Corby Stephens

I think had one of those “Is that me or did the Spirit just throw this in my brain?” moments this morning. I’m sure it’s nothing new. I’m sure there are already churches somewhere that operate like this intentionally or otherwise. And it isn’t like I think God just showed me the right way to do this and everyone should do it this way too. Too many variables like size, locations, etc. But I think it could be very cool and I welcome some feedback on it.

We are a small-ish fellowship of about 50 adults. The church has been around for 9 years, I have been the pastor for almost a month now. We are a bedroom community of Hillsboro, OR which is a bedroom community to Portland, OR. There are about 20K people in our town. Lots of farm land around. Lots of high tech around. Needless to say there is some transition going on. I don’t even live in the community the church is in yet, may family commutes on Sunday. It will have to be that way for the time being. The previous pastor did most of the work. He led the college group, the youth group, the mens group, his wife led the women’s group. Needless to say there are lots of pairs of shoes to fill. That’s the setting.

How things work now. It has to do with what we’ve been discussion concerning discipleship and how it is (or isn’t) done in a fellowship. I asked a friend of mine in the midwest if there is any kind of discipleship going on in the CC she attends. She didn’t know of any at all. That saddened me. So here’s the deal. Typically, a church has a men’s ministry, a women’s ministry, a youth ministry, perhaps a college/singles ministry. These ministries typically meet on a night of the week as a group. They gather for worship (if you have the resources) and Bible study. It is kind of like having church for that specialized group. Isn’t it? The churches I have participated in that are medium to large usually work this way. If they have the further resources each group might be organized into smaller groups that meet when they can. That’s where the discipleship is supposed to happen. I had that in high school. We called it our small group. Later I led one when I was an intern. (I’m proud to say that most of those guys are in some kind of ministry today.) So the model is basically like this; a group ministry that regularly meets, with smaller groups if possible.

So what’s this revelation I had? To flip the thing around. I can do this because I’m already in that small church setting. Instead of having these group meetings every week and making them the focus, having those be the thing you bring your friends to, make the smaller group, the discipleship group the focus. Let’s say I only have 5-10 women in the church who want to be discipled. That’s enough for my wife to handle as a small discipleship group. They will get together once a week and go through a study. She won’t be the teacher that teaches a sermon for 40 minutes. Rather she will interact with them, help them study the word, talk about practical life issues on how to be a follower of Jesus that is married, an employee, a mom, a student, whatever. At the same time she is raising up one or two specific women to one day lead their own groups as growth occurs. Instead of inviting a friend to come see the show at the large group, she comes and participates in a small group where she can ask her own questions, see the reality of the struggles other women face, and how walking in the Spirit enables them to have real life despite circumstances. There is something to be said for gathering as a large group. Instead of making in the main event, we do it maybe once a month so that there is a sense of being a part of something bigger. It would still look like the old large group meeting with worship and a study, but it isn’t the draw, the main event.

The same would be done with mens, college, and yes, even youth group. I have never really liked the youth group model, at least the ones I have been exposed to. It seems, for the most part, based on what I’ve seen and read about, the typical youth group is really focused on being a draw. It seems all about creating a fun environment with games, food, music, all that stuff that there is nothing wrong with in and of itself, but have nothing to do with teaching kids to follow Jesus. It’s about getting them in the doors so you have a chance to give them the message and hope something happens. The rest of the time they are on MySpace posting and reading trash, or watching the latest kid fight videos on YouTube. If you are lucky, you have the volunteers who are mature enough to lead a small group, and kids whose lives aren’t so consumed with sports, jobs, and relationships that they will make the time to participate in a small group. We normally have 20-30 kids on a Wednesday night which is pretty good for being out in the sticks like we are. (Sorry, I’m talking about the church I’m an associate at, not the one I’m transitioning into as pastor). Two weeks ago there was a home basketball game for districts. We had four kids show up. Two of the three guys in our worship team are in pep band so we had no worship team. Last week was Valentines Day. We had 15 kids. Last night was another district game but it was away. We had 8 kids, then four more showed up 30 minutes late, and no worship team again (the pep band went to the game).

So, as with the women’s ministry example above, start as a discipleship group with the youth. That’s what kids bring their friends to. As it grows and you have the people power, split the groups up based on gender and age. Have a large group meeting maybe once a month and have the games and food then, with a study of course. This way the emphasis is put on real growth, real training. They don’t need more social time. They get that at school and on the weekends. They need strong Godly examples to follow and to hold them accountable.

