Conversation with Hugh Halter on bi-vocational church planting

Interesting conversation today about bi-vocational church planting of small kingdom communities in the United States as a means of multiplying the church, doing evangelism among friends and forming relational communities that are connected. It costs almost nothing, allows those driven for evangelism and ministry to use their gifts and multiplies the church.

This is not the answer for all church planting but it is a lane that needs to be far more visible and honored in the United States. Interestingly this is exactly what we do internationally. The three largest inhibitors to the multiplication of the church globally - including the United States is the belief that you need to have real estate, a building and a full time pastor. Forming Kingdom communities costs almost nothing, releases God's people and is all about relationships. It is similar to what happened in the early church.

We use this approach in the developed and undeveloped world but it is not an honored model in the United States but I predict it is coming. Many young leaders are not interested in the traditional model but are interested in an evangelistically and discipleship model based on relationships, community, releasing everyone in ministry and keeping expenses low. These Kingdom communities can multiply in relationship together and form a larger community.

What gets in the way of seeing this as a viable model in the US? It is our metrics of success which focus on numbers, buildings, budgets and staffing. But often to the exclusion of relationships with unbelievers, evangelism (rather than church transfer) and releasing everyone in ministry within close community. 

Unfortunately in the large church model we often pay people to do ministry rather than open opportunities for the congregants to do significant ministry. Kingdom communities open doors for far more significant ministry for ministry driven professionals and congregants. 

This is not an either or but a both and. Those denominations that open a lane and honor those who plant Kingdom communities will lead those who only use the traditional model where it is not unusual to invest $250,000 in a church plant - many of which fail.

Check out Hugh's book. We do it internationally. Why not domestically?

All of T.J. Addington's books including his latest, Deep Influence,  are available from the author for the lowest prices and a $2.00 per book discount on orders of ten or more.

Deep Influence is coming to the Glen Erie Conference Center in Colorado Springs March 7

If you are in that area, I would love to have you join me for a day of Deep Influence.

http://www.gleneyrie.org/Our-Events/Deep-Influence

How Libya's Martyrs are witnessing to Egypt - Great article from CT

How Libya's Martyrs Are Witnessing to Egypt

Great article: A plea for gospel sanity in missions

A Plea For Gospel Sanity in Missions – From East to West (Part 1).

The wrong questions to ask about life and God

We often ask the wrong questions about life. Questions that if we studied the life of Jesus, Paul and a host of Biblical heroes we would not ask. In fact, our questions reflect more of our society than of Biblical theology. Consider the following.

Why me God? We ask this question when suffering enters our lives but the real question is Why not me? Suffering and hardship is a part of the fallen world and I cannot think of a single great figure in the Scriptures who did not suffer and whom God did not use that suffering for redemptive purposes in their lives.

Why does this happen to me when I have served you so well? Another variation of the first question. Yet Jesus explicitly said that to follow Him is to daily take up our cross - as He did. Ironically, following Him closely will often result in more suffering than not because we are following in the "fellowship of His sufferings." What a privilege when it happens even if we would never ask for that privilege.

Why does God not give me all that I ask? Or answer my prayers? Jesus invites us to ask Him to fill all of our needs, even our "daily bread." I would posit that he does answer our prayers but in ways that are best for us. Some things we pray for would not benefit us if He answered as we asked. Yet, He hears and responds to all of our prayers but from His perfect and divine perspective.

What if I am not worthy to ask Him for help? But we are! Because His willingness to hear us is not based on our merit but on His wonderful grace. The truth is that in ourselves we are never worthy of His help. But in His love, mercy and grace He freely gives us His presence, help and the best. There is nothing we can do to cause Jesus to love us more and there is nothing we can do to cause Him to love us less. 

If I serve Him will He  be good to me? Yes! But that question presupposes that there is a quid pro quo between our followership of Him and His blessing on our lives (by our definition). God is always good and He is always sovereign and He always does what is best for us (Romans 8:28). The question is in our definition of "good." God is always "good." We often do not realize what that good is. We see it from a human perspective and He sees it from a divine perspective.

