With Traditional Christendom struggling and people skeptical of the institutional church, in many parts of the world (Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and now the USA), a growing movement of Christians is seeking to do church outside the building.  Since the church is NOT the building, and the church is NOT the institution, some Christians are finding that it is better to live outside the traditional church.  The generation under 30 is especially feeling this way.

There was an article about two young men,   David Knepprath and Josh Guisinger  (pictured above), that moved into a low-income apartment complex in suburban Portland, Oregon to create community.  This is an area where there is drugs, prostitution, and gangs.  The quality of life is low in an apartment complex like this.  But these 2 young Christians moved in and cook meals for people, host birthday parties for tenants, and do a variety of things to build up community.  At the forefront of their goals is not building a church, or even converting people, but to serve people and make their lives a little bit better in tangible ways.

Excerpt from the article:

So while they were open about their Christianity, they didn’t plunge into conversations about their faith. Nor did they move in acting as if they could solve the social ills at Barberry Village.

“We were very conscious of that,” said Knepprath, who has since moved out but remains active in the ministry. “Our perspective from the start was that we’re not here with all the solutions, or even thinking we know all the problems.”

So they walked door to door, handing out chocolate-chip cookies. A letter explained their purpose and faith. They invited residents to the first community meal.

A few people shut the door in their faces. One guy answered with a Taser gun. But others accepted the cookies in the spirit they were offered, and the first seeds of friendship were sown.

It’s not unusual for Christians to move into impoverished areas to work with the poor. But movements like new monasticism have gained momentum in recent years.

The benefits of this from the perspective of people dealing in Post-Christendom settings is that it makes it obvious to the secular community that we are not trying to ghettoize ourselves or use people to build up an institution.

Of course, Christianity conquered the Roman Empire by doing this exact thing.  It was the older pagan faiths of the Roman world that was institutionalized.  Christianity was made of small communities, living together and bringing an unusual sense of community and overall stability to the barbarism of collapsing Rome.

The same thing was seen with Christian communities in China amidst the destruction of the communist ethos in China after 1978.  The moral vacuum that erupted was filled by Christian communities that knew how to care for their own and others in a society that was transitioning from forced communalism to radical individualism.

Read the full article here:

Here is a riveting speech protesting the Pope’s visit to the U.K. in light of the sexual abuse scandals of the Catholic Church.  I will comment afterward:

This is not an anti-Catholic post, rather I wanted to post it as an example of yet another reason why the institutional church is suffering globally—most especially in Europe.

The Rise of Christendom (Institutionalism)

The Church of Jesus Christ is not Christendom neither is it institutionalism.  The Church of Jesus Christ is “where two or more are gathered in my name.”  Nevertheless, Christianity has, over time, formed larger more organized religious communities.  The propensity toward forming a church organization can be seen in Acts as culture and the need to coordinate charity result in the need for committees, leadership teams, delegation and–ultimately complexity.

In other words, while Jesus was not necessarily interested in creating bureaucratic institutions, the call to preach the Gospel and, care for the poor, and take the message to the ends of the Earth meant organization.

The church, which was originally a persecuted, misunderstood community eventually conquered the Roman Empire.  The small band of disciples grew to such a dramatic extent that the Empire that once crucified Jesus, was no governed by Christians and the seat of persecution (Rome) was now the center of the Christian movement.

The merging of imperial power (earthly governmental power) and the Christian church is known as Christendom.  The Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the many Catholic (and later Protestant) kingdoms and states that emerged in Europe and happily merged politics with Christianity.  Well, it wasn’t happy.  Each country and each King had its own hidden agenda and the Roman Catholic Church became corrupt as well because, as we all know, power corrupts (something Jesus warned us about).  ”My Kingdom is not of this world,” Jesus said.

However, as Christianity entered its institutional phase, Christianity went truly global.  Not all of this was bad.  The Jesuits in China, De Las Casas in the West Indies, and many other Christians brought charity, grace, and intelligence to countries far away.  But along with this came the Spanish Conquistadors, the partition of South America by the Portugese and Catholics.

