In This Issue: Cruise Ships, Battleships, and Bulls in the China Shop
- FEATURE: Cruise Ships, Battleships, and Bulls in the China Shop
- SUBVERSIVE MOBILIZATION: Food, Glorious Food, Smooth Hummus and Pita
Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!
Practical Mobilization by Shane Bennett is published once a month.
FEATURE: Cruise Ships, Battleships, and Bulls in the China Shop
Two Mobilizing Ideas from the Fertile Mind of Carol Davis
Winter is knocking on the door here in Indiana and I’m enjoying the morning ritual of lighting a fire in the fireplace. It’s not as easy as turning up the thermostat, but I love to watch as kindling, match, and bellows transform the cold, gray firebox into a happy, roaring inferno.
I want the kingdom of God to be like that. Yeast and mustard seeds are fine and all, but how about torch, poof, blaze?! I like the sound of that. And that is also one of the reasons I cock my head like a curious German shepherd when my friend Carol Davis begins to speak. She’s one of the smartest people I know. I love to hear her talk about Jesus and his plans for his message to spread throughout the world. Her years of experience involved in church planting both within and beyond her culture have produced a harvest of wisdom and insight. Her strategic, Jesus-centered mind gains her a hearing among church planters and cross-cultural workers globally.
You won’t find Carol all over the Internet, but I’ve written about her before and want to share with you a few gems she handed out recently. In the interest of full disclosure, I’m writing this here not just because it’s important, but also because I want you to get Carol’s best stuff through an article instead of in person in order to free her to spend more time hanging out with me and my team!
1. Cruise or Cruiser: Two Ways to Think about Us
At least a couple of images or metaphors for the early church emerge from the pages of the New Testament: Paul describes them as the body of Christ and the army of God.
Among the two, Carol asks, which seems to be more popular and in vogue today? Which gets more press and conversation? The body of Christ, for sure. It is both good and biblical to think of us as the body of Christ. And we live in a time when militaristic metaphors are decidedly unpopular, for good reasons. Yet an exclusive focus on the “body of Christ” image can lead us slowly, often unnoticed, to an inward, “us-centered” orientation.
The earliest Christians, thinking they needed to complete the whole Great Commission before Jesus returned in their lifetime, may have leaned more toward the “army of God” image. When we think of ourselves as the army of God, we call to mind the mission of our collective salvation and the plans of God for our planet.
Consider a cruise ship and a naval cruiser. Carol says she got this idea from her friend Paul Kaak. The cruise ship could represent the “body of Christ” metaphor, and the naval cruiser the “army of God.” Which one has the clearer purpose and higher calling? At the same time, on which are we likely to find the best community – the tightest, most deliberately interdependent focus? The naval cruiser for both, right? Interesting thought, isn’t it? We’re a better body of Christ when we are also the army of God!
Application
As mobilizers, how can we encourage a fresh vision for the body of Christ living and serving as the army of God? Maybe by advocating for more complete terminology for starters. I’d love to hear your ideas on this.
2. Come and Go, and Who Does Which
Carol also stretched my mind with some of her thoughts on two expressions of the faith in the early church. She said the first followers were comfortable with both the “come” and “go” expressions of the faith. We might speak of these today as attractional and missional. The church, at least in America, has become expert in “come” while marginalizing “go.”
Leaders at Granger Community Church, arguably one of the best attractional churches in the U.S., suggest that 40 percent of a given community in the U.S. might be interested in coming to a relevant church, leaving 60 percent who will likely never consider attending a church – regardless of the coolness of the worship or the presence of masterfully relevant Andy Stanley-esque teaching. Sixty percent! They called a conference under the name AND, saying we need to reach out to both the 40 percent and the 60 percent.
How did we become like this? Think about it. In the early days of the church, leaders with “go” gifts were in charge. They were apostles, sent ones. Jesus had whispered in their ears, “This is a global message. Take it all over the place.” Today most of our church leaders have “come” gifts. They are wired up to attract people to come, then equip those who do to live godly lives. This is the gift and work of God in and through them. It is good.
