If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? (James 2:15-16)

I prayed. Amy said, “come with me, let’s go get something to eat,” and took off with him across the street to Bubba Gump’s. Tiffany yelled after her, “don’t go, he’s trouble!” and I rushed after Amy so she wouldn’t be alone. Clint followed a few steps behind. We stood in line at Bubba Gump’s and then just as we sat down, they kicked us out because of Bobby. They said he had come around a lot and bothered everybody all day long. So Clint got food though, courtesy of the folks at Bubba Gump, as Amy and I stood outside and Bobby went back to his corner.

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. (James 4:17)

Clint brought half his meal out to Bobby, who didn’t eat it. But on that corner we met Ali from Ghana, his friend in a wheelchair. We learned that Bobby was from Liberia. Later we met Testimony, his East African friend. They all sat on that corner and talked to us for a few minutes. Close to two hours after we got there, we hadn’t traveled more than three blocks from the car, and had done zero interviews.

I was looking forward to the interviews, because I have this whole personal philosophy of “anyone, anywhere, anytime.” I stole it from Southern Miss’s football slogan, but it works. Or, it did. But as I stood there in front of Bubba Gump, watching the people as they walked by- the guy who had the walker and seemed to have cerebral palsy, looking sheepishly like he wanted to cross the road; or the Bobby on his corner; or any one of the other random people walking by- I thought about that slogan. I thought about how that’s all it was- some pumped up slogan about evangelism or whatever.

And it’s like this. I can talk to rational, everyday, normal people… all day long. Seriously- anyone, anywhere, anytime. But then there are those who I can’t hear well, can’t understand, who aren’t rational, who go on and on about some random political issue native only to Liberia or Ghana or something, who rant and rave and get real good at it. And I freeze up. And I pray for them and wish them well, and tell them God Bless, and walk off. Sometimes I even feel good about it. (Not usually though; I’m a naturally melancholy and reflective kind of person.)

So Clint reminds me tonight of what Dr. Ortiz told us in Encountering the Biblical World. After he reconciles the gospel accounts of the disciples and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the healing of the blind men, Ortiz explains: “That’s not even the point. The point is that we get so busy doing God’s work that we forget to DO God’s work. We completely miss the folks standing right there asking for our help.”

A refugee crosses the ocean to stay in the land of the free and begs for food. One night he meets a disciple of Christ, and says he is hungry. The disciple prays for the refugee and sends him on his way. “Be well fed and stay safe,” he says, but does nothing for him.

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:37-40)

In contrast, it is our responsibility as Christ-followers to be positive change agents- bent solely on the fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer to the Father: “YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.” We cannot do this alone, thus our desperate need for Christian community and cooperation. Thus, the Church.

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. [2 Corinthians 4:1-6, ESV]

May I wake up tomorrow with the desire and ability to be a good servant of Jesus Christ to the world. To you.

I graduated from Mobile in 2004 and immediately went off to seminary in New Orleans. At the time I’d put nonprofit dreams on the back burner to be a college minister. We all go through phases- I’d just spent a year and a half working with youth and college students. So I went to seminary to become a college minister. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. Hurricane Katrina changed things pretty fast. Although I ended up studying urban missions and church planting throughout seminary, it was the city of New Orleans after Katrina that educated me about life. Namely, it taught me about the fragility of life. I graduated from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 2008 a different person than when I’d started. A better person. A more thoughtful and well-rounded person. Wouldn’t you know it, I didn’t want to be a paid minister/pastor, either.

Much to the surprise of, I’m sure, at least a few people, the professional ministry just wasn’t on my radar anymore. There are plenty of reasons for that- most of which either don’t matter or are another story altogether. But charity- nonprofit work- doing something to help make a difference in the world- that was back on the radar. And it is. I don’t knock pastors. They do great work, and I’m blessed to have many pastor/missionary friends all over the country (and world). Something in me stirred after Katrina. I wanted to help people, and I didn’t want to do it through what we see as organized/traditional church avenues. Two week mission trips to Mexico or Brazil, building white chapels for the local congregations- that’s nice, but it’s not me. Medical missions. Again, not who I am.

