How Can We As Individuals Live in a More Centered Way?

I regularly state that you can’t do a centered approach alone. A small group leader can’t by themselves make the group centered. If others in the group are bounded, the group will have a bounded character. Yet, what we do at the individual level still matters. What happens if rather than looking at the whole diagram above we look at just one individual? What can we do to treat ourselves in more centered ways? How can our individual discipleship have a more centered character? I address these questions in this 13-minute video.

Image taken from Centered-Set Church: Community and Discipleship Without Judgmentalism, by Mark D. Baker. Copyright © 2021 by Mark D. Baker. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com.

The Way of Jesus: 3 : 12 : 120

3 : 12 : 120, Andy Crouch's comments on Jesus and those numbers took me back to college days and a paper I wrote in a ministry course. The paper's prompt was: "What can we learn about discipling others from observing Jesus' leadership training methods?" I had yet to receive much training in biblical interpretation, but even my simple reading of the text yielded valuable insights. They have shaped my approach to ministry over all these decades. I noted that Jesus spoke to crowds, but he did not fill his days preaching to the masses. Instead, he gave special attention to an inner circle of 3, a group of 12, and a bigger circle of about 120. (That was the number of followers gathered on Pentecost.) I observed that Jesus spent time with his disciples. He did not just give lectures to them; he shared life with them. Jesus did tell stories, ask questions, and occasionally lecture, but he taught as much by modeling as by talking. He also gave them opportunities to learn by doing. 

During the years I was involved in youth ministry, I prayed every August, asking  who would be my 3 and my 12 that year. And then I would seek to do what Jesus did. I visited the 3 in their homes and invited them to mine. During the school's lunchtime, I sought to interact with the 12. I had a Bible study, open to all but focused on the 12. I gave the 3 opportunities to lead in the main group activities and encouraged them to each have their group of 3. The roles I later had as a missionary and seminary professor did not lend themselves to the same application of the 3 : 12 : 120 approach. Even so, most years, I still asked God: who are the 3 and the 12 you are calling me to prioritize and take initiative with? I have not done that for a number of years, but I will do so this week. Will you join me and do the same?

Andy Crouch's talk of 3 : 12 : 120 led me to recall these insights, but his reflection went deeper. He acknowledges that cultural transformation requires change at the systemic and institutional levels but argues it is a mistake to leave out the personal and relational. In his book Culture Making, he writes, "The essential insight of 3 : 12 : 120 is that every cultural innovation, no matter how far-reaching its consequences, is based on personal relationships and personal commitment." (243). He argues that the key move is not to get an audience of thousands and make a pitch but to build deep relationships of trust and shared vision with 3. Then gather a group where everyone in the room can still be seen and heard—12. The next circle of 120 is the max for people to know each other and have a personal sense of buy-in. To get a bit more explanation, I invite you to watch this four-minute video by Crouch, or read this blog by David Fitch reflecting on Andy's 3 : 12 : 120 and the church.

 As Crouch states, "The pattern of 3 : 12 : 120 is marvelously good news. Faced with the immense scale and scope of culture . . . we feel overwhelmed, justly concerned about many features of our culture that we will never be able to change. The temptation to withdraw or accommodate, to get away or just go along, is strong" (245). Yet, change is possible. We can all seek out a few others who share our convictions and vision and invest in developing relationships of deep trust. That can set the stage for inviting others to join in transforming work—in your church, your institution, your neighborhood, or beyond.

 It is good news and also a challenge. It challenges us to resist going it alone. It tells us relationships are crucial and that they take work.

 Is there a vision that God is stirring within you? Who might you invite to be part of your 3? Your 12?

The Times Demand It: Something New in My 45th Time Teaching Discipleship and Ethics

This week I will begin the “Discipleship and Ethics” course differently than I ever have before. I did not choose the name for my course. It was already in the catalog. I actually did not like the name. One year I even asked the dean if I could change it. For many Christians “discipleship” refers to a method for training or mentoring Christians. That is the way I had used the word myself. I thought the word “discipleship” miscommunicated the content of the course. Therefore, I have always started the course by acknowledging how the word is commonly used, and then state: “But for Anabaptists ‘discipleship’ is often used in relation to ethics—following Jesus in terms of life commitments, living differently. So in this course ‘discipleship’ has that connotation.” Then, after that statement I have not used the word in class the rest of the semester. I will use it this semester! Why?