I recently read about one European explorer who landed in the Americas and couldn’t figure out how to even feed himself amidst the different American vegetation so he was wholly dependent on the local Indians.  This didn’t stop him from declaring the entire land for his King, Jesus, and his country.

But the combination of politics and Christianity ended up in catastrophe.  The Wars of Religion (and the disease that accompanied that era) wiped out 1/3 of everyone in Europe.  The Enlightenment and the secularization of governments (which includes democratization) eventually (after the rise of Fascism and Communism which the Christian Church often enabled) set the stage for a more peaceful era in Europe.  But all of that came at a price, the loss of trust in Christian institutions.

We’ll discuss the decline in belief in institutional Christianity in the USA at a later date–but in Europe, The Roman Catholic Church has been in decline for a while.  Some countries like Poland and Ireland have had a close relationship with the church (politics and religion still mix).  But these sex scandals are accelerating the secularization.

The Effects of the Roman Catholic Church Scandal

For those of us that are Christians, what are we up against in sharing our faith here?  This is where some of the Emerging/missional Post-Modern Christian Church makes sense.  The video in the previous post (Michael Frost) is helpful in Europe.  American Evangelicals get nervous when they hear the language of the Emerging/Missional church.  But this is the paradigm that churches have had to operate in in Australia, New Zealand, and Secular Europe for a long time.

Protestantism has not been that trusted in much of Europe.  In most of Europe, Protestants (and especially Evangelicals) are viewed as a cult.  This is a hold-over of the time when the church and state where the same:  ”the only legitimate church is the Catholic Church.”  ”The only legitimate church is the Eastern Orthodox church.”  So Protestantism always faces an uphill battle in Eastern and Western Europe.

This Roman Catholic Scandal is having huge repercussions for the Catholic Church.  There is clear evidence of a cover-up and in places like Ireland, the abuse of minors was systematic and covered up at all levels.  The church then (Protestant or Catholic) becomes a place of fear, of bad memories, of corruption.  In a place like Ireland, building a Protestant church with a white chapel and steeple, might not be such a good idea.  Even the building is a threat or has negative connotations.

This is why the approach that Michael Frost advocates in the previous video is something to take seriously.  It is not simply a theological matter.  It is a deep, cultural matter.  One that few Americans can relate to.  American Christians have no concept of what life as  Christian in Ireland would be like.  A country divided by Christianity and the largest church being associated with political control, all education, and institutions known for sexual violations.

For American Christians, religion is benign.  Christianity is benign.  It’s not scary, secularism is scary (this is now changing as American Christians are afraid of Islam—but they can’t understand why Christianity would ever be viewed as scary).  That is NOT the case in countries where Christianity aligned itself with Fascists (Spain), or with Communist interrogations (Russia), or systematic sexual abuse (Ireland).  Americans underestimate the danger of Christianity when it is in the wrong hands.  Jesus warned us, but we don’t listen.

For our work in Europe here at Three Worlds, we have no choice but to look deeply at the history, culture, and negative effects of the Christian Church on this continent.  Quick dismissals of everything associated with these new approaches is careless.  Christendom has been dying for 500 years, and that’s probably a good thing to a large extent.

Notice that the man in the video respects Jesus–and suspects that there is a difference between true Christianity (what Jesus preached) and the institutional Church.  Where this guy is at is where most people are at.  ”There may be value in faith, and there may be value in the words of Jesus, but there’s no value in the organized church.”

We can critique these new approaches (and we will), but we must acknowledge the cultural, historical and sociological challenges that our churches face here in this region and in this age.

As we process the Three Worlds (which we will do a lot), we begin with Michael Frost explaining what a missional church is and how it is differing from the traditional church.  This is about a 55 minute talk, but it’s well-worth listening to.  It’s inspiring and helpful in understanding the issues.

In general, these churches are making sure that they engage the secular and they are deeply concerned about making sure that people in their churches spend time in the world–as opposed to staying inside their church and trying to attract people.

We’ll look at critiques against this later, but for now, this is a really good explanation of what the healthiest missional churches might look like.

