How do communities of performance impede mission?

For those of you not (like me) bored with the saga of choosing the title of my next book, here’s the latest suggestion: Ordinary Heroes: Living the Cross and Resurrection.

It picks up an idea in the conclusion. The three people so far who’ve read the conclusion have all cried! I’m not saying anything more about its content at this stage - you’ll have to wait for the book.

Writing the conclusion crystallized for me one of the things I’m trying to do in the book. I want to write a hard-hitting call to radical discipleship. But I also want to say that living the cross and resurrection is not just for missionaries and martyrs, but for ordinary Christians. It picks up one of what I think is the key themes of Total Church, namely the idea of ordinary people living ordinary lives with gospel intentionality. This is radical Christianity for ordinary people in the context of ordinary life.

‘Ordinary Heroes’ is also a paradoxical statement which many of you were keen on in the comments you gave to the previous posts of this topic.

More from my talk to the Evangelist’s Conference.

Is your community a community of performance or a community of grace? Try these diagnostic tests …

In performance-oriented churches people pretend to be okay because their standing within the church depends on it. A ‘sorted’ person is seen as the standard or the norm, and anyone who is struggling is seen as sub-standard or sub-Christian. In this kind of environment to acknowledge that you’re struggling with sin is difficult and distressing.

But this is the opposite of grace. Grace acknowledges that we are all sinners, we are all messed up people, all struggling, all doubting at a functional level. But grace also affirms that in Christ we all belong, all make the grade, all are welcome, all are Christians (there are no lesser Christians).

Imagine such a church for a moment. Here is Andrew: he sometimes uses po rn because he struggles to find refuge in God. Here’s Pauline: she sometimes has panic attacks because she struggles to believe in the care of her heavenly Father. Here’s Abdul: he sometimes looses his temper because he struggles to believe that God is in control. Here’s Georgina: she sometimes has bouts of depression because she struggles to believe God’s grace. When they come together they accept one another and celebrate God’s grace towards each other. They rejoice that they are all children of God through the work of Christ. And they remind one another of the truths each of them needs to keep going and to change. It’s a community of grace, a community of hope, a community of change.

I recently led a seminar at the Evangelists’ Conference on ‘communities of grace’. The talk I think will be available online. In the meantime I’ll blog some of the content. Here’s how I introduced the topic.

According to 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 God chooses the poor, the broken, the messy, the marginalised. And he does so to demonstrate that salvation is all of his grace. No-one in heaven will be able to say, ‘God saved me because of my intellect or my wealth or my nobility.’

The problem is that this is not a description of conservative evangelicals in the UK. We are predominantly middle-class. The leaders of our churches are predominantly middle-class graduates. The leaders of our movement are predominantly ex-public school. We are the strong, the wise, the noble.

So what’s gone wrong? Could it be that we’ve not truly understand the grace of God or that we don’t truly live the grace of God?

Someone wrote an email to me last week. The email said that in evangelical churches people struggling with depression are regarded as lesser Christians; they are stigmatized. It was written by someone who is a staff member at a prominent evangelical church. In other words, this is our sort of church.

Will a person suffering with depression feel like they belong in your church? I think it will depend on your view of grace.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the discussion of a title for my next book. Someone suggested a phone poll along the lines of Strictly Come Dancing (or Dancing with the Stars if you’re in the US) - thanks Sarah! I’ve had a conversation with IVP and here’s a (not very) short list …

The Everyday Cross: Living the Story of Jesus
Crossroads: Living the Story of Jesus
The Forever Perspective: Living the Cross and Resurrection
The Radical Disciple: Living the Cross and Resurrection
The Revolutionary Disciple: Living the Cross and Resurrection
The Revolution of Weakness: Living the Cross and Resurrection
The Upside-Down Life: Living the Cross and Resurrection
One in 400: Living the Cross and Resurrection

Click here for an explanation of this last suggestion.

I realise of lot of you liked ‘Total Discipleship’. The problem is that if you’ve read Total Church and you see Total Discipleship then I think you would expect a kind of sequel that applies the twin principles of gospel-centred and community-centred to the individual Christian. This book doesn’t do that.

I’m just finishing a manuscript for IVP. But we’re having problems coming up with a title. It’s little hard to categorise. It’s about discipleship, soteriology and eschatology. Essentially it’s about how the cross and resurrection should shape our lives. It covers living in the light of grace, following the way of the cross (the way of sacrificial love, self-denial and service), accepting the pattern of suffering followed by glory, recognising that resurrection power and freedom are power to be weak and freedom to serve, and living for eternity.

Everyone is fairly happy with the subtitle ‘Living the Cross and Resurrection’ though it does depend on the title. Here are some of the options (in no particular order):

The Forever Principle: Living the Cross and Resurrection

United to Christ: Living the Cross and Resurrection

Life in Christ: Living the Cross and Resurrection

Living the Cross and Resurrection (with no subtitle)

Significant: Living the Cross and Resurrection

Nailed: Living the Cross and Resurrection

Total Discipleship: Living the Cross and Resurrection

The Way: Living the Cross and Resurrection

For De ath and Glory: Living the Cross and Resurrection

The Jerusalem Road: Living the Cross and Resurrection

Living the Cross and Resurrection: Aligning Your Life with the Story of Jesus

The Jesus-Shaped Life: Living the Cross and Resurrection

The Adventure of Hope: Living the Cross and Resurrection

Radical: Living the Cross and Resurrection

Dissident People: Living the Cross and Resurrection

The Paradox Principle: Living the Cross and Resurrection

Let me know what you think. One issue to remember: IVP are keen for a title that works around the world. Anything too cryptic or anglo-centric won’t do the job. (I quite liked ‘Altar Ego’ but it was too clever by half!)

Or please suggest other titles. If you come up with a title then gets used then I’ll send you a free copy.