There’s a debate going in the church world right now about “Attractional” ministry and “Missional” ministry.  The debate is nothing new, but here’s my attempt at simplifying and understanding the debate (some of you may think I’m over-simplifying).

“Attractional” reflects the mindset that capitalizes on the “draw” of great weekend services and church programs.  “If our ministry is cutting edge, quality, and inspiring, people will come to church and be led to Christ.”

“Missional” reflects the mindset that capitalizes on the “draw” of the church being active in the community and serving those in need.  “If we are the hands and feet of Jesus in our community people will be drawn to Christ.”

For reasons that escape me people are choosing sides and debating the merits of both positions as if one were better than the other.  Personally I think the whole debate is kinda nuts.

If we’re honest we’ll recognize that both models reach a certain part of the population, so why not be both?  Why not have amazing ministries and programs while at the same time having an aggressive outward focus by serving the community?

To me it’s simple: the focus of the church should always include outwardly focused small groups (missional) and excellent, culturally-relevant weekend services (attractional).

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Small Groups are primarily about growing in three areas: our relationship with Christ (discipleship), our relationship with one another (community), and our relationship with the world (mission). I say “primarily” because these are the three things that most small group leaders and pastors tend to agree upon. Small groups can certainly be about more than these three areas, but that’s beside the point. I almost hate labeling these three categories because of our dangerous human tendency to silo and segregate our spiritual growth, but that’s also beside the point.

So what is my point? It’s simple: we all have a bias. As leaders all of us have a bent toward one of the three areas mentioned above and our ministries tend to reflect our bent. If you have a bent toward study your group(s) will tend to be more about curriculum than anything else. If you have a bent toward community, your group(s) will tend to be more about fun and getting together than anything else. If you have a bent toward mission, your groups will be more about outreach than anything else.

Your own bias can work for you or against you if you’re not careful. It can work for you because your bias will reflect your passion and passion is contagious. People will follow passion. It can work against you in a couple of ways too though: first, if you come across as “fanatical” people will think you are too extreme and they’ll not follow. Second, as you lead from your bias you’ll run the risk of alienating those who don’t share your bent.

In my experience (and this is by no means scientific) about 30-40% of a normal church congregation has a study bias, 50-60% has a community bias, and roughly 10% has a mission bias. So compare your own bias with those of the people you lead. Then think about how your passion for your own bias is helping and hurting your overall ministry.

True confession time: because of my own bias toward mission I risk alienating about 90% of the people I lead if I’m not careful. I can come across as a militant crusader. I can find myself getting overly frustrated with those who don’t share my bias. Worst of all, I can find myself thinking people who don’t share my bent toward mission are somehow less spiritual than I am.

Below are three questions I have to wrestle with regularly. I challenge you to wrestle with them too:

• What are the implications of your own bias?
• How do you manage the imbalance your bias brings to your small group ministry?
• How can you better lead those who don’t share your bias?

Keep in mind that not everyone is going to click with your group right away. It’s okay if people decide to look for another group to attend. Just make sure that you keep all communication lines open and ask people why they’ve left. If they leave because they just didn’t “click” that’s okay. But if they leave because your group is a clique then you have some issues to work out.

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A friend of mine named Joe mentioned that this topic would make a good blog post. I considered what would be the best way to treat this potentially controversial subject and opted to write a simple list of points with some concluding thoughts.

6 Reasons Jesus Would Not Win The Nobel Peace Prize

• He’s not politically correct enough.
• He doesn’t care about opinion polls.
• He’s not afraid to tick off opinion makers (the religious elite back then, the media today).
• He said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt 10:34 NIV).
• He came to provide eternal peace, not earthly peace.

At the end of the day, my own peace does not come from the fact that I don’t have a gun in my house. My peace does not come from the fact that I am not in the military. It has nothing to do with politics, money, strength, or power. It has to do with the condition of my heart.

