So it's time to unleash a TypePad Pro Unlimted subscription I won last summer; hopefully this might turn into a book project that I've been mulling over for the past 4 years. The question is, "Can anything good come out of Berkeley?" Highest praise to Nathanial who coined the original phrase, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Second highest praise to Philip's response, "Come and see!"
So, I've had this wild 25 year career in campus ministry thus far, right after college I had a high desert experience and was frozen in time in Southeast Idaho during the mid-80's (figuratively and literally during the Regan years) . I moved to Seattle the summer of Tienanmen Square and immersed myself in the Seattle-scene for most of the 90's (saw the rise of Starbucks, Grunge Rock, Mars Hill, & Microsoft firsthand), then I came to the Bay Area during the peak of the dot-com boom and bust (saw the rise of Yahoo, Google, PeopleSoft, Emergent Church & Green Day), experienced 911 with Berkeley students, watched Web 2.0 reborn (think Craigslist, Myspace, Facebook & rise of the Asian American Church on campus) and the recent economic downturn (hipsters, proliferation of new non-profits "industry" in SF, a surge in the new abolitionist movement, budget cuts/college enrollment caps & 30% tuition hikes at CA schools). God has allowed me to live near ground zero during a lot of cultural shifts--- this all means something I believe. I've seen a lot of stuff come up and go down on campus and off; as I reflect at this stage of the game, here's what I'm still excited about:
That which is timeless is timely --- that which is real is relevant ---
that which is needed is that which is renewing. The most valuable and
sought after "product" in the world is a self-less, life-giving, humble
disciple of Jesus. There is no one standing in line to "make disciples"
--- yet it is the most valuable "occupation" in the world. Mature
disciples self-organize and form "birth" healthy churches around them. I'm excited about the genial way of Jesus and of his early church, ..and of
all transformational spiritual movements thereafter (ie. Celtic,
Lutheran, Pietist, Weslyan, Moravian, Puritan, Keswickian, China's House Church Movement, California's Jesus Movememt, etc.). I'm all about
end-vision. I'm always asking myself, "What is the end-vision this "church", this "ministry", this "church-planting
movement"?
So, is your end-vision to see an ever increasing number of missional bands of amazing multiplying disciples from every nation ? (ie. every ethnicity, subculture, language, every tribe & "gang")? Any
church-planting or missions movement that does not begin and end with
Jesus' beautiful vision of truly "discipling all peoples" (Matthew 28: 16-20) is not worthy of Jesus. And, it's not really worthy of much of my or your time and energy either! Most church-planting endeavors I'm seeing pop up are simply copying
and propogating what they saw and experienced in their "mother churches" and "mother movements" (can they do
anything else?)--- Some End-Visions are: seeker friendly services --- big sound worship ---
reformed smack down preaching --- multi-ethnic flair --- charismatic
"up front" "top down" leadership --- liturgical regurgital --- artsy fartsy --- relational pyramid schematical --- big hairy ("big hair") prophetic events --- Black and white mono-ethnic redux.
The
church plants, church movements, and church renewals that are catching my eye and stealing my heart are being
led slowly but surely by pastors and lay people who have "caught" Jesus' style of discipleship. It is an infectious radiant kind of personal experience that only happens by one actually being personally discipled in the context of a "missional band" at some time in the past. These church leaders are doing
the hard, quiet, below-the-surface/off the radar personal work to
pay-it-forward by discipling men and women whose names they know and whose lives they are involved with. They don't form a personality cult, but rather the form them into little
bands, create a healthy other-centered oneness, equip and release them into the world.
Church-planting by solid
personal spiritual reproductive principles and methodology is where the "fruit that
remains" is at. Kingdom growth is 10, 20, 50, 100-fold growth... this
kind of growth doesn't happen by anything less than than personal attention and supernatural
means. There is no substitute for personal attention --- no alternative
to personal discipleship --- Jesus and his bands of The Twelve, The Three, and The Women. Paul had his Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Titus and the The School of Tyrannus in Ephesus (Acts 19). I read recently from Greg Ogden that Jesus had a message that was so important that he poured his life into 12 men for 3 years so there would be no degeneration in it's transmission. The idiomatic name of His message was (and is!) The Gospel.
