The Reason for the Season?

So which of these is more correct?

It is definitely the second one. Jesus is not the reason for Christmas, we are. It was not for Jesus' edification that he came to an animal-stenched stable but to redeem our animal-stenched lives. The problem is that most people wearing sweatshirt #2 don't know why they are right.

Burn one down

From Stupid Church People:

I have a suggestion for Christians.

Please take Christ out of Christmas. Now.

I don't think he would want to have anything to do with it to be quite honest.

While you are at it, take Christ out of the word Christian. Why? Because you suck as a representative. You really do.

So starting now, if I was you, I would begin to work really hard at disassociating Christ from everything you hold so dear... and you might as well start with Christmas. Oh, and your church...that would be a good idea to.

He's really better off on his own without you.

i think we should get serious about some of the rhetoric floating around right now...specifically this notion that someone has 'taken the christ out of christmas'. if we're willing to be a little honest, i think a better question is:

why have i taken Christ out my everyday life?

the same thing happens around halloween. we should first be willing to take off the masks we wear everyday, before we even try addressing the spiritual merits of a dress-up holiday.

agnus dei

Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace.

A look at three current models of ministry in American churches

In one of my Trinity classes this semester, we have been talking through philosophy of ministry and looking at how people "do church" in America. My professor, Dr. Phillip Sell, articulated this chart, which I have reproduced below. I thought it was an interesting and insightful summary.

Issue	Traditional	Contemporary	Missional
Cultural Orientation	Assumes the support of Christendom Minimal passion for evangelism	Accomodation to culture “Church can be attractive to lost people” Marketing approach and image management	Penetration of culture with the Gospel Church as missionary to the unsupportive culture
Image of the Christian	Representative of the dominant culture Civil Religion	Successful and happy Alternative to dominant culture	Resident aliens within the pluralistic culture
View of the Church	A place where religious things happen The country club/dues	A vendor of religious goods and services The mall/consumer	A people sent on a mission The web/relational
Orientation	Content-centered Right ideas	Program-centered Right activities	Relationship-centered Right relationships
Central Structures	Pulpit, Sunday School (one way communication) Age-graded Christian Education (mimic the public school)	Seeker-oriented services Needs-oriented ministry Market segments/generational ghettos	Equipping venues Discipleship/Mentoring Small Groups Spiritual formation
Organizational Structure	Hierarchy Committees Recruitment to church ministries	Pastoral oligarchy Teams Mobilization into church and world	Networked teams Empowerment to interpersonal ministry and team formation
Role of Pastor	Preacher/Caregiver	Evangelist/Leader/CEO	Equipper/Model/Leader
Learner Orientation	Cognitive processing through teaching	Cognitive processing Social learning in groups	Experiential learning Social learning Cognitive processing
Media/Era	Print/Oral	Broadcast	Digital
Internet/ Website	Source of information	Advertising and promotion	Interactive community
Social origins	Rural	Suburban	Urban
Dominate Generation	Builders	Boomers	Busters/GenX, Millennials
Evangelism	An isolated program Proclamational Come-see approach Reach the churched Adult convert growth rate?	A consistent emphasis Need-oriented event Come-see approach Reach the dechurched How do you gather a crowd?	A life-style, relational, incarnational and service-oriented Listening, dialogical Go-seek mentality Reach the unchurched
Worship	Predictable Historically anchored Hymns, hymnals, choirs, organs and pianos Not in cultural idiom In some cased liturgical	Scripted excellence In cultural idiom and popular instrumentation Historical disconnect Celebrative, upbeat choruses and worship ensembles Use of other media added	Laid back, serendipitous Ancient and vintage worship practices creatively mixed with contemporary media Multimedia, multi-sensory, participatory
Ethical Orientation	Subcultural taboos	Personal ethics	Social ethics
Other Churches	Cordial Denomination-building	Competitive Congregation-building	Networked Kingdom-building
Problems	Irrelevance Minimal evangelism Come-see approach	Cultural captivity Marketing/Consumer orientation How change consumers into disciples? Come-see approach	Establishing Biblical authority Maintaining the uniqueness of Christ Becoming a generational ghetto?

Do you support his assessments? Which model do you most philosophically align with? Which model is closest to some manner of Biblical ideal and why?

What I envision

My hope for this new site is a sincere and free airing of thoughts and feelings regarding faith coming from a variety of people and viewpoints. May it be a lively center of discussion, discernment, edification and challenge.

My hope is not that this would me "my blog" but a community of people who could post and share whatever sincere reflections on faith issues they were having. I purposefully invited a diverse set of contributors with different emphases and view points, all of whom I respect, to stimulate ideas and more accurately reflect the Church. If you fill out your profiles, it will help you all become better acquainted with one another.

So welcome, and feel free to begin posting.