Do We Really Need To Change Maps?

The Lutheran Witness article that was referenced in the last post started out this way:

Imagine trying to drive in Chicago with a street map of San Francisco. You probably can’t. While both cities are edged by water and have lots of tall buildings, they are nothing alike. Though they share names for several streets, trying to drive in the one with the map of the other would prove frustrating. No matter how hard you tried, you simply wouldn’t get anywhere. Confused and exasperated, you’d finally conclude: It’s time to change maps!

As God’s missionary people, we also need to change maps in order to navigate in this present day. Changes in our society and culture, especially regarding the Church, have come fast and furiously. It’s as if we went to bed one night only to wake up the next morning in a vastly different world. Once vibrant and growing churches question whether they will remain open for another year. Many pastors and people feel guilty for not reaching their communities with the Gospel, while well-intentioned mission sermons often leave them discouraged, even defensive. And in their defensiveness, they begin to reason that faithfulness has only to do with preserving the true faith, whether or not that faith is proclaimed to the nations.

Do we really need to change maps to reach the unchurched? Is there any command in the Scriptures to change maps to reach people with the Gospel? I searched on my computer (I use Libronix when I don’t have my TLSB in front of me) and took a look over at Biblegateway.com and I can’t find any reference, in either the Old or New Testement, where we are told to change maps to reach out to the culture.

I find it somewhat amusing that the author has set himself up something of a false dichotomy that asks us to drive in San Francisco with a map of Chicago and in Chicago with a map of San Francisco. What if there is a third option and it involves getting the map for Chicago if you’re in Chicago and picking up a map for San Francisco when in San Francisco.

As a church we know where the heck we are and we have clear maps handed down in Scripture to follow. We have a map laid down in the book of Acts of how Christ’s church was grown from the start. In Acts we have testimonies of eyewitnesses and of people who participated in delivering the Gospel to the whole world. Are we so arrogant that we think we know how to preach and teach better than the apostles that our Lord called? Do we think that the Church’s counter cultural nature is any different now? I don’t think so.

In the Pauline epistles we are given a map for not only what should be taught and proclaimed but how and in what context the faithful should be instructed. Instead of telling his readers to switch maps, Saint Paul explains exactly what we should be bringing to the a corrupt and sinful culture in the 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 :

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures

Did St. Paul tell the church in Corinth that they need new maps or rather did he remind them of the Gospel that he already preached? Isn’t Saint Paul faithfully carrying out Christ’s command to make diciples by baptizing them and “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.”? Our Lord does not say to the disiples that they need to go out, get new maps, become permeable to speak with the culture, and don’t get hung up on preserving the true faith by faithfulness.

The the marketing gurus we seem to want to listen to, (and we pay dearly for their advice) tell us that we need to transform our congregations if we are to reach anyone with the Gospel. We are told to play secular songs instead of sacred hymns. We are accused of only wanting a “maintenance ministry” if we think church is the place for the sheep who need to hear both Law and Gospel and refuse to turn Sunday morning into something that looks like a rotory club meeting. We are told that is better to save souls than be Lutheran. We are told preserving the true faith by faithfulness to our confession of faith is passé, uninspiring and only to be left to the theological dodos of the reformation identified as the “museum keepers.” Such thinking has turned evangelism into an idol.

These slick Madison Avenue marketing gurus and the author of the Lutheran Witness article suggest that we just need new ideas for reaching the unchurched. In other words both say that we need new maps. As Scripture does not call or suggest that we become permeable or more like the culture in order to make disciples of all nations; the new map that these folks offer only leads us away from the Gospel and towards abyss of uncatechized non-belief.

Do we really want to try to navigate the church’s missionfield with a map of the culture? How would such a contrivance benefit the church if this is not what we are called to do? It won’t, plain and simple.

No, I’ll trust the map that we have been given and leave the map that wishes to look like the culture it chases on the spinner rack of heterodoxy.

LCMS Looking To Hire “Catalyst”

With more than half of LCMS congregations in rural areas, which is defined as fewer than 15,000 people, and leadership looking to revitalize congregations, LCMS World Mission--National Mission Team is looking to hire a “"catalyst" to identify and coordinate resources for existing congregations and for starting new ministries in rural areas and small towns.”

