missional

Being Radical Right Where You Are

Frank

You can put away the suitcase. You can take your house off the market. You can take a deep breath in relief because you don’t have to move to a Third World country in order to be a “radical” Christian. Critics of the best-selling book by David Platt may disagree with me, but as I’ve reflected on my own life I have seen radical displays of Christianity in unexpectedly normal places.

David Patt recently posted about looking back on Radical, the impact it has had, and the misconceptions it has spawned. I take from his post that in hindsight he would have rather sat down and personally taught through the material with every reader, rather than record it all in a book to be read independently for the reader to draw their own conclusions. I’ve written about this before in response to one criticism, that you cannot judge an author by the limits of a book’s pagecount. But we critique anyway.

The recent swarm of debate was kicked off by a couple of articles. One in Christianity Today and the other in World Magazine; neither were particularly complimentary. And like with anything on the Internet (posts about Mark Driscoll or Rob Bell for example) a single shot fired results in a volley of replies. Here are just a sample from my reading list:

These posts cover the gamut of reaction- from flat rejection to thoughtful consideration of implications, to breaking down the basis for Platt’s theology. What these posts show, is that being “radical”, or “crazy” to refer to Francis Chan’s Crazy Love, or “not a fan” (Kyle Idleman), or “all-in” (Chip Ingram) is that the Christian lifestyle presented by these authors is not as black and white as some critics would lead us to believe.

It is possible to be a radical crazy Christian who is not just a fan of Jesus and who is all-in in their commitment to follow Christ while not fitting in that particular stereotype. You don’t have to sell everything you own to be a “good” Christian.

Now let me be clear, Jesus did say “those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” (Luke 14:33) I don’t want to water that down. It is important to have this conviction. But it is just as important to define what “everything” is. Everything is not necessarily material possession; it includes time, energy and emotion; it costs relationships, hopes and dreams; and it is uncomfortable and will set you apart from the rest of the world. But that does not mean moving across the globe to spread the Gospel.

Looking back in my relatively short (read: naive) Christian walk, I have had several opportunities to be “radical”. I remember regularly attending Cocaine Anonymous and hosting Thanksgiving dinner for a group of addicts. During that time I held weekly Bible studies in halfway houses. My wife and I ministered to single mothers. I have walked the streets to hand out food to the homeless. I held the hands of someone with AIDS and prayed fervently with tears running down both of our faces.

I don’t list these things off to boast but to highlight that you never know where the opportunity to minister to another might arise. None of these were planned. None were expected. In fact every time I’ve tried to plan something along these lines, I have fallen flat on my face. Ministering to crack addicts was because of a relationship with a friend who needed support during a dark time. Serving single moms came about because of existing relationships. We would have one over for dinner, or watch another’s kids while she interviewed for a job, and over time it evolved into so much more. Feeding the homeless has become a family tradition, and it wasn’t even my idea! The victim of AIDS saw me in a restaurant studying the Bible with someone else and sought prayer and support.

Each of these were “radical”. All of them happened in the course of my everyday life.

I haven’t had a radical experience like these in a while. I could be legalistic and beat myself up over that, but I won’t. I will instead pray that God opens my eyes to the radical opportunities right in front of me. I know they’re there. They are there for you, too. You don’t have to travel the globe to find them.

(Addendum: I should add that my examples are by no means exclusive. There are many other means not only to be “radical” but also “missional” in your day-to-day. One of our ministry staff coached his son’s soccer team. I know many who frequently have neighbors over for dinner. I use my vanpool as an opportunity to share ministry activities and events. I could go on and on, and still not have to move to India.)

Fishing for a Calling

Frank

I don’t know about you, but I always get hung up on Jesus’ call to follow him and be a “fisher of men” (Mark 1:17). I am by no means an evangelistic superstar. I struggle to be out of myself reaching out to strangers and have a hard time raising the topic in the relationships I have. I always seem to be looking for a reason to let someone else do it or rationalize my personal ministry as being in some way different. At the same time I have the underlying conviction that my ministry is where I am- that the Kingdom of God, expressed through living a Christ-like life, loving and serving, and sharing the Gospel, is not limited to formal titles, organizational structure, or calendar events. In other words, we shouldn’t wait for a formal church program to appear on our calendar before we minister to others.

(As an aside, when I was at the Pepperdine Bible Lectures a couple of weeks ago I was talking to a pastor and he asked if I was in ministry. I told him no, but I did lead a small group and he answered “well that’s ministry.” And he’s right, though I often forget that.)

Despite this conviction, I struggle with identifying myself as a “fisherman”. In Jesus’ day the young men that he would eventually call to follow him fished on the Sea of Galilee by casting nets over the side of their boats. Me, I drop a worm in the creek and wait all day for a nibble.

