Let’s Make 2010 The Year The Church Become Original

Posted on January 04, 2010
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(40) comments

The Associated Press ran a story over the holidays about how “Christian products” and spoofing commercial brands and logos. You’ve seen them… the cheesy Christian t-shirts that someone, somewhere thought was creative or witty. The article shares some good (bad) examples:

The Facebook spoof t-shirt: “Jesus Christ wants to be your friend”
The Abercrombie & Fitch logo transformed into “Abreadcrumb & Fish”
iPray, instead of iPod.
A myriad of rip-offs of the “got milk” campaign
The Obama “Hope” image was transformed from Obama to Jesus

I agree with my friend Brad Abare, who heads the Center for Church Communications when he calls all this stuff “Jesus Junk”. Brad comments that he thinks this type of thing is just dumb: “It’s not a true reflection of creativitiy.”

In fact, what would our churches look like in 2010 if re really tried to be creative, rather than ripping off other people’s ideas?

What if we came up with our own unique sermon series titles rather than taking the low hanging fruit of a series based on the movie Avatar?

What if we came up with our own ideas to reach our community, rather than buying a curriculum or copying some program from a church 3,000 miles away with 15,000 move attendees than our church has?

My guess is that the church would be actually much MORE creative and much MORE effective.

As church leaders, we must, of course, glean the best ideas from other leaders all around the country. We should constantly be on the lookout for trends and things we can use to reach our community. But our community is OUR community. There are ways to reach our own local community that Andy Stanley and Perry Noble haven’t thought of for one major reason: they don’t live in our community.

I firmly believe that the local church is one of the greatest incubators for innovation that exists. But in order for innovation to thrive in your church, you have to champion it. You have to empower people to be creative, take risks, and see what happens.

If and when you do this in 2010, you’ll find that you have a large number of failures. But you’ll find one or two jewels that will work like a charm in your local setting.

Let’s make 2010 a year of originality and innovation in our local churches. Are you in?

Have a great week!

Todd

SOURCE ARTICLE: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/58625

Comments

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John Burton on Mon, January 04, 2010

Are you familiar with IHOP? International House of Prayer? It’s a hugely successful ministry… they have been 24/7 in prayer and worship for over 10 years. Thousands of people are connected there… you can actually watch the prayer room live anytime at http://www.ihop.org. I directed an internship there for a while… and there are many people coming in who do actually go very deep in prayer and worship for four+ hours a day.

They just had their yearly conference with over 15,000 people there… people hungry to devote themselves to extravagant prayer.

It’s a movement that’s calling people back to the Great Commandment. We’ll never fulfill the Great Commission if we don’t first fulfill the Great Commandment.

The primary purpose of the church is prayer. It’s a house of prayer for all nations. The average amount of time pastors pray every day is 6 minutes! How can that be?
Michael Dixon on Mon, January 04, 2010

Well John,

I wonder how successful most would count it if as a consequence of their fromula for ministry they wound up naked on a cross with a few crying women down the hill and whole bunch of hecklers.

Just a thought, my brother. Be ludicrous and God keep you till the end.
Peter Hamm on Mon, January 04, 2010

John writes [The primary purpose of the church is prayer.] Huh? Where does it say that?
Peter Hamm on Mon, January 04, 2010

I think too many here would argue that only their model and method of ministry is valid.

Very ridiculous and non-scriptural (imho) indeed.

And with that, I’m out, as I think we’re getting way off.
John Burton on Mon, January 04, 2010

Luke 19:45-46 (NKJV) 45 Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

Isaiah 56:7 (NKJV) Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
Michael Dixon on Mon, January 04, 2010

John,

CD’s flying every which way, barista brewed coffee streaming over the carpets, TV monitors falling off their wall mounts, and baskets full of the freebies for new attendees to take with them spewed over and soaked by the spilled coffee…AND that’s all before He gets through the narthex (aka seekers’ lobby) into the sanctuary (aka seekers’ auditorium).
Peter Hamm on Mon, January 04, 2010

John, you got the purpose of the Church from those two Scriptures and ignored the Great Commission?

That exegesis is, shall we say, a little beyond faulty, don’t you think?
John Burton on Mon, January 04, 2010

Of course we can’t ignore the Great Commission. But, we’re kidding ourselves if we think we can fulfill it outside of deeply knowing God in the place of intimate prayer.

