”key”:”the_pivot_ready_cheat_sheet_1602862985838″,”drawerDisabled”:false,”wrap_styles_background-color”:””,”wrap_styles_border-style”:””,”wrap_styles_border-color”:””,”wrap_styles_display”:”block”,”field_label”:””,”field_key”:”the_pivot_ready_cheat_sheet_1602862985838″,”id”:1023,”beforeField”:””,”afterField”:””,”value”:”

Is Your Church Ready For Future Evangelism? Take The Free Church Outreach Assessment To Find Out.

Almost every church leader wants to grow their church by reaching more people.

When youu2019re done, youu2019ll be far more equipped to accomplish your mission.

Donu2019t be discouraged. You can still reach people.

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What Are You Seeing?

So where does this land?

In my view, churches that effectively reach unchurched people in the future will likely be those that:

Fully embrace hybrid ministry—digital and in-person forms of ministry.
Focus on moving people forward, not getting them ‘back’.
Embrace the people they’re trying to reach rather than judge them.
Be Gospel-driven rather than ideologically driven or partisan.

Do you see a dividing line emerging between the qualities of churches that will thrive and those that won’t?

Scroll down and leave a (respectful) comment. As always, angry rants and abusive comments will be deleted. As always, we’re trying to make space here for good people on a common mission who may not see things the same way. So be kind.

What are you seeing?

The post The Coming Church Split (It’s Not What You Think) appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: The Coming Church Split (It’s Not What You Think)

The post The Coming Church Split (It’s Not What You Think) appeared first on Passion for Planting.

CNLP 413: Francis Chan on Escalating Division, Asian Hate, and Why Influence in the Church Can’t Come from Self-Promotion

Sean Cronin — Mon, 03 May 2021 13:27:23 +0000

By Carey Nieuwhof: Francis Chan has become convicted that division in the church is escalating and causing deep harm. He also thinks it’s tied to the desire for celebrity and influence so many leaders have.

Francis also talks about racial division and his experience as an Asian-American who has been the target of discrimination.

Welcome to Episode 413 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.

Plus, in this episode’s What I’m Thinking About segment, Carey shares a few thoughts on unity, division and the Church.

Guest Links

Instagram | Twitter | Website

Episode Links

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Generis

Most churches have experienced stability in giving over the last year—that is some of the best news the team at Generis has heard during the pandemic.

But, a new concern is growing—will the other shoe drop in 2021? Will the economy shift? Will giving begin to trend down?

The truth is, whether it is next month, next year, or in five years, a shoe will drop, the economy will shift, and there will always be a new mission, need, or challenge that will require resources. It’s just a part of the natural ebb and flow of church finance. So, wouldn’t it be great if you could be prepared by understanding how healthy your church is no matter what financial reality you might face?

The team at Generis is offering a FREE opportunity for church leaders of this podcast to do exactly that with their Generosity Pulse Report.

Think of the Generosity Pulse Report as a quick snapshot of the health of your culture of stewardship and giving. Wouldn’t it be super helpful to know where you stand today, identify what needs improvement, and what you can do to move the needle on greater generosity?

No matter what lies ahead with the economy, giving or that other shoe…now is a great time for financial clarity, and Generis can help you achieve it.

Schedule your FREE Generosity Pulse Report today, an exclusive offer for listeners of this podcast, by going to generis.com/carey.

Conversation Links

Until Unity by Francis Chan

Erasing Hell by Francis Chan

You and Me Forever by Francis Chan and Lisa Chan

Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Letters to the Church by Francis Chan

Forgotten God by Francis Chan

CNLP 313: Francis Chan Clarifies What’s Next for Him, Talks About the Impact of Social Media on Real People, Apologizes for the Confusion, and Talks About the Future of the U.S. Church

CNLP 218: Francis Chan on Battling Pride and Fame, Why He Left His Megachurch, and his Airbnb Church Experiment

ChurchPulse Weekly, Episode 038: Francis Chan, Part 1

Carey on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

After the U.S. Election: 3 Things the Culture Needs Right Now That the Church Can Give by Carey Nieuwhof

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Insights From Francis

1. When it comes to racial justice, be quick to listen

During the interview, Francis talked about how he has been somewhat unaware of the depths of the struggles of the Native American people in America until a few days before the time of recording. He’d went and stayed the night on a reservation. Going there, seeing how they live, and asking questions about them opened his eyes to their struggle.