So I started out 2009 looking for a job. I admit I was willing to accept a church staff job, but it had to be the perfect situation (there are no perfect situations). The job market was sparse. In June 2009 I found myself in a familiar situation. I was back in Mobile living in the same room eight years prior. After short stints with Target and the Census, I was making coffee at Books-A-Million again. Two degrees and nine years since I first worked in that cafe, there I was doing it all over again. I admit I was discouraged. I didn’t spend all that time for nothing.

Nine years ago I quit Books-A-Million to chase that dream of getting a degree (or two!) and making a difference in the world. Last Friday I left Books-A-Million again to continue dreamchasing.

I want to invest long term. I want to make a lasting difference. I’ve applied for more nonprofit jobs across the country than I can count over the last year. Few bothered to respond. In every case I’ve been rejected. Maybe it’s the economy, and maybe it’s for a lack of professional experience. Either way, I’ve got plans. Beginning two weeks ago I started looking for full-time volunteer positions in the Mobile area. Once I’ve found a place to pour myself into, I’ll try to find a part-time job around town.

Look, I know for some of you it doesn’t make sense. For most of the folks at Books-A-Million, it’s confusing. My manager keeps repeating, “You’re not a material guy, are you Joe?” Why leave a paying (granted, minimum-wage) gig to volunteer full-time? For me, it’s easy. It’s about experience. I could work a decade in retail and never get the experience necessary to work for a nonprofit, much less start one. I’m sacrificing the short-term money (seriously, not even that much) for long-term benefit. I couldn’t do it without the support of my family.

I encouraged my co-workers to pursue their dreams. To never give up on what they want to do in life. Some will spend years at Books-A-Million because it’s where they want to be, or because it’s there and will have them. Most will move on to something else. What I hope to hear one day is that many left, not to pursue a better paying job at Chili’s, but to chase the dreams they’ve had since they were kids. To become someone better than they are today. To make a difference in the world.

Anyway, I my final shift at Books-A-Million was last Friday. Over the last couple weeks I had several of my regulars tell me how they’ll miss me. I’ve received plenty of undeserved compliments, and I know one thing for sure. If I’ve made a small difference in the lives of the folks I meet at Books-A-Million, then maybe I’ll be able to make a difference at the next stop, too. Hopefully it will be more.

A note from Joe: BA Stewart is a friend of mine from seminary in New Orleans. He’s one of the most intelligent and thoughtful guys I’ve ever known, and I’m grateful for our many conversations that elevated my knowledge and comprehension of philosophy (and photography). Please enjoy his guest post.

C.S. Lewis’ book, Mere Christianity is among one of his more popular non-fiction works. Lewis’ objective in his book is to discover what it means to be merely Christian–that is a Christian without the perceived trappings of Christianity. He does so by starting with general revelation and concluding Jesus through a series of arguments from emotion and joy and avoiding Christian jargon and divisive theological issues so that the reader is not distracted by such things. Lewis has found many friends among Christians who share his sentiment that Christianity in and of itself is a beautiful, but is often tarnished, duly or unduly, by the perception that Christians are divided, bigoted, old fashion, hypocritical, or one of a million other indictments that keep people away from the faith. Interestingly enough, even some of these attempts to recover the basic teachings of Christianity are now used to as fodder against Christians. Take for instance Christian fundamentalism. This movement was bread out of a series of pamphlets released at the turn of 20th century entitled, “The Fundamentals”, which attempted recapture the basic doctrines of Christianity. This among other movements to one degree or another have all in one shape form or fashion attempted to discover mere Christianity.

