Where this form of dualism happens most often, is in our understanding of vocation. The word vocation comes from the Latin vocatio, meaning a call, or summons. It is normally used to refer to a calling or occupation that a person is drawn to or is particularly suited for. The problem of work dualism goes back to the fourth century when Augustine compartmentalize the way people lived when he spoke of the contemplative life and the active life. For Augustine, the contemplative life was given to sacred things and deemed a higher calling, while the active life was given to secular things and regarded as a lower calling.

However, during the Protestant Reformation, in the 1500s, Martin Luther rejected this division between sacred and secular vocations. He broadened the concept of vocation from a very narrow church focus (the priesthood, nuns or monks), to describe the life and work of all Christians in response to God’s call. Luther argued that regardless of the vocation that God called someone to, it was sacred, because it was God who did the calling. Therefore, it can be said that the doctrine of “the priesthood of all believers did not make everyone into church workers; rather, it turned every kind of work into a sacred calling.” (1) Bottom line—all work matters!

But unfortunately, many Christians still see their work as nothing more than a necessary evil. They don’t understand how their “ordinary” everyday life is part of the mission of God. In the book The Mission of God’s People Christopher Wright speaks about how this distorted view of vocation sometimes makes it difficult for people to see what they do outside the church is equally as important, as what they might do inside the church.

God, it would seem, cares about the church and its affairs, about missions and missionaries, about getting people to heaven, but not about how society and its public places are conducted on earth. The result of such dichotomized thinking is an equally dichotomized Christian life. In fact, it is a dichotomy that gives many Christians a great deal of inner discomfort caused by the glaring disconnect between what they think God most wants and what they most have to do. Many of us invest most of the available time that matters (our working lives) in a place and a task that we have been led to believe does not really matter much to God—the so-called secular world of work—while struggling to find opportunities to give some leftover time to the only things we are told does matter to God—evangelism. (2)

Therefore, part of helping people engage God’s mission in the workplace, must begin by giving them a fresh perspective on their vocation, and helping them see how it fits into the broader picture of mission. We must help them understand that when they leave the house on Monday morning to “go to work” they do not somehow leave God behind.

Work as Worship

Another reason all work matters is because of the connection Scripture makes between work and worship. The language of work in Genesis 2:15 (“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”) is rooted in the Hebrew word avodah, which in English is translated “to cultivate.”

In the Old Testament, the word avodah is translated in several different ways. In some cases, it is rendered as “work,” “service,” or “craftsmanship.” But other times it is translated as “worship.” Avodah is used to describe the hard work of God’s covenant people making bricks as slaves in Egypt (Ex. 1:14), the artists building the tabernacle (Ex. 35:24), and the fine craftsmanship of linen workers (1 Chron. 4:21). Avodah also appears in the context of Solomon dedicating the temple. Solomon employs this word as he instructs the priests and Levites regarding their service in leading corporate worship and praise of the one true God (2 Chron. 8:14). Tom Nelson, in his book Work Matters, summarizes this important connection between work and worship when he writes:

Whether it is making bricks, crafting fine linen, or leading others in corporate praise and worship, the Old Testament writers present a seamless understanding of work and worship. Though there are distinct nuances to avodah, a common thread of meaning emerges where work, worship, and service are inextricably linked and intricately connected. The various usages of this Hebrew word found first in Genesis 2:15 tell us that God’s original design and desire is that our work and our worship would be a seamless way of living. Properly understood, our work is to be thoughtfully woven into the integral fabric of Christian vocation, for God designed and intended our work, our vocational calling, to be an act of God-honoring worship. (3)

However, too often we think of worship as something we do on Sunday and work as something we do on Monday. This dichotomy is clearly not what God designed nor what he desires for our lives. God designed work to have both a vertical and horizontal dimension. We work to the glory of God (vertical) and for the furtherance of His mission and the common good (horizontal).