He thinks that this year has started a listening and learning process for many similar to what he experienced, and would encourage all of us to lean in and listen to those with a different experience than us.

2. As Christian leaders, decreasing our own name is a great way forward

When Francis was serving the underground church in China, a Chinese pastor told him:

“You Americans keep thinking that you have to become popular to have an impact. But in China and the underground church, it was those who were most hidden that had the most impact, the greatest impact, because we couldn’t be found.”

This made Francis ask himself, “Could it be possible that me being quieter, and in the presence of God and doing more things that are unseen, will actually have a greater impact in lifting up the name of Jesus?”

As a Christian leader, ask yourself whose name you are working to increase. Yours, or Christ’s?

3. The Western Church is being deeply damaged by division and outrage

So much of the Western church has been hijacked by ideology, political division and outrage. This has caused pastors to blacklist each other, entire denominations to split repeatedly and nearly an entire generation to walk away from the church.

This isn’t helping the gospel reach more people. If we’re going to move forward, we need to move forward together—even if we disagree.

Quotes from Episode 413

No one ever hears the apology as loudly as they hear that initial biting, angry thought. @crazyloveClick To Tweet

If you feel nothing for people outside of your little circle, I’ve got to question whether the Spirit is in you. @crazyloveClick To Tweet

I think most leaders in America are thinking, ‘I must increase so that He can increase.’ We think it’s up to us. @crazyloveClick To Tweet

I had a very casual attitude towards Christian unity, and I think it’s because it just felt like it was impossible. @crazyloveClick To Tweet

I thought I was pretty sensitive to the Black Lives Matter movement. But you really can’t understand it ’til it’s you. @crazyloveClick To Tweet

It was the first time it really hit me and hurt me and it’s like, ‘So just because of my nationality?’ It was devastating. @crazyloveClick To Tweet

Anyone who pursues unity will be accused of, ‘Oh, you just want unity at the expense of truth.’ Well, would it be possible that you want both? @crazyloveClick To Tweet

Could it be possible that me being quieter, and being in the presence of God and doing more things that are unseen, will actually have a greater impact in lifting up the name of Jesus? @crazyloveClick To Tweet

It’s easier to be divisive than it is to be unifying.Click To Tweet

A blaming culture needs a confessing church.Click To Tweet

You’ll never address what you don’t confess.Click To Tweet

A divided nation needs a united church.Click To Tweet

If God has all the same opinions you do, you’re probably not worshiping God.Click To Tweet

In a divided culture, Christians should be the help and the hope, not the hate.Click To Tweet

Read or Download the Transcript for Episode 413

Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?

Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.

WHAT WILL IMPACTFUL PREACHING LOOK LIKE IN THE FUTURE?

Every time I preach, there are 10 things I check to make sure that my sermon is ready to go.

I outline those 10 things inside the Preaching Cheat Sheet.

If you want a step-by-step process to craft clear sermons that are relevant to your audience, this is for you.

The Preaching Cheat Sheet is just one small part of Mark Clark and I’s course The Art Of Better Preaching. If you want world class-training that will make your preaching better, you can find more information here.

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Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.

Thank you for being so awesome.

Next Episode: Tim Keller

Tim Keller shares some personal reflections about his recent battle with pancreatic cancer and how it’s causing him to rethink his beliefs about God and suffering, drawing him even more deeply into truths he used to only partially understand. Tim also reflects on what a year of crisis has done to the church, and shares some thoughts on the future of the church, how culture has changed in the last year, and what needs to happen next.

Subscribe for free now so you won’t miss Episode 414.

