Guidance in Community – Part 4 March 27, 2007
Posted by rupertward in Church, Community, Guidance, Leadership, Transition.7 comments
See previous posts:
Guidance in Community – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
Models of Guidance.
As I have been reflecting on guidance, both individual and in community (which I would argue is not nearly as different as we often make it to be), there are three pictures in the first few chapters of the Bible that can help us think about different ways in which God leads or guides people.
Noah (Gen 6):
God directed Noah specifically, with very precise instructions on how to build the ark. It was to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet high, with 3 decks, a door in the side … and the ark was to be make of cypress wood, with pitch on the sides and top. No detail left out. Clear, concrete direction. The world was very corrupt, a flood was coming, crisis looming, and so God was very specific with Noah in how he could escape the coming devastation.
Abraham (Gen 12):
Abraham was to set out on a journey, that would take him from Haran to Canaan (his father has already travelled from Ur). He was to leave his country, his people and his father to go on this journey. Abraham got to Canaan, and they carried on travelling, knowing the God was promising the land. But a famine came, so they moved to Egypt.
In this story, we see a direction that God was calling Abraham to travel in, a promise that the land would be theirs, but no real specifics about how that would happen, when, or where exactly Abraham would go. When circumstances change (no food, always a good motivating factor!), Abraham responds and travels to Egypt where there was presumably food, but was actually away from the land that God was giving him.
Adam and Eve (Gen 2):
In the story in Genesis 1 & 2, we don’t read of some specific instructions of how to do something, or a clear direction for them to travel, but more general tasks that they were to do: care and tend the land; be fruitful and multiply. There were boundaries, the 4 rivers marked a very large area of the “garden”, but within that area they were free to roam where they like. All they had to do was to fulfill the mandate God had given them, stay within the boundaries … oh and not eat the fruit of a certain tree.
So here is the crunch:
I think in church, we often have a model of guidance that is based on the picture of Noah. We wait for a specific “word” from God, what it is God is wanting to build, expecting a very clear answer of what it will look like. If you are given the type of wood, the dimensions, the layout etc, we have a very clear idea of what it is we are building. God is an architect, and we do His bidding. When people talk about vision, I often think that this is what they are talking about. They want to know what it looks like. They want to see the artist mock up, or the computerised graphic, so they can see what it looks like when we are all done. Clearly God can and does guide like this, but is it really the norm? Or is more when in crisis or immaturity?
Some of us are moving towards a journey model of guidance, and I was suggesting this in post 3, reinforced by some brilliant comments in that post. There is a direction in which we are travelling; God is calling us towards something, a promise, a hope. But we don’t really now what that will look like, and there are often things on the way that cause us to change direction for a while, or respond differently. God is an explorer and we are travelling with Him.
But is the picture in Genesis 1 & 2 an aspiration for redeemed humanity? Before sin entered the world (and aren’t we being restored to the garden, and a bit more as well?), Adam and Eve walked with God. They knew what their task was, but they had real freedom to choose where, when and how they would accomplish that. There were boundaries, things that God has laid down, outside which they weren’t to go, and a tree they weren’t allowed to eat from. But within the garden, they could go and do pretty much what they liked. God would be with them. God is a Father, bringing us to maturity and setting us free.
Rather seeing the Noah type of guidance as the goal, perhaps we should aspire for the Garden of Eden model? Or is this unrealistic in this life? Is this just an excuse for doing what we want and asking God’s blessing on us? Or are there different types of guidance needed in different situations, or perhaps at different stages of maturity in Christ? As less mature Christians does God give more specific guidance, and more mature we are free to choose? Or is that just a cop out for being less dependent on God as we get older?
What do you think?
