The Hsu’s Views

“It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the church” Moltmann 1977:64

Mission is thereby seen as a movement from God to the world; the church is viewed as an instrument for that mission. (Aagaard 1973:13)

There is a church because there is a mission, not vice versa. (Aagaard 1974:423)

To participate in mission is to participate in the movement of God’s love toward people, since God is a fountain of sending love.

David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1991), 390.

I ran across a great quote in a BGU dissertation by John Lamb. He was making a point about how successful Campus Crusade for Christ has been in ministry over the years, but that achievement is not necessarily an asset as the ministry attempts to address the changes in today’s world. The more successful you are, the more likely you will be driven by that success to do more of the same.

He quotes Dallas Willard from “The Divine Conspiracy”:

Intense devotion to God by the individual or group brings substantial outward success. Outward success brings a sense of accomplishment and a sense of responsibility for what has been achieved — and for further achievement. For onlookers the outward success is the whole thing. The sense of accomplishment and responsibility reorients vision away from God to what we are doing and are to do — usually to the applause and support of sympathetic people. The mission increasingly becomes the vision. It becomes what we are focused upon. The mission and ministry is what we spend our thoughts, feelings, and strength upon. Goals occupy the place of the vision of God in the inward life, and we find ourselves caught up in a vision-less pursuit of various goals. Grinding it out.

Success can cause a ministry to lose focus on what God’s calls it to. Next thing you know we are driven by what we have accomplished and that becomes the important thing. Whether you are a large missions agency or a successful mega-church… success can make it difficult to diagnose our myopia.

Dallas Willard, The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’ Essential Teachings on Discipleship (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2006), 95.

Here is a good article by Tom Sine that lists four approaches that people are taking as they work to reimagine or redefine a Christianity that makes more sense to the world today. The four streams are emerging, missional, mosaic, and monastic. You can read his definitions which are just sketches, and are a bit too distinct, but the categories can be useful. I especially liked the links to churches or movements that represent each of these streams.

As I read the article, I could identify San Diego locals that might be a good representation of the different streams. The reality is, at least with my friends in town, we can fit in several of these streams at the same time. So, I don’t want to put anyone in a box, but if you want to connect with someone in town that would be knowledgeable in a stream this list might be useful.

• Emergent: Sarah Ferry (I just reconnected with) and Erin Martinson (who I’ve not met yet) lead the SoCal Emergent Village Cohort for San Diego. Perhaps churches like MissionGathering would be a good representative.
• Missional: I think I would put myself in this camp, along with friends over at Harbor Presbyterian Church. Jason Evans with the Ecclesia Collective fits here as does Steve Denney of CityWalk Church.
• Mosaic: Yucan Chiu of Ethnos is doing a great multi-ethnic work. Roberto Shim of Harbor Presbyterian Church is beginning a new church plant. My friend Luke Chen of Lord’s Grace has been burdened for multi-ethnic work for some time.
• Monastic: Rob Yackley with Nieucommunities in Golden Hill has tendencies in this direction. For many in the U40 group, there is interest in this stream because of the streams priority on spiritual formation/development as a community on mission.

As I reflect on the creation of this list, I realize how unsatisfying it is to try an attach a label to someone’s ministry or church. Comments or additions?

I’ve been wrestling with needing to define the term “missional,” largely because I get nervous when I hear the word used without a healthy understanding of the term. Too often, the word is thrown into a conversation as if people knew what it meant (I’m probably very guilty of this.) And people listen politely, don’t ask for a definition (because, speaking autobiographically, I would give a long multi-syllabic response which only furthers the confusion.)

I’m most alarmed when “missional” is used as a synonym for “missions” or any outward Christian expression of love, care and concern toward others. These are good things to do, but is very different from what missional means.

Missions can be seen as a “department” of the church that funds various evangelistic or social service activities. It is seen as a subset of what the church as an organization does. Missions is a noun. Missional, in contrast, is an adjective that attaches the idea of “God with a mission”, with “followers on mission.” The shift in thinking is that while missions is something you do… and is often outsourced to professionals or those really committed to God, missional describes the way a disciple lives as one that organizes his life around God’s mission.

I think it is critically important that the church in N. America moves away from the idea that we can fulfill our mission in the world by proxy through missionaries, and personally assume the privilege/responsibility as followers of Jesus.

