Category Archives: Missional

First Responders…with a dash of hope

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Sometimes terrible things happen and there’s absolutely no reason why. Sometimes there are reasons. And sometimes it just doesn’t matter. I don’t know much about this story, I’ve been watching from a distance and am unfamiliar with many of the details, and…well, I’m not sure it matters. Our local newspaper, The Columbian, writes about it here: http://su.pr/2vC1z5 and here http://su.pr/1tzvIe.

Essentially my friends had a shooting happen not only in their neighborhood but in their front yard. What was so amazing, what was so beautiful was that my friend is a firefighter. So as the person to call the police and as the first person to make it to victim who had been shot six times he was fully prepared to care for this boy in ways that you or I would not have been. Even further, however, my friends family (including his wife and boys) are people who have spent the last many years learning to respond with love, grace, and compassion to anyone and everyone who comes their way. So not only was he equipped to deal with the physical stuff (and it looks like the young man is going to survive!) but their family has been an overwhelmingly amazing ‘first responder’ to the family and neighborhood’s needs as well. From coordinating meals for the victim’s family for a month to now coordinating a neighborhood-wide effort to honor the family through inviting a communal voice of hope with chalk (I’ll explain in a moment) they are finding ways to be responders with hope.

Once again, The Columbian writes about it here: http://su.pr/2KOtPB

So here is what I’m getting to. If you live in Vancouver or Portland, I want to invite you on August 21st from 10:00-1:00 to join the Hough neighborhood to “Chalk the Walk“. Chalking the walk is a Vancouver tradition (and a very cool one at that) but this year at 1114 W 21st, Vancouver, WA 98660 it’s going to be a tradition marked with a deeper message when neighbors and friends counter the senseless violence that happened with messages of hope, life, and togetherness. Want to join?

Here’s the thing. I’m tempted to end this blog by saying something like “It’s not about Nate and Jasmine and how they’ve responded. It’s bigger than them. It’s about the neighborhood, it’s about you, its about…” but you know what? You know what the reality is? The reality is that we have so much to learn from this family, from Nate, Jas, and their boys (yes, their boys seem to always be a integral part in leading the charge as well!). If it were not for their posture of responsiveness to their neighbors none of us would be entered into this story. If it were not for their families core of love, grace, and compassion none of us would be invited to be ‘second responders’, if it were not for them this story would look very differently. So, you know what?, while this blog would probably feel better if I expanded it here at the end to include all of us as the ‘moral of the story participants’ the reality is that we’ve got to be learners here! We’ve got to learn from the Cook fam’ how to be first responders with a little dash of hope.

While we cannot (and should not…and I WILL NOT) try to pretend like any form of response at this point will dull the pain and terribleness of the situation–our hope, as always, is that God can transform shit into something beautiful. That’s what he does when we allow him to enter into our story. He doesn’t always get rid of the messiness (oh how I wish he would) but he is willing to enter into our narrative and do something magically beautiful. None of us know where or how this story is going to end, but because of this families willingness to enter into the fray we all are being invited to bring a candle of light into the bleak narrative in hopes that light might one day shine through it.

So will you join with us on August 21st from 10-1 at 1114 W 21st, Vancouver, WA 98660 as a second responder of hope?

The Boring Ways of Jesus

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Boooorrrrrriiiinnnngggg (is that how you spell it?)! It is so so boring. Incredibly boring. At the very least it’s plain ol’ boring. It is. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Yet we churchy people think it’s cool (we do). There are books upon books (many of which I own and continue to purchase) written about it, there are whole conferences dedicated to it (of which I wish to attend), there are whole movements predicated on it (Grassroots Conspiracy anyone?), and yet it’s the most ordinary thing in the world. Some might say it is even a bit boring.

Christians call it missional living. Other people probably call it something more along the lines of being a nice person. I call it ordinary. (ok, I called it boring, but that was more just for sensationalism…feeling sensational anyone?)

Let me explain my thoughts a bit.

