What if we tried a fresh, 20-century-old approach to church?

It might look like this…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aI6soIIWKI

I know you’re probably tired of hearing more statistics about social media.

But how well do you use it?

How well does your organization, business, church or local ministry use social media to empower your vision champions? To drive change? To bring new business in the front door? To accomplish your mission?

As leaders we need to speak the language of the people we’re leading today as well as those we’ll be influencing (and being influenced by) five to ten years from now. Here’s one of the best (read: shorter and better music) updates to the ShiftHappens video series. Ignore the facts to your own peril.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SuNx0UrnEo

And the longer version with the old, familiar Fatboy Slim track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HybVOMJI0_E

Thoughts?

If you find yourself wondering whether today’s students have the vision, character and passion to lead change in this generation, don’t miss this amazing story of God’s grace lived out through 7,000+ students from over 100 campuses across Ethiopia. My friend Tariku Fufa says “this is all about giving purpose and mission to younger leaders.” Did I fail to mention that we only have 10 campus staff members in that country?

Do you want to help your disciples assess where they are on their journey toward becoming a Christ-centered lifetime laborer? Click here for a simple one-page tool that has been used on campuses around the world to keep students (and staff) focused on our mission. The “Making Disciples and Launching Movements” tool is part of the STINT briefing training and has been developed and refined over the last 20 years.

I’ve submitted this resource as part of the Re-Think Blogference “Resource Drive” going on this week. Click here to learn how to add your best stuff or click here to find out what others have contributed.

Lausanne 3 ended with an amazing, Christ-honoring two-and-a-half hour liturgical praise session last night. You could tell we were on Africa time and not on Western “got to get home to watch the NFL game” time. I have many been to many multi-national gatherings of Christ-followers and have enjoyed them all. But this felt different. The emotions flowed freely as we recited the Nicene Creed, confessed our sins as a global body of Christ, prayed for ourselves and for the nations, worshipped Jesus and took communion together. When we closed with “Crown Him With Many Crowns” I think I heard angels singing.

This was a very full and long week. We gathered to engage the whole church in taking the whole gospel to the whole world. I came in a spirit of prayer, not knowing who I would meet or how I would contact anyone. God connected with many humble, extraordinary people, far beyond what I asked or imagined. There will be a lot to sort out over the next few weeks and months, but here are my top five takeaways right now:

1. Christ alone: The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most wonderful message in the world. Jesus stands apart from any other religious leader of any culture at any time. He is the One True God. He created all and is Lord over all. He humbly came to live among us. He suffered a sacrificial death to satisfy our needs for justice and mercy before a holy God. He was buried for three days, then rose again in power. The gospel – the good news – is that Jesus lovingly offers relationship to God and freedom from sin and shame now and for all eternity. The resistance by popular postmodern culture of Jesus’ exclusive claims is nothing new: proclamation of truth has never been easy throughout the history of the church. Our first three mornings in Ephesians 1, 2 and 3 undergirded this conviction.

2. Integrity: As disciples of Jesus, we must walk worthy of this gospel. The next three mornings in Ephesians 4, 5 and 6 hammered this point home. As evangelicals (the word literally means “people of the gospel” and has been used since the 2nd century) we must walk in love, humility, integrity and simplicity. A skeptical world wants to see authentic faith in which our private and public lives align. One notable implication is that denominations, mission agencies and donors are shifting their emphasis from decisions to disciples.  We must incarnate passion for Christ and compassion for people.

3. Suffering: Christ’s church is invincibly strong amid unspeakable suffering. “God appoints suffering and prayer as a means of revealing the unsearchable riches of Christ for the nations. The infinite wisdom of the cross is revealed not in our prosperity but in our pain.” (John Piper) There are two types of suffering that the church must work to alleviate. One is suffering on earth, which includes those afflicted by HIV/AIDS, extreme poverty, sex trafficking, abuse and persecution. The other is suffering for eternity, or dying without an opportunity to know Christ. There still remain 692 UUPGs (Unengaged Unreached People Groups) of more than 50,000 totaling 350 million people without one single book of Scripture translated into their language. After 2,000 years, how is this possible?