Guidance in Community – Part 3 March 21, 2007
Posted by rupertward in Church, Community, Guidance, Leadership, Transition.10 comments
Individual Guidance & Corporate Guidance
Last week, I have posted Part 1 & 2 on some lessons I have been learning about how we discern God’s leading in community. So today is part 3:
I sense God is leading; I move forward with a sense of trepidation, hope and faith. Have I got it right? Small mid course adjustment here, closed door there. God seems to guide me as I am moving. I would rather that He gives the whole map before I set out on a journey, but that just isn’t my experience of how He guides. The destination is unclear, but there does seem to be some direction that He is taking me, even if it does sometimes resemble a rather inebriated person walking home from the pub: there is a general direction of travel, it just isn’t always in a straight line!
And isn’t that most people’s experience of God’s guidance? There are some people who seem to have a “clear word from the Lord”. That’s great. But I also sometimes wonder if we don’t seem a lot more certain at the end of a particular faith journey, than while we are in the midst of it.
That would certainly be true of how I came to marry my wife, Pippa. Now I look back and it just seems so obvious that God was bringing us together. There was a clear sense of Him making it happen, speaking to us, signs and clues. But at the time I do remember it was a lot more uncertain! It was with some fear and trepidation that I asked her to marry me. Would she say yes? It is the right thing? The right time? I wanted to be together, but was this the Lord’s plan? It was faith operating in the midst of uncertainty and a little anxiety!
Abraham is also a good example here. In the New Testament, he is lauded as a man of faith, who obeyed God’s word. When we actually read the story, he tried to make it happen in his own strength, work it out his own way, he lied and hardly portrays a man of certainty and faith.
But isn’t that the point? When we are in the midst of our journey, faith is walking forward in the midst of our doubts, our uncertainties, our fears? We stumble and fall. We wander off. We try different paths. We try to work it out ourselves. But somehow in the midst of it, we are walking with God, and He gently keeps us going in the right direction. When we get to the destination of that part of our journey we can say that God was leading us & speaking to us. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see God’s hand at work more clearly. But lets not confuse that with certainty at the time.
And lets not confuse uncertainty with unbelief. Using this image of journey and walking forward, faith is walking forward however certain or uncertain we are. God is drawing us forward, and we trust Him, even though we don’t know what the journey will bring to us. Unbelief is when we refuse to move forward. We go back or stand still. That’s unbelief and that’s wrong.
That’s my experience of God’s guidance. And I think it is most people’s experience of God’s guidance. So here’s my point:
Why should it be any different when it comes to God guiding a community? Is it that church should be one place of certainty, in the midst of a world of uncertainty? Do we want people to be sure, before we risk? Or can we risk together, to move forward sensing God is compelling us not to stand still? To be confident in Him, that He will lead us on the journey even though we aren’t certain where we end up together?
So what are your experiences of God guiding you? And what are your expectations of how that works in community? If they are different, why is that?
Guidance in Community – Part 2 March 15, 2007
Posted by rupertward in Church, Community, Guidance, Leadership.21 comments
The Mind of Christ
Yesterday I posted Part 1 … how I think we often have a Old Testament model for guidance and leadership. Now for Part 2:
In 1 Cor 2:16, Paul says that “we have the mind of Christ“. The context here is understanding God and His ways and Paul sets up a contrast between the Christian (with the Spirit) and the not-a-Christian (without the Spirit). Paul is saying here, that all Christians (who therefore have the Holy Spirit) are able to know the thoughts of Christ.
I love the way that is translated in the Living Bible:
But, strange as it seems, we Christians actually do have within us a portion of the very thoughts and mind of Christ.
And this translation forces us to recognise something: it is plural. We Christians. I don’t have some of the thoughts of Christ, but together we do! So when is comes to guidance in a Christian community, the leaders don’t have the mind of Christ, nor the prophets, nor the intercessors, nor the sceptics, nor the finance team or any other group! But together we do, and we need to listen to everyone to discern the leading of the Spirit.
What then is the leaders role? Here are some thoughts:
1. Leaders creates a safe context for people to express what they are seeing and hearing, in conversation and prayer.
2. Leaders help people to recognise they don’t see it all, but they see part that makes up the whole.
3. Leaders help create healthy dialogue between people that see things differently so we can learn from each other, and see more of the whole.