God is at Work – at Our Work

Building on the idea that all work is a sacred calling, the second key aspect of understanding our work is to realize that God is active in our workplaces. As Christians, we need to see that our work is not primarily about economic exchange. It is not about climbing the corporate ladder. It is not about achieving the American dream. Instead it is about contributing to and participating in God’s mission.

In a fascinating angle on vocation, Luther says that vocation is a mask of God. That is, God hides himself in the workplace:

To speak of God being hidden is a way of describing His presence, as when a child hiding in the room is there, just not seen. To realize that the mundane activities that take up most of our lives—going to work, taking the kids to soccer practice, picking up a few things at the store, going to church—are hiding places for God can be a revelation in itself. Most people seek God in mystical experiences, spectacular miracles, and extraordinary acts they have to do. To find Him in vocation brings Him, literally, down to earth, makes us see how close He really is to us, and transfigures everyday life. (4)

In the simplest terms, Luther is reminding us that God is at work—at our work. God is active in and through our places of work, we just need to find Him there.

1. Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2002), p. 19.
2. Christopher Wright., The Mission of God.
3. Tom Nelson. Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday Work (p. 26).
4. Veith.

——

Here’s a personal example of being included relationally from my own life. During my senior year of high school, I worked part-time on a large farm just outside of town. During the fall there were so many acres needing to be plowed that for several days tractors would operate late into the evening. Being the youngest worker and the only non-family member, I usually drew the shortest straw and was stuck with the late-night shift.

One evening I didn’t finish plowing until around one in the morning. As I drove the tractor back to the barn I noticed a light on in farmhouse. When I reached the barn, Betty a wonderful Christian wife and mother in that farming family, came out to tell me that she’d kept dinner warm and invited me to eat before traveling home. I sat at one end of the large kitchen table, enjoying a huge plate of chicken, potatoes, green beans, and homemade dinner rolls, while Betty asked me questions about my life and family.

I had never had an adult outside of my own family welcome me in such a way. Betty not only opened her home to me, she welcomed me into her family. More than thirty years later I still vividly remember what it felt like to be included. I experienced true biblical hospitality that evening. As a young man who was experiencing the standard feelings of teenage rebellion and confusion, I felt loved, honored and welcomed that night. And I remember, as someone who didn’t know Jesus, wondering what on earth made this woman different. Why did she care to know who I was? Why did she want to hear my story? And why was I more than simply a boy who was hired to drive a tractor? In that simple act of hospitality, Betty gave me a glimpse into an alternative way of living.

Hospitality is a practice that asks us to do what in the world’s eyes might seem inconsequential but from the perspective of the gospel is a manifestation of God’s kingdom. Looking back I can now see that is exactly what I experienced around that kitchen table that evening—a manifestation of God’s kingdom. I was being invited into another family.

The following list is the result of my own reflection on each of these questions. I have thought about the activities and practices that have shaped me the most over the past three decades. These lessons are simply descriptive of my own journey. While some of them may not fit who you are, I wish someone had shared each of these with me many years ago.

1.  Focus less attention on being a great “leader” and more on being a great follower – especially of Jesus.

I wish I would have spent much less time reading the latest, popular “leadership” book and spent more time discovering what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. What does it really mean to become more and more like Jesus? What does it look like in your life to die to self? And what are the implications of being a true servant, rather than a leader? We need to admit that too much of church leadership culture is taken from the business world, and not from the Bible. Before you read another “leadership” book, read UnLeader by Lance Ford. And in an overarching sense, be less “church-centric” and more “Christ-centric.” Focusing too much attention on the programs and activities of the church inevitably leads to pragmatism and reliance on human ingenuity, which unfortunately includes the misguided way we understand Christian leadership.

2.  Focus on your spiritual formation.

Spend more time emphasizing the formation of your heart, over the transfer of information to your head. Be sure to carve out significant time for reflection. Create margin in your life where you can be alone and reflect on how God is shaping and forming you. But also make certain that much of your reflection is done in the company of others. You must have intentional, yet informal conversations with others, whereby struggles and victories can be shared openly; especially around missional engagement. I am convinced that an often-missing piece of the discipling process is the lack of communal reflection.  We are “discipled” as we share with others how the Spirit is forming our hearts as we engage God’s mission. Discipleship is a relational, communal activity. But you must have margin in your life to allow that to take place.