 A few months ago, while preparing a bed of soil to plant lettuce and kale, I listened to “This Cultural Moment” a podcast recommended to me by Brian Ross (Pastoral Ministries professor at the seminary). In the third podcast of the first season John Mark Comer interviews Mark Sayers and they reflect together on a serious error of their early church-planting efforts. In the early 2000’s they, and many others, looked to new ways of being church. They turned down the lights, sat in a circle, talked about social justice, etc. They sought to be relevant. In the same time period what Mark Sayers calls digital capitalism came to more and more dominate life. By digital capitalism he means the blending of free market capitalism and the Internet. Digital capitalism has combined with a worldview committed to autonomous individualism. The latter told people to not give themselves to any external authority yet through the former they gave themselves to Apple and Google—autonomous yet, increasingly, enslaved.

Comer and Sayers planted churches in the context of this caustic mix of digital capitalism and hyper individualism. Sayers affirms relevance, it is just not enough. They were sending Christians out to be relevant and these believers were getting sucked into and enslaved by the world they sought to be relevant to. In the podcast Comer and Sayers made bold statements like: “The I-phone is a greater threat to the gospel than secularism ever has been.” Earlier you could assume Christians read their Bible, prayed regularly, now spiritual disciplines are disappearing, “if not erased by secularism then by Wi-Fi access.”  What really caught my attention, however, was what they said is needed—discipleship!

Sayers said, “We must return to formation and discipleship. We can’t send people out into the world unformed because the world has so much sway, pull, allure to it. First we must help people be with Jesus and be formed by Jesus.”

They were using the word “discipleship” the same way I did when I worked as a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship—of mentoring people in how to read the Bible, pray, evangelize, and lead Bible studies. But, they included more. They said “basic human wisdom is lacking. We must go way back in discipling and teach people how to live in community, how to not be flaky, how to show up, how to deal with conflict.” They seek to shape Christians who will read a Psalm before touching their phone in the morning and who will share a meal with other Christians a couple times a week. They do not assume that is happening. They now work at those things through discipleship.

I put down my garden trowel, leaned back and thought, “Perhaps I need to start talking about discipleship in my class. If Sayers and Comer are correct, without discipleship people will not be able to live out the ethics I teach in the course. The caustic floodwaters of digital capitalism and hyper-individualism are too strong.

Since that moment I have remained committed. Discipleship will be a theme in the course this semester. I did, however, wonder about the framing of it—my talk about the word the first week of the course. I will now embrace the common definition rather than saying that is not what the course is about. I will say discipleship is walking toward Jesus with new Christians, intentionally sharing life with them, guiding them, mentoring them in practices, values, character—training them so they can train others. I wondered, however, will I say what Sayers and Comer say. Is it particularly needed now?

I sought to disciple students when I worked with InterVarsity, even then, back in the mid 1980’s it did not feel like what I did was enough. I was with students a few hours a week, at best, and they were being shaped by other people and influences many more hours. In response, my wife and I decided to rent a house and invite three of the students to live with us for a year. Is the need actually greater now, or are Sayers and Comer just coming to the same conclusion I did decades ago? I asked Brian Ross what he thought. He said, yes the pressure and influence is greater now. It used to be that people had times away from cultural and societal influences—in their home or room for instance. Now, through phones, the world is in our room and everywhere else. Think, for instance, just of the difference in the distraction factor between now and 1985.

I think Noemi Vega, former student and current InterVarsity South Texas area director, would agree with Brian and with Sayers and Comer. In a recent newsletter she wrote:

College student ministry is shifting. Our freshman class is like none other I have encountered. They are our iGen students, the ones that are über connected online, but are hesitant to form face-to-face bonds and friendships. In response to our changing culture, after praying and seeking the Lord, my staff and I decided to focus on "deeper discipleship."

For Trinity University it meant calling our bible studies "Family Groups" and treating them as family. It meant having a lot of conflict resolution conversations on the leadership team. The staff and large group leaders changed the structure to make it more community-oriented and make space for more authentic conversations. Every student leader was matched with a staff to disciple them. And God moved. Trinity now has 21 student leaders, all committed to discipleship: both receiving and giving! They have the most bible studies in the last three years: 10 on campus. God is on the move transforming our student's lives.

So yes, when I talk about discipleship in the first class I will frame it the way Sayers and Comer do—of particular importance at this time. What will I do differently in the rest of the course? Go back to notes on discipleship from a college course? I had not thought of that until right now, perhaps a good idea. But no, not just that. We need more.

