Survival (Part 2)

I left off yesterday talking about adaptive leadership. Today I want to go further in the thoughts of yesterday. As I continued my blog reading I went to Ed Stetzer's blog. I read Stetzer's blog because he interviews great church leaders, has a lot of research on what is happening within Christianity and has a grasp on the missional church. He wrote a blog about a discussion he had for USA Today about "Is there one way to heaven?" (Read the article here). If you read the article be sure to read the comments that follow.

I was amazed at the number of Christians who think there is more than one way to get to heaven. Could this be one of the reasons so few people go to church on a given Sunday? For the adaptive leader this is just another brutal fact in our culture when it comes to Christianity and the church.

Is it possible we have gotten so caught up in church growth and being seeker sensitive that we have failed to promote even the basics of the gospel?

Reading Stetzer here reminded me that I needed to finish a study we are doing as a staff. It is a small group study written by Stetzer called "Sent." Currently we are having all our life groups go through the study. This study is kicking our butt! I have never done a study that asks some of the most thought provoking questions about some of the things we take for granted. If you want to order a copy go here.

I finished the last section after reading Stetzer's blog. In the last section he pointed out that 56% of people think about their eternal destiny. Another current reality for the adaptive leader. This is an opportunity to engage people in a discussion about their eternal destiny. But, as Stetzer points out, this goes beyond inviting people to church. He says, "Sure, it's easier to tell people to come to church and live a good life, but that's not the gospel. . . To share Christ, we have to go beyond formulas that fit on napkins."

This is another challenge for the adaptive leader and adaptive Christ followers. It requires leaders and the people they lead to develop authentic relationships with other people. At some point in the relationship the opportunity may arise (don't force the issue) to talk about eternal destiny.

We have moved beyond just teaching people to bring people to church. We need to lead be to be the church everywhere they go and with everyone they meet. Stetzer sums it up like this, "What, after all, are missional churches except gatherings of missional individuals?"

The sad reality of all this is that all we are talkning about here is living and being the church that is described in Acts. It is not something new, it is something we have got to get back to doing. Then the church (gathering of missional individuals) will begin to reach people and answer their questions about their eternal destiny.

So let's all commit to living missional lives, Loving God, Loving People and being authentic in our relationships to both.