Introduction
I’ve been thinking about Portland, lately. A lot of critics are waiting for the Postmodern Day Movement of God(R) to implode, but it’s doing the exact opposite. Granted, the way that numbers are being kept may be suspect, the fact is that the Portland International Church of Christ is growing fairly quickly, as far as can be told by outside observers. For the sake of argument, I’m going to say that Thomas’s reporting of his church’s growth is accurate. Keep in mind that I’m talking about the numbers, not the causes.

Why is this happening? What draws so many people to this church?

Looking at some new members’ comments, they seem to mention some common elements: energy, growth, commitment, vision, and family. These aren’t bad things, in fact, most churches I’ve been to would love to have energy and growth. Are these valid reasons for being a part of any church, not just Portland? I’ll concede that these are desirable traits in any church, but I do not believe that any of these are valid for placing membership in a church. These things make the gospel attractive and naturally inviting, but these are not reasons. I can go to other places to find these things. Had I been alive at the time, I could’ve gone to Woodstock. Stated in terms of churches, though, I can find all these things in the Toronto Blessing, the Latter-Day Saints, Saddleback, the UBF and various other churches.

I went looking around to other places for reasons to join a church and I found a raft of possible answers including: accountability, fellowship, a place to use your gifts, and a place to share with like-minded believers. Again, there are other places for this: these are all reasons that the Marines give for enlisting. As far as churches go, then I can still be a part of LDS, Saddleback, the UBF, the Promise Keepers, etc.

Let me take a step back to prevent a big assumption. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure of heart for they will see God.” The pure in heart will see God in a variety of places. There is not just one place to find God, his people, or proper training in doctrine. My point is that any reason for going to church should be to point to faith in God and obedience to His word, not to some great feeling or modern sensibility.

The Great Feeling
Ask a member of the Latter-Day-Saints why they became a Christian. (Suspend your judgment of their salvation for a moment.) Nearly all of them will tell you about meditating and feeling a ‘burning’ in the heart. Whenever any trial besets them in the ‘mission field’, they think back to this burning in their heart and take comfort. Whenever they are confronted with Scriptures that contradict Doctrines and Covenants, then this feeling will come back. They are thinking something like this:

How can God contradict this feeling he gave me? D&C must be correct because it is as a part of this church where I had the ‘burning’ feeling. He told me to be here in my heart, so whatever difficulty there is can be worked out somehow.

I don’t want to pick on them, but only illustrate a point. LDS members aren’t the only ones like this. When a feeling is the basis of church membership, the church can do no wrong. A church can vote out the book of James, but some members don’t see the danger in that because they have felt “God’s presence” their entire lives in this church.

How can God contradict this feeling he gave me? Voting out Scripture must be ok because “God is with me in this church”. It’s this church where I had the first found God’s presence and felt him close to me. He told me to be here in my heart, so whatever difficulty there is can be worked out somehow.

I feel for folks that rely solely on a feeling, there is little ability to search God’s will because He has been removed from the picture. Seriously, if a feeling is the sole basis of membership, what can God or anyone say or do?

Now I am not saying feelings are evil or that feeling God’s presence is wrong. I feel God’s presence and enjoy it. It is a great comfort to me. The key is that the feeling of his presence or the ‘burning’ of the heart has to be tied to God, not a group of people. People come and go, movements rise and fall, it is God who is the Rock of Ages. He is the permanent one, steadfast and true.

Consider Psalm 18. David expresses many feelings that we all share. He wants to feel secure and safe. He wants to know that God is with him and on his side. When he cries out to God, God demonstrates all these things and more. The point is that God is the center of our feelings and emotions, not a person or a group of people.