4. Leaders draw together the different strands that emerge from the conversation, prayer and prophetic.
5. Leaders communicate to the community what is emerging from the talking and prayer.
This is not a model of leadership that we find often in churches, but one that I think is more consistent with the New Testament. It takes guts & courage, a whole different set of skills, and a HUGE faith in God, that He is leading us all together, not just a few individuals or one person (the Pastor!).
It engages people, and begins to create ownership and maturity. It breeds humility and generosity in a community, and we begin to see the church working as a body, with everyone having their contribution. It allows for thinking and understanding to develop and grow. So as we move forward, I believe, we have more of the thoughts of Christ towards us.
What do you think? Have you experienced this kind of guidance working at all?
Guidance in Community – Part 1 March 14, 2007
Posted by rupertward in Church, Community, Guidance, Leadership.11 comments
Last Sunday, after 2 years of consultation, dialogue, prayer and dreaming, we announced that we were moving forward to the next stage (fundraising) for a building renovation on our church building. Some folk in the church thought we should have done it ages ago – others still remain unconvinced.
We have a building in a great location, in town, good roads and buses, near students, parking OK (at weekends and evenings anyway!), on a main street. We are noticeable and central. But if we owned the plot of land with no building, the current building isn’t what we would build now. It is an old church building, about 160 years old, that was built primarily at a preaching centre (although there was a school built at the back too): big auditorium, gallery, and all rather centred around a large central gathering of the church.
Now we are looking for other rooms, a space that reflect the kind of church we are becoming. A building that helps us engage with the wider community. A building that enables some of the missional projects that we are planning.
This process has got me thinking about how we discern the will of God as a community? There is more to say in some subsequent posts, but here is one thought to start off:
Often in church (it seems to me) that we model guidance from an Old Testament model of God’s leading Israel. There God called specific individuals (eg. Moses) who lead the nation. They were the ones who went to God, got the vision and direction for the nation, told the people what God was saying, and off they all went (all be it, with some grumbling!).
In many churches, it seems this model of guidance predominates. We want the leaders to be connected to God, get the vision and direction and tell the church what to do. Now while there is a little truth in this, there are a couple (at least) significant differences between this Old Testament model of guidance (and leadership) and how it should operate in church.
1. After Exod 19, God doesn’t speak to the nation of Israel any more. He calls specific individuals (leaders and prophets) and speaks to them on behalf of the nation. They become the mouthpiece for God, and the people had no direct access to God themselves. This has obviously changed in the New Testament, where all can hear the voice of God.
2. The nature of leadership in church is significantly different to the leadership of a nation. One of main passages that speak of leadership in the NT is Eph 4, where the role of leaders is not to do the stuff, but to train / equip others to do the stuff. No longer is ministry the domain of a few individuals, but for all (or at least should be). So a leaders role is to help discern the gifts in individuals and help them into functioning in those gifts. I think this concept has been talked about, but very rarely put into practice.
So now, we have a church community where every individual can hear God for themselves, and have a contribution. That I think changed the way we discern the will of God in the church, from the way the nation of Israel found guidance in the OT.
I think this OT model of guidance in community is much easier … easier for leaders who don’t have to engage the community together in discerning the will of God, and easier for the “congregation” as they can leave it up to the leaders. Trouble I don’t think the results are that good (it doesn’t engage and empower people for starters), and I don’t think it is a NT practice.
What do you think?
Church Planting in Glasgow February 15, 2007
Posted by rupertward in Church, Leadership, Poor.4 comments
Just a quick post to draw attention to a document that Paul Ede has posted on his blog, about his strategy, values and ethos of a proposed church plant that he will be leading in Glasgow. The document is long, but inspiring, well thought out & researched, and worth taking some time to read. Paul was member of Community Church for a number of years, and is a friend (so I am maybe a wee bit biased), but I think he and Esther (with some help from above) will make it work.
