Bill Couchenour

You Are Not Alone

Is there a burning passion to see Jesus change your city? Do you find your heart troubled when you see the statistics documenting the decline of the church in the U.S. in the face of such great need? Are you questioning why it seems we’re creating consumers of “Christian” goods and services rather than real disciples of Jesus? Have you ever had that sense that something is not quite right with the way we’re doing church? Do you feel a kind of holy discontent you don’t fully understand? As Morpheus said to Neo in The Matrix:

“I know *exactly* what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?”

I talk to pastors, church leaders and everyday Christ-followers all the time that have that “splinter in the mind” - that sense that God wants to do something more, something different, something amazing. Just last week, I spoke to a pastor of a church with 1,700 in weekend attendance who was struggling with the reality that his church was producing consumeristic, materialistic, self-focused Christians. He had a sense that he might be alone in trying to figure this out. He was thrilled to hear that he was not alone.

The truth is God is working through many people to resolve the splinter. One initiative I’ve had the privilege to be a part of is Future Travelers www.missional.com. Thirty mega/multi-site churches are working right now to understand how to use the prevailing model of the U.S. church to launch a movement. To understand how to develop real disciples of Jesus. To learn how to move from simple addition to multiplication. You are not alone but, as Morpheus said to Neo, you have a choice:

“You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”

Take the red pill and live out the promise of Ephesians 3:20.
The Holy Spirit wants to take you beyond what you can ask or imagine.

If you’re looking for resources or you want to talk more, please feel free to contact me directly at wlc@cogun.com.

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Pragmatic vs. Spiritual

I was in a meeting with a church staff recently when they asked us to speak with their Board of Elders. They wanted us to advise them on some practical governance issues relative to the DNA, vision, strategy and tactics of the church. But one of the specific issues had to do with reticence on the part of some Elders to let the pastor attend the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit this year. The Summit is an event the pastor has attended a number of times, but this time there was concern that there would be some “secular business people” speaking. The implied thought was that business principles had no place in the church.

I believe the concern was genuine, but it’s founded on a false dichotomy of the sacred and the secular. And it’s a dichotomy that we tend to apply arbitrarily. We will allow the laws of physics to inform how we do a worship service, yet be skeptical of what we might learn about great organizations from Jim Collins. We study computer manuals without regard for the spiritual condition of the author, yet won’t consider what we can learn about trust from Warren Bennis. We follow accounting principles precisely, yet ignore some of the best leadership insights from Ron Heifetz. We even ignore jewels of wisdom from fellow believers, like Peter Drucker, because they’re primarily associated with business.

It’s kind of like saying gravity is a physical principle, so it doesn’t really apply in the church.

There is a spiritual dimension to the church. But, if I understand correctly, that same spiritual dimension exists in all facets of life, including business. Aren’t we to commit all we do, all we are and all we have to God? If we do, wouldn’t that make it sacred? If there is a conversation over coffee that leads to a spiritual breakthrough, is that table at Starbucks any less sacred than a chair in a church? Faithfulness and trustworthiness are fundamental Biblical principles AND they are vitally important for sustained success in business. It seems to me that a principle is either from God or it’s not - regardless of whether it’s applied in the church or in the marketplace. I guess that means the…

Pragmatic is Spiritual (Remember: God made math)

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You Are Not Alone

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