That’s what I have so far. What do you think? Do you know of others already operating this way? Are there any obvious glaring flaws in this that I’m missing or have not addressed? Again, I’m not saying this is the right way to do it or that anyone else should do it. Just something to help me put my discipleship money where my discipleship mouth is.

This one post could easily be broken up into three or four other topics. Maybe they will be later. For now they are all interconnected. Absolute truth. Seekers. Discipleship. The Holy Spirit. I don’t even know how or where to be begin. Are you ready for the fallout? Are you already taking steps to prevent the same from happening in your church and to protect your flock? Corby, what are you talking about? I’m talking about the attack on absolute truth from within and from outside the church. I’m talking about the seekers who finally figure out that they have no foundation for their faith and blow off this Christianity thing. I’m talking about the apparent lack of real, actual discipleship within the Christian church in America; being discipled ourselves and discipling others. Not in Christian life principles of marriage and money (which are great), but in living like, walking like, talking like Jesus. I’m talking about promoting the Holy Spirit from a position of being The Force in peoples lives, an ambiguous source of energy that is supposed to help us be Christians but no one really knows how to use (like Luke in A New Hope), to being a Person with whom we have a relationship, a Person we listen to, a Person that gives us the right tools to do the right job in His Kingdom at the right time. This isn’t a new or sudden thing for me. It’s been brewing for a while. Maybe it has for you too.

Isn’t it funny (both funny “haha” and funny “hmm”) that the only absolute truth that the world wants to believe is that there is no such thing as absolute truth? Has anyone else seen that bumper sticker with the different religious symbols that spell out the word “COEXIST”? Is that person telling me how to live my life? Is that person telling me what is right and what is wrong? They absolutely are. And if I shared by faith with them they would jump down my throat for forcing my beliefs on them. Who says that churches have the market on hypocrites? Let’s take this inside the church now.

One of the things I really respect about Ken Ham and the Answers in Genesis ministry is the care they take to integrate how the evolution and creation debate impacts the entire Bible. One of their main points is that every major Bible doctrine as well as every major issue our culture faces has its origins and answers in Genesis 1-11. Marriage and family, homosexuality, gay marriage, personal responsibility for sin, personal accountability to God, the list goes on. As the church has distanced itself from taking these 11 chapters literally and seriously, it has lost its foundation for claiming to be the moral authority, for speaking for God. Have you seen the commercial? “Open hearts, open minds, open doors.” That’s the United Methodist Church. Many other major denominations aren’t far behind. As we “fundamentalists” cling tighter and tighter to this outdated, primitive, and bigoted notion that the Bible is the one and only word of God, we make the rest of Christianity look bad. After all, God is a god of love, tolerance, and acceptance. He takes me “just as I am” doesn’t he? No, He takes me in spite of who I am. He takes me so I can be conformed into His image, not remain in my own.

What has already begun to happen is the so-called “post modern” generation is becoming unsatisfied with being in their journey because they don’t know where they are going or how to get their. The apparent appeal of self discovery and finding God within is wearing off. Pastors need to be ready to help these precious people detox off of relative truth. We need to be ready with absolute answers. We need to be living absolute sold out to Jesus lives.

A similar fallout is happing (has always been I suppose) in the seeker community. I recently read (wish I could find where) that Bill Hybles just figured out that he needs to figure out a way to get Christians less dependent on the church for their spiritual life. Ya think? The seeker model seeks to get seekers in the doors, in the seats, and plugged into the church to keep the thing going so they can get more seekers, so on and so forth. It’s all about keeping people in instead of growing them up to send them out on their own. When these precious people leave their church for whatever reason, they suddenly find themselves un-equiped to maintain their relationship with Jesus, if they ever had one in the first place. It’s the parable of the sower. Isn’t it interesting that three out of the four soils are unable to facilitate the seed to maturity? Too many churches are cultivating bad soil or aren’t cultivating soil at all. It’s all astroturf these days. We are going to need to be ready to come along side of these folks and help them rediscover Jesus.

I will openly admit that discipleship is as area that I have not paid attention to in my own life and ministry. I have not made enough of an effort to see that I’m being discipled, nor have I made enough of an effort to see that I’m discipling anyone, or people in my influence are being discipled. But this is what Jesus told us to do, to go and make disciples. Not go and make converts, disciples. Our lives need to be such that we, like Paul, can say “follow me as I follow Christ.” That isn’t arrogant. That isn’t pride. It’s what we are supposed to be. It’s what the Holy Spirit enables us to be. 2 Peter 1 talks about how we can be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, how if we do the things mentioned in that chapter, we will never stumble. Discipleship is about walking, talking, eating, sleeping, speaking, loving, teaching, and living like Jesus did. What am I doing to get close to that? What I’m I doing to get others closer to that? People coming off of the emergent and seeker rides need to have a place and the people that will help them with genuine discipleship.

