Tolerant of Failure

If you've read my posts from May-June, 2008 (you probably haven't), then you know that growing up I always wanted to be "the natural" at everything in which I invested myself. Along the way, I quit a lot of things...

I have learned to have a high toleration for failure that has come to balance my enthusiasm for strategic experiments. Whether it be my renaisssance period in which I would set up a weekly environment for my own creative artistic expressions through painting (FAIL), or the majority of my get-fit plans (FAIL), or my Stephen Covey Planner days (FAIL); I continue to work to find myself, my rhythm, my way.

In ministry, I have had incredible opportunities to work with groups who loved experimentation with new ways to "be rooted and built up" in Christ's ways. Often times, we have failed, accepted failure, and moved on to find the right things...which I will call "wins". You can never win if you are so afraid of losing that you don't play.

I have also found that often, just because something works, doesn't mean that it is working at it's full potential (I have a low toleration for mediocrity). As you calculate your steps now, you must always look behind and ahead; learning and experimenting, trying and testing, failing and winning. Realize that failure isn't a loss, rather, it should be a step in the path to winning. You will lose some; learn from your failure and move on. (and you thought I couldn't be optimistic!)

K.I.S.S.

Last week, my buddy Darren and I had a great conversation about the value and discipline of simplicity. He and I then put this post together for our leaders @ Pantego. I thought I'd post it here as well.

It would seem incongruous to go on and on with 14 different principals on how to simplify your life. Let’s face it - You already drank the kool-aid! What I mean is that you probably already believe in living a life of simplicity. The unfortunate reality is that we can all believe in it, but continue to struggle living life through the filter of Simplicity. This value can be much like working out, or eating healthy...we know that we should eat healthy, but it is a completely different thing to live life through the filter of eating healthy.

Simplicity is “keeping” it simple. (or as my friend Geoff likes to say Keep It Simple Stupid - hence the title of this post)

The aim of this post is not to inform you of a new reality that you didn’t know. The aim is to remind each other through accountability that the filter of simplicity needs to be continually checked for snags and holes that are preventing us from living life as we know we desire to live. Instead of 14 more paragraphs to convince you that you are doing too much let’s take a test.

Which of the 2 images below more closely resemble your life with God, family, work, church…

Let's assume that these 2 computer desktop images represent 2 people with a very similar set of responsibilities. Both photos have multiple colors and are full, but the difference is obvious. The first represents a life that feels cluttered and out of control because the person only reacts to the immediate, while the other represents an intentionally simplified and ordered life.

If we believe that God values simplicity in our life, let’s be active in preventing chaos so that we can make time for the things that most honor and glorify God. Simplicity is actively saying no (or not now) to some things in order to have priority for the “God things”.

Jesus gave us some very clear direction in this, when He said: "Seek first God's Kingdom and His righteousness, and let God take care of the details" (my version). Check out the context of the passage HERE...and I love the Message version HERE.

You Are Now Entering the Mission Field

Many of us have been at this "Christian-thing" and "church-thing" a long time. I think what happens to a lot of us over time is that while we have our Bible Study Programs, Worship Programs, Fellowship Programs, Self-help Programs, Missions Programs; the way in which we live our life is not changed by a relationship with Christ. As a result, even through all of these Christian activities, you probably begin to experience emptiness in a lot of your actions. What I mean is that you can be so busy doing church-stuff, that you miss out on the point of the church. Christians are called to be a communal, worshipful, incarnational, transformational, evangelical, simple people; and I believe all of that culminates in the idea of missional living.

Before I go further, let me note that over the past 15 years, the word "missional" has confused and frustrated many people. Alan Hirsch rightly states that "the word 'missional' over the years has tended to become very fluid and as it was quickly co-opted by those wishing to find new and trendy tags for what they themselves were doing, be they missional or not. It is often used as a substitute it for seeker-sensitive, cell-group church, or other church growth concepts, thus obscuring its original meaning." As a result, missional is often looked upon as just another phase or program. But we error when we do so for missional is more than just another movement, it is a full expression of who the people and church of Christ is and what we are called to be and do.

