Friday, June 20, 2003
Search for a New Community
Since 1987, one thought has burned deeply in my heart, "There's got to be a better way to do church!" Since then, I have embarked on a journey seeking to go where no one has gone before. The journey has been filled with great triumphs, terrible tragedies, seemingly endless frustration, and sometimes hopeless confusion. I haven't yet reached my destination but as one great adventurer put it, "Forgetting what is behind, I strain forward to what is ahead." And in the background, Bono's voice echoes, "And I still haven't found what I'm looking for."
Almost 5 years ago, I forged into new territory to establish a community that would potentially embrace and incarnate the life I have so deeply longed for. My DNA has strands of an entrepreneurial spirit. So launching out on my own with no people, no money, no building was exhilirating for me.
Spending 4 years in Chiacgo made a tremendous impact. I was once a Bill Hybels wanna-be. "Hello, my name is Mark. I'm a seeker-targeted-mega-church-aholic." That may sound like I have a disdain for Willowcreekers. On the contrary, I really admire what they're doing over there. Willow awakened a dormant creative gene in me. Hybels also taught me to be more sensitive to where people are coming from. He taught me to explain the why behind the what of the Bible. Explain God's wisdom.
But almost 5 years into this church plant that we call NuComm (that's short for New Community Global Ministry), it's like I'm starting all over again. I'm still wrestling with issues regarding the nature of the church. I've come to the most recent heretical conclusion that the Sunday congregational worship services is a necessary evil. And I still feel like I'm spinning plates inspite of the fact that we're a cell-based church with over 250 people meeting in cells, 19% of our people coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus through us over the past 12 months, and that we have 71 existing and emerging cell leaders just waiting to be unleashed. So why do I feel like there's something missing?
The words of a subversive by the name of Wolfgang Simson keep coming back to haunt me.
"The nature of Church is not reflected in a constant series of religious meetings led by professional clergy in holy rooms specially reserved to experience Jesus, but in the prophetic way followers of Christ live their everyday life in spiritual extended families as a vivid answer to the questions society faces, at the place where it counts most: in their homes."
After almost 5 years of forging a non-religious way of doing church at NuComm, I still haven't found what I'm looking for. We've become so busy with our productions that we've lost our organics. And it's so easy to do that when you slip into the production paradigm of church life. Organics always falls prey to the mechanic. Just take a look at the Terminator movies. Though we've rejected the religious spirit, life is still missing in NuComm. And I only recently figured out why.
Well, at least I think part of the reason is that we're very good at what we do. Our band is hot. Our production team is both creative and efficient. But everything we do is something that we can do. I can see eyebrows raising. What I mean is that we're not doing anything that really requires God to supoernaturally intervene. We've got things under control. We can handle almost any surprise that might come our way during the worship service. But we're not putting ourselves in a place where God has to move or else.
Correction, our Encounter Advances are places where God really shows up. But that's about it. An earlier version of our church's tag line reads, "Experiencing the Fullness of Christ in the Midst of Us." Now it's "Connecting People, Changing Lives." Have we refined our vision to exclude the necessity of His presence?
Changes are imminent with NuComm. Resistance is futile.
Almost 5 years ago, I forged into new territory to establish a community that would potentially embrace and incarnate the life I have so deeply longed for. My DNA has strands of an entrepreneurial spirit. So launching out on my own with no people, no money, no building was exhilirating for me.
Spending 4 years in Chiacgo made a tremendous impact. I was once a Bill Hybels wanna-be. "Hello, my name is Mark. I'm a seeker-targeted-mega-church-aholic." That may sound like I have a disdain for Willowcreekers. On the contrary, I really admire what they're doing over there. Willow awakened a dormant creative gene in me. Hybels also taught me to be more sensitive to where people are coming from. He taught me to explain the why behind the what of the Bible. Explain God's wisdom.
But almost 5 years into this church plant that we call NuComm (that's short for New Community Global Ministry), it's like I'm starting all over again. I'm still wrestling with issues regarding the nature of the church. I've come to the most recent heretical conclusion that the Sunday congregational worship services is a necessary evil. And I still feel like I'm spinning plates inspite of the fact that we're a cell-based church with over 250 people meeting in cells, 19% of our people coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus through us over the past 12 months, and that we have 71 existing and emerging cell leaders just waiting to be unleashed. So why do I feel like there's something missing?
The words of a subversive by the name of Wolfgang Simson keep coming back to haunt me.
"The nature of Church is not reflected in a constant series of religious meetings led by professional clergy in holy rooms specially reserved to experience Jesus, but in the prophetic way followers of Christ live their everyday life in spiritual extended families as a vivid answer to the questions society faces, at the place where it counts most: in their homes."
After almost 5 years of forging a non-religious way of doing church at NuComm, I still haven't found what I'm looking for. We've become so busy with our productions that we've lost our organics. And it's so easy to do that when you slip into the production paradigm of church life. Organics always falls prey to the mechanic. Just take a look at the Terminator movies. Though we've rejected the religious spirit, life is still missing in NuComm. And I only recently figured out why.
Well, at least I think part of the reason is that we're very good at what we do. Our band is hot. Our production team is both creative and efficient. But everything we do is something that we can do. I can see eyebrows raising. What I mean is that we're not doing anything that really requires God to supoernaturally intervene. We've got things under control. We can handle almost any surprise that might come our way during the worship service. But we're not putting ourselves in a place where God has to move or else.
Correction, our Encounter Advances are places where God really shows up. But that's about it. An earlier version of our church's tag line reads, "Experiencing the Fullness of Christ in the Midst of Us." Now it's "Connecting People, Changing Lives." Have we refined our vision to exclude the necessity of His presence?
Changes are imminent with NuComm. Resistance is futile.