The post CNLP 413: Francis Chan on Escalating Division, Asian Hate, and Why Influence in the Church Can’t Come from Self-Promotion appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: CNLP 413: Francis Chan on Escalating Division, Asian Hate, and Why Influence in the Church Can’t Come from Self-Promotion

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5 Signs Your Church Might be Heading Toward Progressive Christianity

Sean Cronin — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000

By: Alisa Childers

Several years ago, my husband and I began attending a local Evangelical, non-denominational church, and we loved it. We cherished the sense of community we found among the loving and authentic people we met there, and the intelligent, “outside the box” pastor who led our flock with thought-provoking and insightful sermons. Sadly, the church started going off the rails theologically, and after about a year and a half, we made the difficult decision to leave. Today that church is a self-titled “Progressive Christian Community.”

Back then I had never heard of “Progressive Christianity,” and even now it is difficult to pin down what actually qualifies someone as a Progressive Christian, due to the diversity of beliefs that fall under that designation. However, there are signs—certain phrases and ideas—that seem to be consistent in Progressive circles. Here are 5 danger signs to watch for in your church:

1. There is a lowered view of the Bible

One of the main differences between Progressive Christianity and Historic Christianity is its view of the Bible. Historically, Christians have viewed the Bible as the Word of God and authoritative for our lives. Progressive Christianity generally abandons these terms, emphasizing personal belief over the biblical mandate.

Comments you might hear:

The Bible is a human book…
I disagree with the Apostle Paul on that issue…
The Bible condones immorality, so we are obligated to reject what it says in certain places…?
The Bible “contains” the word of God…

2. Feelings are emphasized over facts

In Progressive churches, personal experiences, feelings, and opinions tend to be valued above objective truth. As the Bible ceases to be viewed as God’s definitive word, what a person feels to be true becomes the ultimate authority for faith and practice.

Comments you might hear:

That Bible verse doesn’t resonate with me…
I thought homosexuality was a sin until I met and befriended some gay people…
I just can’t believe Jesus would send good people to hell…

3. Essential Christian doctrines are open for re-interpretation

Progressive author John Pavlovitz wrote, “There are no sacred cows [in Progressive Christianity]….Tradition, dogma, and doctrine are all fair game, because all pass through the hands of flawed humanity.” Progressive Christians are often open to re-defining and re-interpreting the Bible on hot-button moral issues like homosexuality and abortion, and also cardinal doctrines such as the virgin conception and the bodily resurrection of Jesus. The only sacred cow is “no sacred cows.”

Comments you might hear:

The resurrection of Jesus doesn’t have to be factual to speak truth…
The church’s historic position on sexuality is archaic and needs to be updated within a modern framework…
The idea of a literal hell is offensive to non-Christians and needs to be re-interpreted…?

4. Historic terms are re-defined

There are some Progressive Christians who say they affirm doctrines like biblical inspiration, inerrancy, and authority, but they have to do linguistic gymnastics to make those words mean what they want them to mean. I remember asking a Pastor, “Do you believe the Bible is divinely inspired?” He answered confidently, “Yes, of course!” However, I mistakenly assumed that when using the word “inspired,” we both meant the same thing. He clarified months later what he meant—that the Bible is inspired in the same way and on the same level as many other Christian books, songs, and sermons. This, of course, is not how Christians have historically understood the doctrine of divine inspiration.

Another word that tends to get a Progressive make-over is the word “love.” When plucked out of its biblical context, it becomes a catch-all term for everything non-confrontative, pleasant, and affirming.

Comments you might hear:

God wouldn’t punish sinners—He is love…
Sure, the Bible is authoritative—but we’ve misunderstood it for the first 2,000 years of church history…
It’s not our job to talk to anyone about sin—it’s our job to just love them…

5. The heart of the gospel message shifts from sin and redemption to social justice

There is no doubt that the Bible commands us to take care of the unfortunate and defend those who are oppressed. This is a very real and profoundly important part of what it means to live out our Christian faith. However, the core message of Christianity—the gospel—is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and resurrected, and thereby reconciled us to God. This is the message that will truly bring freedom to the oppressed.

Many Progressive Christians today find the concept of God willing His Son to die on the cross to be embarrassing or even appalling. Sometimes referred to as “cosmic child abuse,” the idea of blood atonement is de-emphasized or denied altogether, with social justice and good works enthroned in its place.

