Alan Hirsch

Last week I traveled to Kidderminster to hear Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways and co-author or The Shaping of Things to Come, speak to a group of Together in Mission master class students. I promised that I would be coming back here to list some of the poignant thoughts from the time. Maybe some of these will spark some discussion? Here’s some of what I found fascinating about this time.

Jesus

• We’ve lived in 17 centuries of Christianity, this is the first time we’ve been post-Christian.
• The path of innovation: Innovators -> Early Adopters -> Adopters -> Late Adopters -> Resistors.
• Our credibility is gone because of preconceived ideas of Christianity. So, “Shhhhh.” Live it.
• Christianity takes constantly going back to Jesus.
• Christianity - Jesus = Religion. Religion is the very thing that Jesus came to save us from.
• What if Jesus did turn up? Religious people didn’t like him. His harshest criticism was for the religious.
• How do we become people of The Way again?
• Paulinism seeks to replace Jesus with Paul. Paul is not our savior.

Making Disciples

• Romantic love isn’t enough. Sacrificial love is.
• Become like Christ, but keep your personality intact!
• Engage others…life on life.
• The problem with “seeker-sensitive” is that is misunderstands the Great Commission as an evangelistic text, which it is not. Our goal: discipleship.
• Meaning, identity, purpose, belonging. Advertising reaches into our faith.
• If you believe something to be true, you must be changed by it.
• The ART of disciple making is gone. People cannot be entertained into discipleship.

Incarnational Missional Impulse

• A system’s weakest point determines its overall strength.
• Church currently operates under the idea of evangelistic attraction.
• If you’re idea of success in church is institutional, then you will measure in numbers, maturity, money, and resources. This is not good for crossing boundaries. It leads to evangelism with the expectation of joining that particular church.
• Think of a zygote. The question isn’t “How can we grow.” It’s “How can we multiply.” Start with multiplication in mind.
• “I’ve never seen a church that starts with Bible study become missional, but I’ve seen missional churches have Bible studies.”
• Plant a movement, not a church. When thinking missionally, think, “What is good news for these people? What is church for these people?” What is their real search?
• “All our vices are virtues gone wrong.” C.S. Lewis

Adventure in the Venture

• Communitas: living within a common ordeal
• Liminality: unfamiliar territory, pushed to the margin, forced to restructure, associates become comrades, relationships are restructured
• Losing together is also bonding. Find comradeship in shared events.
• Adventure is good for the human soul
• In relationship to God, we’re all the feminine (receivers)
• One will not find a solution until one finds the uncomfort of the problem

Apostolic Environment

• Without a missional leadership, you will not get mission
• Apostle: a person who generates - sniffs the wind for what’s coming
• Prophet: challenges the status, has an ear to God, speaks with insight and challenge
• Evangelist: recruiters, infectious, creates movements
• Shepherd: creates community and connectedness
• Teacher: disperses wisdom and understanding
• A leader creates an environment, a vibe and has inspirational authority
• The cross is not coercion, it’s a drawing in
• Real leadership disturbs the system - a leader is not going to be popular
• Apostolic job description: missional, seeds DNA, guards DNA, is a sentinel
• The more complicated one makes church, the more the church is slowed down
• What we’re not maturing: (Ephesians 4) apostles, prophets, evangelists have been sidelined
• Leadership is a calling within a calling

Organic Systems

• Characteristics of a movement: 1) There’s a vibe 2) There’s a chaordic structured network 3) It seems to spread like a virus 4) There’s a commitment to reproducing the church

Still with me? Wow, that’s a lot to pack in to one full day and the morning of a second. I was writing furiously and listening intently. Now I’m off to begin reading his book. I’m intrigued and I like that didn’t just accept everything he said, but rather, and ready to work this stuff out - because that’s part of the fun.

So, any thoughts sparked? Anything that made you think? Let’s start a conversation in the comments.

Today I’m off to spend a day in discussion with Alan Hirsch and a group of master-class students. We’ll be talking about topics related to Alan’s newest book The Forgotten Ways.

Alan Hirsch

He has co-authored a book called The Shaping of Things to Come with Michael Frost (see all CONSTANTjourney posts about Michael Frost), who is responsible for the book I have found to be completely inspirational, Exiles: Living Missionally In A Post-Christian Culture (see all CONSTANTjourney posts about this book).

I realize there are a lot of links in that previous paragraph; sorry about that. I’ll post some stuff here when I return to highlight some of what I’ve learned from our talks.

One of the things I am most focused on right now is ensuring that I am loving the people I come into contact with, whether accidentally or intentionally. Am I showing them the love of Christ by being authentically interested in them and their lives and am I pushing my own boundaries of comfort on a daily basis? In continuing to read Starving Jesus, I’ve come across the following excerpt:

Setting that course for utter dependence on God means giving up everything and creating outreach that leaves people thinking. Blind faith in the hands of the hungry yields power and freedom to do anything short of sin to capture the imagination and passion of any generation on the planet. With that freedom and power comes a responsibility to keep yourself level and strong before God as you reach into your community in the name of Christ. …

… Get outside and touch the hand of someone with needs.  

What do you think of that? I for one want to make sure that I am pushing that envelope to reach out and share the love I got from Jesus first with those who also get it first.

Note: Click here for more posts about Starving Jesus.