Alan Hirsch has written a great post about the difference between the “emerging” church people and those who are “missional” church people. Both groups share the desire to find a more relevant way to following Jesus in this new world, Hirsch maintains a distinction between the two. He argues that the “emerging” movement is a renewal movement, whereas the “missional” camp is a missionary movement. In the post, he further elaborates on the distinctions and pleads for restraint on willy-nilly use of the term “missional.” He writes:

And my advice to all you folks on both sides of the debate that mix up the term, be warned! What you are doing is only making it harder for the Church to come to grips with its deepest sense of call and purpose in this time and place–no less! You are therefore mucking around with what could be one of the most significant ideas that the Church has to grapple with if we are going to survive, let alone thrive, in the 21st Century. For God’s sake, be clear in your use of the term or can I suggest that you stop using it.

The post is quite articulate and deserves a good read. Note also his pairing of Missional with Incarnational. The incarnation of Jesus highlights the fact that the best medium for the gospel to be communicated is in the life of a person that dwells among others. Missions might be about going out and doing stuff, but comes back. Missions can also connote an activity or event where the proclamation of the gospel is primarily a bunch of facts one needs to know. In contrast, missional is about going out… and staying out… developing relationships with people and incarnating the gospel message to others.

Reggie McNeal addresses the Reformed Church in America’s leadership conference called, “One Thing.” He speaks about Kingdom in the video below. Wade through the first several minutes of bantering and listen to his teaching about the Kingdom and the church. He includes some interesting comments regarding the fastest growing religion in the world (Christianity - but contrary to this post by Steve Addison.)  McNeal references Philip Jenkins work that it is growing fastest in the Southern hemisphere and asks where is the church stagnant? (N. America)

Memorable lines:

“We have looked at the Kingdom through our church lenses. We need to look at the church through a Kingdom lenses.”

“We’ve worked hard to get the church where it is today.”

You can find both messages (video or audio) at the RCA site.

Here are a few photos from our last U40 meeting at Point Loma Nazarene University on Jun 14, 2008. Click through for more.

Ran across a video that was helpful in tweaking my understanding of poverty. Like many, I would attempt a definition that begins with the lack of something(s) material. In this video, Brazilian “crazy” pastor walks you through a thought experiment and highlights relationships as a critical component to poverty. Reductionistic? View, then comment below.

My friend Cari Jenkins informed me about a new book and documentary entitled, “Lord, Save us From Your Followers.” It is a humorous/incendiary documentary that explores the question, “Why is the Gospel of Love dividing America?” Though interviews, “Bumpersticker man”, and confessionals, this documentary can really stir some great conversations.

I’d like to see it. Let me know if you book it. In the meantime, click below to view the preview.

Visit the website for interviews, short clips, and a host of other things associated with the movie.

Hear the author and director Dan Merchant on a Today Show interview.

Take a few minutes to invest in your marriage and help others in theirs.

My friend, Dr. John Wu of Point Loma Nazarene University is conducting a study on marriage. While taking the survey will help John gather data for his study, the real benefit of taking the survey is for your own marriage. At least that was the case for me. I enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on my own marriage, and wonder how my wife would answer the questions herself.

It was easy to do, and took less than 15 minutes. It is completely confidential and anonymous. Click on the introductory video below.

Dr. Wu has also made available several great resources to help you in your relationship with your spouse.

Spent the weekend fixing the washing machine. Like many things I fix, had to do it twice.

OK, if you are here because you have a Kenmore front loading washing machine and it makes lots of noise during its spin cycles, I’ll share a few thoughts regarding it’s repair. it is likely the dual bearing that supports the inner tub assembly. Ours had been making noise for sometime, but lately it has gotten really loud, and (drumroll…) began to leak. Just the incentive I needed to fix the washer.

You’ll need to purchase the Rear Outer Tub Assembly for about $164. It contains the two bearings that need to be replaced. You cannot buy this separately. I got my part at AppliancePartsPros.com and they got it to me by the next day from N. California for only $6.95. Here is the parts link for the Kenmore 417.29052990 built by Frigidaire. The part is $180 at Sears. Diagrams can be found at their website by clicking on the image below.

Disassembly is pretty straightforward. To do this job, I can see no other way than removing the whole tub assembly from the cabinet. I borrowed two neighbors to help lift the tub out of the cabinet. It’s really heavy. (Tip: remove the motor, and unpin the shock absorbers at the tub assembly, remove top back support member so you can lift back and up.)

VERY IMPORTANT: The reason I had to do it twice is because after I got everything assembled, and went to reattach the rubber boot from the door opening to the tub… I couldn’t. So, while the tub is still out of the cabinet, remove the concrete counterweights on the front, reattach the boot to the front of the tub, reinstall the concrete weights, then slide the whole bit in. It is the only way.

It runs great now.