Comments you might hear:

Sin doesn’t separate us from God—we are made in His image and He called us good…
God didn’t actually require a sacrifice for our sins—the first Christians picked up on the pagan practice of animal sacrifice and told the Jesus story in similar terms…
We don’t really need to preach the gospel—we just need to show love by bringing justice to the oppressed and provision to the needy…

Conclusion:

Identifying the signs is not always obvious—sometimes they are subtle and mixed with a lot of truth. Progressive Christianity can be persuasive and enticing but carried out to its logical end, it is an assault on the foundational framework of Christianity, leaving it disarmed of its saving power.

We shouldn’t be surprised to find some of these ideas infiltrating our churches. Jesus warned us, “Watch out for false prophets” who “come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15). So if you spot any of these 5 danger signs in your place of worship, it might be time to pray about finding fellowship in a more biblically faithful church community.

Recommended resources related to the topic:

Join Alisa for a book review in the Discipleship.org Collective on Tuesday, April 20 at 10am CT.
Alisa is speaking at the National Disciple Making Forum in Nashville on November 4-5, 2021.

_____________________________________________________________________

Alisa Childers is speaking at the National Disciple Making Forum in Nashville, TN on November 4-5, 2021. She is an American singer and songwriter, best known for being in the all-female Christian music group ZOEgirl. She has had a string of top ten radio singles, four studio releases, and received the Dove Award during her time with ZOEgirl. In later years, Alisa found her life-long faith deeply challenged when she started attending what would later identify as a Progressive Christian church. This challenge pushed Alisa toward Christian Apologetics. Today you can read, listen and watch Alisa’s work online as well as purchase her recently published book on Progressive Christianity titled Another Gospel.

Original Blog Source: https://www.alisachilders.com/blog/5-signs-your-church-might-be-heading-toward-progressive-christianity

The post 5 Signs Your Church Might be Heading Toward Progressive Christianity appeared first on Discipleship.org.

Source: 5 Signs Your Church Might be Heading Toward Progressive Christianity

The post 5 Signs Your Church Might be Heading Toward Progressive Christianity appeared first on Passion for Planting.

The Reset Summit

Sean Cronin — Sun, 11 Apr 2021 19:14:00 +0000

2020 was a year of disruption. While most churches figured out how to pivot in the face of COVID-19, most of us are wondering what’s next? How has this pandemic forever changed our world and affected our ability to make disciples and start new churches? What changes do we need to continue to make in order to most effectively saturate our cities with the gospel? How do we lead with confidence in a post-Covid world?

Exponential wants to help you answer those questions through The Reset Summit, a free interactive online experience. Combine inspiring presentations by church leaders like Matt Chandler, Craig Groeschel, and Francis Chan along with live Q&A, The Reset Summit will lift your spirits and challenge you to reset the way you think about church ministry.

Passion for Planting is privileged to be leading a breakout session focused on church planting. We’ve titled our session: Problems and Possibilities – church planting origins and post-COVID outlook. We’ll be examining how the disruption faced by the early church paved the way toward Kingdom expansion and multiplication. We’ll think about what we can learn from their story and how it can guide our efforts to make disciples and plant churches in our Post-Covid context.

Reset 2021 is free, so you can’t be the price. Sign up today! And don’t forget to join our breakout session.

The post The Reset Summit appeared first on Passion for Planting.

PODCAST 122: Millennials, Evangelism & Digital Church

Sean Cronin — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000

By TheChurch.Digital: For the podcast here, Clivane has a unique perspective of church online.
She’s Canadian (okay, that’s not unique).
She’s a millennial (once again, not unique).
She works at an Anglican Church (historically, not unique at all).
But individually, we here at THECHURCH.DIGITAL are broadening perspectives here and looking to learn.

What does digital community look like to a millennial? On-Mission? If evangelism is a dirty word to Millennials, then, what does the future of the Church look like? Where is GenZ in all this?

These are just some of the topics we are hitting here, on The Church Digital Podcast.