The idea of living missionally is very exciting to most Christians because it invites us into a way of life, a way of doing church, a way of following Jesus that’s not weird or creepy feeling. Evangelism, as we’ve understood it for many years, has felt weird and a bit creepy. At the very least it’s felt coercive–and most of us don’t want to be salespeople (even for something that we believe very strongly in). Living missionally, as I think it is understood, is all about the Great Commission’s phrase “…go and make disciples” which more rightly is translated “…as you are going make disciples…” or in other words: go about your business and live in such a way so that people see Jesus, fall in love with him, and see reason to dedicate their existence to his love movement (there’s some interpretation happening here obviously). That’s my off the cuff definition of missional living–and I think it’ll work well for us here. As a way of life I think most of us would agree that it sounds quite appealing. As a matter of fact it is essentially the underpinning idea that the Grassroots Conspiracy movement is built on. We dig that way of life and think that a movement founded on it in radical ways just might be an exciting experiment to create. And so we have. (or we are in the process of it…creating it, that is.)

Here’s the interesting thing: lots of Christians from outside our circle are intrigued by what we’re doing at Grassroots. They want to be a part in some way, they want to send their youth group to do a mission trip with us, they want to partner with us in ways that will get their church people excited and living on mission, they want to be involved!

But (isn’t there always a but?) the Grassroots movement is really pretty boring. Right? Isn’t it? And so is living missionally. Right? Do you realize what it means to live missionally? I mean, seriously, in reality have you caught the implications of what missional living demands from you? Practically speaking think about what it would look like for someone from outside your world to come and participate in your “missional living”!*

Missional living demands that you listen to people (and actually remember what they said to you!), it demands that you show hospitality, that you’re willing to receive hospitality, that you slow your life down enough to borrow a cup of sugar from a neighbor, that you go to the same restaurants repeatedly so you can get to know people, it means you sit on your front porch and drink coffee, it means you’re home more nights than you’re gone (how else will you be available to neighbors?), it means that you take your dog for walks, it means that you attend people’s parties, essentially it means that you live a life of availability to others. IF you ever get to do something seemingly spectacular: organize a food drive, throw a block party, volunteer at a soup kitchen, etc. it is usually BECAUSE of your willingness to listen people around you into free speech. And THROUGH your listening you and your friend discover needs that should to be responded to. It is that posture of responsiveness that gives missional living it’s more exciting bent at times, but it usually follows the boring process of availability. Right?

Did you notice how boring all of that is? If you send your youth group to work with us do you realize what they’d be doing? They’d be doing my dishes (you’ve got to do something as you’re slowing your life down, being a good parent/spouse, and being available to neighbors), or they’d be sipping coffee with me at Mon Ami (’cause that’s where me, my friends, and my neighbors hang out!), or they’d be walking my dog down the street around the same time every day. Here’s the trick: it is in the ordinary things of life that God does the extraordinary. God thrives in ordinary, I mean come on(!) the guy was born in a feeding trough and raised by a poor teenage mom! Talk about extraordinary things emerging from the ordinary! Jesus was a carpenter…shoot, even the idea that Jesus had a nine to five is incredibly ordinary! And yet JC was anything but ordinary.

Extraordinary emerging from the ordinary–that’s what missional living is all about–the spectacular emerging from the routine of every day life. If I defined missional living as: going about your business and living in such a way so that people see Jesus, fall in love with him, and see reason to dedicate their existence to his love movement. Then a working description of what it looks like would be just that: the spectacular emerging from the routine of everyday life.

And by “spectacular” or “extraordinary” what I am referring to are those simple and beautiful stories of people falling in love with Jesus and the Jesus way. They are stories of the “gospel” that Christians speak of actually becoming good news to those around them. ‘Cause if it’s not news that is tangibly good then what is it?

So get ready to be bored. Do what you’ve got to do to slow down a bit, be available, listen, show hospitality, be a recipient of other’s hospitality, respond, dialog, remember, be a learner, be a lover, show compassion–read the stories of Jesus and be fascinated by the Jesus way. Study him and allow his radically (often times ordinary) existence to inform your ordinary (hopefully becoming more radical) existence. At Grassroots Conspiracy we are a developing collection of partners who are committing to a way of life together that is marked by the Jesus way. In virtually every aspect we are ordinary boring people but we are attempting to live out an existence that is marked by the simply radical ways of Jesus. What happens after or around that is beyond us, it’s beyond me. But I do know that there is something tangibly beautiful about a collection of people who are wholly sold out to practicing the ways of Jesus together. Many people call it the church. We’re calling it a movement (though we anticipate a church one day emerging). My friends probably call it being nice. I’ve been accused of calling it boring (or did I say boooooorrrrriiiinnnnggg?). Call it what you want, but give it a chance and I bet it’ll blow your mind.