The biggest reason why we named our team and website “Three Worlds” is because we want to help churches and people understand that Christianity is operating in three very distinct theological worlds.  The first is the Traditional World, which most of us grew up in—the church with the steeple, hymns (or praise choruses), and preaching with a lot of certainty about doctrine.  The traditional church is in steep decline in most parts of the world.  In the traditional world, even non-Christians understood what a church was and had a certain amount of respect for the institution.

The second world is the Post-Christendom World (like here in Europe) is a world that is deeply skeptical of organized religion.  It is a place that is highly secular or in which faith should be a private matter.  It’s a world that views truth as relative and is skeptical of people with easy answers.  The institutional church can barely function in these places.  As a response to that, we are seeing the growth of the emerging/missional movement, which strips down as many of the institutional trappings of Christianity as it can—and makes it a point to embed itself in the secular world.  This segment of the church is growing–most notably in America where many churches (particularly lead by people under 45) are configuring themselves in this way.

The Third World of Christianity is the world of Non-Western Christianity.  This is the Christianity you find in China, Brazil, and the Middle East.  It is very fast growing (390 million Christians now in Africa, 120 million in China).  It is not rooted in the assumptions of Western philosophy or Western Christendom.  It is a supernatural faith, it takes the Bible very literally, and it is often both socially conservative (strongly against homosexuality for instance) and socially active–engaging the poor and persecuted.

Here at Three Worlds we engage all three.  That’s because all three exist in our region.  They also all exist in the United States now.  And in my latest book Mosaic, I visit a church in Los Angeles that has all three in one church!  Not only do we work in all 3 realms, but we also want to be a source of information and processing for these churches.  That means that here at Three-Worlds.com, we will discuss these three worlds and help them understand each other.  And we will also critique the three worlds.

In upcoming episodes of Gateway Berlin Radio, and here at the diary, we will talk about these issues and flesh them out.  Each world is tempted to dismiss the other as heretical.  But the reality is that each one is speaking to particular cultures in which Christianity operates.  Are there dangers?  Sure, and we’ll discuss those on the podcast and in the diary.

I begin by posting this video which portrays the Traditional Church as uptight and the post-Christendom missional church as more laid back.  They are in therapy together trying to understand each other.  So this is what we will do as well.  Discuss the differences and try to understand each other and where Christianity is headed.

Last week, we had our first Three-Worlds team meeting here in Berlin.  All of our crew was here (except for one), for an all-day meeting that covered a wide array of topics

In our region (Europe-Middle East), we are doing a team approach to mission and ministry.  I’ve shared with you that our top priorities are to 1) Engage young people in cross-cultural ministry 2) Support empowered leaders under 45–that respect accountability  and 3) create healthy inner-connectivity in the CHOG in this region and beyond.  Through it all, we will help churches process the three worlds of Christianity: Traditional, Post-Christendom, and Non-Western Christianity.

Why a Team Approach?

As a result of making Mosaic, it became very clear that a lack of coordination and organization has left the Church of God in a very fractured and weak state.  Our efforts are rarely unified, we create islands of isolation around the world, and it is always unclear who is accountable to who.  In order to prevent this kind of chaos in our region, we will have to have a clear strategy and set of priorities (see the paragraph above).  On top of that, we will have to be coordinated in our approach (hence the Three-Worlds team) to prevent making the mistakes of the past.

What has been our track record with teams?

Frankly, it’s been awful.  Why? Because teams are assembled in a haphazard way and (in typical CHOG fashion) we assume things will just work out.  The reality is that people are complicated, they have different agendas, different skill-sets, different personality types—and all of these things complicate the picture.  That is why it is vital for their to be clear leadership, a clear ethos, and a clear direction for any mission team.  When these things are absent (or things are just assumed) usually disaster is soon to follow.

Is this centralized, autocratic rule?

No, because it is a team approach.  The goal is to have people using their skill-sets to their full ability.  To have people put into places where they really fit and can succeed.  And the hope is that with a higher level of processing our mission-fields will be far healthier.  They will not be subject to the whims of one person making decisions on their own that then doom everyone around them.

