.: a re-balancing…
I caught an interview with Rick Warren on Nightline tonight.
The whole premise of the interview was to highlight both sides of the “Purpose Driven” and “non-Purpose Driven” movements… and the conflict caused by both.
Honestly… I am too tired to type a lengthy discourse concerning pro-PD or hate-PD right now. I have been involved (loosely at times… and intimately un-loosely at others) with the Purpose Driven movement since my early days in Student Ministry at Cartwright (8 years ago). As with any “movement” among God’s people… there are elements that will make the “stuck” uncomfortable and the “unstuck” more motivated to shove the “stuck” into “unstuckness”.* This conflict is inevitable… and painfully healthy.
At the end of the interview Rick said… “Every church has to make a decision… Is it going to live for itself or is it going to live for the world that Jesus died for?”
As a Student Pastor who genuinely loves the Church… and who believes very strongly that he has been Called to serve “inside” the Southern Baptist culture… I am in complete agreement with the motive and the movement behind this question. Collectively, I pray that the Lord enables WE THE PEOPLE IN HIS CHURCH to continue to have hope that some of the unbalanced understanding concerning the un-relevantness-ness about Christ and His Church among “the world that Jesus died for” would begin to be remedied by LOVE.
I am not talking about “kumbaya” love… or “hippie” love… or Coca-Cola “teach the world to sing” love… but untamed, unquenchable, unbridled, unbeautified, and unsuburbanized LOVE.
It is none other than this LOVE that will allow us to overcome the obstacles of humanity, hatred, and corruption. (”none other”… meaning that this LOVE that was in Christ… and that flows from Christ is more important than our morality, our creeds, our statements of faith, our doctrines, and even our Scriptures… because what good are these things if they are not inspired, sustained, motivated, maintained, and rebuked by LOVE? Afterall… the heart of evangelism is LOVE… and LOVE is the heart of missional living. It is the LOVE that is generated by His kindness that leads the sinner to repentance and the chained to be made free.)
Therefore… this is truly a question not only to be answered on a corporate level… but more importantly… on an individual level. It has to be answered in the heart. It has to be answered by individuals who have experienced the LOVE (see: grace, peace, hope, forgiveness, completeness) of Christ. The Church cannot be motivated by LOVE apart from Christ.
Christ is at the center of this question.
And “living for the world that Jesus died for” changes our perspective (and motive) about faith, hope, and ministry to this generation of postmoderns. We cannot hope to orchestrate a re-balancing act without a firm grasp on the romance of the Gospel for “the world that Jesus died for”.
PRESS ON!!!
-Weav
(* “stuck” and “unstuck” terminology borrowed from Yaconelli in “Messy Spirituality”… one of my favorite authors and one of my favorite books…)
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March 11th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Since you do not have the time to do a lengthy discourse on PD…I will add my two cents.
At first I liked it…now I think its to commercial and it has reached a cult status in my humble opinion…much like the prayer of Jabez. So Jabez said a prayer…I ate a sloppy joe…should I write a book about it and have everyone eat a sloppy joe? No, make your own sandwich…and say your own prayers.
March 15th, 2007 at 10:57 am
P-Chag…
I like sloppy joes dude. You should write a book about how you make them… I’d read it.
Back to the PDL stuff… I understand where you are coming from. The commercialistic consumerism in the Christian sub-culture has gotten out of hand over the last twenty years. You could market your book on sandwiches as a journey closer to Christ through the avenue of pickles, bbq sauce, chopped beef, and a toasted bun… and several thousand Jesus-lovers would buy it… eat it… live it… and then grow bored quickly and move on to the next supposedly Jesus-endorsed-trendy-fad.
And while I disagree with the commercialization of Christ… and the consumerism that has over-taken much of Christendom in America… I also believe that most (if not all) of the Biblical principles that Rick Warren discusses in PDL are transferrable, applicable, and theologically sound. Rick desires for the Church to become relevant to the culture that it exists within… and I agree with this philosophy with every post-modern (and non-post-modern) bone in my body. I also agree with the fact that many Christians struggle with their purpose (not only on the humanity-level… but also on the “What should I do now besides be nice, be gentle, live peacefully, and stop cussing kind-of-level”.) The five purposes are solid… and they bring much-needed organization to the Christian community that (as a whole) needs that direction in a simple, digestible, non-subtle format.
Back to you… any thoughts?
December 1st, 2007 at 8:10 pm
[…] In the midst of our first network meeting I was given the opportunity to share some of the details of my journey in ministry to students… and some of the resources that have made a deep impression upon my soul. As I was preparing for the network meeting, the Lord reminded me of an article by Mike Yaconelli that has served as an encouraging reminder about what “NOT to do” as I minister to students. The article is called “Ten Easy Steps to Guarantee a Successful Youth Ministry!” and can be found archived on the YS website here. I also recommend reading Yaconell’s “Messy Spirituality” (which I have referenced previously). […]