Reclaiming the essential doctrines of Christianity is a tough gambit, as inevitably one will include a doctrine that some consider extraneous, or one will exclude a doctrine another considers essential. I have my theological convictions of which I will not relinquish, but there are other doctrines I hold more loosely. To me, however, the more important question to Christianity is, what does it mean to be merely Christian, practically speaking? I ask this not to diminish doctrine. I personally believe that doctrine is more important that praxis because theology undergirds praxis–without the doctrine the praxis  is meaningless. I ask this because as Christians, we have a theological conviction that we have a highly doctrinal message that the world needs to hear and believe. Interestingly, Jesus cared a lot about praxis too. The bulk of his teachings are practical theology as opposed to philosophical theology. But with this said, Jesus did not give a huge list of do’s and don’ts or a how-to guide for delivering the message. Rather, he summarized his commands into two commands and spoke largely in the form akin to wisdom literature. Paul was not a whole lot more specific. We do get somewhat synoptic view of his ministry in Acts and autobiographical glimpses in his letters, but this raises the question, are such things prescriptive or descriptive? At the end of the day, I am not sure, but taking in to account the message of  Romans, perhaps the most systematic theological work in the Bible spends 12 chapters talking about one particular doctrine, (namely the gospel) and reduces the implications of the gospel to a matter of conscience in Chapter 14, so if I was to err, I would err on the descriptive side. But nevertheless I do understand that everything they did was for the purpose of spreading the the gospel.

As a person interested in such things, I have run the gauntlet about how I’ve approached praxis. I was raised in a rather fundamental environment. While I don’t think that there is anything inherently evil about my upbringing much of what I was told as to what Christians do as a child was a product not so much of biblical teachings but of rather traditional forms of Christian behaviors. I however did not become a Christian until I was 18. After becoming a Christian, I rather embraced the more fundamentalist precepts I already knew because to me, such things were what Christians did. But then I changed. I went a trip to another land and came back and did a pendulum swing the other way. I became highly critical of Christian practices in America and rejected many of them on my own accord. It took some time to center myself again, although Joe probably still thinks I’m a fundamentalist .  While I probably over-reacted to my experience, I think lesson burned in my brain is one of self-evaluation. I constantly ask myself a personalized form of the one I asked earlier: are the actions that I perform merely Christian? Relating back to my experience, I was amazed when I stepped off the plane in another land how the in-house “wars” American Christians fight diminished. These Christians weren’t debating young earth creationism against old earth creation against theistic evolution against intelligent design. There weren’t  arguments over traditional and contemporary forms of music. There weren’t “emergents” critiquing the “seeker sensitive”/relevance movement critiquing church growth movement critiquing whatever came before that. There weren’t debates over which translation was the best and which ones were from the devil — in fact, most were happy to have a translation, period. There wasn’t much discussion at all, really, other than discussion over what the Bible say, talks about whom they shared with this week, who they would share with next week, prayer, and where they would meet next week as to not draw too much attention to themselves.  In personal reflection when I ask myself the aforementioned question, I am amazed how much of my quote “Christian” practices melt away. This is not an indictment of American Christianity, but a self-evaluation, and one that I think needs to be asked. This helps me stay focused on the task that God commissioned his disciples to do.

*Disclaimer* – These are my brief thoughts. These are not intended to be the “final word” but rather the “beginning of a conversation”

Church Planting is highly romanticized and is the “sexy” thing to do within the sub-culture of the American pastor. If you are truly revolutionary, edgy, a rebel, then you, my friend, need to plant a church… or at least that’s what we’re told.

But there are not only one, but multiple elephants in the room. Everyone is thinking it, discussing it at their local trendy coffee shop (or, as in the case of the newest “cool place” to hang – Panera Bread) and talking about it on Twitter. And, yet, nothing is changing. The peer pressure is just too great for most.

Church Planting is a heavy endeavor not for the faint-hearted. It truly is a difficult task that needs to be for the truly called (which, sadly, knocks about 1/2 of you reading this out). I don’t know what the current statistics on the survivability rate for church plants is, but a few years ago it was 20%. That means that 80% of church plants failed. That means that either A) God didn’t know what he was doing or, B) 80% of those who planted weren’t really called.

