Are you happening to mission or is mission happening to you?

This Sunday will be 8 weeks since we launched Southlands Fullerton. God has been exceedingly good to us, and it is so satisfying to see the fruition of almost two years of prayer and planning.

There has been early traction in the Sunday gatherings, with an energetic buzz of volunteers,
a full house in Laguna theatre, clear preaching of message and mission, and a wonderful sense of God's presence as we've worshipped and prayed for one another.Visitor quotient has been good too. Perhaps even more important vital signs of life, have been the after-service community gatherings, and the launch of six life groups, who are already finding creative ways to be a faithful presence in the city. Nick and Kari and the lead team have done a remarkable  job of planting a community on mission,
not just a meeting.

Southlands Brea has risen to the challenge of the new season with energy, generosity and composure. Obviously it is feeling the effects of sending out  many high quality people; leaders, musicians, volunteers and just all-round great disciples. But that's the way it should be in these seasons. Of course it means a season of re-building for Brea, and that means new people playing new roles on the building site. Let's dig in deep here, trusting God for increased traction, momentum and life. We are not left behind. We are staying behind on mission with great Gospel intent!

Rynelle said to me a few days ago, "You know, it is one thing when you happen to mission. It is another thing when mission happens to you." I would say that is a profound way to describe the dynamics of the two communities. In Fullerton, because people are going ready on mission, they are happening to mission. They are expecting the unfamiliar, the uncomfortable and the new. In some ways, that is easier because you count the cost of  moving to a new place. At Brea, mission is happening to us. We have not moved physically, but we feel the effects of mission - less people, more work and no sense of the novelty of a new adventure. But actually, it is a brand new adventure for us. It is just happening in the same geography! There is new risk and new reward.

 In 1 Samuel 30, when David left with soldiers to plunder the Amalekites,  some people stayed behind with the baggage. On returning with the plunder after victory, he insisted that those who stayed behind  would share in the plunder of battle. This is an insight into Gospel mission. Whether we go or stay, we share in the risks and rewards of the Gospel. It is so important as a church for us all to count the cost of this mission, being ready to share in it's  risk because we all share in it's reward.

God is faithful. He is already sending great new people our way. On Sunday we welcome in 22 new members in at Brea. There are new members about to be prayed in at Fullerton too. Financial giving has also increased to meet the needs of the new season, and we are grateful for that. As well as that, this weekend Erik and Celeste take 20 people away fro the Alpha Holy Spirit Weekend. Most of these are people exploring the Christian faith. This is magnificent, and requires our prayer.

What a joy to be under the pressure of Gospel multiplication. May Jesus, who commissioned us to make disciples, empower us,  unite us, and cause us to walk boldly in His peaceful authority.

Teams and Truth-in-Tension.

Most leaders know and love the promise in Isaiah 54 where God says, ‘Enlarge the place of your dwelling, for you will spread out to the right and the left.’ It speaks of expansion, growth, and multiplication. However, many ignore the little precursor to the promise, in which God counsels, “Lengthen your chords, strengthen your stakes. ” Using the metaphor of a tent, God is saying that for enlargement  to take place in a sustainable way, we will need longer tent chords and  stronger stakes.
In other words,  greater growth will require greater tension.

Andy Stanley, alludes to this in his book Deep and Wide.
“Most situations in church are not problems to solve. They are tensions to manage.”
When leaders and teams have an aversion to tension, they tend towards simplistic solutions to any situation that challenges the status quo. They try and resolve that which is not meant to be resolved. This invariably means that they have a smaller tent or sphere of influence. The idea of healthy tension can apply to finance, vision, relationships and administration. Growth places a healthy tension upon all of these. But I want to look specifically at managing  truth in tension as a precursor to expansion.

As I said, not all truth is truth in tension.
There should be some non-negotiable truths which are like stakes in the ground.
But most truth is truth in tension.  It is managing the tension between too seemingly opposing truths.
As we manage this tension, we create a safe and sane space in which people can live with freedom and conviction. This is a key to expansion and mission. I have already blogged about this as it pertains to a community, but what about a leadership team specifically?

Here 5 truths in tension which we are trying to manage well as a leadership team in our community and some questions you could be asking in your team.