According to the Reporter; organizers are looking for “ "a teacher, organizer, go-getter, entrepreneur, and ordained -- someone with a history of starting new things." ”

Isn’t it amazing that to grow the church and reach the lost we (as a denomination) continually seek out new-fangled ways to do what we used to be really good at. It seems to me that “your grandfather’s synod” had a few more members than we currently do. With those who want the church’s mission to look more like church being labeled museum keepers who cling to dusty old confessions that just get in the way of outreach openly, I can’t help but wonder how many members the LCMS is willing to lose before leadership realize that the brand is being harmed.

Heck, I'd be happy if the LCMS just started talking like a church instead of a fundraising corporation speaking through public relation department press releases that have been cleared by legal teams.

Read the whole article here.

I’m Not Even Going To Debate You

Something I’ve noticed…

Those who argue that we need to do more to reach the lost and unchurched with synodical resolutions and bylaws will give you a good old fashion scowl if you muck up the debate with Scripture and/or the Lutheran Confessions. Yep, serious scowlage followed by the time honored rite of shunning just as if you walked out of the First Temple of Moloch right after midday sacrifices.

Church Hosts Drive-through Prayer Ministry

From the Reporter, the official newpaper of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod:

Church hosts drive-through prayer ministry

By Joe Lawlor

MT. MORRIS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (RNS) -- Hold the pickles, mustard, ketchup, tomatoes, buns, burgers and french fries.

The only item on the menu in the Cathedral of Faith Church of God in Christ parking lot is prayers.

On Saturday, July 26, the church held its second drive-through prayer service, and dozens of people lined up for a few minutes of soul-searching. Volunteers held up signs that said, "Pull over for Prayer!"

Customers didn't even have to get out of their cars. Those who pulled in filled out a form saying what they wanted to pray about and drove over to the other side of the church. Patrons rolled down their windows, and the Rev. Chris Martin or another minister held their hands and prayed while the cars idled.

Gail Liddell of Flint said she saw the signs and made a snap decision to pull in and pray for her 21-year-old daughter.

"She's in boot camp in the (U.S.) Army. She's stationed in South Carolina, where it's, like, 100 degrees," Liddell said. "She fainted three times from heat exhaustion, but this is something she really wanted to do."

Sharon Hill of Flint said someone approached her as she was leaving a grocery store, and she decided to stop at the church.

"My [31-year-old] brother had a heart attack, and he just got out of the hospital," Hill said, adding that she's been lax about going to church and she wants to start attending again.

Martin said jobs, personal finances, and health were the most frequent topics people asked to pray about.

"Taking the church to the people, to the streets, is what this is all about," Martin said. "Praying inside the church and having services is nice, but the real problems are out here."

Joe Lawlor is a correspondent for Religion News Service.

Posted Aug. 14, 2008

"Taking the church to the people, to the streets, is what this is all about," Martin said. "Praying inside the church and having services is nice, but the real problems are out here."

Wow!

Isn’t that like a doctor saying that treating health problems in a hospital is “nice”, but we need to address terminal cancer at the bus terminals and homes where people live? A doctor would be guilty of malpractice if he didn’t tell his patient where to go to get well.

So, what does it say about the LCMS when it’s official newspaper is holding up as laudatory a congregation that publicly states that Christ’s gifts are nice but they don’t really address everyday concerns? Does this mean that your grandfather’s synod now believes that faith can come without the external Word, through their own preparations and works contrary to Scripture?

Again, wow.

District Newsletters And Cynicism

I’ve noticed by reading newsletters sent out by my district that there is no verse in the Bible that can’t be used to encourage the raising money for synodical programs. A case in point might be the recent use of John 21:6 by the Southeastern district which reads;

Jesus said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

The newsletter continues;

Do you ever wonder what happens when the net is thrown out? What about the net of the Southeastern District? You are responding to the call to throw out the net and begin new mission work. Because of your response to Ablaze! for God's Mission (AFGM), new nets have been cast.