So what is the future of church planting? What needs to change within the church planting circles in order that we may see a new breed of planter emerge? I hope this begins the discussion on the right path.

Church Planting and the Status Quo

What Joe didn’t know when he asked me to do this was that I have been working on this for quite some time. This is just a brief outline of my total thoughts on the subject. I hope that this brief synopsis begins a discussion about some serious elephants in the room.

Most planters would be violently opposed to me saying this seeing as how many are disgruntled people who want to simply “buck the system” and start something “fresh.” But “fresh” is not what most planters end up with. Many end up just Febreezing the old fabrics of the organized institution and making it smell better, for a time, and organizing other disgruntled people. Let’s face the facts, most new traditional church plants (by “traditional” I mean the, “If you build it, they will come” mentality) just initially attract people who have left the church because they “weren’t being fed” (an infant mentality) or they like the “edgy new church in town” (a carnal response). Now, don’t get me wrong, reaching those people are just as important than reaching those who have never stepped foot inside a church before. But as I mentioned above, most new churches are just a perfume-covered version of the old institution.

Everyone Has to Pay the Bills

I once read Andrew Jones as saying that seminaries are partially responsible for the consumer mindset of the western church. Follow me on this – most seminaries (at least the ones I am most familiar with) do not have student loans available. Most do not have an abundant source of scholarships and grants. This makes students rely on credit cards and personal loans with high interest rates to complete their education. In turn, when they graduate, they are so deep in personal debt that they can’t plant a church because the thought of the possibility of no stable income is more than their families can bear. So, they seek out an already existing church with a promise of a stable income in hopes that “someday” they may be able to chase this vision of starting a new church. Sadly, someday almost never arrives. I call it new church abortion.

But that is just one aspect of paying the bills that affects church planting. Another aspect is the fact that most church planters spend an enormous amount of time raising money for this new work – and rightly so – only to jump into bed (apologies for the euphemism) with anyone and any organization willing to give a few bucks. We have seen it over and over again where a planter raises funds only to have to pay back upwards of 25% of their tithes and offerings back to 10 to 15 different organizations. If this doesn’t kill the forward momentum of the church, it severely hinders it. It’s this mindset that we have to be big quick along with the fact you have to pay the piper that drives this model.

Everyone Is the Next Big Thing

There are several terms in the church world that get on my last nerve. Mostly because those saying these terms are either A) copying what someone else said at a conference (we’ll discuss this matter in a moment), or B) they don’t truly understand what they are saying. Here are just a few examples of terms that drive me crazy: “Authentic” – As in, “I just want to be authentic.” or “We strive to be authentic in our worship.” As if every other church in the world is trying to be un-authentic. Really?

Another term is “community.” I know. I know. Community is desperately needed and is the fundamental building block of new churches (only if it is built with true disciples and not merely consumer minded “lay-persons”). Why this term community invokes a knee-jerk, baby-throw-up-in-the-back-of-the-throat reaction from me is because, like authentic it communicates that every other church is not about community. Even in the most traditional and dead or dying churches, I have found some form of community.

Both of these terms convey an anti-kingdom mindset. NorthWood has taught me a lot, but hands down, the largest lesson learned is the idea of the kingdom. I hear many preach, teach and talk about the kingdom but very few live a kingdom context.

Living a kingdom context means it’s not merely about you, your church, your people. It’s about all believers all around the world being the body of Christ… with HIM as the head, not the preacher. I completely believe in Hebrews 13.7 “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” The role of the pastor as a leader to be followed, respected, and imitated is key. But when that role goes to their heads, it’s a death knell for kingdom expansion. Too many want to be “THE guy.” The guy who everyone in the city calls pastor (but rarely do they want to actually pastor a city). They want to be the guy who is called to speak at all the cool conferences, the guy who writes all the cool books, the guy who has the coolest and most downloaded podcast… the list goes on and on. In short, they want to be the next big thing and they see church planting as their means of getting that prestige.