3.  Focus less time on cultivating your speaking skills and more time on becoming a great listener.

You will discover that many of the mistakes you make relationally, will be because you didn’t listen well. Listen to understand. Listen closely to God. Listen to your community. Listen to others. Additionally, become a good networker with other kingdom-minded people, and listen well to what they are doing in your city.

4.  Discover opportunities to teach.

One of the very best, and earliest disciplines for my spiritual growth involved teaching; Sunday school classes, small groups, and eventually courses at two different colleges. Most teachers will tell you that you never learn more than when you prepare to teach others. If you don’t enjoy teaching, or do not believe you are gifted in that area, engage in some form of study or education that forces you to dig deep into subjects. I have found this also to be true while working on three college/seminary degrees.

5.  Cultivate a rhythm of writing.

Similar to teaching, writing forces you to integrate and clarify ideas. Develop a regular pattern of writing; perhaps begin to blog or post notes on Facebook where others have the opportunity to read and respond, or maybe simply start to journal for your own edification. Regardless, create some avenue to write on a daily, or at least weekly basis.

6.  Don’t allow a critical spirit to foster.

Further, don’t confuse a prophetic calling with a critical spirit. A prophet sees what is wrong, and calls it out for the purpose of having things change for the better. A critical spirit is simply that – critical, condemning and cynical. Nothing is gain by being critical of someone in ministry that does things differently than you do. A critical spirit serves no one. I am not sure if this adage originated with Alan Hirsch, but I heard it first from him; “The best critique of the bad is the practice of the better.” We would all do well to repeat that to ourselves at least once a day.

7.  Operate out of an attitude of abundance, not scarcity.

A mentality of scarcity fosters hoarding, stinginess, jealousy and fear of failure. You can’t grow as a leader and live out of a posture of scarcity. Instead believe there is plenty for everyone. Be generous. Be open-handed. Welcome competition. Embrace risk. Think the best of people, and imagine the best is yet to come.

8.  Set aside time for personal wellness.

Schedule time every day to focus on your health. If you intend to be available to invest in the lives of others, you need to be willing to invest in your physical health just as you would your spiritual health. Wellness is not merely about the quantity of life, but quality. When healthy, you will have more energy both mentally and physically to serve others.

9.  Realize leadership development is a long process.

Be patient. God uses all of your experiences to form you into the leader you are, and will become. And in most cases the greatest opportunities for influence come in a later season of life. In the book, The Making of a Leader, author Robert Clinton uses the word “convergence” to speak of the stage of life where God brings all of our struggles and experiences together for maximum influence. It is the culmination of everything that God used in our lives to make us the person we are. The reality is that this season of convergence comes most often, after years of lessons learned. It is only now, after looking back over decades of life experiences that I see clearly how, and why God has led me to this place.

What is the alternative? We must begin with missionary activity. Instead of starting with “church” and trying to get to discipleship and mission, we must start with discipleship and mission and work toward church.

Too often church planters start with Christians from another church or they gather disconnected believers from around a city. This may be well-intentioned and might be better than nothing at all, but in most cases, that is simply starting a church with a church. We need to think differently about the flow or direction of starting a new church. We need a new framework, a new way to think about planting that doesn’t begin with Sunday.

For more on rethinking church and mission, check out this free download.

The Latin word is collaborare, which is the combination of the prefix “co” (derived from the Latin word “com”), meaning “with or together,” and the word laborare, which means “to labor, toil, or struggle.” To collaborate, therefore, is to labor together, even struggling for a common purpose. Collaboration is an active and deliberate effort at working together.

People often use words like “connect,” “coordinate,” or “cooperate” interchangeably with the word “collaborate.” However, this tends to limit the power of genuine collaboration.

When we connect with someone, we meet together. Share ideas. We may even know another person well. But that is not collaboration. We are simply connected.