So, John 21:6 is all about Jesus telling us that we have to go out and do something fo His Church? Actually, no, that’s not the point of the verse at all. Maybe by looking at the first fourteen verses of chapter 21 instead of just one verse we might be able to get a better idea of what’s really happening;

John 21:1-14
After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No.” And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.” Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?”—knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.

So, Jesus isn’t telling the disciples to go out and raise a bunch of money for the church is He? In fact, the verse is really all about the resurrected Jesus revealing Himself to the disciples. Leave it to a bureaucracy to take Jesus filling the nets with fish and Jesus feeding His disciples breakfast and turn it into something that we can do for Jesus.

Gosh, if a slack jawed yokel like me can understand that it’s always Jesus doing the doing, why is my inbox always filled with emails that say otherwise? Aren’t there trained theologians working at the district and synodical level that can review this stuff over before it goes out?

I recently had lunch with two members of the priestly caste where I was told to beware the perils of blogging. “Ya know Frank, a few of our brothers, who were not always so cynical, started blogging and have become very cynical after doing such. We just wanted to warn you that there are downsides to blogging, like cynicism.”

I'm not too worried about losing my cheerful outlook because of my ranting on this blog. That being said, I’m starting to wonder if I need to stop reading my all my district and synod emails before I do become just a tad bit too cynical.

Missions, Money, And Giving The Middleman His Cut.

There are a number of good posts over at Brothers of John the Steadfast discussing what passes for missions in our beloved synod.

Pastor Todd Wilken has a post entitled A Conversation with a Middleman that looks at synodocrats demanding their piece of the monetary pie from congregations that wish to support mission work.

Rev. Andrew Simcak, Jr breaks down where the money goes and brings to light how very little actually goes to missions. He points out in that less than a penny of every dollar raised actually goes to world missions in a post entitled What is Accomplished with the Money Coming to Synod and the Districts?

Finally, Mollie Zeigler Hemingway reports that missionaries that are out in the field are required to raise from 85-100% of the monies needed to keep them in the mission field in her post appropriately titled Mission Creep(s).

It is shameful that my beloved synod has not read Acts 6:2-4 which says;

So the twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

I guess supporting missions by financially sustaining those pastors who will be out in the field preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments without growing the bureaucracy just isn’t in LCMS, Inc.’s business model.

I wonder what the disciples would say to being told that a proper mission required them to wait on tables and earn 100% of the required money before they bothered with prayer and preaching. Furthermore, I wonder what the first century disciples would say to the idea that once they were in the mission field that they would still be required to work and earn 85% of the mission’s money to remain there.

Hmm, I wonder…

Chronicles Of Narnia, Veggie Tales, And Teaching Children

For those of you who are new to Putting Out The Fire, I have, for some time now, taken questions sent in via email. The following query showed up in the inbox;

Frank,

Just out of curiosity - I know you like the "Chronicles of Narnia" SNL skit, but what is your take on the comparing and contrasting of Christ's sacrifice and the life of the Church with the Chronicles? I have an issue with it because I don't want my kids to see a lion in a movie and think "Gee, he's like Jesus!" Same thing with "Veggie Tales" - I don't want them to think a piece of asparagus died on the cross for them. A cartoon/fictional movie should be just that and shouldn't involve elements of our Faith because that's just like the Churches that lower themselves by bending with society for the sake of attracting the unchurched. I'm not a big CS Lewis fan to begin with, but I'd love to hear your opinion. I have relatives who are die-hard Veggie Tales fans and I think it's disgusting - hence my post about people who will try to influence my child's spirituality. These are the same people who have a problem with Harry Potter - although I see that as entertainment as I do Star Wars because it doesn't bring in Christianity at all. Let me know your take –

A.L.

Ok, where to begin? I guess I’ll start with the Chronicles of Narnia part of your question…

Yes, I do like that "Chronicles of Narnia" SNL skit, probably a lot more than I should I guess. Your question however was about the series of books by C.S. Lewis and not about my questionable taste in pop culture late night comedy skits.

