Missional Explorer

Networking Our Missional Exploration

As our kids hit the streets in their various third places, I am also pondering the use of networking technology which has become second nature to kids which may include the powerhouse community organizer of Facebook.  My idea over spring break has been to find a virtual classroom where I can interact with kids re: their Mission Explorations outside of the confines of an actual classroom.  To that end, I am developing a Facebook site for our class to be populated by class participants and. . . who knows else.  On one hand I am tempted to lock the site down to class members only for security reasons.  But, on the other hand, I am wondering if a locked-down site would defeat the very purpose of our Missional Exploration which is to engage our culture and the people that God brings our way. 

I think that most of the class is already on Facebook.  (I have had a Facebook account since last fall and while I do not allow current students on my site for various reasons, I have found Facebook to be a communication medium of gigantic proportions.  In fact, I opened a Facebook account when one of our graduates was tragically killed in a car accident last fall and we had graduates streaming back to school within an hour, hearing the news through cell phones and Facebook.)  Yet I know that some parents (including ironically me) have not allowed their kids onto this virtual playing field due to the dangers that often lurk in cyberspace.  Even so, I would like to try this thereby bending the Internet to more interesting directions.  And if parents do not want their kids on Facebook, I have created second and third options for interaction through a online blog and/or personal journal as they choose.  Yet another new experiment this year in Joining God's Mission.

From Thought Experiment to Lived Experience

Half-way through our class in Joining God's Mission, we are now making a transition from what Leonard Sweet calls a "thought experiment" (exploring mission from a Biblical and Cultural context) to an actual "lived experience" as the kids will be choosing a third place to engage in Missional Exploration.  Ethnologist Ray Oldenburg posed the concept of a third place which, together with home (our first place) and work/school (our second place) define and shape so much of who we are.  A third place is where we experience community by serendipity and/or intent.   It is Oldenburg's contention that we all yearn for the sense of conversation and community that have been lost with the demise of neighborhoods, front porches, block parties, etc.  Replacing these in our present culture are incidental places where community happens be they coffee shops, YMCA's, diners, or bookstores.   Third places are made for God encounters and conversations.  And, as Missional Explorations, I want my kids in class to identify and begin to study/hang out/look for God in one specific location.  

My guess is that some kids will take this on with relish, others will find this experience way outside their comfort zone while still others will probably think I'm crazy and will be bored to tears.  Yet aftertalking about God's mission in the world for the past 10 weeks, I want our kids to begin to look for and engage God's mission in what, at first glance, may appear to be the mundane of everyday life.   Needless to say I will be very interested in what my kids encounter as they look for God in their chosen third place.   As with so many others, kids often have no idea of how/where to listen and look for God.  In fact, this is the issue which vexes so many kids these days:their experience of God has been essentially confined to a mind game devised (and compartmentalized) as "church" so they generally have no idea how to listen for God let alone see His fingerprints at work. 

The Stunning Thing that Kids Don't Get

I asked a very straightforward question for a third time on a test this past week.  It is a question which we have discussed multiple times in class and which I have asked on two previous occasions.  Yet, after three tests and multiple conversations, my juniors just can't seem to get it.  Here is the question:

In Jesus we find the ultimate game-changer in God's Story with the self-announced arrival of what He called the "Kingdom" of God.  What did Jesus mean by the arrival of God's Kingdom and how/where can we see this "Kingdom" in our world today?

Rather than answering with any kind of meaning, passion, or purpose, my juniors continue to fall back onto (what they know and acknowledge are) tired church-lingo cliches which have absolutely no meaning for them but which continue to serve as almost "default" responses in lieu of internalizing a better Story.   When discussing this question, several students even denied that anything was "new" in Jesus or that Jesus was "unique"  in any way.  I can handle interpretive differences such as "This world is currently being run by who? (Satan or God, depending on one's worldview) or "Is everything that happens in this world God's Will ? (Yes or No, again depending on one's viewpoint).  What I can't handle is the colossally vague petrified responses that seem to rob Jesus of any purpose beyond "saving us from our sins".  If this is the best we can do in explaining God's Mission in the world, our next generation is in a heap of trouble . . which, of course, is already being played out in multiple surveys which demonstrate that kids intend to leave church/faith upon leaving home.   