When groups coordinate, it means they are going to work together, rather than compete. But this is not the same as collaborating, because the success of the two groups remains separate.

Collaborating also is not the same as cooperating. When we cooperate, we help one another. We assist others when they have a need. When we cooperate, we may work together for a common purpose, but usually none of the parties takes responsibility for the outcome. Further, cooperation often speaks of being passive, rather than active. We go along with what someone else wants to do. Lastly, cooperation is normally additive, not multiplicative. In other words, our efforts are not multiplied; instead, we simply add the resources of the two groups together. (1) 

Collaboration, on the other hand, is doing more together than we could do alone. Inter-dependency is woven together for the greater good. Instead of the addition of resources, synergy multiplies when we do things together. The whole is always more than the sum of its parts.

The goal of collaboration as a church is the spiritual and social transformation of a city. Spiritual transformation occurs when people begin to love God with all their hearts, souls, minds. and strength (Luke 10:27). Societal transformation happens when people love their neighbors as themselves and, as a result, strive to bring about the restoration of the broken places and systems of their city (Isa. 58:12).

But what does it look like to be a collaborator with others in your city? Here are three key characteristics of an effective collaborator:

1. Collaborators have a kingdom perspective

The “kingdom of God” (or “kingdom of heaven”) was Jesus’ favorite way of talking about the gospel. The language is unmistakable throughout the Gospels: “The kingdom of heaven is like this,” “The kingdom of heaven is within you,” “The kingdom of God has come near,” “until the kingdom of God comes,” “I must preach the kingdom of God.”

But how are we to grasp the way Jesus spoke of the kingdom? A good place to start is to understand that the word “kingdom” is a combination of two words: “king” and “domain.” It refers to the realm of a king’s dominion, including his decrees, codes, and commands. Citizens in a kingdom must abide by the laws of their king and give him their total allegiance. A kingdom refers to the king’s reign, where what the king wants done, gets done.

Now for our purposes, let’s understand the kingdom of God to be God’s active reign through history, bringing about His purposes in the world through Jesus. In the simplest of terms, the kingdom of God is what the world looks like when King Jesus gets His way.

In the book Kingdom First, author Jeff Christopherson challenges us to consider the kingdom this way:

Although brokenness abounds within individuals, institutions, and structural systems, there is good news. Jesus, our triumphant King, wants things to be much different in our damaged world. He desires to bring the peace of His atonement and His eternal victory into all the manifestations of brokenness in our world (according to Col. 1:19–20). While we now live in the tension that we will not wholly see the fullness of Christ’s peace until the new heaven and the new earth, there is a promise of peace where sorrow currently abounds. is is the gospel of the Kingdom….

According to Jesus, who is the gospel, He Himself proclaimed the good news, liberated captives, healed the sick, freed the oppressed, and brought the Lord’s favor to the least. All of this was Jesus’ activity on this earth and His fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy. This work of our King is what brings the Kingdom of God to the dark and broken realities of a desperate world. Peace where there was chaos. Healing where there was pain. Comfort where there was deep sorrow. Wholeness where there was systemic fragmentation. (2)

A church leader with a kingdom perspective sees the church as an outpost of the kingdom that exists to bring God’s influence into the affairs of the community. This will certainly involve proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, for the purpose of seeing people reconciled to God and each other, through the atoning work of Jesus. But a leader with a kingdom-centered perspective also will speak up about a broader range of kingdom concerns. They will see the necessity of working to address quality-of-life issues like health care, literacy, institutional and generational poverty, racism, and the environment.

Church leaders whose priority is simply to build their church are not functioning in proper alignment with a kingdom perspective. Church activities that function primarily to keep church members happy violate the true nature and essence of the church. We simply cannot fully understand the scope and depth of the congregation’s mission unless we see it in relation to the kingdom of God in the world. The church must embrace and embody a new narrative that is motivated by God’s mission and kingdom concerns rather than church issues.