Paul is wanting to see a contextualised and indigenous church in Urban Deprived Areas, in this case in Glasgow. These areas are “under-churched”, often inner city, areas of poverty with multiple deprivation. This is a totally different ballgame from ‘gathered’ (or what Paul calls suburban) churches, or even emerging churches (both of which, it seems, are mostly fairly middle class). In fact my only worry is that too many people might find it so inspiring that they all leave churches like ours, and go and join him…
Time, boundaries and health February 6, 2007
Posted by rupertward in Culture, Leadership, Rest, Time, Work.2 comments
It was quiet on Rupert’s blog last week: mainly due to illness in the Ward household … all of us at one point last week. Shakes and shivers. Not much fun, and I am still feeling a bit washed out. So all this has got me reflecting on: how much of this continual illness (pretty much from beginning of December for one or other of us!) is due to having small children (with small immune systems) around the place … and how much of it is due to running life too fast.
This Sunday, we were looking at “rest and recreation” … and boy was I glad that I wasn’t sharing my thoughts! We were thinking about a Sabbath … a day of rest. Rob Bell has described this as a day when you do as few of the routine chores as you possible can (there is no getting round it, you do HAVE to change nappies!).
But my thoughts have been going further than that. We have always tried to have a day off … a quiet day, when we take things more slowly, drink coffee, have a nice meal and a bottle of wine. But it really is NO GOOD, when you rush around like some mad hatter for the other six days, cramming in as much as you can, only to crash on the seventh. It’s not healthy. It’s not a life!
I know each job, faces its own unique challenges: it is so easy to get into the mindset that ‘I have it much worse’. Having said all that, now I am going to say how much harder it is to be working for a church! Well that isn’t true, but here are some of the challenges:
- The lack of good role models. Many who I have observed, seem to have worked too hard, sacrificed family, hobbies / interests and a life, for the Kingdom. While I admire the commitment, I think the cost they have paid is not one that Jesus ever asked them to pay. It is not unusual for church leaders / ministers / priests to working 60+ hour weeks. I know others work that hard, but it doesn’t make it right!
- People, people, people. Don’t go into Christian “ministry” if you don’t like people (I once met an “evangelist” who didn’t like people… !). I love people. I love seeing and hearing what God is doing. I love helping and being alongside, teaching, and drawing people to Jesus. But at the end of a people week, I JUST NEED SOME SPACE…
- Working from home is great: there are many advantages. But I find it hard to have good boundaries sometimes. You can’t just shut the office door, catch the bus or get in the car, and go home to forget about work until another week.
- The people who I am working with, are also my friends, my community. When is it work? When is it friendship?
- This is the Kingdom for goodness sake. And isn’t sacrifice part of the deal? Aren’t we supposed to give ourselves for the sake of the Kingdom? There is always things that could be done; good, holy, Godly things to be done. More people to see. More praying. More reading. More planning. More need to meet.
- And it has to be admitted that being successful is a pretty powerful drug that church leaders aren’t immune too … in fact I sometimes wonder if we aren’t some of the most addicted people around. To have the biggest, the best church … the next big thing in the Church world (or the blogging world for that matter!) … so if we can just make it, get recognised, noticed, invited to preach, be part of this initiative or that team … So we just work a bit harder, a bit more …
So these are some my challenges. Add to that being a Father (another full time job!) and husband and friend and blogger and … is it any wonder that “rest and recreation” is hard to come by.
I have started reading “Finding Sanctuary” by Abbot Christopher Jamison (who is the Abbot at Worth Abbey, where the Monastery was filmed). His first Chapter is all about how we got this busy that we rarely find sanctuary in our lives. Looks a good book, and I am looking forward to reading his view on how we can ‘retreat’ & find space … once I find some time to read the book that is!
Rupert's Blog 