Plus, if we don’t deeply know God, yearn to be with him in prayer and intercession, then what are we introducing the lost into? A prayerless, encounterless life that lacks intimacy with God?
Anonymous� on Mon, January 04, 2010

John,
I agree� prayer is the most important part of our sermonic preparation� the most effective preachers spent on average 40 hour per week in prayer� this sounds ludicrous and even hard to phantom in today�s self promotion age. Many of preachers make their sermons more about themselves then about the power and sovereignty of God. I�ve studied of early church preacher who preached everyday and never preached the same sermon� that could only be done out of communion with God�
Success in ministry is not dependent upon how many are in attendance at worship services� success is dependent upon how many have truly been disciple and made Jesus Lord of their lives�
God is to be the focus point of all our preaching�
Q. on Mon, January 04, 2010

At the risk of adding to fuel to the fire I believe that Jesus was referring to one of the functions of the church, not saying that it was the sole function of the church or the primary function. I think that if that was the primary function of the church (and we are the church) then when asked what the greatest commandment was-Jesus may have said, “to pray to God…” not to “Love the Lord your God with all you heart and to Love your neighbor as yourself.”

In those scriptures it says that “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations…” and “My house is a house of prayer…” Again, that doesn’t say that it is exclusively known for prayer. God’s House is called many things, not only a house of prayer, some call it a house of healing, a house of teaching, a house of worship, and many more and certianly prayer is a HUGE part but for anyone to make rules that Jesus didn’t make about how long people should pray is getting in dangerous territory. Different Churches serve different functions but our unity is in Christ and I’m grateful for IHOP as well as many others…
Michael Dixon on Mon, January 04, 2010

John,

I would add to that, “We’re kidding ourselves if we think we can fulfill the Great Commission outside of becoming consciously known to God in intimate prayer…it is the place of confession…to stand with what we have been, done, thought & purposed with utter and complete transparency -with whatever sorrow and remorse those things occasion—so that He, not our own emotions and ideas- and He alone, may heal, make whole, re-purpose and regenerate us. And that regenerate creation, that ball of dirt indwellt by God becomes available to witness and testify that whom God has called, He, not we but He, may save. I hope its you and me and Peter and a whole bunch of other people I love very much, and I as I meet people I hope it is them, but that hope, unlike the will of God, is not born out of having set the earth on its foundations and known the mystery revealed by Christ since before the ages, and so most I hope in faith that will allow me tomaifest everyday my death that His life may be made known and that you may be presented with me by Christ to God.
Peter Hamm on Mon, January 04, 2010

Okay I’m getting annoyed by a few things.

First, John, I agree with your last statement, but your methodology as implied by your posts here is suspect at best. Question? Are you in pastoral ministry as a vocation? If not, I’m curious to know what your vocation is. The purpose of the church is the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. The work of the church is prayer. I think you are confusing the two and setting your own curious standard of what the ratio of ministry to prayer should be based on… well, I’m not sure I know what you are basing it on.

Anonymous, I’d love to know who you are. Are you a pastor or ministry professional? You say.. [ the most effective preachers spent on average 40 hour per week in prayer� ] I’d like to see you cite statistics for this. How much of that time is the time the congregation is paying them to be at their jobs ministering and equipping?

It’s a great conversation, but we’re getting off topic, too. Todd is going to yell at us.
John Burton on Mon, January 04, 2010

The reason I went in this direction is because it’s in the place of deep prayer, in a prophetic atmosphere, where we’ll hear God, receive his designs, his blueprints… serious anointing that will enable the church to be ‘creative forerunners’.

Otherwise, we’re inclined to mimic what our natural mind can see.

I’m the pastor of Revival Church in the Detroit area. http://www.detroitrevivalchurch.com.
Michael Dixon on Mon, January 04, 2010

Peter,

I am slow on the uptake, and I am just now trying to wrap my brain around a distinction you have been making. If you have the time and inclination i would like to hear more about how given the purpose of the church is the Great Commission and the Great Commandment , the work of the church is prayer. As argumentative as I am, I am not disagreeing or disputing it. I have just never thought of setting out those two purposes and assigning to the church, the work of prayer.

I come from a very fundamentalist, individualistic background and the church is the body of believers..hence its work is its existence and vice versa. Believers are called to prayer and from that to witness and testify, saving souls from a judgement after death to deserved damnation for an eternity in the presence of God..
Anonymous� on Mon, January 04, 2010

Q,
My statement was that prayer should be the most important part of sermonic preparation� I also gave examples of preachers who spent on average of 40 hours per week in prayer before preaching in their pulpits� I also mentioned one who preached everyday without preaching the same sermon because he had such a praying foundation� as preachers we�re to have one hand in God�s hand and the other sympathizing with the people whom we�re ministering to�
Peter,
I�m both� a pastor and seminary professor (not to boast or bring about importance as to who I am)� just take Jesus as an example� and move from Jesus to the apostles, early church fathers� (This was personal prayer time apart from congregational prayer�) one can�t be at their job ministering to the people without an active prayer life� (There�s 168 hours in a week� to take 30-40 of those hours in prayer� leaves one with more than enough time for ministry