 

* I hesitate to even talk about it like this because it begins to make it weird. I fear that it makes my friends feel weird when I talk about it like this. Am I loving them because I’m simply trying to “live missionally”? When I have them over for dinner am I just trying to “missionalize them” (yes, I made that word up)? The reality is that it gets weird anytime you talk openly about things, about motivations, etc. So, yes, this is a bit awkward. But please know (friends) that what this means is that I’m just trying to follow the ways of Jesus through the (sadly) radical practices of hospitality, listening, responsiveness, compassion, etc. I put words like “missional” to it so that we can have communication and invite others into this way of life. Sorry that it makes it weird. Just know that I’m the weird one…you’re not.

Experimenting Our Way With Jesus

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I’m almost embarrassed to share this with you but quite a few years ago I created a bit of an experiment. I’m a bit embarrassed because the content of this experiment is slightly childish…but to my credit it was done back when Facebook was still young, new, and fresh to me. Groups and pages and “liking” things were all new ideas and concepts that I was still exploring.

So I created Pit Stains.

It was an experiment to see if something as idiotic as this could randomly, on its own, get a following. I’m not sure if having 135 followers after a few years is considered a valuable experiment or not. That’s the thing about experiments: success isn’t measured simply by achieving a goal as much as it is by what you’ve learned. The reason I’m not sure it was a successful experiment is because I’m not sure I’ve learned anything whatsoever. At the very least I still get a bit of a kick out of the drawing I made…and isn’t that enough?

At Grassroots we talk a lot about experimenting. Honestly we are not at a place where we have initiated many experiments, but at the very least it is a part of our verbiage, a part of our identity, and is projected as a part of our defining behaviors.

Experimentation is important because very little will keep a group from calcification. Over time every group will work itself toward being defined by a more rigid set of ideals, structures, or systems. While none of those are bad things, I do think that (at least for what we’re attempting to do) acquiescing to rigidity or creating a stiff and inflexible identity is unhealthy and counterproductive. When following the Spirit of God (always moving and very fluid) and working amongst and in partnership with humanity (always moving and very fluid as a whole) it is impossible to stay healthy and stagnant at the same time.

Experimentation, I believe, is one of the keys to keeping a sense of fluidity and creativity amongst us at Grassroots. It invites us to explore the words of Jesus in meaningful ways. It invites us to move past the fear of failure because in experimentation failure teaches you just as much as success (probably more actually). It invites us into a way of life defined by journey over and above destination–something that I think is hugely valuable for an as you are going missional mentality.

It must look different in every context depending on what you’re seeking to learn, who you’re partnering with, what questions you have, what stories you’re interacting with (I’m thinking here of the Jesus narrative primarily), etc. So I can’t speak much into what this all may or could look like. What I can say is that the Grassroots Conspiracy and all of its co-conspirators seek to be defined by an experimental mentality where we are continually caught up in the vastness and mystery of following Jesus in and amongst the beautiful and messy creation of God. I think I can safely say that questions and ideas will range from

  • How often should we meet together…and where should we do it and why and for what purpose?
  • If scripture tells us to care for orphans and widows what implications does this have for my widowed cranky neighbor down the street and how might the GC community shape an experiment to better live out this text within my own reality?
  • How might we follow Jesus’ words to love your neighbor as yourself if many of us struggle to love self?
  • What if, in an attempt to ‘turn the other cheek’, we gave up partaking in any violence whatsoever for six weeks? How would that shape our media choices? The Bible stories we read? The way we speak about political opponents? The way we love our spouse? The type of chocolate we purchase?
I can imagine question after question from huge to seemingly mundane where an experimental mentality could wholly change our outlook on life, on theology, on love, or on marriage. or. Or. OR it could be as simple as inviting us to not take ourselves so seriously, to let us off the hook a bit for doing everything exactly right every single time all of the time.
Maybe we should just experiment a bit and see what we learn. Who knows, maybe we don’t all have it figured out already?

 

If you want to read a great book about experimenting within the ways of Jesus, you must read Mark Scandrette’s book Practicing the Ways of Jesus. It is absolutely dynamite. No joke.

What is Grassroots Conspiracy

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Movement, church, or network.