Modern Sensibilities
I was in a Christian bookstore the other day and I was struck with all the titles that relate to modern business terms. Jesus as CEO by Laurie Beth Jones, The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren, Moving People to God’s Agenda by Henry T. Blackaby, and 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley. Over a century ago, these books would have been unthinkable. Who would see Jesus as the Big Boss? Jesus was never seen as an industrialist. Instead, in the wake of the Great Awakening, interdenominational missionary societies formed. Their gospel was mixed with the sensibilities of the northeastern United States as manifested by social activism. This ‘Social Gospel’ spawned all kinds of tracts and pamphlets, many of which had more to do with social concerns than the message of Jesus. In our Business Gospel, we do the same thing. Many of our books are more about marketing, programs, positive cash flows and managing people rather than the cross of Christ.

I look at these books and I seriously consider getting some kind of Spiritual Bowflex(TM). I would love to be able to purchase something that guarantees positive results for hard work and rigorous training. Wouldn’t it be neat to have a device that makes you more spiritual in six weeks? Maybe I could have a blurb on the back cover of a new “hot” church book with a little testimonial.

Hi, my name is John Payne. Six weeks ago, I was a mediocre husband and lazy-minded Christian. However, after reading these books and applying the principles of the Market Driven Church (TM) and the Corporate Driven Life (TM), I have become a great husband and lay-church leader. I’m even thinking about going to a seminary. Thanks (author of books)! You’ve changed my life!

The Business Plan
Thomas talks about people asking him so often how they do things in Portland. Based on what new members say, I believe that the keys are quite obvious: energy, growth, commitment, vision, and family. Think about that for a minute in the context of a group or corporate vision. Then look at this link. These company goals accommodate all these traits, growth, vision, etc. Not so sure? Indulge me for a moment:

Our Vision:
“To see men and women all over the world lift their hands in holy prayer to God.”
Our Mission :
“To be the church that evangelizes the world in this present generation.”
Strategic Objectives:
To bring our vision to life, our corporate strategy guides how we work with our fellowship of churches, how we serve our members, how we grow our church, and how we achieve our financial goals.

Unveiled in January 2005, our strategy comprises seven key objectives:

One Face to the World
The Totally Awesome Church of Christ is a church of many diverse people that are unified by one mission. Indeed, this quality is a key strength, as we can offer the world a vision of God’s love by our unity.

We also want to offer weareawesome.com to the world as a resource to gain spiritual insight, encouragement, and hear news of God’s work all over the world.

No matter where, or how, someone contacts us, we are the same church. To advance our objective of One Face to the World, we have:

* Had a Night of Atonement to deal with our bitter roots of divisiveness. Since that fateful evening, we have been unified in heart and soul, contending for the gospel as one man;
* All members of the Totally Awesome Church of Christ have been through the First Principles classes. All members are equipped to teach the gospel with the same doctrine in perfect unity;
* We have reached out to other churches that share our dream. Through Great Preacher, we have established bonds with the great Fired Up Church for God;
* Created the World Missions Jubilee to equip the saints all over the world.

Targeted Acquisitions for Success
From the outset, by asking inspired men and women of God to move to our city, the Totally Awesome Church of Christ has sought to provide the best resources to equip our members to evangelize the world in this generation.

Clear Market and Product Strategy
To expand our message, we have sought to first plant churches throughout this state as a model for other churches elsewhere.

Earlier in the year, by God’s grace, we planted The Church of Sold Out Disciples. They have already almost doubled in membership!

Members for Life
We are creating lasting relationships with each other in our churches in many ways. To fulfill the ‘each one’ Scriptures of the Bible, members of the Totally Awesome Church of Christ choose a partner to help them in their walk with God. This “iron sharpens iron” relationship keeps individual members ‘hot’ for the gospel and focused on achieving more and more righteousness for the glory of God.

In striving for our objective of Members for Life we have:

* Developed a plan to keep people busy for five out of seven days in a week;
* Created multiple opportunities for members to train to be Bible Talk Leaders or Assistant Bible Talk Leaders through open meetings;
* Established a high level of accountability for all members in the areas of evangelism, contribution, personal Bible Study and prayer.