But I read this yesterday from Jamie Arpin-Ricci in his book The Cost of Community: When Jesus called his first followers, he “encounter[ed] them in the midst of their daily work, [calling] them to follow him and employ their skills for God’s kingdom.” (pg 27) He called fishermen to be fishers of men. Of course I knew this and understood the intentional play on words, but I never extrapolated that to my own life. I have always read this as I am called to be a fisher of men regardless of my daily work.

But if I take Jesus as meeting me where I am (and Paul talks about continuing where we are when we are called) then Jesus isn’t calling me to be a fisher of men and he’s not calling you to be one either.

That may be sacrilegious to hear, but it is true. Jesus isn’t calling me to be a fisher of men because I’m not a fisherman. If you are a teacher, Jesus is calling you to be a teacher of the Gospel. If you work with your hands, Jesus is calling you to build his Kingdom. If you are in the service industry, Jesus is calling you to serve his children. (This has shades of what Paul writes in Romans 12, “If you teach… if you serve…”)

Jesus is calling you to a metaphor for his Kingdom work that is specific to you.

So where does that leave me? I’m an engineer by trade so am I engineering God’s Kingdom? I cannot say I am a ‘designer’ as I cannot improve God’s perfect design. I can’t say I am a ‘problem solver’ for it is too easy to turn that into an excuse for inaction. I guess I could call myself a ‘developer of disciples’. That would fit with what I do on this blog, in my small group, and in my limited free time.

Arpin-Ricci continues, “Just as he called his disciples amid their workplaces, so too he expects that we respond to his calling as our first priority. It is not enough to merely make room for Jesus in our lives, not enough to be volunteers in his mission when we have the time or the inclination. Rather he calls us to follow him, to utilize all of our strengths, gifts and resources for our truest vocation – ambassadors of his emerging kingdom.”

Yesterday Grayson Pope urged not to let our “wiring” keep us from our calling. Could it be that what has been holding me back was simply semantics?

Keep Warm and Well Fed

Frank

On Christmas Day, my family cooked our now-traditional Christmas meal of breakfast burritos. Three dozen eggs, a couple pounds of sausage, two packages of frozen hash browns, a large onion, and red and green bell peppers, two each.

Big family? No, just our ingredients for the couple dozen breakfast burritos we make and distribute to the homeless and the hungry. This is now the third year my sister-in-law joined forces with us to serve the community in this small way. (And this year we had a special treat with my mom also joining us)

This year was different however. Some bad planning on my part plus the usual busyness of the day itself pushed our usual breakfast to dinner time. This complicated things because it made it harder to  find folks out on the street as the sun was quickly setting. Plus it was expected to be a cold night, so those that could had probably already found shelter.

But while the lack of quantity may have hidden the real need, those we did meet drove home just how difficult and dire are the circumstances many find themselves in. It is one thing to hand someone breakfast and hot coffee in the morning with the sun shining. It is something else completely to whisper to someone laying on cold hard concrete, covered by practically all of their possessions, that they didn’t have to worry about breakfast in the morning.

During the day, our handouts are met with gratitude and conversation. But once the sun was down, we were met with skepticism and confusion. And the looks in the eyes of these tired, cold and hungry men and women tore at my heart.

It was only a burrito.

It was only one day.

James writes, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him,  “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?‘ (James 2:15-16)

Jesus taught, “If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you…“ (Luke 6:29b-30)

I wanted to do more. I wanted to give more. I thought about giving my coat, but they had coats. They had blankets. I was desperate to do something but I didn’t know what. Then, as I was handing a burrito to one woman, her eyes told me she didn’t understand what I was doing or why. And the only words that popped into my head to say were, “keep warm and well fed.” What kind of statement is that? But the fact that a scripture entered my mind told me something else- God loves them. And looking into those eyes something hit me.

Yes, they needed food. Yes, they need shelter. But what they need most of all is to be recognized as human. To be loved. To be remembered. God loves them. Now I do too.

On the Verge

Frank

I try not to be too self-serving in my posts, but this was too good to pass up. If you’ve never heard of Verge, it’s a conference and ministry whose mission is to encourage and equip “Gospel-centered missional communities”. I admit to finding them by accident through their YouTube channel. I’m an unashamed Francis Chan junkie, but I discovered more there than just Chan: tips on how to be missional, other speakers/authors like Alan Hirsch and Matt Carter, and through their links, articles on building missional communities, how to build a culture of disciples making disciples, and so on.

So here’s the deal. I want to go to their conference this year. I’m not interested in any specific speaker, or checking out the music scene of Austin, but I want to fellowship with others who are like-minded to seek and save the lost, make disciples who make disciples, and practice the pure and faultless religion of taking care of orphans, widows and our communities in need.

I’ve already been piling on to my reading list thanks to Verge: For the City by Darrin Patrick and Matt Carter and Building a Discipling Culture and Covenant and Kingdom by Mike Breen. Now I want to learn practicals- hands on and first hand from those doing it.

So here’s what I need from you. Follow Verge on Facebook. Then when all the entry blogs are posted, vote for your favorite. It’s that simple. Thanks for your support!