To make didgeridoo players for the transformation of the world

I have no idea how to play the didgeridoo. Until recently I had no clue on what this instrument really even sounded like. But thanks to "Fingers" Mitchel Cullen I know how great the didgeridoo can sound. Take a listen to this video below and prepare for your mind to expand: (Be the way, they call him "Fingers" because of how quickly he plays the guitar)

Now that you have heard him play, I bet you feel qualified to make more didgeridoo players. What if I were to unite you with other people who also liked the didgeridoo and asked your community to make more didgeridoo players. I am willing to bet the first thing this new community must know how to do is actually know how to play the didgeridoo! 

It is darn near impossible to learn to play the didgeridoo by just hearing it. You have to practice it. And when you practice it, you can make beautiful and interesting music, so much so that you may very well inspire others to want to learn to play the didgeridoo. 

It all begins by letting go of focusing on making didgeridoo players and instead focus on being a didgeridoo player. 

On a separate but related note, the mission statement of the United Methodist Church is to "Make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world." 

A Disciple of Christ is?

source: theunitive.com/choose-generosity/

The UMC is a church that is dedicated to making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. This is a wonderful mission that I too have dedicated my life toward fulfilling. The problem is we don't really know what that means. 

One group may see a disciple of Christ as one who is pro-gun while another thinks disciples of Christ are pacifists. One group might see a disciple of Christ as one that warns people of hell and damnation if they don't accept Jesus while other groups think Christ brought universal salvation regardless of creed.

While it is true that disciples of Christ are advocates of love, even love is difficult to get Christian groups on the same page. Is it loving to kill a someone if you believe they are going to hurt your family? Is it loving to use fear to get people to accept Jesus because you really love them and want to do everything you can to ensure they will avoid the torment of hell? Is it loving to allow someone to just continue to live in sin without calling them to repent and change their ways?

So might I offer an alternative to think about what a disciple looks like? 

What would it look like to build a community of faith that defines a disciple of Christ as one who is growing in generosity? 

Giving more time, prayer, attention, resources. Giving more thanks, extending greater hospitality, being less attached to stuff. Having open palms and not clenched fists. 

I believe that God is generous. I do not believe God withholds things from creation or is stingy. I do not see Jesus as building barriers to God but rather his death tore open the curtain in the temple so all may access God. 

A disciple of Christ is at the very least one that is generous. If we are not growing in generosity then are we growing in Christ? 

While not a perfect metric, might faith communities focused on generosity be the same faith communities that are making disciples of Christ?

Beer exposes the growing or dying fallacy in the Church

From the laity to the largest church pastors I have heard this phrase, "you are either growing or you are dying." Like many dichotomies that set up an either/or scenario in order to categorize good and bad, this "growing or dying" dichotomy is not Gospel but Empire building. 

To begin with this grow or die idea puts out there that there is prefered option - growth. And because we tend to have an unhealthy relationship with death, church leaders will lie to ourselves in order to paint the picture that our church is growing (just to show we are not dying). This is part of the reason why it has taken the UMC decades to come to terms with the fact that we are in rapid decline. 

Because fundamentally this growing or dying question is in our minds and we all desire to grow, we forget that the Gospel is not about growth but about dying. It is about dying to self. It is about dying in order to be raised by God. As such, in our efforts to always grow, Churches never learn how to die - as a body or as individuals. We are so growth focused that we shun death and dying thus retarding a healthy developmental relationship with death. 

 It may be the influences of Empire that Christians began to read the story of Jesus and elevate Matthew 28's commission over the other commissions of Jesus. The "Great Commission" of Matthew 28 is not great because Jesus said it was great. Jesus gave many commissions - forgive, heal, reconcile, welcome, visit, feed, etc. But it is the "Go and make disciples" commission that also helps fuel the growing or dying dichotomy.

"Westvleteren-beer" Attribution below.

As an example of what is might look like to add an additional way to the grow or die mentality lets talk about beer. Specifically the beer that is brewed by the Westvieteren Brewery. This brewery is run by the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus in Belgium. Their three beers have been talked about as some of the best beers in the world. With such high demand you might think this brewery is looking to expand, because we all know if they are not growing they are dying. 

However, the monks there make a set amount each year to meet the financial needs of the monastery and their mission. At that is all they will make until the next year when they make roughly the same amount of beer. 

When asked by commercial businesses why they do not make more beer to meet the demands of the market I imagine the monks might say something like, We do not make beer for the market, we make the beer for God who has put before us a specific mission and purpose. To be move too far away or become focused on growth we miss the mission God has set in our hearts." 

Of course it is exciting to hear about the visions growing churches have. It is equally humbling to hear of the dreams that dying churches hold on to to preserve the saintly work of the past. But it should also be admirable to the churches that seek to be who they are because that is what God is calling them to be.

These churches are not growing or dying perhaps they are, like the monks in Belgium, focused on meeting the call of God and not the demands of the market.