a new kind of Christian

Dear diary,

Last night was our "Q & A" night at youth group. "Q & A" Wednesdays are always some of my favs of the year. Students get a chance to write whatever question they want on a notecard and I'll do my best to answer them. It's always interesting to see what kind of questions are asked.

The hot topic last night was the direction our youth ministry is going. More questions on that than anything else. We have made a number of changes in the past couple months and we still getting used to them. As with anytime you make changes, there have been mixed reactions. Some people are totally stoked...some people are really mad.

Needless to say, I wish we did ministry in this perfect world where every decision we made as leaders was picture perfect...totally God-directed, researched and flawlessly executed. Every person affected immediately understood why the changes are made and jumped right on board.

That world doesn't exist. There is no way an imperfect person like me can communicate in a way that makes sense to everyone. Even if I could, who knows if what I communicated would be right? Sometime you just gotta see it to believe it. You know what I mean? Moses could talk about the Promised Land 'till he was blue in the face, but the truth is, he hadn't seen it and neither had anyone else stuck in that hot desert.

So anyway, back to last night. Some people are struggling with the changes and that's okay. If they don't express that struggle, then our vision of the future will be way too narrow. It's all about the process...this communal process. We leaders think, research, pray and plan the future. Then we lay out that plan to all the people involved. They make comments, raise questions, yell at us, etc. We start tweaking mid-stream and keep on truckin'.

But, in the midst of this amazing process (it is really cool, in my opinion, how it all works out), I think I realized something. These changes are going to be hard to digest. They are hard for me to digest. I think the reason why is because we are totally questioning the way we do Christianity. It makes me think of the Brian McLaren book, "A New Kind of Christian." Great book, by the way. I didn't totally buy everything in there, but I think he is on to something. The thesis is that the world we live in is rapidly changing. In fact, it has changed so much that it's time to do what Martin Luther did almost five hundred years ago. Namely, listen to the little voices in our head that tell us that something isn't exactly right. It's time to redefine what it means to be a Christian.

So, anyway, I think I'm starting to realize that maybe this what these changes are all about. When I hear students say stuff like, "These changes make it impossible for us to reach people," that tells me that we are redefining what is means to reach people. When some says, "These changes take away the reason someone would come to our youth group," then that means we are redefining why anyone would want to come to youth group. If we are asking questions this fundamental, then we are changing the fundamentals.

So, anway, I better stop rambling. My wife and child are at home waiting for me. We gotta make a Home Depot run tonight. Otherwise we won't ever have a bathroom in our new house.

This is a great journey, isn't it? Ride with me. Don't worry, I'm not driving. God has the wheel.