Yet trouble happens when we marginalize, overlook, or mothball people in our midst with apostolic gifting. Carol explains:
“Go people can’t stand meetings. They show up late, leave early, and forget to bring something to take notes on. They turn in expense reports late and can’t keep receipts. They don’t fit in, don’t want to live by a plan, and are often misunderstood by their leaders. They may have ADHD and can find no passion for growing or maintaining an existing program. They’ve got to go start new stuff.”
These people may not fit well into the system. They are bulls and your church is the china shop! But if we can figure out how to release them with grace, love, and maybe a little bit of accountability, they’ll extend the gospel into new places and people.
(Just so we’re clear: The attributes of an apostolically gifted person can often also describe an immature person. The trick, as it often is, lies in discerning between the two.)
Application
How do we find, bless, and release the apostles? Earlier tonight, I just went for it: I was speaking to a room full of fresh-faced rock stars at College of the Ozarks. I described the gifting and told them I was looking for 30 or 40 people who would lead a group of their pals to some of the most untouched parts of the Muslim world. Afterward, I chatted with two who just might do it. Out of a couple hundred students, that’s one percent. About right, and certainly sufficient in the hands of God. How are you finding apostles? Again, I’d love to hear from you.
SUBVERSIVE MOBILIZATION: Food, Glorious Food, Smooth Hummus and Pita
My new friend in Louisville, Kentucky, Jonathan Braden, recently published the coolest little book I’ve seen in a while. To my mind the Louisville International Food Guide has set a new bar in Christian publishing – especially since, as Jonathan says, it’s being used to get folks from local churches involved in going to restaurants and ethnic markets to pray and build relationships.
Go to his Facebook page now and begin to dream about a similar guide for your city. If you’re from a town like mine your guide might be a lot shorter than Jonathan’s. (The extent of our ethnic cuisine is two Thai places and a Bob Evans. Trust me, unless you’re from the Midwest, Bob Evans is a cross-cultural experience!)
What about putting together prayer tips for the peoples represented by various restaurants?
Keep up the good work, men, and pass the lahmacun.
When I was working on this edition, two other recent pieces came to mind, both dealing with making room for people who may be hard to work with (‘bulls in the China shop’).
The first is Ted Esler’s blog post Leadership Lessons from the MN Vikings, which states: “Often, the worst team players are the most productive players. Particularly in creative organizations the hot talent is usually held by the oddballs, misfits, and out-of-box thinkers. The very thing that makes them great (the ability to think differently than the rest of us) is what you want on the team. To have this kind of talent, though, means that you, the leader, are going to have to put up with ruffled feathers, rule-breaking, and general disobedience. It’s not for the faint of heart.”
The second is Steve Moore’s recent vlog post, 7 Ways to Combat Over-valuation and Insular Elitism, which offers ways leaders can create the kind of environment that allows members of our teams to challenge traditional assumptions, break paradigms, and help all of us move ahead.
Sometimes the newest member of the team – the one most like an outsider – is the person whose voice we most need to hear. Something to think about.
Marti
Great article, and good comments from Marti as well. I was challenged to think about how to release the immature/ apostolic member of the team, while in some way continuing to mentor/shepherd him. Ted Esler’s comment that it isn’t for the faint of heart is right on. It’s for those with thick skin, deep energy reserves, patience, and willingness to ask forgiveness for the silly sins such people tend to bring out in those in authority over them.
Hi Tom! Thanks for writing in.
It can be hard to tell the difference between someone who isn’t mature and someone who’s just different, eh? And when the kind of work you do is directed toward the creation of something that’s never existed before, well, you will need people with entrepreneurial or apostolic gifts. Not just those kind of people, but certainly those kind of people.
I was working with a short-term team a while back that included a guy who couldn’t sit still, had some kind of learning disability, and gave off airs that =he= thought he should be the team leader. I agreed with him and others that he was smart and gifted, but I didn’t quite trust him. He made me nervous… especially when we were walking through some team situation case studies and he sympathized with a maverick we were describing, said “maybe he is just the kind of person who wants to lead, not follow.” Ooooh, red flags. Because in my book, unless you can follow you aren’t qualified to lead.
Well, to God be the glory: everything worked out fine with this young guy. His TL was gracious and appreciative and seemed to have the knack for bringing out the best in him! I’m reminded again, that there’s usually more than one way to interpret – and respond to – just about anything.
Marti