You See Bones, I See An Army

Last Sunday, we were blessed with the honor of having Floyd McClung speak in our service at CCF. He brought a fantastic message and some of our Staff joined him at our home for lunch. Great time of gleaning. Floyd is the author of multiple books including the one I read this week, "You See Bones. I See and Army." After reading the first 2 chapters of this book, I ordered 10 copies!! Faaaantastic book!

Here are a few excerpts that I found especially provoking:

• The institution of the church is more of the problem than its people. Even is spite of the rise of megachurches, fewer people are being transformed for Christ in the Western Church. The way we do church is no longer relevant to the vast majority of Americans.
• We should NOT be asking: How do we get our church bigger? Or how do we make our church more relevant? We SHOULD be asking: What is church? What is its purpose? And how do we do it?
• Sunday is not the main event! We spend our time and money and energy trying to make the sacred hour better so people will come and like it. Meanwhile, we live in OT temple theology, create the church around a place and not a people, blow money and resources in a way that should convict, and train all of America that “church” is about going somewhere on Sunday with other people just like you. When in fact, that is NOT CHURCH AT ALL!! Church is about going (not coming) to people not like you (instead of like you). It is about being uncomfortable, not comfortable.
• We have to take the church (ourselves…people…not bricks) to the world, not get the world to the church. As soon as we “get them out of the world”, we have essentially removed them from the very mission field that the Lord is trying to send them to.
• The more complicated we do church, the more difficult it is to reproduce. And the bigger and more complicated a church gets the more people and money it takes to win one person to Christ. The church in the book of Acts functioned as a vibrant community, not a weekly meeting.
• Two million babies die of Malaria in Africa every year while we build bigger buildings. Attractional approaches, better programs, audiovisuals, better parking lots and competing with the church down the street is NOT the heart of church as Jesus intended it!
• Jesus modeled for us the way to do church: among the people! “As the Father sent me (among the people), so I am sending you (among the people). Church is not for us. It is for God and the lost.
• There are over 3 billion people on the planet that have never heard the name of Jesus spoken to them one time! Why should some people hear the name over and over and over again while others do not get to hear once?
• Biblical Maverick as defined by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch: “A true Biblical Maverick acts in a prophetic manner by exposing the lies that the dominant group tells itself in order to sustain its shared illusions.”

This book is stark and eye opening. Made a big difference in my heart. There are some perspectives on leadership that I do not totally agree with, but by and large, this is good stuff!