Acquire New Members
Some of our new members have come to the Totally Awesome Church of Christ by placing membership. Many others have joined our church family after hearing the gospel for the first time in their lives. From these points of entry, new and existing members continually offer us opportunities to expand the gospel into all nations. In addition:

* In 2004 the church almost doubled in size;
* The Cranking Ministry started in the single digits, but now has over 30 members;
* The Church of Sold Out Disciples doubled in size in 11 months.

Consistently Achieve Financial Results
The Totally Awesome Church of Christ believes in investment—in the message. By maintaining our growth, we can invest our contribution into worthy causes all over the world such as the Radical School of Worldwide Missions, weareawesome.com and planting another church, God’s Sold Out Church of Disciples.

* Our Contribution has more than doubled weekly;
* In March, we will take up a Missions Contribution to fund our Cranking Ministry, Radical School of Worldwide Missions, weareawesome.com, planting God’s Sold Out Church of Disciples, and worldwide missions.
* Our goal is to almost double weekly contribution this year.

We believe we are on the right path to success. With our strategic objectives, we have set a course that is yielding the results we want. The Totally Awesome Church of Christ is growing to God’s glory.

Our strategy is solid:

* We are unified;
* We are committed to evangelizing the world in this generation;
* We take care of each other through discipling and constant Bible Study;
* We present ourselves as a model for church building and mission work;
* We seek the best and brightest to help our church;
* We network with like-minded churches all over the world to spread the Gospel message.

In sum, with our strategy we have positioned the Totally Awesome Church of Christ to achieve our mission in becoming the leading church in the race to reach the world for God in this generation. To God be the Glory!

Conclusions
The only difference these days between Thomas and some other churches is that at least Thomas is honest and upfront. Inside or outside the ICC, there are quite a few leaders of churches that would never present this kind of corporate strategy to their members yet would love to have such a through and organized plan. Under the guise of organization and discipline, such a plan appears to be a well-oiled effort to achieve the work of God. The issue is the implied sense that failure to achieve these objectives is failure to obey God. It appears to fly in the face of the proverb:

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

and

The LORD works out everything for his own ends- even the wicked for a day of disaster.

Had the Apostle Paul used a management by objective plan, he would have failed miserably. In Acts, he states that he wanted to visit several different provinces in Asia, but that the Lord blocked him. Do you think he rebuked God for not following the great plan he had in mind? Do you think he grumbled against God that only being allowed into Macedonia would make him have to work harder next year to visit all the other provinces in order to ‘catch up’? Imagine a conversation with God along these lines:

Lord? I am troubled.

Why are you troubled my son?

Well Lord, our Q3 is looking pretty rough. We finally got through the big meeting in Jerusalem which took all of us out of the field and got to business again. We were poised to take Asia Minor by storm, but we were blocked from going into most of the provinces there. We had the real heavy-hitters sitting on the border, but now we’ll be lucky if our second-string can make it there. There’s still the problem of Barnabas trying to get me to rehire Mark. In addition, he’s backtracking through established territory, so I couldn’t get him up here by Q4 even if we weren’t having our own communication issues. I’m glad that Timothy was available. I didn’t expect our smaller operations to give us such a gem, so that helps some, though there are some personality problems that need to be worked through.

Granted, the Lyddia Project was successful – it’s one of the few gains from this quarter. But our liability insurance is going through the roof with another prison stint. I don’t think we’ll have coverage next fiscal year – maybe you could help us out with that. Fortunately in Thessalonica we could post bail so we didn’t have to report it.

After the Bereans bogged us down in R&D, you think we can catch a break going through the old Greek areas? Athens is always a hard sell and Corinth is total madness. I’m just looking forward to making it to Ephesus.

This may sound silly, but looking at the gospel as a commodity this could very well be a retelling of Acts 16 and Acts 17. In my mind, the whole push for marketing and strategic goals looks like a new version of works-driven theology. The day I begin a works-oriented Christianity again, will be the day that I die spiritually. I don’t think I can recover again from a Christianity with religious overtones that in reality is nothing more than a marketing plan. The day my day-planner gets me to Heaven will be the day I walk away from God.