If you’re enjoying this episode, subscribe for free using your favorite podcast app below:

ON THE SHOW

Guest: Clivane Previlon
St. Paul’s Bloor Street, Communications Manager
Twitter // Facebook // Instagram // LinkedIn

Host: Jeff Reed
THECHURCH.DIGITAL
Twitter // Facebook // Instagram // LinkedIn

Co-Host: Rey DeArmas
Christ Fellowship Miami Online
Twitter // Facebook // Instagram

RESOURCES

HELP ANOTHER CHURCH. LEAVE A REVIEW.

We know these conversations are out there are hard. Even the best of churches haven’t figured out… If this podcast is helping you and your church work through what Church Online is, then help us impact other churches! Take a moment and leave us a brief review!

By leaving a positive ranking and review of THECHURCH.DIGITAL PODCAST on iTunes, you’re helping to get this podcast in front of new people who are most likely asking the same questions you are. Head over to that Ratings & Review section on iTunes and drop a good word for us!

Feedback on the podcast is vital as well. Leave comments on the podcast, or comment on this post! I’d love to know your thoughts and how we can serve your church better.

Love you all! Praying for your Churches and your Ministry Online.

Jeff Reed
THECHURCH.DIGITAL

Source: PODCAST 122: Millennials, Evangelism & Digital Church

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Episode 577: The Role of Denominations in Church Planting

Sean Cronin — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000

By NewChurches.Com: In Episode 577 of the NewChurches Q&A Podcast, Daniel and Ed discuss why denominations are still important in church planting today.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

What some denominations are doing to support church planting
What benefits are gained from joining a denomination

Shareable Quotes (#NewChurches):

“Denominations can and do have a significant place to play.” – @edstetzer
“Churches associate for the Great Commission and that’s why denominations exist.” – @edstetzer
“What is the most effective way to cooperate for the Great Commission? I think that a denomination is part of that.” – @edstetzer
“Almost every movement starts with a greater centrifugal outward energy.” – @edstetzer
“When denominations are focused on missional purposes they are powerful tools of God’s Word.” – @edstetzer
“People have written off denominations for the 30 years I have been involved in church planting, and denominations still do most of the church planting in the U.S. today.” – @edstetzer
“Associationalism flows out of a commitment to a Great Commission because you can’t do it with one local church. You need others.” – @edstetzer

Recommended Resources:

Learn more about the Church Planting Leadership Fellowship

Help us Multiply the Mission:

Please subscribe
Leave a rating and review on iTunes
Ask a question by clicking Send Voicemail on the right hand side of NewChurches.com
If you’re on a phone or a tablet, then go to www.speakpipe.com/newchurches to download the app and record your message
When you’re recording, introduce yourself and your context in about 15 seconds and then record your question for 30 seconds

The post Episode 577: The Role of Denominations in Church Planting appeared first on NewChurches.com – Church Planting, Multisite, and Multiplication.

Source: Episode 577: The Role of Denominations in Church Planting

The post Episode 577: The Role of Denominations in Church Planting appeared first on Passion for Planting.

The Moment We’re In and the Mission We’re On

Sean Cronin — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Home > Blog > The Moment We’re In and the Mission We’re On

The Moment We’re In and the Mission We’re On

By Ed Stetzer

In Part 1 we looked at the different categories of people in terms of their views of the pandemic and how to communicate with them. In this article I want to focus on the lesson of leading your church in a given moment to stay focused on the mission to our world, rather than turning more inward.

For over 15 years we’ve seen books and blogs call the church to be missional in their communities. Last March, the pandemic accomplished in three weeks what none of these resources could: propel the church out of buildings and into the mission field.

In the first century persecution thrust the early church across the Roman Empire to share Christ (see Acts 8:1-4 and 11:19-26). In 2020, a pandemic forced the church out of the routine of weekly services to face a world in need. While some churches focused most of their energies on figuring out how to meet together again as the top priority, many churches stepped up, looked outward, and stood in the gap to minister to their communities in ways that are God-honoring and surprising.