I will point students to ideas like ones I found in Mark Scandrette’s book, Practicing the Way of Jesus. He writes, “Too often our methods of spiritual formation are individualistic, information driven or disconnected from the details of everyday life. . . Perhaps what we need is a path for discipleship that is more like a karate studio than a lecture hall. . . action focused, communal, experiential” (14-15). Much of the book is Scandrette describing discipleship experiments that he invited others into. They are for a particular time period—a day, a week, a month or longer. They all are inspired by the life and teachings of Jesus and relate to real needs. A group of people commit time and energy to specific practices and reflect together on the experience and how they can shape ongoing rhythms of life (16). Examples include:

-  Seeing as God sees, for a week look into the eyes of each person you met, pausing to see them as loved by God (51).

- With a friend, for a week eat with the lonely--at a local soup kitchen, hospital, or nursing home (137).

- A forty-day vow: no meat, no media, no solo sex, a limited wardrobe, and memorize the Sermon on the Mount (55).

- Keep a gratitude log for one week. Another week, keep a detailed journal of where you spend your time and money (148).

- As a group pool a certain percentage of your incomes and decide together how you will spend it to bless others (149).

- Expect opportunity – each morning for a week, ask God for the opportunity to be an agent of healing (137).

The actions are important, just as valuable is what happens as they group processes their experiences.

I invite you now, as I will invite students throughout this semester, to recognize the truth in Sayers and Comer’s observation, follow Noemi’s lead, borrow Scandrette’s examples, and do against the current discipleship with others.

Act, Observe, Reflect, Adjust

“I never realized….” “I will start…” “I saw something new about myself.” “I am going to change….” Phrases like these began showing up with much greater frequency in my students’ papers starting in the spring of 2011. Why the sudden increase in 2011? I can trace the answer to that question to a conversation at Bob Brenneman’s kitchen table in Vermont. Bob, a sociology professor, shared excitedly of the impact of a new assignment. He had his students fast from their phones for a day and during that time compose a hand-written letter. I borrowed the assignment from Bob—literally; I lifted the words from his syllabus. The depth of reflection and the commitment to life-change increased dramatically in comparison to the class response assignment I had previously used. Impressed, I began to think of other action-reflection assignments I could add to the Discipleship and Ethics course.

I will share a few lines from students’ reflections—to give you a feel for what excited Bob and I, but the main purpose of this blog is not to pass along information that others have learned. Rather, I write this blog to encourage you to use these same activities in your church, with your family, your small group, with clients you counsel, in youth group, in courses you teach, etc. I will begin by listing the five action-reflection assignments I use. Borrow them as I borrowed from Bob!  

 Act

The action assignments I now use are: a one-day cell-phone fast, composing and sending a handwritten letter, visiting a mall and thinking about it as a place of worship, a five day fast from television, watching TV commercials with a critical eye, and making a change in food purchasing or preparing for one week. Copied below are the actual assignments. Although they will need some adaptation for non-academic settings. It would be easy to do so.

One-day cell-phone fast

Choose a day in the week ahead for a fast from electronic communication (cell phone/mobile devices, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook and any other internet based forms of communication). You may choose the length of the fast, all day would be ideal, but less than that is acceptable. Sometime during your fast write a handwritten letter to someone you normally communicate with electronically and mail it/deliver it to them.  After you have written the letter write a two-part critical reflection. Part one: through the lens of class 6, reflect on your experience of the fast – including stating how long your fast was; you may want to utilize some of Erisman’s questions in your reflection. Part two: reflect on the experience of communicating through the handwritten, pen and paper medium what did you learn? It should be one page single-spaced and is due by class 7.

Mall visit

Spend an hour at a mall observing how it acts as a religious place of formation and worship. Liturgy and worship practices reflect what matters to us and shape us; they give us a vision for a way of life and call us to that way of life, invite our allegiance and obedience. What is the foundational narrative of the mall—its basic truths? What is its view of the human, of “sin”? What is the vision of the good life it calls us to? What kind of people does it want us to become? As you are at the mall seek to discern the “liturgies,” the “sermons,” the “worship” practices of the mall. How does it communicate its foundational narrative/basic truths and how does it seek to shape and call us to be the kind of people it wants us to be? Write a one page (single-spaced) analysis based on your observations. Answer the above questions. Integrate specific examples from the last question (How...?) into your answers to the other questions. (Idea borrowed from James K. A. Smith [Desiring the Kingdom, Baker Academic, 2009, 96-101]).