1. Pleasure and Pain.
We see this in Paul’s letter to the Colossian church. He is full of gratitude for what God has done in the church,(1:3)  but he never ceases praying for them. (1:9) He struggles for them (2:1) and rejoices in them (2:5) This is a great description of the highs and lows of leadership. Our season brings with it the pleasure of a new community gaining traction, the fresh response of volunteers, some wonderful God encounters, seekers in our relational nets, the possibility of new leaders filling new gaps, the provision of finance, and the arrival of new visitors. The pain we feel, may include fatigue from an extra meeting load, pastoral stress over unhappy people, the increased complexity of teams within a team, the frustration with volunteers, the sense of the unknown in terms of how your new ministry role, the sacrifice of sending good people out and now having to fill the gaps left, the sense of being left ‘back at the ranch’ instead of being on a new journey. You don’t resolve pain in ministry. It just is. But we can learn healthy ways to deal with it. What’s you greatest pleasure and what’s your greatest pain in ministry right now?

2. Grace and Truth
Jesus came full of grace and truth. It wasn’t a little bit of both. It was full doses of both. In fact, grace makes no sense unless we have heard the truth that we have sinned and are in need of a Savior. We want to be kind and generous in the way we think and speak about others whether they agree or disagree with us, while also clearly communicating what we believe and why we believe it. Building around truth without grace leads to condemnation, and means we do not take people with us towards our vision. Building around grace without truth leads to license and laziness and means people may be with us, but are not going anywhere. Are you more of a grace giver or more of a truth teller? How can you grow? Who is the one person/couple that you most need to lead in grace and truth?

3.Continuity and Change
 We want to be faithful stewards of what God has done in the past in our community, guarding the good deposit left by our predecessor, while leaning courageously  into the new things that we see God is doing. Continuity acknowledges that God was at work before we were, and gives people a sense of His faithfulness. If we are handing off a ministry, it means that we finish the task entrusted to us through good mentoring and delegation. Colossians 4:17 “Say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry you have received in the Lord.” But if we are never courageous enough to make changes we become maintainers instead of ‘faithful stewards who give God a return.’ In what area are you needing to ensure continuity and in what area are you needing to bring change?

4. Structured and Organic
The Bible describes God as a Creator and a Designer. The Church is described as a field and a household. It is called to be rooted in love and grounded on Christ. So we manage the tension of being organic and structured. With growth comes complexity which requires more structure.
What is the area of structure to which I am giving myself?
How do we structure for organic life? Where does structure kill life?


5. Generalist and Specialist.
Tim Keller says that as a church grows, its staff moves from generalists to specialists. We have moved from ‘rugby’ to ‘football’ in many ways. This is necessary. But we cannot lose the New testament call to servanthood which means we will ‘fill the gap’ where there is a need. Epaphras was a ‘brother, worker, soldier, messenger, intercessor. What are the primary gaps that need filling in our season?

6. Unity and Diversity – we want to maintain the unity of the Spirit while we attain to the unity of the faith. While there are some truths which are foundational to the life of our community, there are others that are not unity breakers. Unity does not equal conformity. It simply requires that we remember that as embers of Christ , we belong to one another, and that we  can do more together than we can apart!

How is Jesus an anchor for my soul?

The  second verse of Edward Mote's hymn, 'On Christ the Solid rock I stand,"
 is one of my favorites.
When darkness seems to hide his face, I rest on His unchanging grace,
In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.
So vivid. So stirring. Christ is an anchor for our souls.

But what does that essentially mean? What is the basis of that promise?
It's taken from Hebrews 6:19-20. "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor for the soul, a hope that enters the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a High Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek."

I see 3 ways here in which Christ is an anchor for our souls.

Christ is an anchor for our souls because he is a High Priest who has made a way to God's presence for us. The veil that separated an unholy people from a holy God has been torn in His broken body.
We have access to God's presence through Jesus' body, to find grace and mercy in storms of need.

Christ is an anchor for our souls because he is a High Priest who sympathizes with us and strengthens us in our weakness, having been tempted in every way, yet being found without sin. He lives to pray for us at His Father's right hand with priestly power to present us faultless to His Father on that Day!

And finally, Christ is an anchor for our souls because he is a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was the priest who blessed Abraham, confirming God's promise to bless him and make him a blessing to all nations. So the promise that is an anchor for our souls is not just a personal priestly promise. It is a commissioning promise.
It is a promise that God will lead us on a multiplying mission to all nations!
It is a promise, that when believed upon and obeyed, often brings its own storm to our souls.
The storm of commission includes the pain of sending/leaving people you love, the cost of giving of your best, the insecurity of unchartered waters, the cold wind of stretched resources, the icy fear of possible failure or rejection.

God's promise is that as we obey Jesus the Great Commissioner, we experience Jesus The High Priest, who calms our fears, undergirds our insecurities and strengthens our frailties.
Christ is the forerunner. He has fulfilled His mission and can now help us on the same journey.
Christ is not only a forerunner who helps us in the storm of temptation.
He is a forerunner who strengthens us in the storm of mission!
This is a sure and steadfast anchor for our souls.