Whirled Views with Dan Burrell

A little bit ago, I posted a blog article about some things I wanted to ask my “emergent” Church planting friends.  I’ll probably incorporate some of the things I’d like to have said in responds to some who offered comments in a future article.  In a nutshell, I found a lot of interesting things presented, reinforced and expanded upon in the dialogue that followed.  I also remain frustrated with an “identity” that seems to glory in being unidentifiable — which is part of what I find very disturbing about the “emergent” culture.  But, I digress….

Today, a few questions for the folks that are committed to doing church the way that it has always been done.  I am really going to do my best to avoid caricatures and cliches.  I’m going to leave the King James Only Types and the most extreme adherents to evangelical fundamentalism alone and try to aim for the more mainstream traditionalists.

For the sake of full disclosure, I probably identify more with “traditionalists” than I do with “emergents” (no…make that DEFINITELY) while at the same time, I am often disgusted with myself for too frequently approaching my faith as an exercise rather than a journey.  I believe some earnest questions are in order.

1. Is it just me, or do you think some traditionalist church leaders would just as soon see their church close as change because they would view change as “compromise?”

2. If it meant you could see your son or grandaughter continue in the church of their childhood as an adult, would you be willing to let tolerate some things like more contemporary music, more casual dress or a less formal order of service in your services?

3. If the whippersnapper youngsters would be willing to admit that they have over-dosed on “grace” to the point of license, would you be willing to admit that the traditionalist generation often over-doses on the law to embrace an unbiblical form of legalism?

4. Is the church down the street who subscribes to a traditional evangelical/fundamental doctrinal orthodoxy, yet has up-beat music, expressive worship including clapping and raising of hands, untraditional dress (read: casual) and other characteristics that give you headaches and panic attacks really destroying Christianity (if not civilization)?  Are they enemies of sound doctrine?

5. Why is it that traditional churches are generally monochromatic racially?  Why is it that they skew older –often dramatically?  Is there a correlation?

6. Would you be willing to agree that some traditionalist church leaders have elevated traditions and preferences to the point (if not above the point) of doctrinal matters?

7. If it meant that your church would continue for another generation with a fresh wave of younger members and leadership, would you be willing to consider adjusting things like: Service schedules?  Using women as ushers and greeters?  Allowing guitars and drums to accompany the music?  Permitting younger people — teens even — to participate in things like singing in the choir or taking the offering or even teaching or working in the nursery?  Utilize meetings in homes rather than only on-campus functions for instruction?

8. Is it accurate to say that many traditional churches are more intent on things that can be counted and easily measured (baptisms, “decisions”, membership, new members) than things that are more nuanced and more difficult to calibrate (discipleship, equipping, training, connecting, developing spiritual disciplines?)

9. Is it possible that many traditional churches have largely neglected the 1/3rd of the great commission that deals with discipleship wherein a new convert is personally and systematically instructed in the doctrines of Scripture and the responsibilities of the Christian walk?  Why is that so?

10. Have many traditional churches become overly critical of others who are less traditional?  Paranoid about change of any kind?  Self-satisfied?  Separated to the point of isolation?  Envious of God’s blessings on other ministries which we might routinely dismiss as evidence of compromise in order to “draw a crowd”?

11. Has the traditional church lost sight of changes in communication and transportation which has left us with a system of missionary outreach that is outdated and inefficient?

12. Has the traditional church created an artificial, arbitrary and even pharisaical attitude toward holiness that emphasizes conforming to a “list” of acceptable and unacceptable conduct matters while ignoring the command to be transformed by adopting a Christ-like mentality.  (EXAMPLE: Consider our commitment to preaching a tee-totaler’s position on alcohol — which I personally hold, btw — to our absence of preaching on matters like gluttony in light of Scripture saying much more about over-eating than not drinking at all.)

OK….I’m going to stop now.  I have more.  But I also had more for the Emergents.  You may feel free to add your own questions, comment on these questions or send me hate mail which accuses me of destroying fundamentalism.  I look forward to seeing your comments.  If you haven’t read the Emergent dialogue, I would challenge you to do so be clicking HERE.