But to live in a kingdom context means that you are willing to share the limelight – even give it up – so that Jesus gets the glory. It means that you are willing to admit that there are other churches in your city who have strengths. It means you are willing to admit you have weaknesses. It means that your people have the freedom to create new ministry opportunities in their neighborhoods and workplaces… and invite others to join them! Living in a kingdom context is the most free way to live, but it costs more than most are willing to pay. Remember, to GOD be the glory and the great things HE has done.

Trapped In the Copy Room

For a while, I was seeing too many people come across my attention that had a recycled version of someone else’s vision. I would usually see that phenomenon sometime within a few months of a large conference somewhere. Guys would come in with a well polished prospectus and convinced that I had never seen or heard of anything like it (c’mon, I was at the same conference for cryin’ out loud!).

I am seeing, though, more and more people coming to me who have truly spent time with God getting a fresh vision and a true passion for their city. It’s been a breath of fresh air for sure! But I still see people trying to use someone else’s values and vision as their own. Very seldom does that work… ok, I’m being generous here… it NEVER works! They may draw a big crowd, but are they producing true disciples? Here’s the other thing about this, when I ask them what a disciple of “X” church looks like, I rarely get an answer of any kind. More often than not, I get the deer-in-the-headlight look.

So, with all that being said, what kind of planter will it take to see a real Jesus movement happen in the U.S.? Here’s my answer: It doesn’t take a “planter”… it takes a true disciple who makes disciples. I would love to hear your answers for this!

Sometimes I think we treat our theological differences like a boxing match. I can hear the announcer standing center ring proclaiming loudly, “IN THIS CORNER, THE DEFENDER OF THE DOCTRINES… THE GUARDIAN OF THE GOSPEL… THE SULTAN OF THE SCRIPTURES… SUUUUPER… THEEEOOO… LOOOOOGAAAAAN!!!”

What you rarely hear these days is, “And in this corner, Paul, a humble servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Maybe there’s a reason for that. Having an open relationship with others, regardless of religion, denomination, or theological bent, is what we are here for today. We don’t build those relationships for the sake of old school bloodsport. We build them for the sake of friendship, for love.

We are so busy protecting and defending God from humanity that we forget to be servants of Christ to humanity. We’re spending so much time protecting God and the Gospel from those who would deny it that we forget to lovingly live it out on a daily hourly basis. We don’t  build relationships with an agenda. We make friends because of love. Plain and simple. When we see others through the lens of an agenda other than love, we turn them into fixer-uper projects. Our job is not to fix people. That’s God’s job.

Christine Mallouhi, in her book Waging Peace on Islam, tells the story of St. Francis of Assisi, who during the height of the Crusades traveled to Egypt and visited the Sultan Kamil (the nephew of the great Islamic leader Saladin). Francis came in humility and peace, in contrast to the conquering Crusaders. His approach and attitude so impressed the Muslim Sultan that he invited Francis to send his Little Brothers throughout his territory. It is out of this experience that we have perhaps Francis’s wisest counsel: “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” He saw the dignity of God in every Muslim person. Such grace toward Muslims was radical in his day, and still is in ours. [Paul-Gordon Chandler, Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road]

And it’s not just Muslims who deserve that humility and respect. It’s our Christian brothers and sisters. Our atheist and agnostic friends.We honor and love our Hindu friends. Love must have no bounds.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. [John 13:34-35, ESV]

Still, this is going to be a great conference with a huge lineup. And it’ll be a sweet break. The furthest I’ve been from Mobile in the last 10 months is Baton Rouge, and that was only for a couple hours. I miss being on the road- the most therapeutic place I know. Once I leave Orlando on Friday I’ll be driving south through the everglades and then over to Florida’s Gulf Coast. Every mile south of Tampa I drive will be the furthest south I’ve ever been, so that’s going to be a nice new record. I plan to visit Lake Okeechobee, drive along Alligator Alley, and hopefully I’ll see a lot of pelicans along the gulf coast. Maybe even a manatee on the way home. I’ve driven through swampland in Louisiana, and I hope Florida is different. Even if it’s not- that’s a drive worth taking. Of course my camera will be on me at all times.

