"Gathered and Scattered" is too Simplistic

"Gathered & Scattered"

Gathered:  When the church comes together for worship, teaching, fellowship, sacraments, etc.

Scattered:  When the church departs the gathering, proceeding into the world for mission. evangelism, justice etc.

What is the church called to do?  The answer is easy: BOTH

This sounds nice.  It is nice.  It is a simple couplet, easy to remember.

But it is too simplistic. 

We often assume that our "scattering" is an individualistic endeavor to merely be Jesus wherever else we do life.  Or, in an attempt to combat individualism, we sit around tables with Bibles and beers (or coffee, if we are holiness folk), with other Christians and call in community, but in a spiritually neutral location so we can call it missional.  Assuming that our being will rub off on others, we conveniently excuse our lack of doing.


Here is the problem - it only lasts one generation.  Where is the multiplication?  In order for the cause of Christ and the Kingdom of Christ to last for more than a generation, there must be multiplication of disciples and of the gatherings of the disciples.  Yes, this includes the multiplication of organizations and institutions, but only as necessary to support the multiplication of disciples.
What if, instead of merely scattering to our workplaces, neighborhoods, and places of need, we scattered as teams, with the purpose and intent to re-gather in smaller groupings, in these other places of work, neighborhood, or need, not for more fellowship, but to intentionally invite others to gather as inquirers, seekers and disciples?

It is just not as simple as "gather and scatter."  There must be more.  We must envision and plan with an end in mind that includes multiplication "to the ends of the earth."  Then and only then are we faithful to the mission of Jesus.

"Fasting" by Jentezen Franklin is a great primer on the subject!

As I have previously written, God is leading me on a journey through the spiritual discipline of fasting.  As I have experimented with various ways of fasting, times to fast, etc., I have read some of the subject.  Recently, I felt it was time to lead our congregation in the practice of fasting as well, teaching our members to fast privately, as well as corporately.  I discovered, though, that there are very few effective resources designed to teach fasting to groups.  Since we use video-based teaching series in our small groups, I was amazed at the lack of resources on video for any group setting.  When I found one decent video-based study, I hoped it would be good!  It was.

Jentezen Franklin is a pentecostal preacher in Georgia.  He regularly leads his churches in fasts of twenty-one days at the beginning of every year.  Through his television ministry, he has encouraged thousands to follow.  A few years ago he published a hard-cover book, journal, study guide and DVD for those who follow him at a distance.  I purchased a copy of each and was pleasantly surprised.

I have been trained to be wary of pentecostal preachers.  I have been warned of their tendency towards emotionalism, to putting too much emphasis on speaking in tongues, and especially their current abuse of God's blessings, especially in the area of desiring prosperity (sometimes more than God himself).  Of course, wisdom reminds us that the headlines only tell about the most radical in any group, those who over-emphasize any teaching to the point of abuse.  Franklin, however, is a gem in the pentecostal tradition.  If you are wondering what fasting is all about, read his book!  You can get it here. "Fasting" is a book for those who want to know more about fasting, but are weary of radicalism from either end of the spectrum.

I appreciate that Franklin comes from the old revivalist tradition within pentecostalism.  He teaches that fasting is a door to a deeper relationship with God.  He emphasizing seeking the Giver of gifts and blessings more than the gifts and blessings themselves.  His sections on the sanctification of one's life by way of consecrating everything to Christ would make many Nazarene preachers proud!

While reading a description of the book, you might be thinking that at 237 pages it will be a little too technical.  It is not.  It is a small book, comprised of 17 short chapters.  Check it out!  You will learn a few things about fasting and you will be encouraged to try it out!

Dispelling the "We Can't Change Until Everyone is On Board" Myth

I heard it all the time.  "We need to make some changes at our church, but we can't do it until everyone is on board..."  Really?

I understand the intention of the person saying it.  Whether a pastor or a strong lay leader, we don't want to force our ideas on others.  We don't want to lead as a dictator.  We really don't like, "my-way-or-the-highway," leaders and don't want to be one of them.  We have also heard about building consensus.  So, we work to build consensus...but then, what?

Here is the problem with waiting until everyone is on board: there is too much power in one person's hands.  It allows one person, or a very small handful of people to become passive dictators!  Moreover, as I was reminded by a recent article, most people are late adopters, and they won't buy into an idea until it has already succeeded!

So what is a leader to do?  Gently push for change, and try new ideas on an experimental basis with those who are willing to try.  In other words, form a test group.  Here is how pastor and leadership expert Larry Osborne suggests going about it:  "I've found that most boards and congregations will let us try something long before they'll sign off as fully supporting something that is brand new or untested...most people are happy to let us try something as long as they don't have to support it or pay for it.  Frankly, there are very few true innovations that require broad buy-in to launch.  Most can be launched at the fringe of your ministry with minimal support.  Simply count the "yes" votes and start with those who like the idea.  It it's successful, everyone will jump aboard soon enough.  If it's not, you'll be able to bail out or make any necessary midcourse corrections without losing all of your leadership chips."  (Outreach Magazine, January/February 2014, page 70)

Do you hear the humility here?  After all, my great idea might not be all that great! But testing it with a group of supporters is a great way to try it and make corrections.  Maybe that humility will be all the others need to give it a try.

I wish I had listened to this advice nine years ago.  I was working with a team to Re-Focus our ministries and we concluded that we needed to completely re-vamp our discipleship program (which included one adult Sunday School class, a weekly prayer meeting, and occasional small groups) into a full-fledged small group program with no prayer meeting or adult Sunday School class.  The idea blew up and a bunch of people left the church.  Looking back, I would have been wise to launch the group program with just 2 groups of interested people, and allow the other groups to continue to meet.

So how many people do we need on board to make change?  Only enough folks to experiment with the change, and then take it from there!