The Church of the Future (The Next Evangelicalism pt.6)

Throughout Soong-Chan Rah's book, The Next Evangelicalism, I've been wondering just what the Church of the future looks like. Who will be the faces leading the way and how will the "success" of their ministries be measured? The answers to some of these questions begin to take shape with questions posed by Rah himself:

"Instead of putting forth yet another white leader in his thirties with a mega-church paradigm as the model of ministry, should we be lifting up the Haitian pastor, who drives a cab during the day, attends seminary classes at night and pastors the church on the weekend?"

"Or the Dominican pastor who returns to the Dominican Republic on 'vacation' and hold numerous evangelistic rallies and ends up planting several churches?"

"Or the Hmong pastor that an entire community relies upon to be both the civic and spiritual leader, but whose church never grows past forty worshipers? Are we willing to acknowledge that the immigrant church that appears to be people in need, might actually have something to teach us?" (p.179)

A Change In Perspective (The Next Evangelicalism pt.5)

One of the greatest mistakes we make as human beings is assuming that we see "things" (the world and all that is in it) the "right" way. Soong-Chan Rah writes, "Sin results when human beings attempt to take God's place in creation. In other words, we make ourselves the standard of reference in the determination of our values and norms" (p.80).

When we fail to recognize our own presuppositions in relationship to God and creation we give way to a defensive posture based out of a fear that truth will be compromised. The fear that keeps us from recognizing our own flawed worldview is, at best, not conducive to healthy growth and, at its worst, causes us to respond to others (and their worldviews) in ways that are violent and oppressive (i.e. racism, nationalistic imperialism, and even petty arguments).

Until we realize that none of us view this world objectively we will continue to be steeped in trying to make "our way" become "everyone else's way". And if we continue along that path then greed, violence, and anger will most certainly follow.

Yet our call as kingdom people is much different; we are to be a servants, disciples, students, and learners. If we are to engage, learn from, and benefit from the depth of others we need to posture ourselves in ways that exude meekness and humility. It is through this type of engagement with the broader world (and the many worldviews that exist within it) that the ground can become fertile for the hallmarks of our confession: faith, hope, and love.

Zondervan and Authors Act Justly

A few weeks ago I posted "Christian Books Pimping Culture" about a new book Zondervan released with racially insensitive material. Zondervan's response...nothing short of exceptional (read Zondervan's response from Soong-Chan Rah's blog).



Zondervan (and authors Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite) not only acknowledged that their material was racially insensitive, but took their apology the full distance: pulling all copies of the books and suspending promotion of the book until the material could be re-worked. Zondervan also went one step more...the hiring of a new editor in chief of all Zondervan products.



It would have been easy for Zondervan to dismiss the statements made about Deadly Viper (it certainly would been the least costly for business). Zondervan's corrective steps clearly shows that (like all of us) they are imperfect and make mistakes, yet through this they have put on display a level of integrity that shows how we all should respond when we hurt our brothers and sisters: we repent - acknowledge our wrong and go the distance to correct our error.

Keep'em Happy (The Next Evangelicalism pt.4)

"Our short-term desire to keep our church attendees happy has led to an effective ministry that serves white, middle-class suburbanites but has essentially become irrelevant in proclaiming and demonstrating the kingdom principles of peace and justice".

Soong-Chan Rah, The Next Evangelicalism

Church Marketing 101 (The Next Evangelicalsim pt.3)

As someone who is part of a new, forming, church community in Western, MI, I couldn't help but highlight, underline, and circle the following from The Next Evangelicalism:

"A few years ago I was told about a church plant in a suburban community. The church had been given a fairly healthy sum to aid in its church plant. The church proceeded to use a substantial portion of those funds to pay a graphic designer to create a logo for the church. In short, a third of the church planting budget went toward a marketing effort....I wonder if Jesus would spend a third of a church planting grant to make a logo that would give the appearance of a successful church, or would those fund have been better used by serving community?"

Welcome to the world of church marketing :) In many ways no different than our corporate world; brand it, advertise it, get people to buy it, get people to buy it again!

In all honesty I struggle with this all of the time. I never want the church (or the gospel) to become a thing that we sell, yet I value the contributions of many of the artists within our church community that design pieces that inspire and communicate. Is there an appropriate level by which a church can/should communicate what is going on? When does a church step across the line from sharing/communicating the story, to selling a product?

