The Buzz Commandments continue with Buzz Commandment VIII:
Thou Shalt Offend Pharisees [1]
If you want your church to buzz, you've got to be willing to offend some Pharisees along the way. That is part and parcel of following in Jesus' footsteps!
Here is a lesson some of you have learned the hard way: as your influence grows larger so does the target on your back. If you dare to be different you'll be criticized. That's a promise. And those criticisms will probably come from the religious establishment that is content with maintaining the status quo.
Permission to speak frankly? I've never had any unchurched or dechurched people complain about the way we do church. The only criticisms we've ever received are from the religious establishment--most of whom have never attended a single service.
I'm not suggesting that National Community Church is beyond criticism. We've got our imperfections like every other church. And we certainly don't claim to have a corner on the truth. We need lots of different kinds of churches because there are lots of different kinds of people!
Let's stop critcizing our differences and start celebrating originality and creativity. We must be orthodox in doctrine. But we ought to be unorthodox in practice. No one was more unorthodox than Jesus.
Here is a lesson I learned early on as we were planting NCC. I realized that all the churched people who walked through our doors had an internal picture of what NCC should be like. And it was usually a picture of whatever church they were in last. In the early years, I wanted NCC to conform to all those pictures. And then one day I realized that we should stop trying to be who we're not. We should dare to be different. I'm not talking about being different for difference sake. I'm talking about identifying our unique niche in the kingdom. We realized we had to play to our strengths.
We feel called to reach emerging generations. 73% of NCCers are single twenty-somethings. We feel called to reach people who are allergic to church--75% of NCCers were unchurched or dechurched before coming to NCC. If the Kingdom of God had departments, we'd work in R & D. We have a core value: everything is an experiment. We love experimenting with new ways of doing church. We're serious about cultural exegesis as well as biblical exegesis. Why? Because we believe that irrelevance is irreverence.
We have three core convictions that drive us:
1) The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet
2) The greatest message deserves the greatest marketing
3) The Church is called to compete in the middle of the marketplace
Is anybody else tired of reactive christianity that is more known for what it is against than what it is for?
I think there are two kinds of people: doers and critcizers.
Jesus was a doer.
The Pharisees were criticizers.
In fact, their ability to find something wrong with something right is nothing short of astounding! Jesus heals a withered arm and the Pharisees complain because he did it on the wrong day! You've got to be kidding me!
Teddy Roosevelt said, "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat."
We have a choice to make. We can play it safe. Or we can play to win.
I think of New Spring Church in Anderson, South Carolina. They took some criticism on the chin when they launched a series titled ihatemymarriage.com. But while they were being criticized, marriages were being healed and people were coming to Christ. I think of Granger Community Church in Granger, Indiana. Their series, mylamesexlife.com, caused quite a bit of controversy. But at least they aren't answering questions that no is asking! I think of Radiant Church in Surprise, Arizona. Alot of people criticize their casual approach to church, but hundreds of people are getting baptized every year!
A few years ago I heard Erwin McManus give some great advice: "Don't let an arrow pierce your heart unless it first passes through the filter of Scripture."
If criticism passes through the filter of Scripture then you need to repent. But if it doesn’t pass the filter test then you need to deflect the criticism. That is what Jesus did with the criticisms leveled at him by the Pharisees. He didn't get defensive. He didn't apologize for who he was or how he taught. He didn't let their criticisms keep him from being himself.
Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from radically loving prostitutes. Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from healing on the Sabbath. Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from hanging out with Tax Collectors.
For the record, people tend to criticize when they feel convicted. It is the alternative to change. Nine times out of ten, criticism is a way of justifying our own issues and problems because criticism is a lot easier than change!
Follow in the footsteps of Christ.
Dare to be different.
Buzz.
[1] Matthew 23:1-36
Thou Shalt Offend Pharisees [1]
If you want your church to buzz, you've got to be willing to offend some Pharisees along the way. That is part and parcel of following in Jesus' footsteps!
Here is a lesson some of you have learned the hard way: as your influence grows larger so does the target on your back. If you dare to be different you'll be criticized. That's a promise. And those criticisms will probably come from the religious establishment that is content with maintaining the status quo.
Permission to speak frankly? I've never had any unchurched or dechurched people complain about the way we do church. The only criticisms we've ever received are from the religious establishment--most of whom have never attended a single service.
