nuance

Day 2: Tuesday PM Sessions
The absolute marathon day plowed ahead after the lunch hour with more worship and then one of my favorite sessions of the whole conference: Eric Mason. But before I get there, a quick aside…

Here’s the deal. For nearly the entire morning I had been staring at this black dude across the room from us. I am very white; I am from VT which I think is still the whitest state in the nation; and I don’t have any close black friends. So basically, the fact that I was staring at this black dude could definitely be construed as a negative thing, something worthy of a swift beat-down.

But the reason I was staring is because I was sure that this dude was the lead member of my favorite (now dismembered) Christian rap group of all time, the Cross Movement. Could it be that the Ambassador was at this church planting conference, only a few tables over? I mean, he wasn’t on the ticket as a speaker or performer, so that would be totally random. But I just couldn’t get over the fact that this dude who absorbed my laserbeam stare for over an hour looked exactly like the man who penned those ingenious words, I don’t need to bore you with math / I’m sure you can add / But only Jesus plus zero equals life or you get wrath / I saw you in class / No way with that score you could pass / In this court you can bet that there’s no way your lawyer would last / In fact you’re lawyer needs a lawyer cuz your lawyer is bad…

Whaaaaaaat!!!

For more proof:

Session 3: Eric Mason
My suspicions about the Ambassador began to solidify when the next speaker was announced. Eric Mason is the lead pastor of an Acts 29 church in Philly (the hometown of the Amba himself) called Epiphany. I remembered hearing that the Ambassador had gone on to seminary and was an elder at a church in Philly. 2 and 2…

Eric’s topic was “Dwelling Incarnationally” - and the man was literally a demonstration of his message. I was profoundly impacted by him. Here is a guy who holds theological degrees, who handles the Word skillfully, and yet who brings it in the style and language of your average hip-hop guy. He wasn’t faking, either; he was being himself and speaking the way that he and his culture speak, with no apologies or reservations. It was rad.

The English couple next to us sat mystified and smiling, probably unable to understand the many of the words yet apparently in love with the spirit in which Eric spoke. He was unmistakably passionate and authentic.

Not surprisingly, Eric’s main text was John 1 - the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In Jesus, God dropped his shekinah and put a skin suit on. Jesus’ ministry is the definitive incarnational ministry. He exegeted the Father for us (v. 18) while being fully embedded in the Jewish culture of his time.

Eric reminded that incarnational ministry avoids the common reductions to a social gospel or a foreign missions mentality; it becomes the very meaning of Christian life in culture. We are to be culturally relevant yet spiritually connected to Christ and consistent in our allegiance to him and the truth of his Word. We are to be empathetically connected to our neighbors, truly caring for them, advocating for them, getting involved in their lives, and doing good among them.

Incarnational ministry is not just living in the community. Instead, it is

• Dwelling as servants. Know the wounds of your city and meet its needs. Work towards healing. Imagine what Jesus would do if he were standing right there in that context.
• Dwelling as preachers. Give a clear proclamation of the gospel. Announce the kingdom and give snapshots of the future.
• Dwelling as community. Invite others into the eternal fellowship of the Trinity through the Church.
• Dwelling as worshippers. This goes beyond contextualized music; this is “holistic hardcore loyalty” to Jesus in a manner that is not culturally embarrassing.
• Dwelling as teachers. If you can’t help people grow, you are not doing incarnational ministry.

One last thought: Incarnational ministry is both programmatic and organic. You want to make disciples who make disciples.

Session 4: Tim Smith
After Eric’s talk the crowd disintegrated for afternoon breakout sessions. While there were a bunch of compelling choices - art in the city, AIDS and the city, sex and the city (ok, that last one was a joke) - Kalen and I chose “Missional Worship” as our breakout. The main impetus for this was to get some cool info to pass on to Chris that might inspire him in leading our group - and to just get schooled ourselves.

This session was loooooong.

I have pages of notes.

I will, however, spare you and try to nail it down to some important bullets:

• Tim gave a stirring account of his own transformation from hypocritical youth group worship leader to worship pastor at Mars Hill. This included victory over porn addiction through a deep and life-changing relationship with Christ, and under the mentorship of Mark Driscoll.
• Worship is gathered and scattered, not just “singing in church.” We don’t go to church to worship, we come to church worshiping. This is the “Spirit and truth” vs. “mountain and temple” mentality.
• Worship is about the glory of God. Through Christ we are brought from a life of self- and idol-glorification to God-glorification.
• Missional worship follows the Acts 17 (Mars Hill) model: you are provoked by idolatry in the world (you have a prophetic edge), but you still go and get into the middle of it. You reason with the culture. You don’t passive-aggressively withdraw and long-distance bomb.
• Missional worship engages the culture. The truth is held in closed hands, but the manner or form of proclamation is held in an open hand. The gospel can be contextualized.
• We can receive:
  • Music styles
  • Technology
  • Instruments
  • Aesthetic values
• We should reject:
  • Self-centered expression
  • Anything done out of pride
  • Any mediatorial (worship) function of music or art
  • Cultural elitism (think: indie snobs)
• We can redeem:
  • Songs meant to glorify self
  • Pop songs
  • Rock concert production (e.g., MHC Easter service, smoke machine, etc.)
  • Rock bands
  • Music culture
• You must contend and contextualize. If you only contend, you’ll create a disconnected parallel universe. If you only contextualize, you’ll lose the power of the gospel.
• Worship band tips:
  • Imitate the music you hear outside the church
  • Do culturally diverse music - MHC has white guy rock, funk, black worship leader (that sings like Coldplay), etc.
  • Make membership at the church a requirement for being in the band (some exceptions OK).
  • Don’t call it a worship team - that implies a leader/singer with backup. Call it a worship band - it’s a collaborative effort with its own collective name and identity.
  • Build new bands through relationship - go to shows, go to clubs, form friendships with viable musicians.
• Tim finished by relating his recent experience at the MHC Easter Service where people were emotionally moved to tears and other expressions during the highly powerful service. A mass baptism followed. It was life-changing to watch. He talked about how he had formerly deconstructed his charismatic upbringing and, after his transformation experience at Mars Hill, rejected the use of emotion in his music because he associated that with hypocrisy. But recent conversations with Bob Kauflin of Sovereign Grace Music, combined with the Easter Service this year, have allowed for a positive reconstruction of a charismatic, affective, emotional approach.
• So, a missional worship band is focused on moving people to glorify Jesus. Music is intended to move our affections - that’s all it’s good for! That’s its purpose! We cannot overlook the primacy of transformation and moving the heart; we can’t miss this for the sake of theological content or accuracy.

One thought I had while listening is that when it comes to our small group, there is a single struggle that we all share: dissatisfaction with the style of worship at our churches. We are blessed to have a relevant and moving worship time every Sunday night with Chris leading. Thanks Chris!