Not that I really blame the kids.  The reality is that the fault is our's for consistently telling a Story that is not threatening, dangerous or compelling let alone worthy of devotion or the sacrifice of one's very life.  Kids have spent their entire (church) lives hearing a story (or worse, a disconnected series of stories) that is often on the level of children's fables with a ridiculously simplistic moral at the end.  With a lifetime of hearing only these stories to draw on, is it any wonder that kids don't get Jesus in any depth or detail.  Or worse yet, turn away from Jesus because they think they've heard/experienced it all when, in fact, they haven't even begun to live the Real Deal.

So I am discouraged at present with how to proceed.  How can I help kids "get" God's Mission in the world when they can't even "get" the One who is calling us there?      

One Year Better

I haven't blogged much in recent days in part because I've been spending so much time revising my junior class "Joining God's MIssion".  Now almost half way through this semester class, I can safely say that it is a much better class in both process and outcome.  Last year I was unknowingly struggling with kids who really  didn't care about God. . . so why would they care about joining His Mission in the world?  This year I spent much more time early unpacking God's Story along with why so many kids find this Story so unattractive.  This level of honesty I think helped provoke/draw kids into taking another look at God's Mission beyond the cliches and church propaganda.  With God's Story as a context, we then unpacked the importance of "culture" in Joining God's Mission.  Culture is almost always an awesome invitation for kids here in the States in part (I think) because Americans have rarely traveled abroad to engage different cultures.

With God's Story & culture as a context, we will now turn to Joining God's MIssion in our own culture.  Using an Australian curriculum called "Ignition", I want to now turn kids loose into our world find, observe, and participate in God's presence in the world.  They are already keeping a scrapbook on where they see God's fingerprints in the news.  Now the opportunity to see God what we often think is the mundane of everyday life where we (often without knowing it) rarely look for God.  More on this later.   

"Yes, It Bothers Me!"

Following up on my survey conversations with my junior class "Joining God's Mission", I finally asked what seems like a very important question last week:  "Does it bother you (disappointment, frustration, discouragement) that our experiences with Jesus and His Story do not elicit the same range of emotions as those who witnessed it first hand?  If yes, why?  If no, why not?"

Out of 12 kids present (3 were absent), 9 kids answered in writing "Yes, it does bother me that we  are not responding to Jesus with the same range of emotions as those of his day!"  Here are some of the comments: 

"It bothers me because what he did is so vital to understanding what the heck we are here for.  I want to feel and understand how they did and it bothers me because there seems to be a wall between me and that experience.  The question is how to tear down the wall or get round it." 

"Yes, it bothers me.  Without those emotions, it almost feels like Jesus and His Story is dead!"

"It absolutely does.  I want the same fervor in my relationship as those who knew Jesus personally.  I feel kind if distant if I don't feel joyous that I'm saved, confused by what my Teacher (Jesus) has said, or angered by what others say about Him.  It feels kind of unfair that I am benefiting without really getting intimate with my benefactor."

"Yes, its frustrating because, at least if we are pissed (about Jesus as some were in His time), it means that we are feeling something even if it is wrong.   I want our emotions--right or wrong--to be like they were then: VERY STRONG!"

I am delighted that my class is NOT SATISFIED with boredom and with indifference as so many people are within Christendom.  In my mind, Jesus (properly presented) should elicit the whole range of emotions.  He should anger us, confuse us, shock us, and leave us astonished just as He did in His time.  If today's "Jesus" does not elicit these responses (including the wild mystery of being God-man), it cannot be the real Jesus we are presenting.  

"The Original Eyewitnesses?"

If you've read my recent posting, you will know that my high school juniors generally (and candidly) find God's Story to be distant and boring.  "I've heard it 30,000,000 times before" is only one of many responses.  In order to challenge their perceptions of Jesus in particular, I continued my experiment in WHY??? by playing a 40-minute clip from the film Jesus of Nazareth beginning with Jesus reading from Isaiah in the synogogue thru Peter's stunning encounter with the tax-collecting Matthew.  While watching the film clip (exceptionally well done), I gave them a worksheet to record every emotion and/or response to Jesus that they saw in the people around him.  The emotions and reactions as demonstrated in the movie (and confirmed in the Gospels) ranged from outrage to chaos to confusion to astonishment. . . BUT NEVER BOREDOM!!  So my final question was this:  "If this is how the original eyewitnesses responded to Jesus, WHY DON'T WE RESPOND WITH THE SAME RANGE OF EMOTIONS??