I think the Chronicles of Narnia books are just fine for your child(ren). The seven book series is a brilliantly written body of work that is tailor made for kids. If I had kids reading the series, or if I was reading it to them, I would clearly explain to them that the series means to put in plain words churchly things though the use of metaphor and fantasy. I would tell the little crumb crunchers that C.S. Lewis is using his stories, much like Jesus uses parables, to explain Christ and His Church. I would also tell them that this is sometimes a technique that pastors can use in sermons or that I sometimes do the same when writing posts for my blog.

Furthermore, I would also explain to them that while Lewis, and Mom and Dad (or Uncle Frank in my case as I have no kids), use metaphors to explain a point of Scripture, the Narnia tales are still just fiction. I would make the distinction that Scripture is God’s Word and is true and inerrant because it comes from God and not metaphor or hyperbole as some would suppose. As long as you properly explain this to them they shouldn’t get confused and think Jesus is an imaginary characters like Aslan.

While the Chronicles of Narnia books aren’t exactly my cup of tea, I do like Lewis’s writing. I think Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and The Great Divorce should be read by all Christians with the latter being my favorite of all of Lewis’s works. Lewis, while only a layman, has a much better understanding of what Scripture says and lays out for the Church than many who claim to be church leaders in Americanized Christianity today.

I think if you give Lewis another chance you might just be surprised. Lewis’ use of symbolism and metaphor puts more Christ in his one of his novels than Joel Osteen managed to do in two of his non-fiction bestsellers. Lewis’s stuff isn’t the blending of culture and church that so many these days try to do to reach the “unchurched,” rather; it is the elevation of fiction in order to explain something that is a mystery without comprising the message.

Lewis’s gift as a writer is that he doesn’t need water things down to the point where the message is unrecognizable to a Christian. Contrast that with what passes for missions and outreach in my denomination, the LCMS, and I think you’ll appreciate the Chronicles of Narnia maybe a little bit more.

A.L., I’ll answer the Veggie Tales part of your question in the next post.

Reaching The NASCAR Unchurched

click on picture to enlarge

In what shall remain for the most part a private email, "J" took me to task for my last post in which I was a wee bit critical of the C3 megachurch’s attempt at a reaching the lost by bringing in a replica of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s racecar to get ‘em in the door. That’s fine, I can take the criticism.

Again, my problem with using gimmicks or props to promote any message, whether it be sacred or secular, is that said gimmick or prop frequently overshadows the message. The linked news story is proof of that in spades. At no time is Jesus the focus of the church’s message if the story is accurate. In fact, Jesus isn’t mentioned, not even by the staff of C3!

On the other hand, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is mentioned six times.

So, I ask, what is the focus of C3 last Sunday? If a person has to go out of his or her way to find Jesus being proclaimed how is that helping the unchurched NASCAR fan? It ain’t. NASCAR may be entertaining if that’s your sport of choice, but NASCAR offers no salvation from sin, death, and the devil. Jesus on the other hand does offer eternal life for all who would by God given faith believe.

But, just to prove that I’m not heartless, well, maybe I am little, I do have an idea for reaching the unchurched racing fans all: the LCMS Studebaker. As we who belong to LCMS congregations are painfully aware, the LCMS is usually a little behind the times. Our normal modus operandi is to follow techniques and trends that are at least 30 to 40 years behind the times, so why should our racing outreach programs be any different? Why not repurpose the LCMS Studebaker and dedicate it for mission outreach?

So everyone needs to email and call their ecclesiastical superiors, district and synodical representatives today and tell them to pull the LCMS Studebaker out of mothballs and meet people where they are at; the racetrack. Megachurches like C3 are already getting them in the doors by this technique and there is no reason at all that we can’t out-megachurch the megachurches. We need to demand that the LCMS Studebaker get an oil change and be put back on the roads immediately. There is no reason at all that this tremendous mission outreach tool go the way of the LCMS balloon of the 1980’s. No reason at all.

