Did Willow Creek Repent?

This is a reprint of a bog from Tim Stevens Pastor of Creative Arts at Granger Community Church

It seems that just about every week someone submits a comment here using Willow Creek's supposed repentance as proof that I'm wrong and that any attempt to reach "seekers" is misguided. There has been amazing amounts of misinformation out about the study...including a blog from last fall and an article in Christianity Today that appeared a few weeks ago.

Today I received notice of a "correction" to some of these news reports just issued by Bill Hybels. Some notable quotes from the interview...

How did you respond to the CT article? "I think it was an unfortunate article that was written without a proper understanding of what we’re actually doing these days. We have had the same one sentence mission statement for 32 years. We’re trying to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Christ. We have never been more committed to either side of that mission statement."

What about the headline that Willow Creek had repented? "I wondered what horrible, immoral thing have I done? I think it was a poor choice of words, actually, because we have made strategic adjustments on an annual [basis] to try to be more effective in building an Acts 2 church. I don’t think when you make a strategic adjustment it qualifies under the term repent."

Are you abandoning your seeker focus? "There’s no real worry about that ever happening. I mean, since the day I became a Christian...I’ve wanted everyone in my life to experience grace, saving grace...I think the older I get, the more aware I am that I only have from this day until my final day to get the Word of Christ out to as many people as possible. My risk profile is going up, not down. My commitment to trying to inspire our congregation to reach their friends is going up, not down."

Watch the entire interview on video here.

So what's the relevance to crossWinds?

Since we began crosswinds 11 years ago we have had the label "seeker church". For the most part I've been proud to have that association. It reminds us that God is passionate about reaching those far from Him and that we are not merely a fellowship, we are a mission.

The other day someone asked me if we were a "seeker" church. I found myself incapable of just saying "yes!". I don't know the other person's biases. I've watched "seeker" churches become the punching bag (in some circles).

So these days I find myself explaining crosswinds to others as a church deeply commited to convincing people about the relevancy of God (that's the seeker commitment) and to becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus (the growth and development of the convinced). That's our mission statement. I never want to be "seeker" to the exclusion or detriment of growth. I never want to lose our commitment to those far from God because if we do that we will lose our growth edge. True discipleship cannot take place in an environment that does include convincing those apart from grace.

How observant are you?

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How did you do?

U2 Reflections

Wow - we just finished a teaching series called "U2-The meaning behind the music". It was challenging for me as I'm not a huge music person. Which means I had to engage in research - who is U2? - What do their songs mean... if anything? - Is there more to the songs than the words? (yes there is!) Songs included were "I still haven't found what I'm looking for", "Sometimes you can't make it on your own", and "Miracle Drug".

We recieved great feedback from all real fans. And positive feedback from casual fans. And no feedback from sports junkies! It was a very interesting experiment for us and one I think we will repeat in various forms. If you're interested in getting a cd write the church... the messages should be posted online soon!

U2@CHURCH??

The point of U2 series wasn't U2 or music. It was to find a way in. A way in -means how do we get to open up spiritual conversations and have meetings that speak the language of our culture. Our goal is to mine our culture for these open windows and doors (a 'way in') to greater truths.

U2 songs were a way to do it. Which would you rather invote your friends to a series call "U2@CHURCH" or "a walk through the book of John".

This doesn't mean we won't teach the book of John. We'll just look for portals into our culture to introduce them to John and the rest of the Bible. (We said as much about Jesus and God as we do every Sunday)

Our goal is to create experiences of spiritual growth and discovery that are intriguing to our society (friends). This is why we've done series like "crossWinds at the movies" or "what would Jesus say to.." And it's why we steal pop images from our culture anytime we can ("iLife" - "Life Swap" - "Heroes" - "Deal or No Deal")

This week I will be searching for these window into our culture where the gospel can shine as I plan the next 4-6 months of teaching.

Your prayers are appreciated!

Lucky

The Conference

This week I have been at a conference in New Mexico! I know... I missed a cold week in MN. Lorri and I attended an Evangelical Free Church Pastoral conference called "Midwinter Theological Discussions". The topic was "an evaluation of the emerging/emergent church movement. Are you on the edge of your seats? I was.

It was a great conference... I hope to write more later. But the quick notes are: God is up to some wonderful things in the emerging church. Are there some dangers? Sure... but there is danger in any effort to reach people. I am encouraged by the tone of the Free Church towards the movement. I learned a ton... my brain is tired.