Their answers were fascinating and I am continuing to unpack how to address them.   When speculating as to WHY our response is so incredibly different (boredom, indifference) than what we read/imagine in Jesus' own time, the kids responses generally centered around four main themes.  Response #1 which was, by far, the most common was "This Jesus we saw in the movie (or in the Bible) is NOT the Jesus we see/experience today!  Jesus isn't here to interact with as He was then. . . these events are not happening anymore. . . we cannot experience/encounter Jesus in person, etc.   Hence the kids obviously find the Jesus of the NT completely inassessable today.

Response #2-4 while less common were still revealing.  Response #2: "These encounters with Jesus in the movie/Bible were all new to the original eyewitnesses whereas we have seen/heard it all before.  The Bible is like a textbook to me now!  Its been drilled into us our whole lives.  And, in our time & place, it is not a shock when anyone follows Jesus."  Obviously (and for whatever reasons) the Story as its been lived/told has lost its ability to elicit any emotions whether anger or surprise.

Response #3 was "We are disillusioned!  By hypocrisy!  By our own need for entertainment (which we don't find in this Story)! By lack of practical relevance to our lives in 2009!"  Finally, here is a very telling comment from a student who, while lacking at present an understanding of Christendom, made this fascinating observation: "The original Jesus acted against the religion of His time which had been in place for centuries.  For us, Jesus IS the religion that has been in place for centuries.  He is the norm for us (not the exception)!"  As the norm of our culture, He cannot elicit the same emotions He once did and we, in turn, "no longer understand what it means to follow Jesus".

I am fascinated by these responses beyond words and the challenge is absolutely clear.  While I strongly believe that God has directed our class to this point, I am unsure how to present a Story and a Jesus that, while they have not yet experienced Him, will truly rock their worlds when He is encountered!  And, in my mind, this process must be lived out before I can expect them to want to "Join God's Mission" with their time, talent, and life itself.  

"Victory Without Honor is a Great Loss!"

Big time kudo's to The Covenant School in TX for the following statement and actions following their 100-0 blowout basketball "win" over another school.   AsFollowers-of-Jesus, we are massively broken and delusional if we ignore how corrupted we have become by our pathological approach to sports. . . especially in how we are defining"winning", "success", "competition", and "sportsmanship".  Thank God someone in TX had the vision and courage to take on the monster we have become when, with the goal of winning no matter what the cost (to self, team, or our partners in competition), we stomp our opponents into  the ground with trash-talking humiliation.  After years of watching high school sports at "Christian" schools here in Denver, I have seen this kind of behavior more times than I can possible count.  In my heart and mind, it is an abject betrayal of Jesus.  Kudos to Covenant School for the following statement.  At least someone in this God-forsaking sports world got it right.     

"The Covenant School, its board and administrators, regrets the incident of January 13 and the outcome of the game with the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team. It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened.  This clearly does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition. We humbly apologize for our actions and seek the forgiveness of Dallas Academy, TAPPS and our community.  The school and its representatives in no way support or condone the running up of a score against any team in any sport for any reason.  The school’s board members, Head of School Kyle Queal and Athletic Director Brice Helton have acted to ensure that such an unfortunate incident can never happen again.

Covenant school officials have met with and personally apologized to Dallas Academy Headmaster Jim Richardson and Athletic Director Jeremy Civello and wish to extend their highest praise to each member of the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team for their strength, composure and fortitude in a game in which they clearly emerged the winner.  Accordingly, The Covenant School has contacted TAPPS and is submitting a formal request to forfeit the game recognizing that a victory without honor is a great loss."

The Kids Know It!

After my juniors listened to each other "tell God's Story" last Wednesday, I followed up their "tellings" with a survey I conducted with them on Friday.  The survey questions are below along with a general description of their responses in italics.  As you will see, I think that the kids KNOW that their grasps of God's Story were somehow broken.  They are just not sure what the Story really is.  And, in my estimation, they are desperately hoping (and needing) the Story to be worthy of their time, attention, participation, and life.  In other words, what I am hearing time and again is "Please, Jim, tell me a Story of God that is NOT stale, uninteresting, and mind/heart-numbingly boring!  I want to embrace such a Story but, quite frankly, I've never heard one in my life!"  Here is the survey and a summary of their responses.

