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 David Posthuma
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What Is Your Spiritual Perspective? Take this free assessment and find out
David Posthuma @ Jun 16, 2005 06:51 PM
I was recently introduced to a FREE survey that helps you take a look at what theological perspectives may be influencing your life and ministry. To view my personal results (please don't use this as a basis to hold theological arguments with me) and to begin your own Spiritual Style Assessment Click Here.
Discipleship: A Common Error Within Modernist Churches
David Posthuma @ Jun 15, 2005 04:43 PM
I recently had the opportunity to meet with a senior pastor and his leadership team. They wanted to learn more about the enterprise ministry software I had designed. During our meeting, I stressed that I believed any healthy church would value three basic ministry functions:
During the course of our discussions, the senior pastor made a very firm statement that is reflective of many (but thankfully not all) modernist ministries…he said: “We don’t care about discipleship…people already know more than they practice” I believe the devaluation of discipleship by the North American “modernist” church can be traced to two church culture errors:
True Discipleship: The western church culture has been seriously influenced by Greek philosophy…so much in fact, that often the contemporary church no longer understands what the Biblical authors meant by their use of specific terms. “Disciple” is one of those concepts lost among many modernist churches, yet it is being re-discovered by healthy postmodern ministries. The modernist church tends to equate the word “disciple” with the Greek word gnosis, meaning “knowledge”. This perspective toward discipleship was also reflected by my undergraduate school, If discipleship was nothing more than “feeding the mind”, then I would have to agree that most Christians are educated well beyond their level of obedience. But this is not the rabbinic understanding of “Discipleship”. The rabbinic and Biblical understanding of discipleship is that the student becomes like the teacher, not merely in knowledge, but in action…in lifestyle…in spirit. If our teacher is Jesus, then we should rightly desire to be like Him…not simply “know about” Him. The emerging generations, who have unfettered access to information, more and more are realizing that knowledge does not make a person truly spiritual…there is something more important…it is the character of the person, molded through a true and dynamic relationship with God. It is not knowledge “about” God that many young adults seek, but rather to truly know God…to experience God in all fullness and power within this world, and through that relational knowledge, to be transformed by God more and more into His image. The passion to “know” God, to “experience” God, and to be “transformed” into His image extends far beyond the modernist practice of discipleship. So is it any wonder that the Echo-boomer rarely shows up for a modernist Bible study or Sunday school class? The Modernist teaches about God, about doctrine, about life and living, and about church history and modern institutional structures (i.e., Our History, Our Values, Our Mission, etc.). In the presence of such spiritual distractions, the emergent Church cries out…”God where are you? How can I really relate to you?” The Modernist Seeker Service Drains Away Discipleship Resources: If you had met me ten years ago, I would have been a strong proponent of the Willow Creek and Saddleback ministry models. And I still admit that these models have strong appeal at building crowds…but the breakdown for me has been the inability of such models to consistently nurture biblical discipleship. Virtually all the church’s human, financial and time resources are poured into creating an “event-experience”…but this experience often has little to do with helping people to relate to God and be transformed into His image. The experience usually talks vaguely “about” God, “about” life, and “about” our need for God. But the emergent generations already know that they need God…the #1 search category on the internet is “Spirituality and Religion”. What they hunger for…what I hunger for…is to find true Christian leaders who will stop the spiritual performance and become authentic spiritual disciple-makers. The Modernist church may take issue with my assertions…and many do…they believe that discipleship occurs within small groups. But let’s be honest, while some small groups can be highly effective, most small group leaders have never themselves received Biblical discipleship from their church leadership. If this is true, then how can we expect our ill-equipped small group leaders to be the Rabbi to their Disciples? Most small groups degenerate into relational cliques. While I highly value relationships, and believe ministry happens best in the context of authentic relationships, the relationship between Rabbi and Disciple is not the experience found in most small groups. It Takes A Paradigm Shift: There’s an old saying: “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got”. It is interesting to me that the Great Commission directs us to “Make Disciples”…not “make converts”. Conversion, without transformation, is a spiritual void…misrepresenting the Christ-life as empty and powerless. The paradigm-shift that is needed today is a move away from talking “about” God, to helping people experience the reality of God…the reality of God in the moment. Let’s take an analogy from every day life to clarify what I mean. Consider for the moment that I wanted to introduce you to my brother at a social gathering. I share with you his name, and facts about him. I even share with you the kind of lifestyle he prefers to live. Do you really know my brother? Of course not! To