Everybody Got Mixed Feelings About the Function and The Form

Everybody got to deviate from the norm

A free coffee for the first person who recognizes the title and subtitle of this post. Again, as per our by-laws, Chad Brooks can’t guess. Well, he can guess, but he gets no coffee.

Man, it has been busy. All the right kinds of busy. Now up to 20 church planting projects in the MidSouth Annual Conference of the Global Methodist Church.

About a month ago, Trinity Hill hosted a Holiness Preaching Conference in partnership with The Francis Asbury Society. This has been a dream for awhile—to get great examples of Holiness Preaching, the primary texts of the movement, and some great fellowship with pastors from around the country. One of the things that hit me was that I am in two worlds. The Holiness Movement doesn’t always realize that sanctification should really lead to evangelism and disciple-making. And then I am in the Disciple-making Movements world as well, which, if it doesn’t watch out, has a tendency to works— do this, read this, apply this set of steps and your church will grow. I was wondering: will they meet in the middle? Will Holiness Preaching encourage people to have the love of God shed abroad in their hearts, and then because of the overwhelming love God has for our neighbors, we become evangelistic disciple-makers. And will the Disciple-making Movement place all the plans and processes under the direction of the Holy Spirit so that it doesn’t feel like a one-size fits all?

Anyway, at the Holiness Preaching Conference, I was gripped by a conviction that my motives for church planting were not always God’s motives. And then earlier this week, I was at the first session of an Exponential Learning Community called the Multiplication Operating System— right in the heart of a Disciple-making movement. They blew it out by having a speaker come in and talk about pastoral burn-out, pretty much pushing on the ways we seek success and admiration and approval, and how church growth can be fuelled by all the wrong things.

I could not believe it… my two worlds were coming together! For me, when I am at my best, making disciples is rooted in holiness, all about fidelity to Jesus. I am so captivated that He loved me and gave His life for me, that I want everyone else to know that for themselves. I am not always at my best; I have a shadow side. Too much of my work lately has been driven by resentment towards how I was held back from planting and thwarted in disciple-making by the United Methodist system, a kind of “I told you so, you miserable bums!” And then too much of it is also driven by the fact that it is just pretty cool to be riding a wave of the Spirit, helping 20 churches get started in less than 9 months. I say all I do is pour gasoline on fires the Holy Spirit started, but being honest, I like to think I am the arsonist in this spree. And people are quick to heap on praise for all that is happening, and I like that, too. It’s sick.

Now, you might say, “Mansfield, you are too hard on yourself. You are kicking butt. Taking names. It’s all good stuff. It is pretty much how God turned you around at the Asbury revival.” Yes, I agree. But…what is this all about? The dream of church multiplication. Multiplication at every level: multiplication of disciples, leaders, churches. I have been neglecting that work because so much of the church planting work has been urgent these past few months. Urgent. I let the urgent crowd out the important. The important work is multiplication. Churches need to plant churches that plant churches. Disciples need to make disciples that make disciples. That was the vision God gave me in 2002.

But you know what’s cool? I have a group of guys around me that know this. More importantly, they know how I am and they still love me. And as I was blurting all this out, they weren’t too surprised (which was pretty humbling), and they started finding ways to help me get the urgent work done so that I can focus on the important work of multiplication. Or, I should say, they are working on extricating me from being a victim of Level 3 success, so that I can move forward with vision, clarity, and passion, chasing Level 5 church work. (for a discussion of what these “levels” are, click here )

Here’s the thing: the system of church in America is built around paid staff providing programs in a building, mostly on Sunday. It is supposed to grow right where it is, where the stakeholders (members and givers) can see the momentum. I will never knock that. So many people come to Jesus that way, in exactly those kinds of churches. Here’s where we have to confront reality: it won’t be the way that works much longer. It’s got maybe 20 years. And it is not Jesus’ plan for multiplication— remember how he talked about sowing, seeds, fruit, yeast? Ever thought about how many apple seeds an apple tree produces?!? Jesus had 12 disciples to reach millions. But the problem is this: as soon as multiplication gets confusing, chaotic, or costly, it is SO easy to just revert back to the system. Everyone will be happy if we add more people than we lose. In fact, because the dream of multiplication is out there, somewhere, abstract, and diffuse; because it will take a while; because it will look and feel like losing somedays— it will just be so easy to go back to what we all know—what I know— church the way we’ve known it and are comfortable with.

So, yeah, as the funkiest reggae song says, “everybody got to deviate from the norm.”