There are no Business Principles of Christianity or Seven Secret Habits of Successful Christians. Jesus is not the Boss, he is my brother, my Lord and my Savior. The Gospel is not a divine marketing ploy that is sold to the highest bidder or watered down to the lowest common denominator. Deacons are not middle management and the Evangelist is not the CEO. The Elders may be the Board of Directors, but Heaven help them if they run the church like a commercial enterprise. The church is not a business and I will not be an employee. God has called us to serve, not draw a paycheck. We are to make ourselves lower, not promote ourselves in campaigns and titles.

I do not go to church to work a second job.

So Why Do I Go?
It’s simple really. The Bible calls me to have faith. A personal faith in God and Jesus, His Son. The Bible calls me to exercise that faith with the ‘other saints’. As I understand Scripture, I have a personal faith and a social faith. I need to exercise my faith alone because I will be judged by God alone. I need to exercise my faith with other Christians, because I need brothers and sisters and to be a part of the family. Without faith, I’m not a Christian. Without family, I miss the Spirit of God.

You know, my church is buying into the Business Gospel a little bit and it concerns me. If it compromises my faith or limits my ability to practice my social faith, then I will go somewhere else. Granted, everyone these days seems to be consumed with The Market Driven Church (TM) in one form or another and that is a shame. I know that I’ll be reluctant to go to a megachurch because they seem to epitomize the Market Driven concept.

Those that know me may think that I won’t leave because I have devoted so much time and energy to the ICC when so many others have left. More specifically, I have given quite a bit to the Omaha Church of Christ and some may wonder how I can leave it all behind. They have a valid point. All that I can truthfully say is that I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. I don’t want to leave right now; the thought hasn’t even occurred to me. I just do not want to be a part of a church for reasons other than my faith.

I am certain that I want to be in the Omaha Church of Christ. On Sundays, I hear solid, expository preaching that helps my faith. I am a part of a family that doesn’t have a specific ministry to cook meals for families with newborn children. Yet somehow a note gets passed around and the family doesn’t have to cook dinner for three weeks because of the folks that volunteer. It builds my faith that I see the collective faith of the church expressing itself in love without the benefit of a committee. Being here gives me a chance to be encouraged, be taught, be given to, be admonished, etc. The elements of my faith that can only take place outside of myself happen here. In other words, I am part of a family.

Epilogue
Someone once asked Douglas Jacoby that if he could get an immediate answer, what question would he ask God. Doug replied, “Am I on the right track?” I agree with him in this regard. That is the one question I ask God every night.

One thing I feel like I should say is that I am not against organization or organized religion. God is a God of order. He makes plans and he executes them. He is also not in the relentless pursuit of efficiency. He lives outside of time, why would he be concerned with getting the most done within a limited amount of time? I believe that he loves and creates order, but I do not believe that he is the ultimate CEO or the One Minute Manager or the Purpose Driven Creator.

Eccl 3:11 says:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

I believe that we continually strive toward the eternal in our lives. We want to be remembered. We want to have purpose. We want to belong. To that end, that are great achievements in all areas of human endeavor. But at the end of our lives, we can look back on our achievements and truly say:

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

Solomon goes on to prove that toil, pleasure, wisdom and folly are all meaningless. Certainly wisdom is better than folly, but none of these things sates the yearning for the eternal. For example, I can belong to a great group of people. I can have a noble purpose. I can be welcomed with parades and have statues built in my honor. However, none of these things sate the desire for the eternal. At the end of my life, none of these things will be remembered. I could save 10,000 or even a million. After a while, no memory of me will remain. Even Solomon asked if anyone can inform a man about what will happen after he dies.

Instead, I want to be remembered by the one who IS eternal. In Acts, Paul says:

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

I believe that God is the only one to sate this need for the eternal.