Church planters with a collaborative vision will see their church as an instrument of something much greater than themselves. They are tools of the kingdom of God. We in the church often wrongly assume that the primary activity of God is in the church, rather than recognizing that God’s primary activity is in the world, and the church is God’s instrument sent into the world to participate in His kingdom mission of redemption. It is interesting to note that being an instrument of the kingdom represents an active role. In other words, we are actively discovering ways to join in the kingdom agenda. We are constantly looking for ways to participate in God’s mission. For this reason, Paul can address Christians as “co-workers for the kingdom of God” (Col. 4: 11) and consider them to be “suffering” for the reign of God (2 Thess. 1: 5).

Collaboration is so closely tied to a kingdom perspective because when we fully grasp the grand nature of the kingdom, we will begin to recognize this kind of work can’t be accomplished in isolation. We will view the city through a wider lens, one that must involve collaboration with other churches.

One church inherently has a limited view of the needs and assets in the community. Churches working together for community transformation will have a much broader, more realistic picture and holistic understanding of the needs —and therefore can do a better job of meeting the needs.

2. Collaborators seek the welfare of the city

In the prophetic book of Jeremiah, we read how the nation of Israel had forsaken God’s law and, as a result, found themselves taken into captivity and exiled far from their Jerusalem homeland. God had sent the Babylonian empire to discipline His people. As they were relocated to a foreign, idolatrous land, they began to hear that their time there would be short. False prophets were telling the nation of Israel that God would soon deliver them and that settling into this new, strange land was foolish. God’s Word to the exiles, through the prophet Jeremiah, was quite different.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare (Jer. 29:4-7, ESV).

The words of Jeremiah were shocking. The premise of his message was that the exiles would be in Babylon for several generations—at least 70 years, a time period that included not only the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar but of his son and grandson (Jer. 25:11; 27:7; 29:10), and that the Israelites would simply need to come to terms with this fact. God was telling them to settle down and get used to being in this hostile, ungodly place.

Toward this end, Jeremiah counseled his community to not be nostalgic for the past, for the past could not be recovered. He did not advise them to plan for insurrection, for there was no promise of their restoration in Jerusalem, at least not anytime soon. Nor was the community’s survival tied to the remnant that remained in Jerusalem (Jer. 24:5-10). For Jeremiah, exile did not mean that God had abandoned Israel. Rather, exile was the place where God was at work. God’s purposes with Israel, in other words, were served by the Babylonian invasion.

Jeremiah’s instructions were more counterintuitive than they might at first seem. Jeremiah tells the Jews in exile to “seek the welfare” of their captors, to pray for the very people who destroyed their homeland, because the welfare of the exiles and the captors were bound together. If God’s purposes with Israel really were being fulfilled through their captivity, then as the exiles pursued the shalom of the home of their captors—Babylon—God would provide shalom for those in exile.

What God instructs the exiles to do is actually rather ordinary. Consider the list from Jeremiah 29:

• Build houses and live in them
• Plant gardens and eat their produce
• Have children
• Marry off your children so they have children
• Seek the welfare of the city
• Pray for the welfare of the city

Nothing in this list is dramatic or miraculous. It is a list of normal, everyday activities. It could represent any person, regardless of income, social status, education, vocation, or geographical location. The way the kingdom of God takes root in the lives of people, and ultimately changes a city, is by exiles living normal, everyday lives as citizens of the King in every neighborhood and public place that makes up a city. We build houses. We plant gardens. We have children. We seek the welfare of our city. Far more often than not, the ways of Jesus are indeed local and ordinary.

What does it mean for a church planter to seek the welfare of their city? First, it means that a planter may need to be reminded that they have been sent to their city. They live where they live for a purpose. God has sent them there. Consequently, they need to put down roots. Incarnate. Stay. Then they need to ask what it means to seek the welfare of their city.

Second, they will collaborate for the sake of the city. They will search for ways to bridge the work their church is doing with what God is doing in other organizations. As mentioned before, this will certainly involve working with other churches, but it also includes collaborating with business, healthcare, schools, government, etc.