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NIV). I have peace because I know my Heavenly Father through Christ Jesus. Jesus also said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NIV). I know life’s troubles will come, but I also know that I will not face them alone. Best of all, I know that I have eternal life in Heaven and will live with my Heavenly Father forever.

Jesus said…”I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
~John 11:25-26 (NIV)

Although a social gospel is not the answer, we see in the story of Levi that a “Social Networking Gospel” is.  Jesus was very social in his approach to sharing the gospel.  He met with “sinners and tax collectors” and even invited Levi, the tax collector, to become a disciple (later renaming him Matthew).  By tapping into Matthew’s social network, Jesus earned the right to share the message of the gospel with others.

God has given each of us social networks that we must tap into for the sake of Christ’s Kingdom.  We must look at our networks and ask, “Who can I help?  Who can I befriend?  How can I share the message of the gospel with them?”  That’s a “Social Networking Gospel.”

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.  So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.  Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.  Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?  Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” He said to the paralytic,  ”I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”  He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.  When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
~Mark 2:1-17 (NIV)

Like myself, Scott is not satisfied with inwardly focussed, consumeristic small groups.  He beautifully articulates that the best life-change in small groups happens in groups who are on mission.  Here’s on of my favorite quotes, “Instead of doing groups for the sake of experiencing community, groups experience community for the sake of participating in God’s redemption of creation.”

In Missional Small Groups Scott does not teach us how to program mission into our groups, rather he writes about experiencing “rhythms” that bring about mission in the life of groups.   He emphasizes that being missional is not about what a we do, but it is who we are, so we must abandon our our traditional notions of church and spiritual growth.  Many churches are structured to have people serve on committees, sing in the choir, volunteer for events, etc.  If we are to become missional, this must change.  Instead, we must lead people to understand that their primary place of service in the Kingdom is service to the world that Jesus desperately desires to reach!

I could go on and on about Scott’s book, but I’ll stop here and just say this:  BUY IT TODAY!  Everyone leading small group ministry should read this book and apply it.  Click here to order a copy.

Disclosure:  M. Scott Boren and Baker Books provided me a free copy of this book to review.  The opinions shared in this post, however, are strictly mine.  I did not and will not receive any financial compensation for writing this post.

Liquid Church is seeking a new staff person who will help them spiritually develop their congregation and lead community outreaching efforts.  The three primary responsibilities of the person who will fill this position are:

The search for this position is being led by the Vanderbloemen Search Group and all resumes/inquiries should be sent to their organization.  Please do not contact Liquid Church directly.

They are looking for a highly qualified, driven, and proven individual for this role.  Be sure to look over all the specifications and qualifications before submitting a resume, because the standards are very high.

Click here to view the detailed Job Spec sheet.  Click the logo below to submit a resume.

Cluster Analysis looks at how words are gathering (clustering) in relation to your search topic. It finds the words that are mostly likely to be associated with your search word, and add insight into what’s being said about your brand.

Semantic Analysis strives to understand what words mean in context. Semantic technology goes deeper than cluster analysis in that it adds the ability to identify entities and nuances in language. I.e. orange (the fruit) vs. orange (the color), live (in concert) vs. live (to fight another day), lead (leadership) vs. lead (the metal), etc.

Sentiment Analysis helps you understand how the public “feels” about your brand. It compares negative, neutral and positive comments about your brand which helps you identify your “brand evangelists” as well as those who desire better customer service.

Geographical Analysis filters online conversations by region and allows you to participate in local conversations. This is undoubtedly the most important kind of analysis for local businesses to succeed in SMM. For example, if you’re a dentist in Akron, Ohio you don’t want to know about conversations about dentists in Orlando, Florida. You especially don’t want to wade through the millions of comments globally. You only need to know what people are saying about teeth, dentists, cavities, and tooth whitening within about 50 miles of your local practice. My partners have developed a patent-pending technology that allows us to track, sort, filter, and interpret local conversations for you.