After much debate with friends and others, I’m going to try Twittering.  If I like it, I’ll stick with it.  If not, I’ll pull the plug after a while.  If you “tweet”, then you can look me up @danburrell and follow any updates, sarcasm, comments, rants or other miscellaneous updates.  (This is what happens when one goes on vacation and has some free time.)  If you tweet, let me know and I’ll probably sign up for follow up as well.  (Unless you’re the kind of twitterbug that can’t pass a dead squirrel on the road without sending out a tweet about it.)

Each Sunday morning, as I drive to one or more of our campuses, I see multiple freshly-printed signs of varying creativity and style announcing a new church plant meeting at such-and-such a school.  Whenever I’m in another city, I see the same thing.  It was the case when I was in Charlotte and it is the case across South Florida.  As frequently as I see a new restaurant starting up, I see a new church plant starting up and sadly, from my observations — they both have about the same chances of making it (which isn’t a real good shot.)

Having been in fundagelical circles my entire life (and I’m still only 47, for at least a few more weeks), I’ve seen trends in church growth come and go.  I won’t bore you with the various fads, movements, campaigns, conferences, strategies and so on, I’ve seen — but they are myriad and multiple.  I’d also like to state for the record — I am PRO church planting.  I’ve helped start churches, I grew up in a church that was planted by my parents who were lay people, as a pastor — I’ve lead our church to plant daughter congregations.  I only have respect and admiration for those called into church planting.  I am neither spiritual enough or man enough to do it myself.  What follows is not a criticism of church planting as a mission inspiteof what may be viewed as some cynicism on my part.  I’m excited to see a new church gain its footing and break loose.

One last caveat — the kinds of churches I’m discussing here are those that would, for lack of a better term, be best described as “emergent”.  Specifically designed for “unchurched” folks who think and behave like postmodernist folks and are largely younger than 35 or so.  They have an “anti-traditional” air about them and they often speak openly of “doing church” differently than what others may have experience previously in a church.  They often have “one-word names” like “Relevant, Elevation, Revolution, Engaged, Mosaic, etc…”.  They are independent for the most part and even if they are denominationally-supported, they tend to hide that fact if at all possible.  Their pastors are hip, have kewl glasses, wear jeans and graphic T’s, love hair gel and tattoos, are prone to vocabulary that would make their mothers cringe, are extremely passionate about the lost, are often disdainful of politics — particularly the conservative/Christian/Republican variety –, have a copy of “Velvet Elvis” right next to the Bible and love edgy music of any kind.  Their pastors have often grown up evangelical, have been wounded by legalism, hate racism, love people, have been considered liberal by some uptight fundamentalist type at some point in their lives, find relational evangelism important, are very engaged in the local community, want to be friends with unbelievers and desperately want to make a difference in the Kingdom of God.  Oh….and they generally like Starbucks.

With that said, I have some questions of church planters.  Some of them are intended to provoke thought, some are intended to poke at the caricatures we tend to become, some are intended to open dialogue and others are simply born of my own curiosity which is almost always seasoned liberally with a certain amount of skepticism.  Please don’t misinterpret this as an “attack” on new churches, young pastors, the Church Growth Movement (well, maybe I DO intend to challenge the CGM a bit) or that this in any way indicates any hostility, envy or Pharisaical arrogance on my part toward new church plants.  I’m just doing my usual — asking the importunate questions that are rolling around my brain at this moment in time.

So…here we go….

1. Is your desire to plant a “new kind” of church born of passion for the lost, frustration (maybe even bitterness) with the church of your parents/grandparents or a combination of both?

I ask this question because I seem to detect something that often borders on anger when one discusses the history of the church.  To some like me, it sometimes feels like they are declaring to the Bridegroom (Jesus) that He has a really fat, ugly, lazy Fiancee (the church) and that they want to offer Him Rachel, not Leah.  Am I off-base here? Is this a rebellious stage in your ministry?  Was your parent’s church really all that awful?  Is rebellion and anger a good reason to start a church?  What message would you like to see received by the “traditional church” that they just don’t seem to get?