In the midst of this the uncertain moment we can’t escape the desire to create predictions or answer questions about the future. Some people predicted the pandemic would spell the end of the large church or the end of the megachurch. Others say no, things will merely retract back to normal when the crisis finally passes.

I want to look at two lessons we can learn from the pandemic in terms of our outward call to love and reach the world: The moment we’re in has provided unique opportunities for God’s people to join him in the mission we’re on.

The Moment We’re In

We’ve witnessed things in this season that we haven’t seen since World War II or the Great Depression. One example is in the sports world. March Madness got cancelled, which for college basketball fans was very maddening indeed. Fall sports were cancelled by the Ivy League, while other conferences made dramatic shifts in football scheduling. The Alabama Crimson Tide won the national championship, so at least some things are normal. Still, a host of bowl games were cancelled. The Masters Tournament was played in November!

We can’t deny the far-reaching challenges brought by our current moment. One of the questions we should ask of the moment we’re in is: What are the things we need to learn to help us to be more effective long term in the mission we’re on?

I don’t think this is the end of the large church. Before the Black Death they built cathedrals. They continued to meet in the cathedrals during the Black Plague, and they met in them after it was over. There’s a resiliency to institutional structures that we’ve seen over two millennia.

During the Black Death, people that close contact with other people was a way the disease spread. They didn’t know the exponential explosion might happen, which is what we’ve seen as well in places where there are large public gatherings. I’m of the view that we’ll return to some sense of normalcy once vaccines have been disseminated and herd immunity is built up. We can be thankful that day is coming closer.

The Mission We’re On

The moment we’re in should inform us on the mission we’re on both now and later. I think this is an opportunity for us to seize. And, by “seize” I don’t mean doing something irresponsible or inappropriate. When we do go back to our understanding of “normal,” how can we as missiologists, pastors, and leaders help to perpetuate some of the new structures, the new paradigms of mission that people are exploring and engaging now in a very powerful way?

How can we help the church to not snap back like a rubber band, but instead create a new normal on the other side or even, to some degree inside the emergency that we’re in? We hope to see God’s people faithfully and fruitfully engaging in God’s mission now that the church has left the building. So many churches turned their energy from preparing for weekly services and all the volunteers involved in the weekly gathering to look outward, engaging the community with volunteers caring for the poor, the sick, and the marginalized.

I hope we can raise a voice that says this moment we are in has some long-term opportunities and consequences. For example, how many people who didn’t think they were church planters are right now leading a small group in their community for their church that met via Zoom? After leading well, pastors and leaders might recognize that they meet the 1 Timothy 3 qualifications for a pastor. We could see many church planters bursting out with new churches because people were given a greater sense of leadership. This may be the kind of church multiplication movement for which we have prayed and which we have sought.

Or, might there be a pushing of God’s mission to the edges, to the periphery, one that we’ve all hoped and thought and prayed for now is taking place and could we help to accelerate it? In change theory, Kotter and others describe how when change comes, you get to a new normal. Then, you freeze that in place for a while. After a season something comes along and there’s another new normal that you once again freeze in place.

What if we can say, “We get that summer of 2020 was not the new normal. But let’s get to the place where we freeze a new normal with a much higher percentage of God’s people engaged in mission distributed to the periphery in church planting and more.”

It would be like our God to take our difficult moment of winter and turn it into a beautiful springtime of mission.

Source: The Moment We’re In and the Mission We’re On

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The New Scarcity: Why Content Alone Won’t Generate Future Growth For Your Church Or Organization

Sean Cronin — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 10:00:00 +0000

By Carey Nieuwhof: For years, the key to growth for many churches and other organizations (think media, conferences etc) has been to create great content.

In the case of a church, great preaching often (not always, but often) has been synonymous with growth.

In the case of conferences, media and other organizations focused on messaging, the same thing has been true: generate great content and you grow.

Church leaders, media and live event organizations (we’ll focus on those three for now) have all noticed something over the last decade: it’s been harder and harder to get people in the room.

People are attending church less often. Conferences are finding it harder to fill venues and stadiums.

