Sorry for the long delay. It's not that I don't have things to say........it's making the time to put them here.
This is an interesting video I found that the folks at Willow Creek put together:
http://revealnow.com/story.asp?storyid=48
I highly recommend watching it for yourself (it's about 13 minutes), but in a nutshell Greg Hawkins says that the things they have been doing and refining for about thirty years, the "Willow Creek model" of doing church, hasn't achieved the things they wanted it to, so they are conducting research on how to change things. Here are some questions I have after watching it:
- What is the proper goal for a church to have? He points to making folks "far for God" into "disciples of Christ," that is, people who are characterized by their increasing love for God and their increasing love for other people. The things that the church does are the means to that end, and much of what they're doing now involves figuring out how to better make that happen. The basic idea is that if you "do the stuff" you'll love as you ought to love.
The thing is that the scriptures point to something important that is left out of that equation. Jesus tells the disciples that they are to love one another as He loved them (John 13:34). And John reiterates that point: "We love because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19) The life of God is lived as a result of experiencing the love of God. I don't think that Greg or Bill Hybels would disagree, but the model that they have set up is not predicated on that experience. It's very possible for folks to go through the motions without having that experience. I don't think we can set a goal of having people experience God; that only comes by Him. So what goals ought to be set? Can they be set?
- How significant are the changes they are making? Are they significant enough to bring about a different outcome in another thirty years? It seems to me like they're only re-working the same model that they said isn't working. Now they're asking the congregations what works instead of just the leaders. After thirty years and millions (billions?) of dollars, that doesn't seem like enough of a change to warrant following what they're saying again. In my opinion, anyway.......
- What does God think they should do? I know the brothers and sisters behind this at Willow Creek are sincere, that they love Jesus. That's why I find it strange that He is rarely mentioned. At the end Greg says that this research is (hopefully) the means to discover what God is doing and how He is transforming the planet. Where is He in the rest of the process? Is it possible that they're going down a different road than wants somewhere farther back down the line. He regrets that the "centered" folks are leaving, but is it that they are looking for a better church? What if they sense God leading something else in their lives? Or what if they're simply mature enough to seek Him apart from a structure of that sort?
Just a few ideas......anyone else have thoughts? Anyone still look at this after almost four months? :)
