On Being Ordinary

One of the things that I have noticed in the world at large, especially in the charismatic church, and particularly at Milestone is the tendency to want to be more than simply ordinary.*

No one in life, for example, aspires to be a janitor: a mere servant. No one in the charismatic church wants a prophecy that declares that they will "live and die in the suburbs in mediocrity." And the leaders at Milestone don't want to believe that they are just another church in a city full of churches who are doing pretty much what others are doing and probably won't accomplish much more than anyone else.

No. There is so much talk about the "vision" and "reaching this city for Christ." There is so much talk about how "they" are different than we are. We are something special. We have a special pastor. We have a special community. We have a special way to deliver the message.

Specifically? Here are some memorable instances:

"There are lots of good churches in this city. I'm friends with many of the pastors in this area. But how many of you noticed something different at Milestone when you walked in the doors? I have people tell me all the time that this is the friendliest place they've ever visited. Why? It's because there's a unity of vision..." (We are special because we are more unified and friendlier than others.)

By the way, I sat through Membership 101 after Membership 101 class and watched Jeff Little ask people to raise their hands if they felt something special at Milestone when they first visited. Month after month, I noticed that the number of hands that were being raised was slowly but surely dwindling. It went from almost every hand going up to just a few smattered around the room. So, honestly, I do think that Milestone had something special. But I think what they had was built around the wrong thing (more on that later) and waned quickly as ideals and community began to give way to numbers and scrambling to find a place to squeeze visitors. But I digress.

"Our youth team has been able to give three presentations at the local high schools and are active and visible on three local school campuses." (We are special because the city has recognized us as such and we are doing things with youth that no one else has been able to.)

"I was sitting at a luncheon with about 30 other pastors and they were asking me, 'How do you get such a high ratio of unbelievers in your church?' You see, most churches get new people who are just moving around from other churches." (I am special because I pastor a church with a higher percentage of new believers as attendees. We are special because other people look at us and wish they could have what we have.)

Again, I want to say that I did and DO think that is a special thing. But I also think that it caused an air of arrogance and superiority and that it really waned as well. I would be shocked now if most new attendees weren't just shifting around from other churches (just like everyone else's new attendees). Something was lost at some point along the way. At some point you trade tight-knit community for more people. At some point, if you get a huge influx of new people in because of some publicity, you just can't assimilate them into your community. Families don't work like that. It's unnatural and not realistic.

And was I guilty of this line of thinking? This, "We are special" mentality? Oh yes indeedy. Big time. Hugely. Almost from the moment that we arrived. Because it really was different and felt more loving and communal than anyplace else I'd ever been. I became instantly convinced that we had something special and that if we could just get others to come be involved, that their lives would change for the better.

When friends would tell me about their churches, I would think to myself, "But you don't get it! You don't really have community. You have no idea what you're missing!"

And, sadly, if there was a cool reception to coming to Milestone after a period of trying to convince someone, I would most likely gradually back off of the relationship because I wanted to "focus my energy" on those who wanted to be a part of what we were doing. This was generally approved of. There was sort of a covert air of superiority that we were going to "go on with God" and continue with the "special" work we were doing and that everyone else that didn't want to come along could just manage on their own!! This would never be said, of course. It's an underlying message. One that came back to haunt me as I became one of those who wasn't "working toward the vision" by the definition of some.

Centrality of Christ

Ok. Now I want to talk about the real problem behind all of this. After all, what is so wrong about having a close community and having a vision and wanting to go somewhere together? Isn't that good stuff?

Yes and no.

The problem is that Jesus Christ is the head of His church. He's the visionary. The Holy Spirit is the one who takes Jesus' vision and passes it along to us, His church. He passes it along to the WHOLE church. Not just one guy with "Pastor" in front of his name. Corporately we are the body. Corporately we hear and seek the will of God. Nobody gets to be THE vision caster for a body of believers. Nobody gets to say, "Here's where we're going. Come on!" There is a model for that in Old Testament stories but the gospels and the epistles are very clear in the New Testament that a new day has come. Jesus is the Head. Period. The rest of us are to work together to figure this whole thing out. Injunction after injunction warns us to avoid hierarchy. And yet....

Milestone Church is a place where you come and you throw your hat in with Jeff Little's vision. Granted, you might think it's a good vision and everyone else might agree. So what's the big deal? Two things really. One: What if he screws up? Can you walk up to him and say, "You are really off base here" without being ridiculed in a sermon or kicked out?

Two: "Reaching People and Building Lives" (Milestone's motto) is a great goal. We should all be doing this without doubt. But it's a poor thing to rally a group of Christians around.

In fact, there is only ONE THING worthy of rallying a group of Christians around and that is the PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST.

Not Bible study. Not prayer. Not doctrine. Not fasting. Not evangelism. Not discipleship.

To Him be all the glory and honor and praise. The bride is obsessed with her bridegroom. Well, she ought to be anyway. She ought to be obsessed with seeking her bridegroom out. Individually and corporately Christians ought to be rallying around Jesus Christ. Not the idea of having a tight-knit community of people who are trying to save as many people from Hell as possible.

Does this mean that evangelism and discipleship do not occur? No! Of course they should. Or there is something wrong. And someone needs to speak up and say something. We should always pair our faith with works. But my how we do put the cart before the horse.

I submit this: any "good" that does not usher forth from a group of Christians focusing daily on Jesus and thus loving one another is not "good" at all but merely distracting.

If we wonder if He is the centerpiece of all we do and all we are, let us ask ourselves these questions: "Do we talk about Him? Do we corporately wait on Him? Do we focus on His being and person? Are we in love with Him? Can others tell? Or do we do a bunch of stuff FOR Him without continually acknowledging His actual presence and personhood?" Remember when you first met Jesus and understood that He died for you? Remember the love that gushed forth out of you? The gratitude? The praise? The adoration? (Many thanks to Frank Viola for helping me see this subtle but lethal distinction in modern church culture. For a beautiful study of this scriptural concept, I recommend From Eternity to Here.)

That is, as it turns out, is the fatal flaw of Milestone's vision and purpose. There is only one biblical standard of acceptance into the body of Christ or a body of believers: the salvation and lordship of Christ.

If being a part of that spiritual family requires attending a certain building or agreeing on all points with a certain pastor, or holding to some ideal about reaching people and building lives, or some other ideal about building a community, it's not centered around Jesus Christ. But it IS centered around a place, a personality, and an ideal other than our Lord and Savior.

*I have to give thanks to my counselor, John Smeltzer for awakening in me the awareness about ordinariness.