Why do Purpose Driven, seeker, and emergent churches do things the way they do anyway? I think Ken Ortiz (CC Spokane) hits it on the head. They all have their spiritual roots in cessation theology. If the gifts of the Holy Spirit aren’t for today (ceased, hence cessation), then how is the church to be built? After all, it is these gifts that are the tools with which the church was and is built. The Holy Spirit has been relegated to an impersonal force that lives in believers connecting them to God, and not much more. The HS is there to give us strength and encouragement, but that’s about it. When the watered down gospel message is given is the HS ever mentioned? It occurred to me recently (I’m a little slow sometimes) that, in the book of Acts, when the gospel was delivered, so was the promise of the gift of the HS. Peter does it at the end of Acts 2, when Peter and John arrive in Samaria after Philip brings the gospel, Peter at Cornelius’ house, Paul in Acts 19. Having the HS with us, in us, and upon us, is just like walking with Jesus right there next to you. That’s what Jesus Himself said in John 14. Do I live like that? Do I teach others that? I know that when we teach verse by verse that we will get to every topic. But that doesn’t mean I can’t encourage people to study it topically on their own with some supervision and solid resources.

Have we as CCs become complacent in the areas of discipleship and the Holy Spirit? Are we just expecting people to figure it out and grow on their own? Are we relying on seeker methods to get people in the seats and plugged in, and then calling that growth? Are we providing relationships for them to grow? Are we equipping them with the tools to go out into the world and make more disciples? I guess what it boils down to is are we directing people into the presence of God on a 24/7 basis? That’s where the real growth and equipping will happen. We all need help getting there is all. Am I being deliberate or am I just expecting it to happen by itself? I don’t want to be complacent. I want to be ready. It’s not enough for people to know, they have to know why they know. As GI Joe used to say, “Knowing is half the battle.”

In part one I mused about how people inside CC perceive Chuck Smith and the CC movement. It seems for many this perception is an unhealthy one. Those critical of CC are often critical of those with this unhealthy perception. In some cases they are right. Those of us in CC don’t have a problem with our methodology. We have the same basic methodology because we are all CC. But our mentality concerning some things have begun to diverge. It is this that I believe will most influence the future of the CC movement.

The morning the CT the article came out I had some plumbing problems in the house that needed attention. I saw that the article was out but I didn’t have time to read it. I put it off till later. I didn’t have the stuff I needed to do the work so I had to go to town. To go to town and back is about an hour in the car. I thought it would be a good time to listen to the video “A Venture of Faith” which I have on my iPod. I try to watch it once a year or so. Turns out I had to go twice. What’s that about measure twice drive to the store once? That means I got to listen to the whole movie in the car and while working.

What got my attention this time was the last half hour or so, a segment of the video called “The Future of Calvary Chapel.” Since that is one of the things we have been discussing on simplemindedpreacher I tuned in to it. After I read the CT article I knew I had to go back and watch through that segment again. Some of the points of the segment were very relevant to what’s going on now, some 15 years after Venture was produced. Here are some highlights from the video and why I think they are relevant to this discussion. These are not direct quotes but they do communicate the gist of the speaker.

Since before and after the Christianity Today (CT for short) article “Day of Reckoning”, those of us on simplemindedpreacher have independently and collectively been discussing and praying about the nature, the future, the ups and downs of Calvary Chapel. I can remember, 10 years ago now, my friend Ray and I sitting in a living room and talking about what might happen to CC when Chuck retires or dies. While the CT article brought up some ugly feeling and responses on all sides of the issues, nothing has really changed for me personally. I’m still faced with the same questions, same concerns, same likes and dislikes I had before. If nothing else the CT article and the upcoming LA Times article will serve as a mirror for everyone involved in CC. And they should. Self examination is a good thing. I will continue to examine myself and CC in such a way as to hold on to the good and eliminate the bad from my own life and ministry.