4. Globalization: “Globalization is the process through which our human interconnectedness has now reached truly global proportions.” (Os Guiness) The deepest driver in globalization is information technology which accentuates three “S forces”:

• Speed: communication is nearly instantaneous
• Scope: we can communicate with the entire world
• Simultaneity: we expect to communicate everywhere at the same time

This global communication revolution is as significant as the rise of the wheel, the invention of the alphabet, human writing and the printing press. It is transforming human experience at all sorts of levels from identity, to families, to work, to communities, to nations, to notions such as evil and religious meaning. One local Kenyan pastor who faithfully prepares a sermon for his church of 150 each week finds himself being compared with T.D. Jakes podcasts downloaded on iTunes. Globalization is the single strongest face of the world in our time. We will wrestle with it throughout our lifetimes as the context for our living and witnessing. Don’t fear it, but engage, assess, discern and act.

5. Partnership: The global church is far stronger than I imagined.

“The day of the single superstar leader has passed. The day of full partnership is here.” (Patrick Fung – Director of OMF Intl from Singapore)

“Hard-headed evangelical entrepreneurs can cooperate and partner in a common mission.” (Ramez Atallah – General Secretary of the Bible Society of Egypt)

The global church has spoken clearly this week: It is not looking for large western churches, denominations, megapastors or institutions to roll out their ten-year strategic plans to reach the world. However, the church of the global south and east is searching for mutuality with the church of the north and west.

Reconciliation is the foundation of all Christian partnership. This will involve sharing leadership – mutuality – between generations, genders and geographies. Reconciliation in Christ always results in more fruitful service for Christ. This message is foolishness to the world, yet this is what the world most wants (expects?) to see within the church: bold, humble unity.

The cross is at the center of reconciliation: death to self. True biblical partnership requires an aspect of death to self. This may mean death to my own ambition thus allowing others to succeed, death to my position thus allowing another to hold it, or death to my own opinion which, in turn, allows others to speak powerfully.

Enough for now. Selah.

Apply: View, listen or download presentations from the Third Lausanne Congress here.

What if the entire evangelical church were to gather 4,500 key leaders from 200 countries and all walks of life who minister to rich and poor, educated and illiterate, widows and orphans, politicians and generals, and put one question in the center of the table?

Well, it is happening next week.

The question: What will it take for the church to finish the task of Jesus’ Great Commission while living out the Great Commandment? That is an important question because ultimately God’s purposes will be fulfilled. All of history is heading in this direction. We know that some generation will actually witness this fulfillment take place.

This Thursday I fly to Cape Town, South Africa, to join the 3rd Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. It’s a huge deal because many missions leaders believe with deep conviction that we may be within a generation’s reach of completing the church’s global task. I am also growing to believe this. It’s a privilege for me to attend, as only 400 invitations were offered to North Americans. My confirmation letter urged me to arrive a bit early to the opening session, as we will be seated in 759 tables of six. Conversations, not just presentations. Cool.

The Lausanne Movement traces its roots to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in the late ‘60s. Graham perceived the need for a larger, more diverse congress to reframe the Christian mission in a world rife with political, social, economic and religious upheaval. The first Congress was held in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1974 with 2,700 participants from 150 countries. From this gathering the soul-stirring Lausanne Covenant was forged, unifying key doctrinal and visionary elements of Christ’s global church. Manila hosted Lausanne II in 1989, and various working groups have carried missional partnering forward over the last two decades. This week begins Lausanne III.

If you want some fresh wind in your sails, read the Covenant or engage in the Cape Town conversation here. You may be surprised to discover that the conversations you’re having with friends about social justice, kingdom partnering, emerging leadership and balancing the Great Commandment with the Great Commission actually started before we were born. It’s a healthy reminder that missional church didn’t just begin a few years ago with guys who wear distressed jeans, heavy black shoes, horn-rimmed glasses and untucked shirts.

Jesus’ church is an unstoppable movement. If you’re a praying person, please pray that Jesus would do far more abundantly than we can ask or think. Also pray for my personal networking with other missions experts who share my burden for college students and for internet evangelism and discipleship. Thank you.

Why movements?