In order to get to that place, however, it requires strong leadership that is clear about how and what that team will attempt to do.  That is where Jamie and I come in.  We’ve identified the top challenges facing the CHOG, and we are mobilizing our efforts to that end.  We are not trying to be all things to all people (that’s non-strategic and unrealistic).  Instead, we are focusing on what needs to be done, and what we can do well.

What kind of things were covered at the team meeting?

Here are some of the issues we covered:

I just returned from the European Conference of the Church of God held in Fritzlar, Germany.  It followed our first ever Three-Worlds staff retreat (which I will write about in my next post).

I was amazed to see the unity and support that the leaders of this region have for one another.  Unity is something that the CHOG is often lacking.  But here, there is an abundance of mature leaders, some very solid young leadership emerging, and a real desire to take it to a new level of inner-connectivity.

This is perfect for our Three-Worlds approach.  The region seems to be ready to join us in our top three priorities:

1) Engaging young people and getting them involved in cross-cultural ministry

2) Supporting empowered leaders under the age of 45

3) Creating healthy inner-connectivity in our region–and to the other 5 continents.

From England, to Hungary, to Egypt (and many places in between), we are in the process now of actively beginning works that will do all 3 things at once in a variety of countries.

*Imagine young people from the post-Christendom Germany joining youth from the UK to tackle a post-Christendom project?

*Imagine a church of young Hungarians reaching out to an established church in Northern England to help them reach their youth!

*Imagine a post-Christendom church in Holland joining an African non-Western Christian church to do a mission trip to the Congo.

*Imagine a church in Russia being healthy enough to start a new church plant and become a leader in our region moving out of their start-up phase.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in what is coming our way.  These are not only doable things, the foundations have been laid.

But in all that we do at Three-Worlds you will always see:

1) A commitment to health for our missionaries and our field.

2) Well thought-out ministry and mission endeavors.

3) An expectation that all we work with will be committed to accountability (instead of running from it).

4) Preparing our churches and countries for long-term survival and success.

These are non-negotiable.

Look at this chart.  It shows the Global Muslim population in green.  You can see the American population in pink.  The number of people burning the Koran is the little dot in the American population.  The number of Al-Qaeda members is the little dot in the large green circle (and it has been magnified 10 times to show up):

As most of you know, Europe now has a high population of Muslim immigrants and in many parts of Europe like Britain, Holland, Germany, and France–this is causing quite a bit of tension.  The concern is that entire neighborhoods are governed under Sharia law now and that these Muslims have no desire to integrate into Western society.  Furthermore, many mosques (like the Finsbury Park mosque in London) have become hotbeds of Islamic militarism. 

I was asked today by a friend (via email) if I thought that Europe is in danger of being (re) conquered by Muslims.  Here was my response:

***

it is true that: 

*political correctness has allowed Islamic communities too much power in Europe

*Many neighborhoods of Europe have Muslim communities living under Sharia law

*Islam does not have the same foundation for separation between church and state as other religions—it is in fact strongly in favor of the combination of the two.

*Islam has a hard time living with its neighbors (Islam’s bloody borders as Huntington called it).

*Europe is in a demographic crisis

However, we always have to be careful of straight line projections:  “A” will automatically lead to “B.”

Other factors to consider:

*Islam is not immune to secularization.  The younger generations in Europe will most likely lose there religious fervor or temper it.

*The rise of Islamic parties in Europe is likely to decrease, not increase Islamism.  Bin Laden can get away with his utopian statements because he doesn’t have to govern anything.  Once you have to govern, religious parties always end up secularizing the people (something Americans don’t seem to get).  

*Societies in demographic crisis often begin changing their behavior and regain some balance.  Europeans are starting to have more children, and there is more of a backlash against Islamic dominance (as in liberal France with its new headscarf laws).  

*Islam is not a monolithic thing—and Muslims have a hard time getting along with each other.  They are unlikely to establish an Islamic caliphate because they can never agree with anything.