Thoughts On The Many Paths Up The Mountain Story, Part Deux

From Gene Veith’s post found via Necessary Roughness’ contribution:

That’s worth a chuckle, but the Lutheran Kantor finds disturbing numbers:

The survey classified the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) to be an Evangelical denomination. Based on the survey results of the 588 LCMS respondents, the LCMS is very open minded and tolerant. So open minded and tolerant that 78% of the LCMS respondents believe that “many religions can lead to eternal life.” We beat the national average! That’s not something to be proud of.

Other statistics about the 588 surveyed:

Only 84% are absolutely certain there is a god;
12% are fairly certain.
9% seldom go to church;
2% never do.
Only 42% said the Bible should be taken literally.
28% believe there is one correct way to interpret scripture.

For all our efforts to divide the human populace between “churched” and “unchurched” for programmatic and spending purposes, this data shows that we cannot take the beliefs of the “churched” for granted.

As someone who sits on a mission board it always hurts my brain when I have to listen to other members say we “need to meet the people where they are at” as well as the criticizing of the insertion of Word and Sacrament into the purpose of the church mission statement as useless wordsmithing.

I’ve never understood how we can claim to care for the unchurched if we go out of our way to appear nonchurched ourselves. As I’ve said ad nauseam; if we present ourselves as no different than the local high school glee club how can we claim that we are in fact any different. When are we going to tell them why there is a Church to begin with?

If the study is accurate then the people who accused me of being too focused on church stuff might be better understood. Maybe “meeting people where they are at” should be reworded to “meeting people where we are most comfortable.” If the study is accurate of course.

Part 1 is here.

Irenic Missions Reductionism

In his May 2008 letter to pastors, President Kieschnick basically proposed that we adopt the Rodney King school of thought and just all try and get along in spite of the fact that we (now) have some serious differences confronting our synod. The more proper name for the this method of sweeping differences under the rug and pretending they don’t exist is called Irenics. Think I’m making up words again? Go here for a look at Irenics in action and practice.

One of the things that cause slack jawed yokels like me beat our heads against the wall is the fact that we don’t believe that theology and practice can be separated. If we need alter or hide the message to reach out to those we are targeting, what does that say about what we believe about the message ourselves? Still don’t know where I going with this? Allow me to show what happens in mission reductionism;

In his January 15, 2008 Letter to Pastors, President Jerry Kieschnick includes the following;

An example: planted to plant

LakePointe Lutheran Church in Hot Springs, Ark., is a one-year-old congregation that was planted with the very intention that it, in turn, would plant more churches. Pastor Greg Bearss, a former banker and a graduate of our Fort Wayne seminary, reports that the congregation is averaging 200 people in worship and that he baptized more than 20 last summer.

Rev. Yohannes Mengsteab, national director for new mission fields development with LCMS World Mission, says that LakePointe already has decided to launch its first "satellite," has begun the church-planting process, and has called a Mission-Formation Track student from the St. Louis seminary. "This is a perfect example of an Ablaze! Covenant Congregation that is engaged in a church-planting movement," he says.

Pastor Bearss writes, "We are 'test piloting' a video venue that will reach out to an untapped area of Arkadelphia, Ark. Our plan, Lord willing, is to start five more healthy satellites out of our church. We have tentative plans to start another satellite by fall of 2009."

If your congregation is newly planted, then bloom and grow as Christ provides so that Gospel seeds of witness may find root in another place. If such expansion has not yet occurred in your congregation, then pray the Lord of the harvest to provide the increase for local growth and to open doors for expansion opportunities

I, being the curious type and all, was more than intrigued as to how a mission that was only one year old was going to go about planting five new missions. So, I logged on to LakePoint’s website to take a gander.

At first I thought I might be at the wrong site. President Kieschnick had introduced LakePointe as LakePointe Lutheran Church but the name Lutheran was nowhere found. Ok, I thought, maybe I need to cut these guys a little slack as many believe the name Lutheran is an impediment to true outreach to those unchurched demographic we always seem to be concerned with. I don’t buy into that tripe but still there are those who disagree with me.

