It’s a bit odd writing about a book I haven’t read yet, so while I’m waiting, today I heard a radio interview with Tom Sine in Australia that I found well worth a listen.

It was therefore a PERFECT setting for this gathering. How can I describe it? We are so dependent on labels, aren’t we? But such a diverse group is difficult to put a label on. We had Jesus Freaks, student & youth workers, community dwellers, missionaries, a methodist minister, 24-7 prayer guys, house bus nomads, house church planters – you name it. The common thread was a passion for living a Jesus-centred life, sharing that with others, and living it out not only within the four walls of religious buildings but out in the world. We talked a lot about emergent church, simple church, house church etc. etc. But it was encouraging to see that the focus what not so much on any particular structure or method being THE answer for being church in the 21st century. The emphasis was much more on relying on the Holy Spirit to give us the right approach in our particular situation. Since the weekend I’ve been reading Red Moon Rising about the 24-7 prayer movement, and it’s helped me realise how much my way of relating to the Holy Spirit is changing. The book points out that for years in the church we were praying “Come Holy Spirit”, and he came. Today the Holy Spirit is calling “Come, Holy people” – come and live out holiness among people where they live – not to distinguish ourselves, but so that they too can share in what it means to be holy (definition: centred on God rather than on self. It is the opposite of being “holier than thou”, which is the way it is often wrongly understood). The question is, will we go? Or will we remain in the “come Holy Spirit” mode – come and bless our churches.

The meeting did not end with any great strategy or plan for the future, but we achieved our goals of networking, new friendships, and getting a bigger picture of what’s happening in France and across Europe. Hard to predict what the fruit will be, but for me it was absolutely a not-to-be-missed experience.

As many of you know the spiritual situation in France is still more problematic and difficult as may be in other countries. Right now there is a little team of friends coming together who have the dream, aspiration and vision that God wants to change something, that in France a new kind of community based church will emerge, that will influence the French culture and will have something to give to Europe and what God is doing there…

This immediately caught my eye as I’ve been following the activities of this group for a while through various blogs (Marc’s Messages, Andi’s Perspective etc…), and it’s the first time they’ve had a gathering in France. Ordinarily it was going to be impossible for me to make it because of other commitments. And the SUDDENLY, everything opened up, I found cheap plane tickets just yesterday, and here I am! Not sure what to expect, but really looking forward to connecting with people from different parts of France and Europe who are seeking to “connect, pray together, build bridges” and work towards new (old) ways of being church and community in Europe.

“What a strange way to start a revolution
. . . And what a strange way to end a world tour.”
We worship the seed that died.
The revolution will not be televised.
It will not be brought to you by Fox News with commercial interruptions.
It will not be sandwiched between ads to accelerate you life or be all you can be.
There will be no re-runs.
The revolution will be live.
The revolution will be in the streets.
The revolution will be cleaning toilets and giving another blanket to Karen.
The revolution will not be talking about poverty in hotel banquet rooms.
It will be eating beans and rice with Ms. Sunshine and watching Back to the Future with our neighbor Mary.
Get ready, friends…God is preparing us for something really, really – small.

Martyn Joseph, British songwriter

So, Nicolas, Anaïs, Marianne, and Esther, have a great time, and we look forward to reading your updates. Follow their progress at name4godfr.blogspot.com.

I found this article (courtesy of The Edge ) written by a former praise and worship “guru”, entitled Worship as Evangelism.  The context really doesn’t apply to France, as it is speaking more to the American mega-church culture.  Where we live, a mega-church has a hundred people!  And yet the church here is still influenced by the “praise and worship” movement (an example: Hillsong has now launched a church in Paris – a little taste of Australia in the city of light!  Apparently it’s doing really well – some of our Paris colleagues are involved there).

I liked this article because it poses deep questions about this view that church is fundamentally a “worship centre” that draws people (the basic function of a temple), rather than a mobile community which goes out to demonstrate Christ in the world.  The very idea that “evangelism” can effectively take place within a church building seems contradictory to me now.

Take a look if you’re interested – it’s a very well-written article.  Do you think I’m being too cynical?