Watching TV commercials with a critical eye

Be a critical watcher of TV commercials this week. Take notes as you watch. What messages are communicated explicitly and implicitly? What are common themes and methods? How do they cohere with and conflict with the gospel and the Kingdom of God? Write a response letter reflecting on what you observed and learned. Send it to your friend and me before the next class.

Five-day TV and Internet Fast

Take a five day fast from T.V., videos and entertainment/news on the internet (You may continue to use internet based forms of communication like e-mail, but some break from that is encouraged as well). Write a response letter reflecting on the experience and what you observed and learned. Send it to your friend and me before the next class.

Food – do something different

The action part of the assignment is to do something different than your normal routine in relation to food. This is very open ended. Some possibilities include: shop at a farmers’ market, prepare meals at home, get a trial CSA box for one week and prepare meals based on what is in it, visit a farm and discuss issues that have come up in this class, invite others to join you for a meal, have a meal be part of a Bible study or other church event, plant some vegetables, exclude sugar or fast food for the week, volunteer at a food bank,  eat together as a family, etc. (you may already do some of these things, the idea is to do something that you do not normally do). Come to class prepared to report on what you did and reflect on what you observed and learned through the experience.

 Observe

The actions made all the difference. That was the new addition to the course. But all three elements evident in the assignments are necessary. For instance it is not the action of going to the mall that is significant. Many people do that all the time. Rather it is going with the intent to observe as these comments display:

“The Mall has a very specific idea about the type of person it wants you to become. It is one thing to be aware of that at some level—and a very good thing at that—but to be consciously aware of the mall’s myriad attempts at high-jacking your desires for its own purposes is something else. Going to the mall with the intention of being consciously aware of its liturgies is staggering.”

“As I walked through the mall with a life full of experiences of paying down credit cards, I realized that these stores which offer jewelry for ‘low financing.’ or the clothing store which offers introductory credit cards, were not trying to help better people’s lives or help them as a person but they were instead offering a false promise of a ‘better’ life.”

“I noticed in that moment how easily one can be drawn in to the promise of the good life.”

Similarly, we see ads on the TV and Internet all the time, but to stop and observe with intentionality is something else. The step of observation is important in relation to all the actions--even the ones that will be experienced as new and attention grabbing. As one student wrote, “Impressive how our view on things changes if we are more mindful of what is happening.”

Reflect

It is not, however, just to observe, but also to reflect. What do we learn about ourselves and society? What important issues does the action raise? The value of not just acting, but reflecting is evident in these comments:

 “I do think that I have a clearer understand of just how damaging this environment is for me. It is apparent how the mall as an entity aims to lead us in a direction that may in fact be opposite of where we need to be headed.”

“At the moment, movies are the background noise I hide behind. As I stepped into the silent evenings and quiet moments during the day when my work was done, many things I didn’t really want to think about or didn’t want to pray about but needed to were slapping me in the face constantly. My mind was free. No static. I was forced to think. Forced to pray. Forced to heal.”

“I realized how much time and energy I spent caring about what other people were doing on social media, instead of using that energy to focus on today and what I need to get done. I also realized how much social media makes me feel like I need to work harder to catch up to others, yet at the same time is stealing my time to get things done.”

“In my most consumed moments of social media and technology there are instances where I become aware that I am looking for something. I ask myself in that moment: what am I looking for? What do I need right in this moment that I think social media can fill? Is it friendship? A connection? Personal meaning? Motivation? Am I avoiding something? Am I seeking attention? Recognition?”

The depth of reflection flowing from these assignments encourages me and calls me to ponder with the students. Perhaps what I most enjoy, however, is the way students stumble into unexpected joy through the actions taken. For instance, one student’s family rather than grabbing fast food, committed to make all their suppers and eat them together at the table. He made some comments about healthier food—the sort of thing I had expected. But mostly he reflected on relationships and the way family dynamics changed, positively, through their eating together. Regularly students, after recounting their children’s resistance to joining in the TV/Internet fast, then describe in wonder the joy of the family playing games together.

Adjust

I do not require students to spell out specific applications, although writing this blog has led me to make changes in the assignments. I have added "adjust." It is a key question flowing from reflection: How will you adjust your life, what will you do differently? Yet, even without asking that question, the power of the experience frequently leads people to state: “I have decided to….” “I will start….” “I will stop…..”

How might you adapt and use these act-observe-reflect-adjust activities? I invite you to take a few moments and think of settings where you could use them. What are other action oriented learning activities related to themes of this website that you have used or can imagine using? (Please share them with the rest of us in the comment section.)