"Missional is a Shift in Thinking"

Missional Living is the view that being a follower of Jesus Christ involves simultaneously both an inner transformation toward Christlikeness and an active participation in the mission of God's Kingdom.

-Tom Bulick has covered why I highlight inner transformation in his blogpost HERE.

-I highlight active participation in God's Mission because there IS a difference between being mindful and supportive of God's Mission and being participants in gospel mission of reconciliation with God. (*for the call to participate, see 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 and 1 Corinthians 9:23)

-I highlight simultaneously because it would be a mistake to believe that you must achieve some higher level of personal spiritual formation before you begin serving, leading, and loving others as participants in the mission.

The Missional Church views its own context as a constantly changing mission field. Churches of this nature are both engaged in and supportive of missions. They recognize that mission includes both the Great Commission (making new disciples) and the Great Commandment (loving God and loving others as self); and that all people are both the “subject” and “object” of God’s mission. Missional churches are engaged in the transformation of people, churches, communities and cultures as they multiply disciples, their church, and their mission.

What does this look like?

A missional church is a gathering of believers who participate in God's mission because they understand themselves as a sent people. This shifts a church from a supportive "come-and-see" mentality to a "go-and-be/tell/do" mentality.

Missional churches see the church body as the place of ministry and conversion. This means that every member of a missional church should be participating in loving and meeting needs of unchurched peoples. (We should begin to see conversion happening outside of Church walls, [which then become a gathering place for sending].)

God is about revealing Himself and He purposes that as we see Him, we respond by joining ourselves to His mission. We cannot do that well simply by going to church activities, or even by inviting others to our church. WE MUST BE THE KINGDOM ON MISSION…this is the church (God’s people reflecting His own image.)

**I also like this definition from Wikipedia: "Missional living" is a Christian term that describes a missionary lifestyle; adopting the posture, thinking, behaviors, and practices of a missionary in order to engage others with the gospel message.

the image of God is...becoming more human?

To close out this little series on sin, and it's disruption in God's created image, namely humanity, I want to take a slightly different look at the image of God.

I think that the image of God should be looked at in regards to the personhood of God. By this, I mean that we should focus on the spiritual qualities that rise above nature and physicality. We are both limited and enlightened by the human-situation, and so we have difficulty describing the specific identifying features of the image of God. I can only speak of God as He reveals Himself through His word and relates to my experience and comprehension. This is a good reason why we were, in fact, created in God’s image; namely, so that we could have some understanding of who/what/how He is.

I refer to the human-situation that limits our understanding, based on our dualistic nature. We had a perfect beginning, and a sinful fall; but we can have a perfect ending. This requires us to include in the image of God, the image of Christ. In a sense, Jesus was the first among men-in the image of God (not to take away that He was in-fact, God), in that He was finite (created physical being) and infinite (limitless resource, power, holiness). We then are in Jesus’ image as our actual meets our potential. By this, creation in the image of God is tied to redemption. This puts us in a place situated transcendence. What I mean by this is that by being simultaneously on-earth, and intimately connected to God in heaven, Christians find themselves with the capacity for self–transcendence that allows us some experience and understanding of God’s structure, or character makeup, and His relationality.

If humans were created in God’s image, then, the image of God is, becoming more human?

Okay, that seems confusing…remember, we are not questioning 'what is God?' – we are questioning 'what is the image of God?'.

In the Genesis 1 account, God said "Let 'Us' make man in 'Our' image...male and female...". From a perspective, this looks like God emphasizing unity...oneness...as Adam and Eve are created in the image of the Trinity. This means that “human” would refer to (or be defined as) "the image of God", rather than what seems more natural for us (to think of “human” as "bad").

And so, on a horizontal line, beginning with creation of mankind in the image of God, and continuing through the fall, and on to redemption by Christ, we have the ability to return to “original human” that God had created before the fall.

Does that make any sense?

Sin and evil draw us away from our original selves (the image of God). And the image of God is found in us becoming more-human…more-original-human (and it only comes through the grace of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit). And Genesis 1 says that image is set to look something like the unity of the Trinity (for a start).