know my brother you need to hang with him, spend time with him, and relate to him. Now, if you really want to get to know my brother, then you have a choice to make: Will you begin relating to him right then-and-there…in the moment? Or will you wait to connect again at some point in the future? I hope the analogy drives the point home. People today want to meet with God, not merely His representatives in this world, and they want to meet with Him in the moment, to relate with Him, to experience Him and to be transformed by Him. In some postmodern ministry circles there has been a move back to the use of icons and candles. Ministry leaders are in error if they perceive these practices as merely staging…the latest gimmick. While I am not pro or against the use of icons and candles within a service, I believe the heart of the matter regarding their use is the desire to re-capture a sense of the sacred and divine. If our pastor’s and worship leaders would make their top service priority the goal of enabling people to relationally meet with God in the moment, sacrificing all performance and event-mentality for the higher value of authentic disciple-making, then I believe we all would experience an Acts 2 empowerment of Christ’s Church in our present culture…the real flame of the Holy Spirit, not just an MPEG1 version on the video screen or a waxy substitute. Why Every Pastor Should Blog
David Posthuma @ Jun 15, 2005 02:32 PM
As I speak around the country and conduct ministry workshops, the #1 question I encounter is “What Is a Blog”? Blogs have totally transformed the internet. In fact, if you poll the young adults within your ministry and ask them which would option they would prefer to view…a website or a blog…you would likely find that nearly 100% would respond that they prefer blogs. You would also likely find that many of your young adults already have their own blog. So what makes a blog so special that I would suggest that every pastor ought to have one? You Are Reading a Blog To better understand what a blog is and how it functions, take a moment and look at this newsletter…for if you are reading this article, you are visiting a blog. Unlike a website, a blog is an excellent platform for writing articles, devotions, and Bible studies. Blogs can also be highly personal, reflecting the thoughts and heart of the blog author. For pastors and staff who seek to inform, educate and inspire their people, a blog is the perfect communication platform…especially if you desire to attract and communicate with young adults who are the very future of Christ’s Church within this world. The Perfect Communication Platform So what are the traits of a blog that make it so perfect for pastors?
By encouraging your people to download a free News Reader, and pointing that reader to your pastoral blog, you will find that you can have direct interactive communication with your ministry base. In particular, you will have a communication platform that the young adults your ministry so desperately needs to reach, will value and respect. Alternatively, you may also create an email newsletter jump-page that will direct the people within your database to specific articles within your ministry blog. Where to Get a Blog? Text-only blogs are often available on the internet for free. One popular example is www.blogger.com . But for a blog that can support MP3 audio broadcast, video broadcast (also called “Vlogging”) and Flash multimedia, you will likely have to pay a very small monthly fee or put up with annoying advertisements. E-Church Essentials provides full multimedia blogs for only $7.99/month. Free Photo Art from www.eChurchFreePics.com
David Posthuma @ Jun 15, 2005 02:30 PM
E-Church Essentials is releasing hundreds of FREE photo-art for use within your ministry websites, blogs and e-learning courses. These images may be used even on websites and blogs not hosted by E-Church Essentials. High resolution CD volumes are available for $99/each. Postmodern Ministry Takes Us Back to the Bible
David Posthuma @ Jun 15, 2005 02:27 PM
If you ask most church leaders what trait most typifies the Echo-Boomer generation (ages 15 – 33), the likely response will be that the current generation does not believe in absolute truth…that the young adult decides for themselves what is true. Repeatedly, I have heard church leaders regale against the current relativistic generation because they tend to perceive such young adults as de-valuing Scripture. I believe this perception is inaccurate.
It is very true that today’s young adult wants to judge for themselves what is true…and this includes the process of knowing God. The Echo-Boomer has no love for the know-it-all pastor who tells the congregation what to believe and how to live. At the same time, the Echo-Boomer displays little long-term appreciation for topical talks we label as “Seeker Services”. They know intrinsically that God is much more complex than these feather-weight talks convey. The Echo-Boomer, above all things seeks authenticity. They are marketing savvy. They can smell a packaged presentation a mile away…they have trained themselves to disbelieve any thing that does not display true authenticity.
A Severe Impact Upon Church Services The impact such cultural distinctives will have upon our worship services are severe. The presentational and programmed model of ministry that has been so prevalent over the last 35 years is now finding waning support among young adults…particularly those who have not been raised within a Christ-centered faith community. As one young adult communicated to me some time ago: “It doesn’t take a real Christian to put on a Christian show”. And, from the perception of many Echo-Boomers, that is what many of our churches have become…merely a show, a performance, filled with a live band, drama, multimedia, lighting and entertaining talks.