The other insight I had is that relative to the values of the emerging church crossWinds has much in common. Some key words: honesty, transparency, authenticity. These are values I think we hold in common. Anyway more to come... as my brain cools off.

Reflection Time

The other thing I wanted to say tonight at 11:30 PM from New Mexico is that I've had some time to reflect. That's what happens when we leave our normal patterned lives. Most pastors announce major life changes after time away from church... I have no such major announcement to make.

But I will tell you this... I realized again this week how blessed I am. I'm not one to use the word blessed often or casually. In fact I wanted to say I'm lucky... but blessed would be a more accurate term.

Why am I so lucky, I mean blessed? I feel blessed to be a part of this church - crossWinds. To be with you (cW). I realized again what an incredible church you are this past Sunday. The topic was forgiveness... and without much prelude or time for the spirit to massage hearts... I asked you (cW) to write down on some index cards we had provided a resentment or bitterness... an instance where forgiveness was a challenge for you today. I told you no names because I was going to read some of them during the message that morning.

I didn't know how this one would go. I was a little afraid we wouldn't get any cards. Or that we'd get a few but it would be low level trite stuff. We got back about 80 cards (of about 250 adult attending). And there was nothing trite or shallow written... it was real and painful. It made me so proud that we would tell the truth about the fact that even those of us who are following Christ struggle with forgiving.

I took the cards back to the office and left them for the staff to read and pray through. We don't know who wrote what... but our prayers are that God would bring healing and power to our lives... that the work on the cross done for our forgiveness would empower us to bring freedom from resentment to others.

It was a morning I will not forget... I am blessed to be so lucky... or lucky to be so blessed! I love this church and how God is at work within us.

Changing Lives

Here's a blog that was forwarded to me (written for pastor-type folks):

You Get What You Preach For

When you preach salvation, people come to know Jesus.
When you preach about loving Jesus, people become better lovers of Jesus.
When you preach prosperity, people want to be prosperous.
When you preach about the second coming, people get ready.
When you preach healing, people will be healed.
When you preach hope, people are more hopeful.
When you preach about tithing, people tithe.

What you talk about is what people are going to respond to. In other words, you get what you preach for.

This is not about communication manipulation. This is about communication transformation.

So, friends, what are you preaching for?
What are you communicating for? ---Brad Abare 1-8-08

Thoughts after reading the post:

1. Cool - I should teach on tithing! ...a lot.

2. Really? This makes people sound like lemmings (see pic - yup, that's a lemming.) Can we really just teach on whatever we want and people will morph into whatever we choose?

3. I wonder... Are people changing or do congregations shift? If one teaches on the Second Coming over and over again... do people really begin to get ready? Or do the people who are not engaged leave the church and other people who love to hear messages about the return of Christ, associated events and theories start attending?

Bottom Line for those of us who teach (including parents):

We must be careful and intentional because we will be held accountable.

Dear brothers and sisters,not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. ---James 3:1 NLT

My Resolutions...

We watch the Today Show. It's the background noise to our morning rituals. The last week the noise has been full of "why" and "why not..." and "how to..." and "how not to..." make resolutions.

The advice of the experts... keep it real: real simple and real do-able. Otherwise it will be another defeating experience. The resolution will be "I should have" instead of "I did".

I agree. I'm not a fan of regret. I am a fan of goals. It's how things get done. Someone says "I'm going to..." and they do it. Someone aims and hits the target... maybe not bull's eye. They might even miss the target they were aiming at... but at least they took a shot.

So what am I shooting at this year? And why would I tell you? I write it down to merely to make it more real for me.

1. To continue to be disciplined in exercise and food. Not to brag, but for the last couple of months I've been on the mark with this one. It requireds a little OCD on my part (thanks to my family for putting up with me). My goal is not simply to lose weight... but to be in-habit at this time next year. To energizer-bunny this area of my life ("still going").

2. To read more. I know, bad goal. Not specific enough. But this past year I felt I was so busy doing that I didn't have enough developmental aspects in my life. So... I'm going to a conference end of this month. And I'm going to read more... some for fun and some for development... and of course, I want to stay on top of my Bible reading. I'll try to blog about some of it as I go.

3. To enjoy the day. I don't know about you, but as I look at these first three months of the year, it just looks tough. I see all the things that must be done... it could overwhelm me. So I've got to break it up into daily bites... My goal: enjoy the bites. Enjoy the day.

4. To finish Zelda on my WII game... such a goal might be too lofty.

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. I Corinthians 9:24-26 NLT