A great collaborator will serve as a kind of social alchemist—to create new social compounds; to gather together people’s ideas, skills, and resources in configurations the city is not naturally aligned to produce. People typically self-organize around interests, work, and proximity. But faced with significant city-wide problems, collaborators will cross boundaries, pulling together people from different arenas, with different kinds of experience and expertise who can, together, build solutions that are new. To truly seek the welfare of our cities, we cannot operate in a bubble. Instead the church must collaborate with others who love and care for the city. e church must show the world around us what it means to move from competition to collaboration.

3. Collaborators don’t care who gets the credit

In a fascinating book titled How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, author David Bornstein provides 10 profiles of men and women from around the world who have found solutions to a wide variety of social and economic problems. For Bornstein, social entrepreneurs are transformative forces. They are people with new ideas to address major problems, who are relentless in the pursuit of their visions. They are people who simply will not take “no” for an answer.

While each of the profiles are inspiring, my favorite part of the book comes when Bornstein highlights common themes found in each of the stories. One of the most powerful themes, and one closely connected to collaboration, is the willingness to share credit.

There is a well-known adage that goes like this: There is no limit to what you can achieve if you don’t care who gets the credit. Bornstein found this to be acutely true with each of the individuals he highlighted. Their willingness to share credit was a critical path to success, simply because the more credit they shared, the more people wanted to help them.

An equally important aspect of sharing credit relates to a person’s motivation. Our desire to share the credit for success with others should ow out of our longing for transformation. In other words, if a church planter’s true intention is to see genuine spiritual and social transformation occur in their city, then sharing credit will come naturally. However if the true motivation is to be recognized as having made change happen, sharing credit may run against the grain. e desire to see transformation should be so strong that it simply doesn’t matter who may receive accolades for a job well done.

Reflection Questions:

• How does this post contribute to your understanding of what it means to be a collaborator?
• List three steps you can take toward greater collaboration in your context.
• List two people who can help you take those steps.
• How can you help others in your church plant be better collaborators?

This post is adapted from 5 Marks of a Healthy Church Planter, which can be downloaded for free here.

—

1. https://vimeo.com/126891687

2. Jeff Christopherson, and Mac Lake, Kingdom First, (B&H Publishing Group), Kindle Location 2791-2798.

There are 7 key phrases in this definition:

• Committed group. They are devoted to each other and to the mission of the community.
• Jesus followers. They are maturing disciples who are following Jesus’ lead.
• Extended family. The group is small enough to care, yet large enough to dare.
• Empowered by the Spirit. They are formed and sent by the Spirit.
• Participate in God’s mission. The missio Dei is organizing principle of all they do.
• Of redemption. They will engage in both Gospel proclamation and demonstration.
• Neighborhood or network. They are embedded in a neighborhood or network of relationships as an incarnational expression of the church.

Hopefully this definition offers a framework to differentiate a missional community from a traditional small group, but at the same time it provides enough flexibility not to be too rigid. It is important as you define what a missional community looks like in your context that you not be too prescriptive. In other words, allow each missional community to be unique to their context and mission. All missional communities will not (and should not) look alike. Remember mission is the mother of adaptive ecclesiology. Which means that if we begin with God’s mission (missiology) then there will be lots of wild and wonderful expressions of church (ecclesiology).

The church moved from a marginal position to a dominant institution in society; from being socially, politically, intellectually inferior to a position of power and superiority; from being economically weak and poor to a position of immense wealth; from being an oppressed minority to being an oppressive majority; from being an illegal religion to becoming the only religion of the state; from being resident aliens to a territorial understanding of the faith whereby the Roman empire is considered Christian. This official establishment characterized the position of the church throughout the remainder of the Roman empire and then in Europe. This pattern continued in North America even though the church was only temporarily established in some places. A functional Christendom prevailed in which the church’s power is experienced in terms of a cultural establishment 

Here is the important point in this discussion. The difficulty the church is experiencing today at relating to the current culture is in large part due to the Christendom heritage of the North American church. Many in the church today still believe that Christianity is in a place of influence and significance. Many still operate under the false assumption that Christendom is alive and well. While there may be some parts of the country that still cling to Christian values, the vast majority of the population is rapidly moving away from the things associated with the church. In the eyes of most outside the church, the church has become completely irrelevant. 