1. How well do you think your class understood/told the Story of God on Wednesday?  Was it inviting? Was it compelling?  Did it draw you in?   Did it capture your imagination?   Did it capture the mystery, danger, and controversy of the real Story?   Did it capture the unknowns. . . the stuff we don’t get very well?   Did it capture your heart and soul?   Was your tellings accurate to the real Story in terms of facts?   Was your tellings accurate to the real Story in terms of how the original people would have heard it and/or received it?

Results of Survey: Your class answered “No, the tellings of God’s Story last week were NOT inviting, compeling, did not capture my imagination, my heart, etc.” about 75% of the time!

2. If you answered “no” to any of the above, briefly explain your opinion as to WHY? your tellings of the Story did not match the above descriptions.

Results of Survey: As to WHY your tellings of God’s Story were inadequate, your nswers suggested that many of you found your tellings “boring, clinical, heard-it-all-hundreds-of-times-before, accurate with facts but not with the essence of the Story, and lacked any passion whatsoever”. Lastly, one of you insisted (accurately in my mind) that “the original people would have told the Story from their souls. . . with so much excitement that they couldn’t hold it in”! Two questions then emerge from your comments: (1) Why don’t we tell the Story in this way? (2) What will it take for us to be able to tell God’s Story in a way that captures all of the above? The answers to these questions would seem to be really important if we are to truly “Join God’s Mission”! Perhaps we need to hear/understand/tell and ultimately re-discover God’s Story in a new way?

Desperately Needing a New Telling!

This past week I assigned my Joining God's Mission juniors the task of telling God's Story without using religious or church language.  Splitting them into four groups of four, each group presented their "telling" yesterday.  While the effort was there, the results were predictably abysmal, lacking any sense of excitement, wonder, mystery, danger, imagination, etc.  Mostly their tellings were a straightforward regurgitation of Sunday School stories (with morals at the end) and rote doctrines taken from any number of belief statements.  I assigned this task with great intentionality because, beginning tomorrow, I would like them to discover for themselves how completely uninteresting their tellings are and, conversely, how desperately we need to discover new ways of telling God's story that match the God (and the people) who genuinely found LIFE in the process.

How to help them re-tell God's Story in this new way is, of course, the challenge of our day with kids who rightfully find the old story meaningless, dull, and incomprehensibly NOT compelling!  Tomorrow I hope to set up some context for hearing/experiencing God's Story in a new way.  Not sure what will happen but the need is ginormous!  Any suggestions?

Its a New Way of Life

Encouraged by my friend, Jeff (who dropped 55 pounds in 2008 from 235 to 180), and bolstered by my need for a healthier more sustainable personal lifestyle, I started on the South Beach diet on the day after Christmas.  I am one week into the two week Phase One which essentially eliminates ALL sugars and starches from my food.  Out goes all fruit, breads, and sweets of any kind for two weeks. In comes a radically new way of life re:what I eat.   My wife is right.  I do NOT intend this to be a "diet" just to lose weight but a whole new way of living re:food.  So, for the first time in my life, I am scrutinizing labels carefully all the while getting a new education of the poor habits I've been practicing (unknowingly) for 54 years as well as the healthier habits I need to acquire.  To be sure, my short term goal is to drop 15 pounds by my birthday in June.  But my long term goal is to drastically improve my eating habits with regard to salt, processed sugars, white flour, etc. moving intentionally towards new habits of whole grains and fresh foods.  Part of this is driven by the results of 54 years of indiscriminate eating which has contributed to high blood pressure, weight gain, and shortness of breath.  The rest is the joy of taking on a new challenge and discipline.  For the first time in my life, I am learning about what I am eating rather than just eating it.  

Jeff and another friend, Dave (who is currently in the hospital) are about my age and have each suffered heart attacks.  I'd rather learn the easy way than the hard way they had to take.  And I appreciate Jeff's encouragement to take this on while I have the health to change some things that are long overdue.