Christian Books Pimping Culture

Last week I was drawn in to a conversation surrounding Zondervan's recent release of "Deadly Viper: Character Assassins" a book written by Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite about leadership and integrity.

Although the book has some helpful content in the area of leadership the book has crossed the line with its extremely casual use of Asian culture.

Professor Soong-Chan Rah has raised some serious questions about the book and in particular its "packaging"; from its cover to its promotional videos (one video feature a mock kung-fu movie where a cast of white guys were dressed as Asian martial artists with fake-Asian-accents). The book also uses various Asian characters (it actually mixes both Japanese and Chinese letters) in a non-sensical fashion to create a certain "feel" in order to help sell their product. This book and its promotion are a perfect example of some one's culture getting pimped out to sell a product.

I won't re-hash the other many areas that this book (and Zondervan) crossed the line (read Soong-Chan Rah's blog posts) but am bringing this up because how we view race and culture is important (particularly as followers of Jesus that seek to bring hope to all nations). Reading through the discussion in the blog world has shown me how just how oblivious I am to the privilege I hold simply because I am a white male.

My area of privilege comes because the Western world is constructed around "my" world-view (in other words; the normative is destined around the majority...which is white male) and everything else is viewed as "other" (see Rah's video on Orientalism and "What is Normative?").

Some may say that Rah's (and the many others that were offended by the presentation of the book) were an over-reaction and just another example of how "PC" this world has gotten. However, who gets to decide what is "PC" and was is offensive? Should we not listen to the perspective of others (particularly those of different backgrounds and cultures)?

Thankfully the authors are listening (read more of the conversation here) and the dialogue continues to move along in a hopeful and restorative manner (by the co-author's own admission nothing intentionally malicious or racist was done; nor was anyone accusing them of doing this intentionally). As for Zondervan, they have yet to make a statement on how they will respond to the concerns and issues raised.

How have you seen/experienced racial insensitivity (whether intentional or unintentional)? What can we do as individuals do grow deeper in our understanding of issues of race and privilege? What can we do as communities to give a common voice to peoples of all nations and cultures?

1st Church of the Narcissist (The Next Evangelicalism pt.2)

"The cultural captivity of the church has meant that the church is more likely to reflect the individualism of Western philosophy than the value of community found in Scripture. The individualistic philosophy that has shaped Western society, and consequently shaped the American church, reduces Christian faith to a personal, private and individualistic faith" (p.30).

The individualism of our culture has so seeped into our faith practice and church expression that much of our "faith" looks more like a faith in the ways of our culture than it does the redemptive power of the gospel.

Sermons have been constructed in a Dr. Phil psychotherapy style so that people can live their "best life now", instead of what it means to be the people (plural) of God at work in the world. Worship music has been infused with "I" so that one can "feel" God close by. And sin has been reduced to a checklist of personal morality instead of challenging the sacred community to work and pray against the evils of structural and corporate sin.

Rah calls this individualism for what it is: Idolatry.

This critique is not of one particular church, but rather our natural bent has Westerners (all of us and our churches are guilty of this individualism). As such I'm wondering: How can we move further and further away from a "personal"/"individual" expression of our faith towards one that reflects God relating to all of his people? What are some "warning" signs of church/person's faith that has been corrupted by individualism? What will the effect be when we abandon the golden calf of individualism?

The Next Evangelicalism (pt.1)

Over the next few weeks I will be posting some of my thoughts from Soong-Chan Rah's book, The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity. As one of my professors at North Park Theological Seminary, I have been challenged and also encouraged by Soong-Chan's thoughts and insight into how the church has formed (in healthy and unhealthy ways) in a Western context.

The Next Evangelicalism is in many ways a prophetic call for the Western church to face its rampant individualism, consumerism, racism, and move on a more holistic and life-giving trajectory. Soong-Chan points out some of the pit-falls of our (Western church culture's) affinity towards things like church growth and mega churches, the "Emergent Conversation", and an imbalance in our theology of celebration over suffering.

This is an important book for those who believe in the Church, and are committed to serving her well into the 21st Century.