“Clearly the missional church that claims the deed as sacrament will be fully involved in life, evangelism, work among the poor, community groups and causes, and pubs and cafes. This is because the missional church realizes that it is finding God (or is God finding us?) in those places previously perceived as “outside” of God because they were outside of the local faith community’s mission program. Actually there is no such thing as seeking God, for there is nothing in which he cannot be found. It’s all in the “seeing” and the perceiving. Having broadened our concept of God’s involvement in the world and our part in it, Christians can then be free to engage missionally in any and every place. The whole world becomes an arena for the inbreaking of God’s kingdom.”

If you’re not familiar with the phrase “deed as sacrament”, it’s a means of expressing a view of Christian spirituality where God’s grace is made apparent in our actions, and where there is no dichotomy between so-called “spiritual” activities like proclaiming the gospel, and practical deeds of service. God redeems the whole of life, not just the religious part. It’s not a new idea, but in practice we still tend to act as if somehow the things we do that are related to church are more valuable to God than, say, being friendly to our neighbours, serving on the local school committee or spending time at the local pub to get to know the locals. God can be in all of these things, not just the church bit (or should I say, “even the church part” )

Does this strike a chord with you? Click on the comment link above, and tell me what you think.

Otherwise this visit to New Zealand is all about people! We’ve spent a lot of time on the phone and in and out of people’s homes. It’s another reminder of how rich and diverse this thing we call Church is. In the last few days we have been with friends who are all involved with kingdom stuff, but in such different ways.

After travelling to places as diverse as Ethiopia, Lebanon and Portugal, Keith, Carolyn have teamed up with Richard to establish A Rocha in New Zealand. It’s a Christian conservation organisation. Carolyn put it very succinctly when she said that A Rocha is about “the greening of the church and the churching of the greens”. I used to raise my eyebrows at Christians involved in things environmental. Couldn’t really see the point as my eschatology centred very much around the “new heavens and the new earth” that would replace this tired old earth. But somewhere along the way I realised that the earth always has been and always will be central to God’s purposes, and when we look after it we’re doing what God does. It is actually a “missional” thing in and of itself, not to mention the fact that there are so many greenies out there who have been turned off by Christian’s lack of concern for the environment. We should be leading the charge – go for it, guys!

And then we spent an afternoon with Cor and Ria. Not sure if they’re Dutch kiwis or Kiwi dutchies, but they are very special people. Cor is an expressionist painter and if you want to be blessed you should take a look at his work. Our house would be full of his paintings if we could afford it Many of his paintings express the things he’s been learning in his walk with God, although he’s very down to earth about the artistic process. It’s 10 % inspiration and 90 % perspiration. We spent the afternoon talking about our love for the church and our frustration with it. As Queen Victoria put it so beautifully, “If all the people who fall asleep in church were laid end to end, they would be a lot more comfortable.”

Met some interesting people too. We prayed for Barbara who is off to northern Spain in two days to walk part of the camino with her daughter– the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. We feel like we’re on a pilgrimage of sorts while here in NZ so could really identify. Then there was Alejandro, an Argentinian studying English here. We had an interesting chat about how we find God’s mission for our lives. Should we look for it in spiritual retreats and solitude, or out there on the street where people are suffering?

Technorati Tags: mission camino santiago

Our house is full of teenagers again – well, pre-teens really. Maria is having a girls night to say goodbye to school friends before leaving for distant shores for a few months. We were encouraged that one of the Dads that didn’t know us at all called to find out who we are and wanted to meet us before deciding whether his daughter could come or not – we’re not so weird after all wanting to know the parents of the girls that invite her to their homes! They are still 12 after all, but there’s such pressure on kids to be independent.

He stayed for a drink. Interesting guy – a former social worker very familiar with the kinds of “hard cases” Heather meets at La Maison on Monday mornings. He defined himself as a “catho de gauche” – a left-wing Catholic, which he also defined as a humanist (super handlebar moustache!) He burnt out in his work with street people, and this meeting comes at an interesting point in a discussion Heather and I have been having about what motivates people to care for the unwanted, and to stick at it, when God isn’t in the picture. He spoke of several colleagues who had blown fuses doing this kind of work and given up. These people must be motivated by love – something that God has put there even though they don’t recognise it. But the missing ingredient is hope.

Bit tired to elaborate on this right now, but thinking a lot about the hope dimension in mission at the moment. Our faith is reflected in what we believe, our hope in what we do, and love holds the whole thing together. Better go and start my packing…

After feeling like “Mr Music” in the church for the better part of 8 years, this is all so weird. So many conflicting emotions – should I feel thrilled at all these new gifts coming forward in the church, guilty at not having got things better organised sooner, satisfied at being able to move on without leaving everyone in the lurch, miffed that they’re going to get on perfectly well without me, sad to be missing out on these exciting new developments…?