*Europe’s nationalism is not far under the surface and could re-assert itself in a very strong way (removing immigrants or worse).  

As I argued in my first book, I do think that we are going to be in an age of renewed religious tensions.  But I think the biggest battle of all will be Islam’s civil war with itself.  Can it deal with modernity?  Can it deal with secularization?  Can it separate religion and politics enough to economically succeed.  Indonesia and Malaysia are a different model of Islam than Iran.  And The Gulf city-states are different as well.  

Western society is probably more resilient and powerful than (we think)..and Islam is more divided.

***

As I got ready to write this post, I saw on the news that some Americans are burning Korans at the 9/11 site.  Of course, in response, there are now Christians being attacked in Indonesia (and probably elsewhere).  The stupidity of Bin Laden is the idea that the whole world would actually submit to an inherently prejudiced, perpetually threatened theocracy.  The correct response to that is not then to advocate for a different kind of prejudiced theocracy. 

In the final analysis, secularism could be the big winner in all of this.

There’s a nice article at www.chog.org written by one of the summer interns of 2010 that spent time with the XZ Berlin team here.  The Varners and Philips make up the U.S. part of this German and American community.  The article is here.

Photo: the Newlyweds get harassed.  Below: Aaron and Nicole are “Baby Warner” with Nicole doing the feet and hands and Aaron as the face.

Photo: Marco and Renee think it’s pretty funny to watch Uncle Aaron be publicly humiliated.

Photo: I am not amused by the immaturity.

That’s right, we had a party for Aaron and Nicole this weekend.  A lot of people from around Berlin came to celebrate their marriage.  Kelley and Rhonda Philips did a great job of hosting a wonderful evening.  There were people from France, Chile, Japan, Germany, USA, Czech Republic, and other places.  It was quite the international gathering.

It was pretty neat to meet a Japanese-American jazz musician (currently playing with Christopher Cross) whose father lives in Costa Rica (just like mine).  His wife from Tokyo spent time teaching in Costa Rica and loved it.

Nicole is settling in real well and we’re happy to have her on the team.  She is super sharp.

Well, I must go—we have guests that just arrived to stay with us.

Photo (L to R):  Aaron, Nicole, Ruth (Aaron’s next door neighbor), and German XZ community member

On Thursday, we headed off to the airport with Kelley Philips to pick up Aaron and Nicole Varner.  Aaron and Nicole make up the youngest part of our Three-Worlds team.  Both are in their 20′s and its exciting to see them involved in cross-cultural ministry.  Aaron has been living in Berlin for just under a year, and he and Nicole just got married this past July.  They were kind enough to let us stay in their flat while they were on their honeymoon.

Both of them are highly intuitive, very smart young people with great business and organizational skills.  We’re really excited to have them here.  They will be a part of the XZ Berlin minstry which is based here in Berlin.  This community reaches out to the people of Berlin in love and service.  In addition to that, we will be using them regionally, dispatching them to places like France, England and Egypt to meet the young people and help to create ways to re-vitalize ministries in Europe and the Middle East.  We’re sending them to London in a few weeks to lend support to the church there.

This is an example of the way we are changing the use of our missionaries.  Instead of them being tied to one country or one ministry as the sole gatekeepers, we are instead using our  missionaries to work in some kind of local supportive ministry, but to also have a regional presence where they can help to tackle the CHOG’s most pressing issues:  the lack of youth involved in church and ministry, the lack of emerging leaders under 40, and a lack of inner-connectivity.  Without these 3 challenges being addressed, there’s not much point in doing anything else.  Consequently, we are using all of our missionaries to strengthen these things not only in the area where they serve, but in our whole region of Europe and the Middle East.

We want the actual needs on the ground (and in the region) to drive how our missionaries are used, as opposed to just slipping them into a default model whether that is helpful or not.  We’re excited to have such sharp team members who can not only speak into the needs of the younger generations, but they are from that generation themselves.

Welcome Aaron and Nicole!

Photo:  Arriving at Tegel International Airport.

Photo:  XZ community members decorated their home in anticipation of their arrival.