Maybe Jesus' careful interpersonal "planting" and "watering" and "tilling" and "mulching" is what we get confused with our corporate
"church-planting" and "church growth" systems. I think these days I'm much more excited about
the smaller, stronger disciplemaking efforts of campus churches and house-churches and church planters that I'm aware of --- than the theologically-biased, personality-driven,
business-model influenced church "plants" and ministry "launches" that are so constantly in our faces. I've spent a lot of mental energy these past 4.5 years asking, "Which bring Christ most glory? One or the other, ...or both-and?"
Whatever the case, let's not forget --- Christ is the true the Center of the Church (basketball center) --- He is the actual Head of the Body (brain) --- He is the uncontested front Leader of the Band (Bono). Every local church for that
matter that claims His Name--- no matter how funky it is --- no matter how rusty it has gotten --- no matter how licentiously Liberal it has progressed --- no mater how calculatingly Conservative it has sequestered itself --- Jesus Christ will prevail and bring
Himself great glory through each Church, ...even if there is only a remnant and if that remnant has it's back against the wall. Jesus is the best leader any Church ever has had, does have, will have, ...He can handle any situation and condition that is thrown at Him. Let's make it our ambition to co-mission with Him.
My litmus test for whether I'm excited about a campus ministry or a local church plant in Berkeley or Beyond is this: When I
ask it's lead leader, "what kind of church plant is your church plant?" --- "What kind of campus ministry is your campus ministry?' --- "What kind of disciples of Jesus are your people?" IF they start talking about a
denominational system or a vision or personality (usually beginning with the first name "John", "Mark", "Andy", or "Mike") --- or a theological system --- I tune
out, I really don't have time to get myself mixed up with something where Jesus is not showcased. And, here is where I'm very different from Jesus and still need to learn much from Him. Jesus surpasses me, ...He DID have time to hang out with and seek the renewal of all the wacky Churches of His day. He went after and hung out a lot with the testy Church of the Pharisees and lamentable Church of The Sadducees. He got commissioned by isolationist Church of the Essenes (by Pastor John), he invited one or two guys to trek with him from dangerous Church of the Zealots, He pretty much ignored the Church of the Herodians and the Hellenists (but his disciples didn't) and he loved the marginalized church of the Samaritans, ...and boy did his followers infiltrate The Church of Caesar!
Ultimately it doesn't matter what spiritual movements are coming out of Berkeley, or whether Daniel Curran is excited about them or not. What really matters are which spiritual movements the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are excited about. There is a lot of spiritual activity on campus and off at UC Berkeley these days. Spiritual interest and personal hunger are sky high amongst college students. There are a lot of creative and innovative and beautiful movements being born at Cal. Much is fermenting and forming throughout the Bay Area these days. I want to write about what I've seen, ...and what I'm seeing. And cast vision for what Jesus wants to see. Why you may ask? Because often what goes down and "comes out" of Berkeley --- begins to start popping up on college campuses across America and throughout the world five to ten years later.
Bottom line: Jesus loves His church and seems to be a lot more committed to it than the people of God are; He's able to pray better, preach better, and put up with a lot more crap than we have the capacity for. Maybe that's why He spent so much time with so few. Jesus loves people and he loves close interpersonal relationships. He wants Middle-Eastern "in-your-face" fellowship with everyone who "believes and receives". He wants to hang out every day with every sinner who is "saved by grace through faith" (even with sinners who aren't "saved" yet). He invites everyone who "worships Him, even those who worship Him skeptically, to co-mission with Him. He promised to come live inside all Twelve of His disciples after He left them physically, and He keeps this same covenant promise with us. I've been playing this campus missionary gig for 25 years now. I'm not tired, ...I'm re-fired! Sign me up again man, I want to keep playing in Jesus' band. I can't believe the Three of them are still letting me and others in as a fourth "man". Can anything good come out of Berkeley? Oh yes it can, just listen to the music! (to be continued...)