Because Jesus working through a team of like-hearted followers to win, build and send new generations of Christ-centered multiplying disciples is THE way that The Way told us to get the job done. Loving God, loving people, and launching simple, organic movements that multiply over and over and over again leads to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. If that sounds too simplistic, maybe it’s just because we’ve overcomplicated things in the past few centuries of church life.

Here are three links to get your creative movement juices flowing:

Floyd McClung interview on simple church-planting movements (and his new book “Follow”) on Steve Addison’s blog.

Tim Keller’s recent straight up blog post on Movements in which he coins the term “spontaneous generativity.”

Crazy Man dancing and starting a movement. This one’s been around for awhile but is still lots of fun.

Go. Make disciples. Grab some friends and change our world.

Why did you get out of bed today?

Seriously.

For a paycheck? To keep your job? To avoid boredom?

Or perhaps because you were eager to pursue your calling.
Because you believe that what you do today might make a difference tomorrow.
Because deep down inside you believe you can change the world.

Here is a fantastic TED presentation by Simon Sinek on how leaders inspire others to action with the power of why. Genuine movements always begin with a WHY – a cause. What’s your Why?

This should be interesting. Wikimedia (the non-profit foundation that supports Wikipedia) has just announced that it is going to open it up its strategic planning process. In a world where most strategic plans are designed by a few behind closed doors it’s nice to breathe some fresh air. This HBR post explains how Wikipedia will throw open the windows:

Over the coming months we hope to provide readers of this blog with a window into this unprecedented endeavor from a range of perspectives (volunteers, staff, board members, strategy consultants, external advisors and more). We’re essentially going to blog the Wikimedia strategic planning process pretty much as it happens. We think our innovations (those that work and those that flop) will generate new ideas, lessons and approaches for organizations and movements as they look to tackle strategy development and consider the question of how one “organizes” a massive global movement. We also want to tap into your expertise, perspectives and creativity for the benefit of this strategy work.

That is really, really cool. Imagine tapping into the passions and perspectives of any interested constituent to help you build your movement. This is bold leadership for a new generation. I’m looking forward to following this process.

And all from a non-profit.

I confess I began Twittering one month ago as a skeptic. My felt need for more info about more people doing more stuff was pretty low. But, as I mentioned here, I decided to give it a try for 30 days. I’m glad I did. Here are five reasons why:

1. I learn a lot, very quickly, from good tweeters. Several @johnpiper tweets have provoked questions that resonated all day long. My brother-in-law @garunn posts very insightful links. There is more actual value per tweet than I find in most emails or in Facebook. Good tweeters engage others using @angelamaiers’ 70-20-10 rule.

2. It’s manageable. The ease of this surprised me. I can turn off the faucet of information whenever I want. Also, I use TweetDeck which makes it super easy to scan, filter, save and reply to tweets. I like that I can update my Facebook status without being at the computer. Oddly enough, life feels a bit more integrated. @stephnannen recently posted her fellow skeptic’s insights on her excellent blog. If you’re drowning in tweets, see 10 Tips For Managing Twitter As Your Usage Increases.

3. It’s customizable. You can choose to receive text updates from everyone, no one, or just two people (as I’ve chosen to do).

4. It inspires good writing. Seriously. To communicate something of value in only 140 characters is a mix of art and science. Clear writing is a sign of clear thinking.

5. Friends help me solve problems. Case in point: After 12 years with the Palm OS (currently on a Treo) I’ve been trying to decide on moving to a new smartphone platform. But which one would best suit my needs? I researched the blogs, watched the ads, and Googled the reviews. It’s a big investment in my time, energy and money to make a move. I estimate I spent 10-15 hours on this decision over the past few weeks.

Enter Twitter.

Yesterday I sent the following tweet from my phone (which automatically posted to FB) at 10:10 a.m.:

pondering switching from Treo to Pre or iphone. Since i live in outlook, my device *must* sync tasks & notes. what device drives you & why?

By 11:10 a.m. I had received more than a dozen substantial, informative responses (both in Facebook and in Tweetdeck). The best info came from @travistodd who is 10,000 miles away in Asia.

By dinner time I had enough relevant info based on personal user experiences of trusted friends to make an informed decision with confidence. (I’m going with the iPhone.)

These days it takes a Tribe.