If It Was Good Enough for Us, then…. Ministry leaders make a fundamental error in believing that the model that was good enough for the Boomers must be good enough for the Echo-Boomers. The labels themselves should help us understand that the two cultures are very distinct from one another. An “Echo” occurs when sound bounces off from another object. In the case of the Echo-Boomer, there are many facets of the Boomer’s values that the Echo-Boomer reacts against (i.e., bounces off from). Below are but a few documented traits:
Postmodern Ministry has Raised Discipleship from the Dead
Today’s generation is starving for God. They want to know God intimately. In April of 2004, the Pew Internet and American Life study demonstrated that the #1 search category on the internet was “Spirituality and Religion”. In fact, 65% of online Americans have used the internet for spiritual research purposes. Today’s generation seeks God, but they highly distrust packaged religion. If your ministry seeks to “package” God and the Christian life in every Sunday service, the young adult will avoid your ministry. But if your ministry can adopt an attitude and atmosphere that communicates “we are all learning together”, and are able to facilitate Biblical learning…by allowing the Bible to speak for itself…then the young adult will have open ears and open hearts.
Facilitation also implies personal participation. To facilitate Biblical training and application requires that our services become much more interactive. A common methodology utilized is in-service journaling. Through the use of journaling, while providing moments of quiet introspection, prayer and reflection throughout the learning process, the participant has an opportunity interact authentically with God. The old preaching paradigm told people how to live and expected them to apply the teaching once they exited the church doors. The postmodern preaching paradigm enables the individual to spiritually participate in the immediacy of the moment.
An excellent example of a postmodern "Biblical Facilitation" ministry is Mars Hill of West Michigan. Much has been written about this 10,000 attendee ministry and its bleached blond, barefoot pastor, Rob Bell. But if you were to visit this church, you would be taken back by how basic and raw everything is. The atmosphere is warehouse like. The band plays on the floor and there is no visible worship leader. There is no drama, no staging and no special lighting effects. The heart of Mars Hill is Biblical facilitation. Rob Bell will open the Bible and guide the participants through lengthy passages of Scripture. He permits Scripture to speak to Scripture. Rob is also an excellent facilitator. He consistently utilizes journaling and participatory dynamics to enable the individual to meet with God in the moment.
Below I present an MP3 of a teaching by Rob Bell. I present this teaching for one purpose alone…to illustrate how radically different postmodern Biblical facilitation is from the Seeker-Sensitive Topical Talk model so prevalent within our churches today. I encourage you to listen quietly and reflectively to the entire teaching. Do what Rob asks you to do. And when the teaching is concluded, consider for yourself whether you feel as if you not only learned about God, but more importantly, met with God. I believe that if our pastor's can re-educate themselves to utilize Biblical facilitation, they will find that both young and old, as well as seeker and leader, will highly value and appreciate the methodology. Additional teachings can be found on the Mars Hill website. Most Churches Are Dead...They Just Don't Know It Yet
David Posthuma @ Jun 15, 2005 02:25 PM
I recently drove past the Chicago-land church I was contracted to re-start way back in 1990. In those days, the church had fallen from a high attendance of 550 people down to 35 people. The average age was 63 years old. I remember meeting with each individual privately and asking them one simple question: “What’s the problem”? The consistent answer was: “All the young people have moved away”. Well, being new to the area, I thought I had better verify their perception, so I did a demographic study of the community and found that the average age was 26 years old, predominately young married couples with infant children. Furthermore, there were over 500,000 people with a ten minute drive of the church! The problem was not that the young people had moved away from the church, the problem was that the church had decided long ago to move away from the young people. With God’s help, the ministry grew 400% in that year…all in young adults. Ten adults accepted Christ through the ministry in that year. But when my one-year contract was concluded and I moved on to plant a new church in I believe churches die for one primary reason: they become self-serving rather than Christ-serving. No church ever has to die. However, as you are reading this article, the vast majority (some believe 98%) of churches in The problem is really quite simple to nail down and fix…our Boomer controlled churches must stop deciding to move away from the young adult. Just because our Boomer model of ministry worked for us does not mean that it suffices for the emerging generations. If our church leaders find it politically dangerous to transform their current presentational/program-driven ministry model into a postmodern paradigm, then I have two recommendations: 1) Plant A Church. Let your Boomer-model ministry die in 20 years, but give life to as many postmodern child-churches as possible. 2) Start an Online Ministry. A complete online ministry can run concurrently with your established church programming, without forcing the current programming to change. The online ministry will also provide your ministry with the young adult core you require to plant child-churches. Our nation is one generation away from paganism. I pray that God would enable your ministry to be a part of the solution rather than a part of the problem. |