The question at hand is which one is Grassroots Conspiracy. Are we a movement, are we a church, or are we a network? You may be thinking that this is an incredibly boring question…but I think it’s worth pursuing and I think it’s answer sheds much light on how we go about our activity as a community of conspirators.

The answer is that we’re a movement. We’re not a church (not yet at least…in the sense that we use the word). We’re not a network (insomuch as intentionality and purpose is concerned). We’re a movement.

Let me define how I’m using these words just a bit.

Network: a network’s commitment is to celebrating the satellite organizations/groups associated with the network. It’s not about what ‘we’ are doing but about what these other groups are doing. A network might give advice but they do not really speak into the movements to which they are connected. Each satellite group has its own leadership, direction, and purpose. A network, as I’m defining it, is about celebrating multiple missions with at least some sense of overlap that causes us to be ‘together’.

 

Church: a church* is a local gathering of Jesus people who are not only committed to each other and a certain way of life, but also to a structured identity that organizes them into a public/social entity. A church exists when you have a community of individuals who choose to die together for the sake of others, when new people are entering into this way of life, and when they’ve then determined to own a shared story publicly, privately and as they move forward into the future. (a whole blog should be written about church)

 

Movement: a movement, as I am defining it, has a central mission–a direction that a collection of people rally around. It is different from a network because unlike a network a movement is about ‘us’, about a direction that we are moving together. A movement can (and should) support satellite groups, but it does so insomuch as they are inline with the movements direction and mission. A movement is not quite a church because it is not about the formation of a localized gathered people as much as it is about a way of life that pursues a certain direction. The distinction is subtle but I think that when lived out practically it makes a huge difference. My guess (my assumption and my hunch) is that a movement should and will lead to the formation of a gathered church where people are not only committed to a way of life but to a gathered way of life.

Grassroots Conspiracy is a movement of people who are choosing to live a certain way. We are a collection of individuals who are choosing to live scattered across the downtown neighborhoods (and a few families who live outside the downtown vicinity), prioritizing living scattered in the neighborhood doing life with and for people over-and-above gathering together often. We gather together only once a month in order to remind each other of the mission that draws us together only then to send each other out to live it. Grassroots Conspiracy works in partnership with a surprisingly large number of churches and organizations. It’s easy to do so because our commitment is to the good news of Jesus (gospel), to seeing his kingdom realized on earth as it is in heaven. At the same time, however, GC has a peculiar way that we are attempting to do life together, certain rhythms that we believe are both fitting to our context and to our story. While we are all about the kingdom and the gospel and therefore in full partnership with anything that is gospel-ish, we also recognize that these rhythms and ways of life that  are distinctively “us” will at times bring separation between us and other groups (hence the reason we’re a movement and not a network) And while we’re committing to a way of life together, I don’t see us as a church because at this point we’re not about the formation of community but to living out the gospel. My guess (my assumption and my hunch) is that this way of life will lead to the creation of a new church…but that’s not where we’re at yet. It’s a part of our anticipated future but not a part of our present reality.

Let me finally add that all of this (and if we were honest much of life) is a grand experiment. We are exploring new ideas, new ways of living, new paradigms for what it means to be church, to do church, to live like Jesus, and to die for the sake of others. I don’t expect to get it right the first go around and so we are therefore all about exploration and experimentation–trying things on, taking things for a spin, and believing that “failure” is a clear part of our future.**

 

* “a church” is different in my mind than “the church”. THE CHURCH is the name given to those who have committed to following the radical ways of Jesus. It is a global movement, it is massive, messy, crosses every culture. A CHURCH is what I refer to as the local and contextualized expression of this massive movement. It is local, it is somewhat definable, and it (too) is super messy.

** I should also add that I’m more nervous posting this blog than most. When you write something down it tends to be viewed concretely (as maybe it should). While I wish I were that type of person that only writes and says things that he’s certain to defend…I’m not. I work things out publicly, in dialog, with others. When I write blogs or engage in conversation I will rarely sit down beforehand and figure out exactly what I believe in a black and white fashion that I then intend to defend. I realize that this is abnormal and potentially unhealthy for a pastor/leader because we’re supposed to have things figured out…but, again, that’s just not me. I do think I can and would defend everything I’ve said above, but I think it would work better in conversation than it has/does as a blog. Regardless I see it as an important set of ideas to put out there as GC moves forward.


