All Things To All People

Last of 19 Values:

Not a recap show…but we will pray through them together at the end.

Why the values:

-to be clear about our non-negotiables

-to connect with movement minded leaders (Syndicate and The Underground)

The Syndicate-

city reaching movement of missionaries who listen to God and see how they can participate in see His Kingdom come in Boise as in Heaven

The Underground-

movement of micro-movements nationwide that embrace the way of Jesus in our method, not just our message

-relational

-simple

-reproducible

-Jesus Shaped

And our last value helps us understand why we do what we do.

CONTEXTUALIZATION

We will not trust in franchising or empire-building through propagation. Rather, we will value the empowerment of every micro-church community to contextualize the proclamation and demonstration of the Gospel to the people they hope to reach. Our culture is one of de-culturalization and “becoming all things to all people.” We believe in contextualized structures with revolutionary content. Learning from the ministry of Jesus, we will not try to bring surface transformation (to culture or structures) but rather contextualize our structures to what people can and will understand, so that the revolutionary message of the Kingdom of Jesus and the liberating work of the Holy Spirit will be received and implemented.

(Jn 1:14, Acts 16:3, Acts 17:22-23, Rom 12:2, 1 Cor 3:5-9, 1 Cor 9:19-23, 1 Cor 10:32-33, Phil 2: 5-8, [the passages of the ministry of Jesus and his parables are all examples of contextualization]).

History of Mission

-first centuries: organic, contextualized (Paul, Sudanese, India, Rome, Asia)

-Constantine: Empire, control, uniformity (language, theology, practices

-Scism 1054 over language, theology and practice

-Very little for 500 years

-Monastic orders start to create contextualized missions from Japan to Africa to South America (risk of syncretism)

-Empire takes over and uses Catholic church to propogate western culture and create trading and military outposts

-19th century: religious mission used as rational for empire building

-native residential school to assimilate native peoples

-church as cultural training in the west rather than Jesus

-20th century: decolonialization, (too late), indigenous leadership and training. De-emphasizing western culture and technology except where initiated by the community. Partnership rather than paternalism

Contexualization is about direction

Jn 1:14 “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”

Us to Them, not them to us

God to us, us to them, them back to God

Tabernacling, God didn’t just make a home.....he made a home among us....

Going is about not just place:

-language

-values

-cultural heritage

-assumptions

Contextualization is about sacrifice

Acts 16:3 “so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek.”

-most of us wouldn’t take the initiative to walk across the street or change our clothes, let alone mutilate our genitals....

-But this was really important to the Jews and at first absolutely necessary

-If you want your church to reach ex-mormons, your pastor better dress up and be solemn, so that they feel at home.

-We dress for our place....it feels comfortable because we are mostly insiders

-This will probably mean setting aside your political views

-This will probably mean putting aside your perspectives on children and education and social issues at first (we can’t demand that everyone have the same values in the ways we raise our kids, if we can’t even all agree on it)

-It will mean knowing what your neighbors value:

-the real rub…we don’t have mono-cultures and minority ghettoes

-we have to listen to know what sacrifices to mean

-I don’t drink when I invite mormons, ex-mormons and alcoholics to my house.

-I don’t swear when I’m with people leaving fundamentalism

-I do swear a little with our neighbors to confound their cultural expectations of me.

-I talk about their sports teams, and try not to tease them too much.

-I talk about their sports and try not to tease too much (Cody)

Contextualization is about the message changing

Acts 17:22-23 “So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.”

-feels wrong to hear the message changing....but it must morph and pivot to find handles culturally for those you try to reach.

-teenagers I start with their craving for justice or significance

-boomers you start with their desire for order and forgiveness

-This will mean interpreting for our neighbors how their values connect with the gospel::

-I see you are a people passionate about:

-caring for the poor

-truth

-the environment

-we affirm where through general revelation they have stumbled onto the truth of God....and then introduce them to the God of truth.

-we acknowledge where they have noticed the cost of sin and judgment in our world

Contextualization is about yours, mine, and His

Rom 12:2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

We’re creating a new thing every time the kingdom of God transforms people in a place, they become a totally new 3rd culture (not yours or mine, but His…and a particular flavor of where they live and belong.

Indigenous leadership (living in Boston)

-the way we schedule things (the rhythms of the place)

-the cultural elders and their approval are important (a couple families that needed to be a part before we got traction)

-Where is there opportunity to create new 3rd ways that are kingdom that makes sense in the context?

Contextualization is: The Medium Is The Message

1 Cor 3:5-9, “After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.”

-The medium is the message means that how a message is delivered is just as important as the content of the message.

-the gospel can only be understood embodied by a person

-This is the way of Jesus: We would be the appeal, not the Bible

-But it is not about us....as this passage points out...

-Lets look at modern church.

-The medium tells us:

-we are consumers (sit in seats, don’t participate)

-we are meant to be entertained

-we are unnecessary (for the machine to work)

-the content is more important than anything (lecture)

-we are individuals who decide what we’ll join or not (authority)

-we are optional

-How does our medium need to keep changing:

-this is why we keep calling ourselves a movement of micro churches....we want to see what we do out there as the center of our community

-It’s why we face each other and have interactive parts of our service

-It’s why our service feels like it belongs in our community

-it’s why everyone serves

-It’s why the important stuff happens in MC

-care

-food

-shared life

-discipleship

-we have some ways to go....and some more changes to make but this is why we are a little different....if we want something different, we have to do things differently.

What does it look like to be a contextualized movement....I want you to think about your friends, family and neighbors for a second (and maybe even yourself)

We’re going to do a little cultural exegesis:

-what are the gods of our city? (what do we worship/value)

-what do they expect of us? (what are our cultural liturgies)

-what are the cultural values that are expected of us? (trespasses)

-Where do they align with God’s kingdom?

-Where do they diverge from God’s kingdom?

What came to mind? what Did God remind you of? Make sure you’re answering these questions…pass around the mic

What does this mean for RH and the movements we connect with:

-they will not be uniform, Mcdonalds-eque franchises (not orlando)

-they will exist for their community, and change to serve their community

-Their mission will look different in different places: What is good news to our neighbors…and how does God meet that need?

-It will require us to do some hard work:

-Not rejecting the world

-Not embracing the world

-But living in the world and sifting through the cultural wreckage we find ourselves in…and use the useful parts....speak prophetically to the broken parts....and give vision for a 3rd way to emerge through Kingdom networks of Extended family on mission

Our values help center us culturally, so we remember who we are.

It would be great for your Micro Churches to use the core values as a conversation starter…and think through together, not what you think of them, but rather how can we integrate them more into our shared life.

When you join the way of Jesus, it is not just about habits and gatherings, learning and doing....

You are joining a new family…and our work is to learn the values and ways that our family operates…and that comes from getting close to the Father. These values are meant to be descriptive of God’s heart as evidenced through scripture.

They are fungible....able to be changed as we grow and change in the way of Jesus....that is why we work to draw near to the Father, to hear His voice and do what He says.

We’re going to spend a few minutes listening and praying. David, lets put the values slide back up there. Lets think back through the last few months and ask the Father, where are we in alignment or out of alignment with him.