Great messages that used to guarantee growth don’t any more. What used to attract people now gets a shrug of indifference instead.

Don’t get me wrong: bad content (bad sermons, articles, talks or events) can still kill a mission. But great content (including great, faithful preaching) in and of itself doesn’t naturally generate the kind of momentum it used to.

The question, of course, is why? And what can you do about it?

I realize this is a bit of a strange framework through which to view the work of the church. But as you run through this post, my guess is you’ll see the trends described playing out all around you.

And if you’re trying to reach and equip people in the church or any other organization focused on gathering people around content, you’ll see the patterns.

So…hopefully this post can give you a new framework for moving forward.

Great messages that used to guarantee growth don’t any more. What used to attract people now gets a shrug of indifference instead.

Click to Tweet

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1. Scarcity Drives Value

If you’re struggling to understand the massive shift happening in the world

Scarcity drives value. The more scarce something is, the more value it has.

When something is scarce, it’s worth something. Conversely, mass availability drives down prices.

Take a look at how humans have interacted with phones over the last three decades.

Scarcity drives value. The more scarce something is, the more value it has.

Click to Tweet

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In the era of landlines, phone companies made their money off of long distance calls. Your parents and grandparents spent a lot of time agonizing over long distance bills and whether they could afford to make that call to a friend in another state or country, let alone another continent.

Then cell phones came along and suddenly, sensing new competition, phone companies made long distances calls free or almost free, trying to prevent people from ditching their landlines.

Cell phone service service providers underwent a similar evolution, creating scarcity for things as long as they could.

At first, cell phone service providers made their money by charging more for weekday minutes than evening minutes or weekend minutes. 15 years ago, it was still common for people to say “Can I call you after 6? I used up all my day time minutes.”

Then texting came along and phone companies started to include evening and weekend minutes as part of basic plans and instead focused on limiting the number of texts you could send.

Early text messaging packages ‘included’ things like 400 free text messages, or 1000 text messages. Most of us couldn’t imagine sending even close to that number of texts. Until, of course, we did.

Now, text messaging and voice calls are almost all unlimited.

Which moves us to a more recent frontier: data. And after years of people worried about going over their monthly data allowances, you and I are now watching before our eyes as almost all providers are now pivoting to unlimited data.

The point?

Things that used to be scarce and valuable even a few years ago aren’t any more. And it changes so quickly.

You don’t need to think much past toilet paper in a pandemic, bitcoin or Tesla shares to understand how quickly value fluctuates.

Value, fundamentally, is about perception. If people perceive value, they are happy to pay for it or line up for it. If they don’t, they won’t.

Click to Tweet

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2. The World is Now Drowning in Content

While no one was really paying attention, the exact same thing happened to content.

Fifteen years ago, you paid registration fees, flights and hotels to hear a keynote speaker deliver a message because you had never heard her before and that’s where she shared her ideas.

Then the internet exploded, and suddenly you’ve probably heard every message from your favorite thought leader/writer/preacher via YouTube, social media or a multitude of other sites.

So what’s a conference’s competitive advantage now, when TEDTalks you can watch for free garner tens of millions views and two million podcasts on Spotify and ApplePodcasts that serve most listeners for free?

A very similar thing happened for church leaders in the last decade.

Go back a generation, and the only way to hear a preacher was to attend that local church. Maybe if you had a relative in a church who told you how awesome a preacher was, you might subscribe to the cassette ministry and get tapes sent to you.

But that was about it. You essentially listened to the preachers nearest you, and that was it. Radio and television offered you a slightly wider menu, but even then, none of that was available on-demand unless you subscribed to that particularly cassette ministry.

Messages in and of themselves were scarce, time limited events (you had to assemble at 9 or 11 to hear one).

Fast-forward to today, and sermons from incredible communicators are anywhere and everywhere. They’re also free and available on-demand.

The Disruption of 2020 accelerated that trend even more. Almost every church moved online, and more people than ever realize they have access to the top communicators in the world any time, anywhere, for free.

Almost every church moved online, and more people than ever realize they have access to the top communicators in the world any time, anywhere, for free.