2. Is it possible that you are becoming as much a caricature of your generation as the caricature that irritates you in the generation before you?

We know the jokes.  Yesterday’s pastor and deacon and elder were cut of the mold that carried huge Bibles, wore bad combovers or even worse, pompadours (like they do on the Trinity Network), prayed in the King James style of intonation, loved polyester suits — particularly dark and double-breasted or with a vest, had 2 colors of wing-tip shoes and was married to a wife with “big hair”.

But….in wanting to put major distance between you and them (and who would blame you), you have chosen to use gel to an excess, refuse to tuck in a shirt under any condition, use the terms “Dude” and “sick” WAY too much, seem oddly proud of yourself that you have done a funeral in blue jeans because you don’t own a suit, have a soul patch or a goatee or that 5-day stubble thing going on and probably own some glasses like that Danny Gokey guy on American Idol.

So…really, aren’t you becoming just the newest incarnation of someone your kids will mock sometime around 2030 or so?  Is that really what makes us different?  Have you created a slightly newer version of the Christian sub-culture look that is still “mock-worthy” by the guy that wouldn’t be caught dead in any kind of church?  Is there more to your rejection of the pastoral suit and tie than we realize?  If so, what?

3. Do you think that doctrine really doesn’t matter?

Depending on whom one reads from month to month, we are frequently told that doctrine divides (and that is bad), that it is transient (can mean something different from one generation to another), is not essential and that it should be de-emphasized?   Is it impossible to teach doctrine without being as boring as a crusty old seminary professor?  Do you think that some tenants of doctrine (I’m not talking preferences, standards or traditions here) are essential for genuine and authentic faith?  If so, what are those and how do you systematically teach and train people in those doctrines?

4. Are denominational labels totally irrelevant?

I’m not convinced that you have to have your denominational tag on your name or on every sign.  However, do you consider the doctrines/beliefs/philosophy/positions of, say…the Southern Baptists to be on the same footing as perhaps the “Disciples of Christ?”  Why or why not?  How do you train your members to note the differences without clearly teaching them the differences?  Should potential differencs be important enough to explore them and maybe even teach about them?  If not, why not?  If so, when?

5. Are all traditions bad, are some good and how does one avoid traditions?  More so, what constitutes a tradition?

There seems to be a significant “anti-tradition” element in the CGM and emergents.  But the term “tradition” often seems to mean, “I like my traditions because they aren’t really traditions, but I really don’t like your traditions.”  What is a tradition by your definition?  Is baptism by immersion a tradition?  Is using unleavened bread and unfermented grape juice a tradition?  Is singing a hymn on occasion a tradition?  Is taking an offering a tradition?  What constitutes the difference between a good tradition and a bad tradition?  Is using lighting effects a tradition?  Is offering folks coffee as they enter a tradition?  Is twittering questions for the pastor during a sermon a tradition?  Are they better traditions or just different traditions or are they traditions at all?

6. Is a church that is multi-cultural, but not multi-generational better or worse than a white church or black church with several generations represented throughout?  Should one be avoided?  

There frequently seems to be a few token “gray heads” in some large emergent churches, but very few.  It’s kind of like the token African-Americans one will find in many large traditional Southern churches.  It kind of gives them a smug sense of “tolerance”….but let’s face it, some folks are “more equal than others” in those settings.

7. Is expositional and systematic preaching and teaching impossible to pull off in a non-traditional church?

It could be argued that dry Bible teaching without any practical application is a huge turn-off for desperate people with messed up lives who need answers and they need them now.  But is there a gulf between a “Dr. Phil” style of “I’m going to change your life in 60 minutes or less” and a method of teaching/preaching that relies on exegesis, but also includes some practical applications that is impossible to bridge?

