Lee's Lines

Instant friends

Friday evening I returned from a 3-day visit to Poznan, Poland. The purpose of my trip was to help explain the concepts of saturation church planting to missionaries from 6 organizations (Avant, Evangelical Free, C&MA, IMB, Pioneers, CB International). My presentation was well received, and as a result, representatives from each of these groups will be part of our "facilitation effort" in Poland. Let's pray that more churches will be planted!

The morning following the conference it was a privilege to have coffee with a young and dynamic Polish church planter named Maciej. Here's a picture of Maciej and me having a latte at "Coffee Heaven" (the best coffee I've had in Europe . . . when do we move to Poland?????) . . .

Maciej and I became fast friends as we talked about his strategy to plant churches in villages near Poznan. Please pray for Maciej as he continues to formulate his plan. He's got lots of gifts and vision. Now he needs to prove himself for the long haul of the ministry. Currently he needs co-workers and sustainable resources. I hope he and I can develop a lasting friendship.

Defend our faith . . . or live it?

For me this is the essential question that sums up the themes of McLaren's A New Kind of Christian. I've formulated that concluding question because I think it's the one that challenges us throughout the book. Of course the clear answer is that we must do both . . . live our faith and defend it too, but McLaren's thesis (as near as I can tell) is that a "new kind of Christian" will defend his faith by living it.

The author makes some brilliant observations about US evangelicals today . . . very interested in defending doctrine, the "authority" of the Bible and critiquing other worldviews. Essentially, we're a rather "modern" bunch, relying on an apologetic of historical evidence, logic and propositional truth to persuade/defend our beliefs in the Lordship of Jesus.

I think McLaren would say that, as helpful as those things may be, they simply won't reach the coming generation(s) which will look for a life of faith, transformation and community. He implies several times that distinctions between "liberal" and "conservative" Christianity will (or have already) become meaningless. Those outside of our faith want to see us live transformed lives of self-sacrifice and love . . . the "truth" of our beliefs will come through our behavior rather than our words.

Whether I agree entirely with McLaren or not (his conclusions are certainly not theologically bullet-proof), his ideas about the post-modern Christian challenge me to examine my life. AND I think his approach will have a very helpful impact on the way I share my faith in Christ with the unbelieving world around me.

Please pray for me as I begin/continue a “gospel conversation” with my friend Chris. Pray that the ongoing transformation of my own life would be an attractive witness for Jesus--the Way, the Truth and the Life.