God, if I do this for you will you do this for me? God is not to be bargained with but to be followed, loved and served. He is infinite in His love, His wisdom, His sovereignty and we don't serve Him for personal gain but out of love for the One who gave His life for us. I may serve him faithfully like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and pay with my life. We don't bargain with God. We serve Him and trust Him knowing that He is good, sovereign and has an eternal plan that will make Him look good and His reputation lifted high.

Why would He take my loved one from me in death? It is one of those tough questions but we often forget the other side of the equation. There is nothing - nothing - that compares to being in His presence for eternity. We mourn but the one we lost would not return to their earthly existence for anything once they had tasted just a moment in His presence. We overestimate life (precious as it is) and underestimate heaven (awesome as it is beyond our comprehension). 

Here is the wonderful thing. We, like Job or David in the Psalms can ask of God any question we like. He hears us, empathizes with us, loves us and comforts us. He is not irritated by our questions but they often do not reflect a Biblical theology as much as our own pain and our societies values. In spite of that He loves us in spite of what we ask. 

All of T.J. Addington's books including his latest, Deep Influence,  are available from the author for the lowest prices and a $2.00 per book discount on orders of ten or more.

A thought on Christian dishonesty

There is a phrase - "evangelistically speaking" that characterizes too much reporting on ministry results in the Christian world. We feel like we need to help Jesus out by exaggerating numbers whether it is the number of those who attend our church, results of ministry efforts, people who have come to Christ, or often, the results of our own ministries. 

Actually, it is not about Jesus at all but about us. We feel a need to inflate our results because it makes us feel good. But if it is not accurate it is also not honest. In written materials we can imply things that are not true and in general we can inflate the truth beyond what is really true. Consider a fast growing church where we report on the growth that sounds so impressive but don't add that 80% of our growth comes from those who transfer from another church.

I guess that this is one of those evangelical sins that we see as acceptable. But it should not be. Jesus is responsible for the fruit of our ministries and he does not need our help in making Him look good. Furthermore we are not being honest with ourselves let alone others and truth is a big deal to God - He is truth incarnate. The next time we are tempted to inflate the truth beyond what is true we ought to stop and consider.

All of T.J. Addington's books including his latest, Deep Influence,  are available from the author for the lowest prices and a $2.00 per book discount on orders of ten or more.

Generous and selfish leadership styles

One's style of leadership can be characterized as either generous or selfish or somewhere on the continuum in between. We often don't think of leadership that way but our leadership styles do reflect the larger issue of our own spiritual growth and where we are on our journey with Jesus because intentional followership of Him inevitably leads us away from a focus on ourselves to a focus on Him. This is as true of high profile Christian leaders as it is of others. 

For selfish leaders, there is a high need for recognition, adulation and the approval of others. Self focus among leaders is a sign of pride and pride is about me and that means it is about selfishness. Generous leaders, on the other hand, love it when others get the praise and they intentionally lift others up. Selfish leaders lift themselves up while generous leaders lift others up.

In like manner, generous leaders look out for the well being of their staff while selfish leaders look out for the well being of themselves. How we interact with and treat staff is a clear indicator of our generosity or selfishness. Those who marginalize, mistreat or poorly treat staff are not living with generosity. Rather they feel that their leadership position gives them the privilege and authority to treat staff as they like rather than to treat them well. Generous leaders love to serve their staff while selfish leaders love their staff to serve them.

I am also always fascinated by senior leaders who have salaries significantly higher than the next level down. They will tell me, "the board made this decision." Might be, but they make the decision for the levels below them and when there is a significant disparity it reveals a selfishness on the part of the leader who is OK with their privilege and OK with the disparity. It is not uncommon in Christian organizations - or others. 

It is a worthwhile exercise for leaders to evaluate their actions and practices against the selfish - generous continuum. With some reflection we may realize that we could be doing better. The further we move toward generosity of spirit, the closer we resemble Jesus. This does not preclude tough decisions or dealing with problematic staff. But even there we can demonstrate either selfishness or generosity.

The more my leadership is about me the more selfishness I am reflecting. The more my leadership is about mission and others, the more generosity I grow. And it is a life long journey from selfishness to generosity.

All of T.J. Addington's books including his latest, Deep Influence,  are available from the author for the lowest prices and a $2.00 per book discount on orders of ten or more.