Lisa Orris is a good friend of mine. She just sent me this email about how the Gospel is being communicated by our kids in text message form!

"N angl of th Lord apprd 2 him n a drem nd sed, 'Josph son of David, do nt b afrd 2 tak Mary hom as ur wif, bcz wht s cnceivd n hr s frm th Holy Spirit. She wil giv brth 2 a son, nd u r 2 giv hm th nam Jesus, bcz he wil sav his ppl frm thr sins.' " Mt 1:20-21 (TNIV)

Lisa writes, “Amazing!! It is a new day!!”  

This is especially encouraging for me this week. I’ll tell you why.

I recently attended a stable church. I took a look around, something I always do when I visit a church. I was impressed with the upgrades they had made to the youth room. They tore down some walls, installed a projector and screen, and put a fresh coat of paint on the walls. Good stuff!

But then I noticed how boring the room looked. No posters… and it was way too clean! I mentioned to someone that the room really needed some spicing up and she replied, “We are not allowed to put up any posters because it would mess up the paint. People around here would freak out.”

I thought about my son’s Jonathan’s bedroom at home. One entire wall is reserved for people’s signatures and encouraging words. I love that wall and even though Jonathan is off at college, I sometimes go in there and read the comments, scripture verses and funny quips. It makes me feel good.

This experience for me serves as a metaphor for what plagues a stable church. Everything is in order organizationally. But in a healthy missional church, there is a healthy sense of chaos and playfulness.

In stable churches, there are some good things going on, but people often stop short. In healthy missional churches, people go over the top for the sake of mission. It is this extra “umph” that makes the biggest difference.

In stable churches, people are upset with the grammar of the text message – it is improper and hard for them to read. In healthy missional churches, people are excited that the gospel is being shared in new forms within a generation that is seeking reality.

It’s about messy spirituality.

I guess the theological foundation for messy spirituality is the manger scene itself: an unsterile environment, full of flies and itchy straw.

But so much life!

A recent email from the Alban Institute explains it well:

We know that living systems must be open to change and that static living systems die. We know that openness to the environment over time spawns a stronger system, which of course means that open systems must be in a state of nonequilibrium, so they can change and grow. Therefore, congregations that understand themselves to be open systems, capable of self-renewal through change, flourish. These congregations understand that equilibrium is a false goal and that there must be a level of disequilibrium to avoid deterioration. Of course, most congregations equate a desire for equilibrium with a false definition of simplicity, which is what some people think they want. Equilibrium is a false goal. Some children and indeed people of all ages seek disequilibrium, novelty, lack of control, surprise. They live out a basic insight about the way the world works: one cannot have order without disorder. (Self Organizing Congregations, William O. Avery, Beth Ann Gaede)

Lts hng up sum pstrs!