The second thing that really struck me was the complete lack of any mention of Ablaze!. One would think that a congregation that signed on to be a Covenant Congregation would at least have the Ablaze! logo front and center. But that trademarked symbol of our beloved synod’s evangelism movement is absent as is any mention of Ablaze!. Curious as one would think that an Ablaze! Covenant Congregation would be, well, Ablaze!.

So then I read on…

Look at what I found on the very first page;

Imagine a place where you can....

· Talk openly about relationships
· Use technology to assist you in your spiritual journey
· Have fun together by going to the movies, the lake, or sporting events
· Use the arts to worship and celebrate God
· Talk authentically about work, life and the next steps in our relationship with God

...You have just imagined LakePointe, what we see as reality.

Because LakePointe is a place....

· To be yourself
· To ask tough questions and get honest answers
· To meet new friends and build authentic relationships
· To grow spiritually and relationally
· To make a difference in your community and world by serving others


Now let us look at what LakePointe promotes;

· Talk openly about relationships

I looked everywhere and I can’t seem to find a verse in Scripture that says the mission of the church is to talk about relationships. It was my understanding that the mission was to proclaim that because we are all poor miserable sinners, Jesus was nailed to the cursed tree to atone for our wretched state. But I’m just a slacked jawed yokel and not a trained banker or a dynamic lay minister much less an ordained one, so maybe I’m just confused. I know we are supposed to meet the unchurched where they are at, but shouldn’t we be up front about what we at least should be telling them?

· Use technology to assist you in your spiritual journey

I checked out the Bible again, I don’t know why but I keep going back to that book for some reason, and I keep reading about sacraments and preaching as a means to assist us on our spiritual journey. I even looked at the Apocrypha and couldn’t find any technological references. Weird isn’t it. Even the twenty-ninth chapter of Matthew doesn’t cover PowerPoint or laser shows. Again, weird isn’t it?

· Have fun together by going to the movies, the lake, or sporting events

See commentary for the first point. In addition, there is nothing wrong with enjoying fellowship with your community. But if your community exists for the sake of itself, doesn’t that make anything church related secondary?

· Use the arts to worship and celebrate God

See commentary for the first point. Also, I am overjoyed LakePointe included something mentioning God in the top four things to imagine. But I do have to wonder, where does Jesus fit in? Because in the “Because LakePointe is a place....” section neither Jesus or God get a shout out…

· Talk authentically about work, life and the next steps in our relationship with God

See commentary for the first point, again.

Under the Because LakePointe is a place.... section, is this mission about God or a field trip to the Dr. Phil show? Shouldn’t a church be at least a little bit about God, just a little bit?

So there’s the new template for a mission starting missions. It weird, but for some reason, I feel like I’ve read this script before although admittedly I can’t remember where. So until I figure it out I’ll just go walk the labyrinth and meditate on an icon while listening to those great new hymn writers U2 until I figure it out. I’m sure that’ll help…

And that dear reader is what happens when we all try and get along and perform outreach with theology taking the back seat to seeker sensitive methodology. It is this irenic methodology that we are supposed to embrace as the way to move our beloved synod forward past the days of your grandfather’s synod who grew the church by baptizing babies, preaching the Word purely, and administering the Sacraments rightly and into modern mission templates using the tried and true practices tested by the Fortune 500 companies that keep your 401K funds afloat.

Just so you know...

The Wonder Twins And The Routine

Sometimes I don’t know why I even bother…

I got my chops busted yesterday for owning and wearing an Ablaze! bracelet in what was called A Shocking, Frank, Unrepentant Admission by somebody who’s never seen the Wonder Twins from the Super Friends Saturday morning cartoon from back in the day (and by back in the day I mean back in the seventies when Saturday morning cartoons were cool).

The Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna, were something like superheroes in training under the Justice League of America. Their powers were activated when they touched each other and said "Wonder Twin powers, activate." Zan always turned into some form of water; like a mist, steam, or some kind of ice cage to trap the villain. Jayna would always transform into some kind of animal whether it be a bird, snake, dinosaur, or some weird alien creature nobody had ever seen before. Ah yes, the Wonder Twins, good times, good times.

