Just returned from the Off the Map Conference in Seattle. Brian Mclaren and George Barna were the main speakers for the event. Mclare of course is always a highlight but the other highlight for me was the workshops by Joe Meyers. I hope his second book Organic Community comes out soon because I think it will be fantastic if what he was speaking about was any indication. His first book, "The Search to Belong" is a must read, especially for all my small group or community pastors (that means you Josh Peigh, Nick Plassman, and Brad Prunty and others i am probably forgetting ((i'm not leaving you out Drew, you've already read it)). Drop what you are doing. Come on, get up, and go buy the book. Or just order it online.
There were three frustrating things about the conference:
1. We noticed that all of these conferences seem to be "beginner" conferences to the world of the alternative or missional church. I'm ready to go more in depth of what that actually looks like in practice more than just the philosophy behind it. The guys I went with and I have read most of the books and have been a part of this conversation for quite some time now, i wish they had something more in depth.
2. George Barna's negativity. I agree with what George Barna is saying in principle which is basically there needs to be new communities and expressions of faith for our future generations and the effectiveness and theological focus of many of the consumer/seeker sensitive churches are not going to work forever. That is true. But, listening to him was such a downer because of this statement: "Life change in these seeker churches are at about one half of one percent. There is NO life change happening in these churches." That's a bunch of crap. I have been very critical of the mega/seeker/consumer, whatever you want to call this kind of church and I will continue to be critical because it is a must, but I do not want to fall into the negativity, anger, or ever make the statement that NO life change is happening in the corporate church. That's simply not true. I hear stories of people submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in authentic ways in these churches and being a part of the Kingdom of God on earth. It is clear that the Bible is not prescriptive on how the church is supposed to look in every way shape and form. I'm excited that we have the freedom to practice church in many ways and look forward to seeing unchurched people connect with these new forms.
3. The church that hosted us tried to rape us for every dollar we were worth. Coffee was 2.75 and a Latte was 4.50! That's more than Starbucks. Besides being WAY too expensive the latte was horrible. It was like drinking warm milk, i think they forgot the espresso. What is more disturbing is the fact that those are the same prices people pay on Sunday morning! No wonder their building is huge!
My favorite parts of this conference were probably more about the people I went with.
1. We got to watch and sing R. Kelly's Hip Hopera 'Trapped in the Closet' way too much. (seriously, check these out! Funniest thing you'll ever see.)
2. Chip informed us that there is a car wash in California called Hand-Job.
3. We ate Mexi-Nuggets and deep friend burritos at Taco Time.
4. And of course, Brian Mclaren. Chris said it well when he said, "I like what this guys theology does to him, you can see the fruit of the spirit in this guy." Some people's theology makes them angry, hostile, crass, prone to cursing, and disparaging others, but not Mclarens. This is a guy you can respect.
For a more thorough synopsis of the content go to Bob Blog.
2 comments:
i believe that barna's negativity stems from his desire to provide a metric for spirituality in north american churches. i don't think you can truly measure what God is doing through the church and i suspect that if you continue to define the idea of a "biblical christian" in strictly modernistic terms (belief in inerrancy, absolute truth, etc.) then you should not be surprised if fewer and fewer church goers reflect your reductionistic understanding of Christian discipleship.
i also have issues with his book revolution as well insofar as it tends to trumpet a form of progressive faith that i fear is at least as individualistic as modern evangelicalism, but i'll stop here.
i'm glad you enjoyed the conference and do need to read that community book.
last time i checked being a "biblical christian" did not require one to frame one's faith in strictly modern terms.
yes, that is a good point Gentry. I have also read Revolution and I thought the same thing about how individualistic he looked at faith. He didn't seem to give much credence to community in any form. Although he didn't directly bash the church (especially in newer forms) he basically said, for some people to grow into Christ-likeness, they just don't need the church.
I liked his emphasis on the Bible not being prescriptive on what the church should look like. There is certainly freedom in the "structure" of the church. But the church has to have more than one person Barna!
My friend Chris brought up a concern saying that Barna could give many people who are looking for an excuse to leave the church entirely the okay and absolve them from any guilt.
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