If your organization is delving into SMM, be sure to understand and utilize all the tools available. Make sure that your marketing representative is doing this as well.

For more information about 3-T Marketing and my partners click here.

Strategic thinking enables you to sort through the noise and find the best route.  It is the ability to see the world from multiple perspectives and determine the best course of action.  When harnessed, strategic thinking will allow you to see patterns where others simply see complexity.

In order to do this you must continually ask yourself the question “What if…?”  This question allows you to consider different scenarios and possible outcomes.  ”What if…” can help you see around the next corner so you can see possible barriers and evaluate how to overcome them. What if…” allows you to choose the right path rather than the path that leads nowhere or to greater resistance.

Strategic thinking is not just about considering options and choosing the best.  It is about acting. A strategy is just a theory until it is put into action.  The key here is the willingness and determination to strike fast and hard to accomplish the goal.  This can be difficult language for us to swallow because it sounds harsh.   However, making strategic choices is part of good leadership and it does not require running people over.   Striking simply involves making a decision and acting on it.  Too often leaders don’t demonstrate the drive to do this and it frustrates the people they are leading because it can take weeks or even months to make decisions and get things done.  Striking hard and fast can be very inspirational when done well.

This week practice strategic thinking in the following ways:

1. Look at your goals from every possible perspective (yours, your boss’, your client’s, your parishioners’, your spouse’s, your kid’s, etc.)
2. Ask “What if…” questions about each perspective
3. Examine the path(s) that show the best outcome with the least resistance
4. Determine your plan of action
5. Strike

For more about strategic thinking and other critical leadership skills, please check out my eBook Triple-Threat Leadership.

Just for fun, here’s the SNL clip I referred to earlier:

Why am I not “a man after God’s own heart?”  Why don’t I get such a title?  I mean, I try to honor God.  I strive to live a life that pleases Him.  I don’t cheat on my wife or my taxes.  I have accountability and very clear boundaries in my life in order to remain virtuous.  I haven’t murdered anyone and I try to be a man of integrity.  Then again, in my heart I’ve committed all of these sins.

I have hated and lusted, which Jesus equates to murder and adultery.  I’ve lied to and deceived others far too often.  My sinful nature makes me a lying, cheating, killer.  So while I don’t understand 1 Samuel 27, this passage gives me hope.  If the lying, murdering, cheating David was able to capture God’s heart, maybe there’s something in me that can capture God’s heart as well.

At the very least, I can understand what David meant when he wrote Psalm 16:2 saying, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing” (NIV).

David thought to himself, “Sooner or later, Saul’s going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to Philistine country. Saul will count me a lost cause and quit hunting me down in every nook and cranny of Israel. I’ll be out of his reach for good.” So David left; he and his six hundred men went to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath. They moved in and settled down in Gath, with Achish. Each man brought his household; David brought his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, widow of Nabal of Carmel. When Saul was told that David had escaped to Gath, he called off the hunt. Then David said to Achish, “If it’s agreeable to you, assign me a place in one of the rural villages. It doesn’t seem right that I, your mere servant, should be taking up space in the royal city.” So Achish assigned him Ziklag. (This is how Ziklag got to be what it is now, a city of the kings of Judah.) David lived in Philistine country a year and four months. From time to time David and his men raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—these people were longtime inhabitants of the land stretching toward Shur and on to Egypt. When David raided an area he left no one alive, neither man nor woman, but took everything else: sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, clothing—the works. Then he’d return to Achish.

Achish would ask, “And whom did you raid today?”
David would tell him, “Oh, the Negev of Judah,” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel,” or “The Negev of the Kenites.” He never left a single person alive lest one show up in Gath and report what David had really been doing. This is the way David operated all the time he lived in Philistine country. Achish came to trust David completely. He thought, “He’s made himself so repugnant to his people that he’ll be in my camp forever.”

1 Samuel 27:1-12 (The Message)