So….those are just a few of my questions.  Now I’m going to duck and run for cover.  But before I do, I’m not sure I’ve got all my questions out there on this yet.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  I may post some more before we’re over.  I’m looking forward to hearing from some of my favorite young pastors — many of whom grew up calling me “Pastor” — as they roll their eyes at me and unload their guns.  That’s OK.  I’m sure I’ll learn something.  OH….and before you think I’m taking a singular swipe at emergents….beware!  I’ve got a list of questions I’ll be posting for those who think that 3 Hymns, a Wurlitzer Organ, ushers that look like funeral directors and an invitation that includes 27 verses of “Just as I am” constitutes “real” church.  So, watch out….

More later and thanks as always for letting me ruminate outloud.

I haven’t been able to blog for the last couple of weeks and wanted to check in and let you know that I’m alive and well and to offer some pathetic explanations or two.

This is a beautiful time in South Florida and before all the heat and humidity bears down on us in the next couple of months, I’ve been trying to do some “family things”.  When I made a decision, just under two years ago, to change some things about how I approached ministry, one of the things I determined was that I would spend more time with my children.  In the end, people that demand you sacrifice your children and family time for the ministry won’t be there for you when you need them, so it’s important to keep your priorities in order.

So…we’ve been to the beach, we go to breakfast, I take my kids on “dates”, we visit Florida sites on day trips, Julie and the girls enjoy “girl days” and the boys and I enjoy hanging out as well, we go to fairs, we hold alligators and you know….at the end of the day, I still have plenty of time for ministry, extra work and even watching “24″ on Monday nights.

So….if you notice a little bit of a break in the blog from time to time, just assume I’m spending some time with one of the kids and that we’re walking along a gorgeous Florida beach, or buzzing across the everglades in a airboat or sitting in our backyard with a fishing pole in our hands and watching the parrots fight at our bird feeders.  I’ll be back at the blog soon…just maybe not that day.

For excuse #2, I had a nasty virus or something hit my harddrive and it had to be reformatted, so I lost all my passwords, etc… and it took me a little while to get everything re-book-marked and reconnected.

But all-in-all, life is good and God is gracious.  My fairly new Sunday School class is booming and we’re hitting new record attendances about ever 3-4 weeks.  They are a super group and we have great discussions.  Right now we are studying the Seven Churches of Revelations and you’d be amazed at how our class discussions go all over the place as we look at these churches.

We’re going to take a week and enjoy North Carolina during Spring Break at our lake house in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We look forward to seeing some friends and I have a little business to conclude in that neck of the woods.  I’m hoping that the dogwoods will be blooming while we are there.

I’m teaching seven courses for Liberty University’s online program right now and loving every minute of it though it means an extra 3-4 hours of work every night when I get home.  I meet some really wonderful students from all over the world through this venue and I often learn as much as they do.

We’re winding up our school year in ministry and as a family.  Megan is graduating in nine weeks and I’m looking forward to being a chaperone on her Senior Trip in a couple of months.  Nathan is getting his certification from Microsoft in a series of classes over the next few months which means he’s having to cut down on his basketball time significantly.  Josh and Katie will be thrilled for summer break to arrive and have been working really hard in school this year.

My “boss” and pastor, Dr. Dino Pedrone, very graciously allows me to preach quite frequently and I appreciate the opportunity to “scratch that itch” from time to time and occasionally filling the pulpit here and speaking in other places for conferences and special events is a helpful “outlet” for me.

I’m hearing from some of you asking about my annual “March Madness Bracket Challenge”.  I’m not going to use the ESPN hosting site this year, but am doing one on my Facebook page instead.  So if you aren’t on Facebook, get with it and get on.  If you are and haven’t received an invite.  Hit my page and join or send me a message and I’ll send you the link.  I’m giving out a copy of “Disciplines of a Godly Man” to the winner this year.

I’m behind by about 200 emails as of today, so I hope this post will let those who think I’ve dropped off the map know that we’re doing well, keeping busy and enjoying life.

I’ve got several things to blog about in the coming days, so keep checking in.  I’ve noted with gratitude that even when I take a break, several thousand of you “check in” each week to see what’s going on.  So, keep doing that and I’ll rattle your thinking from time to time with whatever is on my mind.

More soon…