The decline of Christian influence in the United States can be seen in multiple ways. The most prominent is the continual drop in church attendance. But it doesn’t end with attendance. In fact, every indicator that can be used to measure church health is headed in the wrong direction. Look at it any way you like: Conversions. Baptisms. Membership. Retention. Participation. Giving. Religious literacy. Effects on culture. They are all in decline.

This creates the setting for an enormous problem. At the same time that the church is less and less effective at reaching a changing world, many in the church continue to believe that the church maintains a central role in the life of the culture. So, instead of leaning toward the missionary vision of the church, we default to church as a “vendor of religious goods and services,” and we wrongly assume that those outside the church will be interested.

It may be a hard pill to swallow for many, but the reality is that North America is not a Christian place. And the sooner we can come to grips with that reality, the sooner we can return to the revolutionary, missional movement that is exemplified for us in the early church. We must see that it is really 30 A.D. all over again! And contrary to what some people believe, that is actually a good thing. Because instead of operating from a position of power and privilege, we must once again take the posture of a servant. 

—

The myth of a Christian culture continues to set the mind of the Western church at ease. This myth assumes that the West is, or once was, a Christian culture. If the culture is Christian, there is no need to analyze its assumptions or develop a counter-cultural instinct. ~ Michael Goheen

Furthermore, many leaders are struggling with the church’s inability to have a lasting impact on have their local communities. In the midst of this struggle, they sense that something has changed, but they are unsure about the essence of the change and what ministry adjustments might be necessary. In most cases, the leaders have no “grid” or framework to rethink the form and function of the church and its relationship to God’s mission.

When bringing about transformative change in the way people think and behave, I am convinced we must start with questions of “why” before considering the practical issues of “how.” In the book Start with Why, author Simon Sinek contends that there are two primary ways to influence human behavior: you can either manipulate it, or inspire it. While manipulation is not always negative (for example when a department store drops the price of a product to motivate a purchase), it often involves the use of fear or peer pressure to influence behavior. Additionally, change that is manipulated is usually short-lived. 

Inspiring change, on the other hand, involves the consideration of deeper issues. We need to ask underlying questions of “why.” Why do we perceive things in a particular way? Why do we behave in a certain manner? What are the motivations or inherent factors that undergird our behaviors?

With this in mind I have used the following framework to help existing churches move in a more missional, outwardly focused direction. This is a slight tweak of the "Knowledge Funnel" made popular by Roger Martin in the book "The Design of Business." I am convinced this "Change Funnel" provides a substantial, yet accessible way for existing churches to make shifts towards activating all the people of God. It starts with key paradigm shifts in the way people think, then moves to necessary patterns or methods of change, and finally employs specific practices that help people take practical steps. Below are several of the different concepts and actions I most often suggest:

Paradigm Shifts: A framework of accepted views on a particular subject, or a way of perceiving a certain topic. Key paradigm shifts include:

• Missionary Nature of the Church
• Incarnational Mission
• Participation in the Missio Dei
• Christendom to Post-Christendom Shift
• Rethinking Vocation
• Discipleship / Evangelism
• Leadership

Patterns:  The visual representation of the paradigm shift taking root in your context. Potential patterns or principles:

• Christology > Missiology > Ecclesiology
• mDNA (Missional DNA)
• Creating a Missional Culture
• 4 Spaces of Belonging
• Diffusion of Innovation
• Missionary Formation
• Discipling & Equipping Towards Mission
• APEST

Practices and Pilots: Patterns are not enough. We need a way of doing things that helps us live out the reality that the pattern is pointing us to. These will involve actions that may be brand new practices and habits. In many cases they will be experimental “pilots” where a person is trying something for the very first time. Possible practices and pilots:

• Missional Rhythms (BLESS or BELLS)
• Missionary Flow – Creating Social Momentum
• 1st, 2nd & 3rd Place Engagement
• Sharing Meals
• Biblical Hospitality
• The 4 Ds of Missionary Engagement
• Church Planting / Starting MCs or Micro-churches
• Action / Reflection Questions
• Language
• Stories
• New Scorecards
• APEST Assessments
• 5Q Resources

1. The planter needs to understand their own gifts in light of APEST, because it will influence what they focus on. (i.e. if Teacher they often move quickly to the Sunday gathering so they can teach, if Shepherd they will lean towards the gathering community, etc.)

2. The planter needs to understand the make-up of their planting team and recognize what APEST gifts may be missing. When planters think of teams, they usually think of ministry “categories” like worship leader, youth pastor, children’s director, etc. However, I suggest they should think of a fully-functioning APEST team, which will mean they need to identify and activate all five callings.

3. The planter will need to determine how each gift will have equal input into the mission and ministry of the church plant? How will they listen well to the other gifts?

4. The team will then need to determine how to ensure the equipping of the saints? How will the church encourage and empower those with the gift of teaching to equip other teachers? How will those who have an apostolic calling fan the flames of other “sent ones”? How will the gifted evangelist equip others who have the evangelistic calling?

Church Planting

When I planted a church many years ago, I realized pretty quickly that I did not fit the traditional “pastor” role. I worked hard at trying to be a better shepherd. But regardless of all of my attempts to sharpen those ministry skills, I knew I didn’t live up to expectations that others had of me as their leader. Instead, I knew I was created to start things, to pioneer, to architect and innovate. As I began to engage APEST, I realized my calling, or vocation, was much more apostolic. For the first time, I understood how my gifting fit into the body of Christ.

Activating all the people of God

I always struggled with how “non-pastors” fit into the mission and ministry of the church. The only lens I had in my early days of ministry was for “lay-people” to become pastor/teachers (like me and every other pastor), or to be available to volunteer for empty slots in my ministry plan. APEST helped me see that the five-fold gifts are given by Jesus to the body, not simply leaders. Therefore, APEST provided a biblical framework to activate all the people of God for the maturity of the body (help to diminish the clergy-laity divide), but at the same time it also provided a way to understand how our vocations fit into the marketplace, or broader culture (help to diminish the sacred-secular divide). 

Since my introduction to APEST, I would add that there has been a progression in my understanding and convictions. In the beginning, it was helpful to see APEST, not as roles or offices in the church, but as individual callings. It was also important to see these vocations existed not for the benefit of the individual, but for the maturity of the body.

Later, with the help of Alan Hirsch’s writings, I came to see that Jesus is the perfect expression on APEST. As Alan shares in the book 5Q, the Ministry of Christ (MOX) is given to the Body of Christ (BOX), which results in the Fullness of Christ (FOX).

Finally, one of the most powerful aspects of APEST is seeing the gifts not merely as personal callings, but as functions of the church. Ask is the church to be apostolic? Is the church to be prophetic? Is the church to be evangelistic? Is the church to be a shepherding and teaching community? Of course, the answer to each of these questions is a resounding yes! If this is indeed the case, then there are no better “marks” to help define what the church is, and what the church does. I believe a much more helpful and powerful way to think about the marks of the church would look like this:

Missional Impact (A)
Covenant Faithfulness (P)
Gospel Proclamation (E)
Reconciled Community (S)
Deep Wisdom (T)

If for some reason you have reservations about an aspect of APEST, please take the time and do the research. Your church will thank you.

If you want to learn more about APEST and how it should inform the way we think about the body of Christ I would suggest the following resources.

• The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch (chapter 8)
• 5Q by Alan Hirsch
• Primal Fire by Neil Cole
• Creating a Missional Culture by JR Woodward
• Church Zero by Peyton Jones
• The Permanent Revolution by Alan Hirsch and Tim Catchim (this book deals specifically with the Apostolic gift)