Click to Tweet

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The challenge is that many churches are still primarily communicating a message designed for another era:

Join us for our new series Saturday Sunday at 9.

Don’t miss last Sunday’s message. Available online, on-demand.

I can’t wait to share a brand new message with you.

Preachers will often tell themselves and their church that this is different because they’re preaching the Word of God.

And that’s true.

But so are a thousand other pastors. And their messages are available just like yours. Some of them sound just like yours. And some of them (let’s be honest) are more compelling than yours.

Please hear me. I am NOT insulting your preaching. I now how hard you work and how sincere you are.

I’m a preacher too. I’m just realizing things have changed—in my lifetime and yours.

What moved people to hear local preachers in the past will not move them to hear you in the future.

Click to Tweet

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That may not be right. But it is real.

So what do you do?

Well the first thing is to realize that what you’re pretending is scarce isn’t. At least not anymore.

When you behave like something is scarce or has tremendous value when it doesn’t, you not only confuse people, you lose people.

Then you come up with a new strategy.

When you behave like something is scarce or has tremendous value when it doesn’t, you not only confuse people, you lose people.

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3. Meaning and Insight Are Rare

Is it possible to grow a church or organization with great content?

You bet. It’s just harder.

With the explosion of digital options for content, there are more and more communicators and preachers who will draw followers and views in the millions.

But they’ll be the outliers…the charismatic communicators who have exceptional gifts, talents and skills (and with it, hopefully character to match).

But what about the rest of us?

While there’s no shortage of information in our culture, there is a shortage of meaning and insight.

It’s one thing to know something, it’s another to know what it means or why it’s significant.

While there’s no shortage of information in our culture, there is a shortage of meaning and insight. It’s one thing to know something, it’s another to know what it means or why it’s significant.

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The more you can help people cut through the noise and get to the heart of why things matter, how they matter and help them integrate the insights into their lives, the more people will value your content.

This is true both for preachers and any content creator.

This is particularly true of the next generation. They’ve had more access to information than any generation who’s ever lived.

They just don’t know what to do with it.

Any and all help you can give them is both needed and valued.

Meaning and insight are so scarce these days that people almost immediately see the value when they find it.

The next generation had more access to information than any generation who’s ever lived. They just don’t know what to do with it.

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4. Community and Connection Are So Scarce

So does all this mean you should abandon content?

Nope. Not at all.

Great preaching is needed and required. So is meaningful content. But again, everyone you’ve reached or are trying to reach has access to more content than they can possible process.

Providing meaning and insight will help, but it’s rarely enough.

What is deeply scarce right now are community and connection.

A year into the pandemic, people are more isolated than ever. That’s playing out the crisis in mental health, rising addictions and new (and dangerous) tribes are forming (we are the most tribalized we’ve been as a culture in generations).

Authentic, loving and genuine community are more scarce than they have ever been in our lifetime.

The competitive advantage of the local church isn’t content, it’s community and connection.

Every church should be running to fill that hole.

The competitive advantage of the local church isn’t content, it’s community and connection.

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If you think about the future of any live event…the power will not be just in the content, because almost everyone in the room will have heard the content or content like it before. It will be in community and connection—the ability to connect people to each other around a common cause.

Moving forward, make the goal of digital content connection and community, not consumption.

Sure, absolutely produce the best content you can, but make the end goal connecting people to each other.

What used to be scarce—content—isn’t. What’s truly scarce is community and connection. So build the future on that.

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What Do You See?

I realize this is a completely different way of thinking about what’s happening, but I hope it can connect some dots for you. Not everyone will get it. But if you get it, it will move your mission forward like few other things.

What are you seeing about scarcity and value?

How is it shaping your plans for the future?

Scroll down and leave a comment.

The post The New Scarcity: Why Content Alone Won’t Generate Future Growth For Your Church Or Organization appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: The New Scarcity: Why Content Alone Won’t Generate Future Growth For Your Church Or Organization

The post The New Scarcity: Why Content Alone Won’t Generate Future Growth For Your Church Or Organization appeared first on Passion for Planting.