I'm not suggesting that National Community Church is beyond criticism. We've got our imperfections like every other church. And we certainly don't claim to have a corner on the truth. We need lots of different kinds of churches because there are lots of different kinds of people!
Let's stop critcizing our differences and start celebrating originality and creativity. We must be orthodox in doctrine. But we ought to be unorthodox in practice. No one was more unorthodox than Jesus.
Here is a lesson I learned early on as we were planting NCC. I realized that all the churched people who walked through our doors had an internal picture of what NCC should be like. And it was usually a picture of whatever church they were in last. In the early years, I wanted NCC to conform to all those pictures. And then one day I realized that we should stop trying to be who we're not. We should dare to be different. I'm not talking about being different for difference sake. I'm talking about identifying our unique niche in the kingdom. We realized we had to play to our strengths.
We feel called to reach emerging generations. 73% of NCCers are single twenty-somethings. We feel called to reach people who are allergic to church--75% of NCCers were unchurched or dechurched before coming to NCC. If the Kingdom of God had departments, we'd work in R & D. We have a core value: everything is an experiment. We love experimenting with new ways of doing church. We're serious about cultural exegesis as well as biblical exegesis. Why? Because we believe that irrelevance is irreverence.
We have three core convictions that drive us:
1) The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet
2) The greatest message deserves the greatest marketing
3) The Church is called to compete in the middle of the marketplace
Is anybody else tired of reactive christianity that is more known for what it is against than what it is for?
I think there are two kinds of people: doers and critcizers.
Jesus was a doer.
The Pharisees were criticizers.
In fact, their ability to find something wrong with something right is nothing short of astounding! Jesus heals a withered arm and the Pharisees complain because he did it on the wrong day! You've got to be kidding me!
Teddy Roosevelt said, "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat."
We have a choice to make. We can play it safe. Or we can play to win.
I think of New Spring Church in Anderson, South Carolina. They took some criticism on the chin when they launched a series titled ihatemymarriage.com. But while they were being criticized, marriages were being healed and people were coming to Christ. I think of Granger Community Church in Granger, Indiana. Their series, mylamesexlife.com, caused quite a bit of controversy. But at least they aren't answering questions that no is asking! I think of Radiant Church in Surprise, Arizona. Alot of people criticize their casual approach to church, but hundreds of people are getting baptized every year!
A few years ago I heard Erwin McManus give some great advice: "Don't let an arrow pierce your heart unless it first passes through the filter of Scripture."
If criticism passes through the filter of Scripture then you need to repent. But if it doesn’t pass the filter test then you need to deflect the criticism. That is what Jesus did with the criticisms leveled at him by the Pharisees. He didn't get defensive. He didn't apologize for who he was or how he taught. He didn't let their criticisms keep him from being himself.
Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from radically loving prostitutes. Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from healing on the Sabbath. Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from hanging out with Tax Collectors.
For the record, people tend to criticize when they feel convicted. It is the alternative to change. Nine times out of ten, criticism is a way of justifying our own issues and problems because criticism is a lot easier than change!
Follow in the footsteps of Christ.
Dare to be different.
Buzz.
[1] Matthew 23:1-36
8 Comments:
I love that word "pharirazzi". Permission to use it sir?
Has a ring to it doesn't it :)
Pharirazzi :)
Mark
Tremendous post - well said.
Excellent post, we get criticized as well for being "On the Edge". This month we're hosting a "Texas Hold em" tournament to raise money for missions! (By the way, that Teddy Roosevelt quote is my favorite of his.) Keep up the good work!
And it's outta here! Home run deeeeep over the center field wall!
Awsome post! You could fill a book with this one. Thanks.
thanks for preparing the way. On time as usual.
i am a pastor just outside lynchburg, va...and we are going through some of this as we reach more people who are hungry to find a God who will actually change their lives....thank you so much for this post (i just read the shortened veriosn in Rev.)...i needed it as an encouragement to stop worrying about offending people - especially if those people need offending.
You wrote: "I think there are two kinds of people: doers and critcizers."
I suggest that there is a larger dicotomy before this. First, there are innovators and Status Quos. Under the innovators category, we have the subgroup of doers and criticizers. In order to bring about change, one must think critically (or critique). Often, people are labeled as criticizers because they are voicing a different perspective. Let's give them some credit for thinking critically. Ultimately, it's the heart's motive that determines whether or not someone is a criticizer.
Great post!
Thanks,Barry
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