90% of my experience with CC has been outside of SoCal. I was saved at Crossroads Community Church in Vancouver, WA in the mid 1980s, served there until I went to college at the U. of Wash in Seattle, WA where I attended Calvary Fellowship. After that I spent two years going through CCBC (Twin Peaks) then moved back to work at Crossroads. I recently spent a year at CC Pittsburgh. Now I’m back in Washington working part time at one CC while I transition into pastoring another CC. Those two years in SoCal were very potent and eye opening. The good stuff I learned reinforced lessons I didn’t even know learned from my home church. The centrality of the word, walking in the Spirit, the kind and quality of life we are supposed to have in the Lord. The bad stuff I observed seems primarily unique (though not exclusive) to SoCal.

One of these things is a fanatical devotion to Chuck Smith. Why is Chuck referred to as Pope Chuck by those critical of CC? Why is Costa Mesa called Costa Mecca? Because, whether they admit it or not, there are those pastors and parishioners in CC who view, honor, respect, and uphold Chuck Smith in the same way that heavy-duty Catholics do the Pope. There are those who say that everyone should make the pilgrimage to the mother-church. For many in SoCal Chuck can do no wrong. This is just an irrational view to hold of anyone. The Apostle Peter was an Apostle for crying out loud, and he needed to be corrected from time to time. Can anyone be so unaware as to think that Chuck Smith doesn’t make mistakes? He does. We all do. As for visiting Costa Mesa, I can understand that to a point. I think any believer can. I recently saw some pictures of the sanctuary of the church I got saved at, before it was remolded. I got very nostalgic. I wish everyone could experience what I experienced there. But for me to say, “You mean you’ve never been there? Oh man. They you aren’t a real CC person.” Is silly.

Something else I noticed was that if people didn’t have the fanatical devotion to Chuck Smith, they were fanatically devoted to the CC movement/organization/fellowship of churches. These would be people who were saved in second generation CCs. To some, no CC anywhere can do wrong. CC is God’s movement and it always does the right thing. That’s just an inappropriate way to see things. While God did and continues to use CC and Chuck Smith, seeing them as God’s only instrument in our day is ignorant. Sorry to burst your bubble.

We can’t be devoted to a man, save Jesus. We can’t be devoted to a movement, save that of the Holy Spirit. We need to be devoted to a common mission, saving souls. There are people I respect as leaders, whose example I follow and try to model, because I recognize that they are walking with the Lord and the Lord is guiding and directing them. I don’t worship them. I don’t put them in the Holy of Holies. I admire, respect, listen to, and evaluate their lives, gleaning from their successes and failures.

The reality is that, in God’s eyes, Chuck Smith and I (and you reader person) are all on the same level. We are all equally saved, equally being made holy, and equally capable of being used by the Lord to do great things for His kingdom. The critics and fanatical followers of CC have both done the same thing with Chuck and CC; put them up on a pedestal. One side is trying to keep them up there while the other is trying to knock them down. If I make a mistake as a pastor, if I become self serving and mess with someone’s life, if get hooked on porn, is there a difference between me doing those things and Chuck Smith doing those things? Yes and no. The yes difference is that the scale and magnitude of the mistakes made by someone in a position like Chuck are much greater than someone in my lowly position. There is more collateral damage done. The no difference is that If I make a bad call and it hurts someone, it hurst someone? An injured life is still an injured life whether it’s me or Chuck Smith. It’s like asking if there is a difference between a bomb that kills one person or 1,000. Is one person’s life less valuable than 1,000 people’s lives? Not to that one person’s family and friends. So, while a financial, counseling, hiring, or firing decision made by Chuck may effect more people and may indeed be more public, it doesn’t make what I might do any less. If those decisions hurt people, then people are hurt. If not decisions help and save people, then people are helped and saved.

Outside of SoCal, if you can believe it, there are people who serve in and attend CCs who have never heard of Chuck Smith and couldn’t find Costa Mesa on a map. A fair number of churches outside of SoCal were already doing the CC thing before they affiliated and they continue to do their own thing their own way. I’m not trying to make an “us v. them” thing here with the in and out (haha) of SoCal thing. I guess I’m trying to help those in SoCal see beyond the Orange Curtain, as well as help those outside of the OC see what life is like down there. People on the CC side of the CT article are in these two camps. Those in SoCal seem to defend themselves with the “don’t mess with CC” point of view. Those outside of SoCal seem to defend themselves (as I have) with the “don’t broad brush all CCs with the same thing.” Do you see the difference there? It’s a general thing, but significant none the less. One might argue (though not realistically at this point) that these could be the early sign of a crack, a division in the CC ranks, or a possible root for such a thing. If that’s true it’s pretty stupid. If we get that far gone as CC pastors and fellowship then we deserve to fall apart. I throw it out there as something to keep an eye on. As a non-SoCal person, I’ve already caught myself thinking, “If things really as bad as this article suggests, and if the people who are rabidly defending CC make up the majority and their words and behavior represent the heart and mentality of what SoCal CCs are turning into, I don’t want to be a part of that.” But then I remind myself that I’m not CC because I want to be a part of the club. I’m a CC because its ideals echo what God has put in my heart as a pastor. To me, I didn’t join CC. It joined me.