Mission seems to be about putting your gifts at the disposal of God and others, doing what you can, trusting that God is more than able to carry on the good work he has started and that other people won’t mess it up, and then leaving just when things are getting really good!

The leaving is the hard bit.

He talks about the tension that exists between the ideal Christian community that we long to experience, and the weekly reality that can seem so insipid at times. After 20 years of commitment to local churches, my feeling about church life over the past 12 months has been one of at times overwhelming fatigue. The thing that has saved me from cynicism has been the wonderful people in the churches, which is not surprising when we consider that the church is not the building or the religious system, it’s the people.

I have been trying to keep abreast of some of the many-faceted discussion on the Internet about the “emergent church”, simple church, home church etc. etc. Some of it is inspiring, some of it so negative about the existing “institutional” church it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. How to walk the fine line of living with the dissatisfaction and unfulfilled desire on one hand, while upholding the Church as the divine strategy for communicating the kingdom of God to the world? Bosch quotes a timely warning from Bonhoeffer :

“He who loves the dream of a Christian community more than the community itself, often does great damage to that community, no matter how well-intentioned he might be”.

I have no doubt that God is working in the local churches around us. But I have the uncomfortable feeling that the church’s structures often stand in the way of Christians fulfilling their mission in the world. What we call “evangelism” is all about trying to get people to come into our buildings, and very little about being out there making a difference among this generation’s “lepers, widows, poor, lame, blind” – the kind of people that Jesus spent much of his time with.

Kingdom people seek first the Kingdom of God and its justice; church people often put church work above concerns of justice, mercy and truth. Church people think about how to get people into the church; Kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world. Church people worry that the world might change the church; Kingdom people work to see the church change the world. Howard Snyder 1983, Liberating the Church

This is of course a very old discussion which has been going on since long before I became a Christian, and it’s a shame that it’s taken me 20 years to catch up! Back in my student days when I knew everything I used to think that people who talked like this were “unspiritual” and had their priorities in the wrong place.

Anyone out there feeling like me?

For ages Heather had noticed how many “SDF”s we have in our community (“SDF” is an acronym for “no fixed abode” in French), but we’d always struggled to find a practical way of getting involved with these people. That is, until we discovered the Maison bleue – “the Blue House”. We’ve found churches here to be fairly unengaged when it comes to working with the down and outs. It’s partly to do with the Church and State thing – since 1905 the institutional Church has been pushed to the periphery of social action as the State has taken more responsibility. It has got more and more complicated for religious organisations to be involved in this kind of thing, and I guess Christians have just put it in the too hard basket.

But there are a surprising number of secular people with a social conscience who are out there trying to make a difference, and we met some of them this last August at a Forum for clubs and associations in our town of Rezé. Heather has started volunteering there with a friend, Sarah, every Friday morning. The Maison bleue is like a little haven for homeless and street people, or people who have simply fallen on hard times. It’s open every morning. Breakfast is served, there are places to sit and chat, play cards, take a shower, and a group of volunteers who are there just to serve and offer a listening ear.

“We mustn’t ever expect these people to change” is something Heather has heard more than once from the other workers. Sure, the “clients” are angry, they are unwashed, they are lacking even the most basic social graces. Some of them even get quite violent: the Maison was closed for a week a while back after the violent outbursts of one of the patrons. But the goal is not to change these people, but just to be there for them.

How often do we see needs in our communities, but feel paralysed into inaction because it just seems too difficult to do anything about it? This paralysis blinds us to the fact that there are things already going on. We don’t necessarily need to be the people who start these projects; sure, if we aren’t the initiators then we can’t put a nice plaque on the door to show that the project is owned and run by this or that church or ministry. But are people really interested in what we do on Sunday mornings?

In a world without God, “we can’t expect change” is a very tragic, but very inevitable statement. But what happens when Holy Spirit-filled, Kingdom-oriented, Jesus-loving people step out of their religious buildings and come into places where real life is happening, where people are struggling with the hard realities of existence, longing for change, but seeing only impossibility?

Disciples know that change is possible, because they’ve seen it in their own lives.

It’s early days yet, but we’re very interested to see what might develop here.