So what does Zan and Jayna have to do with the accusatory post by Herr Diekmann? Stick with me here…

Let me address the issue (accusation) head on; yes I do own an Ablaze! bracelet, two in fact, and yes, I really do wear the thing. I wear it to every mission board meeting that I attend. Why do I do this? Because I have found that if I wear the bracelet I’m treated differently that if I don’t. If I wear it I’m treated as if I’m among friends. It’s sorta like Marlin Perkins dressing up as a lion to watch a pride devour a wildebeest on the television program Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. As long as he remained dressed as a lion or stayed behind the blind, he was safe and the lions didn’t eat him. You do remember the show dontcha?

So wearing the bracelet allows me to move freely among those mission minded individuals who are so concerned about the “unchurched” that they would fight any attempt to say that the purpose of the Church is to preach the Word and administer the Sacrament in a mission statement for fear that the “unchurched” might frightened away.

But why do I own two Ablaze! bracelets? For the routine and this brings us back to Zan and Jayna.

When I go into these mission meetings I wear my Ablaze! bracelet on my right wrist. The other one I keep for my pastor which he wears on his left wrist. As soon as we sit down, always next to each other, we do our Wonder Twins routine: we touch the Ablaze! bracelets together and say in unison “Wonder Twin powers activate!” then I’ll say something to the effect of “form of a TV evangelist!” and my pastor will respond with “shape of a Calvinist!”

The funny thing is the blank stares that we get when we do this. So that, my faithful reader, is why the official Ablaze! firefighter owns and wears his Ablaze! bracelet.

Note: the cartoon embedded is not from the Super Friends cartoon, but it’s just as funny, in my ever so humble opinion.

What Are The Numbers?

Last weekend Mollie Ziegler Hemingway blogging over at Augsburg 1530 sadly reported that World Mission has decided to cease employing Reverend James May as a missionary in West Africa. Rev. May writes;

World Mission has been pressuring me to move on and inform you as soon as possible. One reason is that I would be without a paycheck and insurance soon after we have a baby due in July. We hope that by the grace of God we could have another call in place when my salary and benefits terminate at the end of August 2008.

The decision leaves three newly planted churches in Burkina Faso without a theologically trained leader and also the Lutheran Church of Togo without a missionary which they had been awaiting for six years. Please keep all these people involved in your prayers.

Now I first heard about a large number of missionaries being recalled back in 2002 or 2003 while visiting Concordia Theological Seminary up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. A member of the staff that I was having dinner with made a comment that the way synodical bureaucrats had decided to pay for all the brochures, pamphlets and marketing consultants associated with the Ablaze! program was to cut back in world missions. That’s right; to reach those lost sheep that we say we are so worried about we had stop doing so much work in the field to reach more people though Madison Avenue style marketing.

The one thing I’ve never seen is the raw data on how many pastors and church workers are in the field now (as in actually in the field, not behind a desk at a district or synodical office. The debate on the increase of synod and district staff is another post) versus the number in the field in 2000. I’ve looked for this data and come up short.

Has anybody seen or have access to those numbers? If so please comment or send me an email.

"Mission Reductionism"

One of the difficulties with having so many good blogs to read out there is that every now and then we are all apt to miss something good or even sublimely profound. As one who sits on many a mission board, I found one post that fit the latter.

Pastor Thomas Chryst over at Preacherboy had a post last week that featured a new phrase coined by Pastor Ryan Fouts: Mission Reductionalism. I shamelessly asked Pastor Chryst if I could repost his post and being gracious as always he has given me permission. Enjoy!

Pr. Fouts Coins a Phrase

Pastor Ryan Fouts, from an internet discussion group:

"Of course we have areas of agreement. The disagreements have certainlyshifted from SOME of those of the Seminex era -- though I'd suggest that "Gospel reductionism," morphed now into "mission reductionism" is one of the errors of our day being avidly promoted by some"

"Mission Reductionism" - a false belief in some circles that "mission" or "outreach" is the number one priority of the church, something I certainly saw on display at the recent LCMS convention.

Thanks for the aphorism, Pr. Fouts!