The Anatomy of an Embrace*

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Speaking to the church–to those following Jesus who gather as the church, we have often had a tainted posture toward others. To those on the insides of the mechanism we have an posture of arrival–because of this we’re able to put on our smiley faces regardless of the potentially destructive choices we’ve made or have been made around us. When the assumption is one of arrival it means that we’ve got to look the part of one who has arrived. If you haven’t arrived then you’ve either got to be saved or you need to repent…neither of which are appealing to someone on the inside (anyone for that matter). Toward those on “the outside” our posture is one of superiority and urgency. First off we honestly believe that we have the monopoly on truth, right living, and the virtues of goodness, generosity, and kindness. We dole out our wares to the savages outside our doors whom are in need of our product. If, however, they do not think that they need our product or are not as excited about our product as they should be we then introduce urgency and demand a quick and right choice. Arrival, superiority, and urgency. I’m sure much more could be said about all this and I’m certain that these are generalizations that carry a mixture of accuracy and inaccuracy all throughout. The point being, however, that our posture toward others is oftentimes off. My posture toward others is oftentimes off.

What if we allowed the act of embrace to better define our posture toward others (both those that we’ve awkwardly deemed “insiders” and “outsiders”)? An embrace creates vulnerability, it is relational but not intimate. An embrace demands a blend of space and proximity, it requires activity and stillness, it can be both awkward and affirming. An embrace can be broken down to four stages that have massive implications to how we relate with the otherness around us.

  1. Open Arms— An embrace always begins with arms wide open (please, no, that was not a Creed reference!) you have to want the other before an embrace happens. By opening yourself you both communicate care and desire for the other but you also open yourself to the awkwardness of vulnerability. As we approach others in life there needs to be a level of of awkward desire know and be known. There also must be space for others. Generally churches have open arms that are symbolic of an embrace but they lack the vulnerability that truly defines what it means to open your arms. What kind of space is there in our personal lives, in our church activities, in our church structures that allows space for others? There has got to be space for an embrace before it will ever happen.
  2. Waiting— It would be easy to fall out of the boat on either side of the “arms open wide” position. Either in the manner of a creepster we pursue others with our arms open saying “if you don’t hug me I’ll hug you” and we chase people down and hug them to death or we draw a line in the sand and say “I can’t cross this line, but I’m willing to hug you if you cross it and come over here. Look at me, my arms are wide open”. The reality is that there is a level of patience necessary, a willingness to open yourself up, make space, be vulnerable, and then wait. Wait for response, wait for desire and awkwardness to emerge from the other. “Waiting is a sign that, although embrace may have a one-sidedness in its origin, it can never reach its goal without reciprocity.” Are we willing to give space to people to respond in their own time? Is it OK for people to be angry and not in the mood to embrace? Are we willing to act out of the reality that we need others?
  3. Closing the arms–It finally happens! This is the goal of the embrace…the actual hug. “In an embrace a host is a guest and a guest is a host” In an embrace two people become one, four arms become one embrace. Reciprocity, relationship, unity, sharing…all these things sum up what happens as the arms close around each other. I think that we often want to rush this part. We want to skip the waiting period and just make the embrace happen. When we don’t wait, however, what happens is is two armed embrace. One person hugs while the other flails or awkwardly stands motionless. There is no reciprocity, sharing, or unity.
  4. Letting go— you’ve got to let go. While the embrace unites two bodies into one, the whole equation is negated if the parties do not let go. The purpose of an embrace is to let go and move forward, to anticipate future embraces with each other and with other partners. We’re always letting go with purpose or holding on with regret. While the goal is the embrace itself, an embrace is ruined without letting go. I feel blessed to be a part of a church (for another week!) that knows how to let go well. Renovatus is a sending church, they do not wait for right moments to let go, but rather believe that letting go is a part of a healthy embrace.

We have found this framework to be very true in our work in downtown Vancouver and with Renovatus. People need to know that you genuinely like them, you’ve got to be willing to be vulnerable, people need space to respond, you’ve got to believe that their authentic response is crucial, “success” is measured through shared commitment, and letting go is a necessary part of joining together: we are gathered to be scattered.

*without shame I am adapting and borrowing much of this from Miroslav Volf’s amazing book Exclusion and Embrace