So I might post here during the week, or maybe I won’t. But at least you’ll know where I am and why.

In the end, many Haitians will profess Christ and turn to him. However, in this repentance, there is a turning to Christ in the sense of “adding on to the deities who can be called upon for favors and blessings” rather than “turning away from evil and false past beliefs and practices.” If there is to be spiritual maturity, if there is to be a movement to entrust spiritual formation to indigenous pastors, then there must be increased awareness of sin and the personal responsibility each person has for their sin as Scripture reflects. Missionaries who are concerned with the qualitative value of their evangelistic work as much as the quantitative value will do well to bear these issues in mind.

First, it is imperative each individual begins to see him/herself as culpable of sin. The Apostle Paul indicates in Galatians 3, as well as the rest of Pauline literature, that individuals are responsible for the choices they make. Prior to conversion, rural Haitians engaged themselves in sinful idolatry, removing God from the center of their thoughts and replacing him with selfish desires to manipulate lwa (supernatural spirits). The Haitian’s thinking needs modification in understanding him/herself as responsible for reprehensible or sinful behavior and not the lwa. The Christian Haitian experiences regeneration and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Spirit enables the new convert to choose to act in obedience to God. Although they view the lwa as the guilty party, it is commonplace to understand one is able to “sin” against another individual or the community. The biblical account of sin incorporates this dynamic into its description of sin, but ultimately all sin is seen as offending God. If Haitians are to come to a biblical view of sin, they must realize they not only are they responsible for their actions, but they are also responsible for their attitudes, thoughts, and unbelief as well.

Secondly, this new insight into personal responsibility will lead to an evolved idea of confession and forgiveness of sins. The view of confession and forgiveness of sin as some type of ritual leading to accessing the power of Christ does not evidence a proper understanding of repentance. Genuine confession and repentance results in the forgiveness of sins and demonstrates an understanding of personal blameworthiness on the part of the repentant sinner. In addition to teaching biblical principles regarding sin, confession and forgiveness, missionaries would also strengthen the Haitian Christian’s understanding of sin if the missionary would be vulnerable enough to discuss battles with sin in their personal lives. Too often missionary workers are unwilling to confess their sins and shortcomings for fear the indigenous people will lose confidence in them and reject the Gospel. Instead, missionaries try to maintain the status of a type of “saint” in the eyes of the Haitians rather than a “saved sinner.” This mentality exacerbates problems of failing to be accountable for one’s sins. While there are certain limitations, missionaries would serve their populations well to model confession and forgiveness of sin to the believers in Haiti.

While basing claims of the Gospel of Christ upon Scripture, the missionary fails to consider what presuppositions he/ she might bring to the Biblical text. In addition, the missionary, as well as the recipient Haitian listener, make assumptions that one another categorize and conceptualize ideas about sin and salvation in similar ways, which leads to more frustration and confusion. The Protestant church is growing in rural Haiti, but not without significant problems. Many appear to be converting for the purposes of gaining more power and adding Jesus to a list of other deities they can manipulate to appease the spirit world. Even individuals who renounce voodoo after conversion find themselves rooted and based in voodoo beliefs and thinking. A fatalistic outlook dominates their view of reality as they attribute everything that transpires to the control of the spirit world. This attitude leads to a severe lack of understanding concerning personal moral responsibility. In order to move towards a more Biblical understanding of sin and moral responsibility, missionaries must attempt to fix these mistaken ideas about sin by overcoming many cultural presuppositions as well as teaching the Haitian about the true nature of repentance and acceptance of responsibility for one’s actions.