What does any of this have to do with the future of Calvary Chapel? A great deal I think. I’ve been writing about peoples perceptions of CC and its leadership. I’ve spent more time talking about those of us inside CC than those outside. I think the future of CC has more to do with our mentality than our methodology as CC pastors and fellowships. That’s what part two of these humble, opinionated ramblings will primarily address.

When the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) had some kind of encounter with God they would pile together some rocks, sometimes just one rock, call it an alter, and give it a name connecting the place with the Lord. The rock that Jacob used as a pillow became Bethel, the house of God. The alter served as a place of remembrance for the individual of the promises God made to them. Jacob came full circle at one point in his life and the alter served him well. He could look back and see the faithfulness of his God. Do you have one of these?

When the Israelites crossed into the promised land, after 40 years of being led by God through the desert because of their lack of faith, they piled up some rocks and called them alters. They were told by God that when their kids and grandkids asked what those piles of rocks were for, that they were to tell them of the marvelous works that the Lord did on behalf of his people. Why? Because those kids and grandkids weren’t there. They didn’t participate in the Red Sea crossing. They didn’t see the pillar of fire and cloud that guided and protected the people. They didn’t eat the manna or drink water from a rock. But they had those alters to point to, to serve as a kind of connection to their shared history. The problem was that, these second and third generation Israelites didn’t know the Lord themselves. The book of Judges is a 400-some year testimony to this. Each generation needed to have their own experience and encounter with the Lord. The first generation had those common experiences and it held them together. Subsequent generations needed that foundation. They also needed their own to keep them together and keep them close to the Lord.

We are beginning to see the same kind of thing happen in CCs with respect to second and third generation pastors. We weren’t there for the original tent days. We never saw the old chapel. We didn’t experience the afterglow meetings. We didn’t experience the concerts. Who’s LoveSong? Who’s Mustard Seed Faith? What’s a Lonnie Frisbee? What’s a Mansion Messiah? And why is Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in Santa Ana?

Mike Macintosh, Greg Laurie, Don McLure, and the rest of the crew from the Harvest book were there for those days, as were many others who were not in the book. They saw their Red Sea, pillar of cloud and fire, ate of the manna and drank from the rock. Their churches and ministries are built, to a certain extent, on their experiences with the Lord in those days, as is the modern CC movement. I consider myself generation 2 or 2.5. I like the stories. They are encouraging. They are a source of strength. If God did it for them He can do it for me. At the same time it isn’t enough for me to see these alters and hear the stories. I need to have my own experiences with the Lord. I need to have my own alters. If I had a group of guys with me, all of us experiencing the same stuff, we could have our own Harvest book. Not for the sake of having a book, but for the sake of my own ministry and walk with the Lord.

As I’ve been taking the youth group through Genesis I’ve been highlighting the alters the patriarchs made, communicating to them the need for them to have their own experiences with the Lord, their own alters. They can’t have their parents faith, nor can they simply have a religious faith based on a Judeo-Christian ethic, and expect to experience the life the Lord wants and has for them. They need their own thing. They also need it as a group. So do I. Every day.

The thing that is a danger to us as second and third generation CC pastors is the same thing that makes us feel disconnected from the history, makes us feel like we aren’t a part of things. We need to have our own Red Sea, our own pillar of cloud and fire, our own manna and water, our own tent, our own chapel, our own Lonnie, our own LoveSong, as individuals and as groups. It’s been said that those days were unique. They were. Why? There were only a handful of guys then. Now there are about 1,000 of us. We can’t expect that same kind if intimacy, that same kind of shared experience that makes the good old days the good old days.

So what will give us a sense of belonging, of cohesion? I don’t think that we can expect the things that gave the first gen guys their cohesion to give the second and third gen guys the same thing, simply because of sheer numbers. It’s going to take more of an effort, more deliberateness on the part of us pastors to bring about that belonging. We are going to have to have our own experiences with the Lord, build our own alters, and then share those experiences with others. While this isn’t the total answer to the dilemma, I think it’s a major part of the puzzle.