Well, I have some more free time tonight, so I’ll try to pick up where I left off.

With regard to our place in this world being seen as an ecosystem: The church, “is both influenced by the world around her and called to influence the world in which she exists.” (p 15) It seems that we have been so concerned about the church being influenced by the world that we have retreated and no longer are able to influence the world in which we exist. This is related to the first issue of A Balanced Ecosystem.

The second is Environmental Adaptation, or change. He is careful to point out he is talking microevolution and not macroevolution. His example is excellent: “We don’t have to go any further than human beings to see the unique capacity for adaptation and change. Imagine the Olympians of the 1890’s attempting to compete with gold medalists of the 1990’s. In the one area that we would seem to have the least control – our physical development – we’ve watched extraordinary advances take place.” “A part of the design of the church is to be able to make positive change while keeping her essence at the core.” (p 16) As the years have gone by, the communities around our churches have changed, but our churches have not > it’s as if we have disconnected from the world around us! One dramatic change McManus recommends is from words to images. “People simply do not read; they observe.” “We … need to move from static to dynamic” “Our culture is not only multi-sensory, but multilayered. We receive information not only through all of our sense, but also through multiple senses at one time.” (p 17) He goes on to recommend the use of sculpture, painting, dance, aromas, film, etc.

The Third is Spontaneous reproduction. The church should naturally reproduce. McManus differentiates between a horse and a mule > mules being strong and good for work, but stubborn and unable to reproduce.

The Fourth is Nurturing Instinct. “Insufficient nurture can bee seen when new converts too easily and too often fall away, and excessive nurture can be seen when those that we consider mature Christians have yet to embrace the mission is a personal way. The first one creates too big of a back door and the second one creates a log-jam at the front door.” (p 18)

The Fifth one is HUGE. It is Life-Cycle Harmony. “It can be sobering to realize that a major portion of our lives is given to preparing the next generation for life … In the prime of our lives we begin the process of replacing ourselves. When a healthy relationship exists within the life cycle, a selflessness of giving oneself away is created. The more one focuses on one’s own living, the less one is concerned about giving life to others. The only way church buildings stay filled through generations is if the church lives and dies and is born again over and over. Soon we realize that the church is not the same church it was twenty years ago or even four years ago … In the end, it is not so much about prolonging or perpetuating our own life as about giving new life to others.” (p 18-19) WoW! This really impacted me in a big way. I haven’t been living like I should > selflessly… This next quote is quite sobering > “If churches wait too long to die to themselves, then they ensure that they will die by themselves.” (p 19) “Our future is not to be found in our preservation, but in our investment.” (p 19) I realize that I need to get serious about building into the lives of others!

Chapter None: Atrophy
As a new pastor, McManus found there was a load of cash just sitting there & he wanted to use it to reach the city, but others insisted they keep it to help them survive. McManus was determined to impact the city or in the effort – close the doors. “there was no promise in the Bible that insured survival. Once survival has become our supreme goal, we have lost our way. The New Testament word for ‘witness’ is the same for ‘martyr’. They didn’t survive, but they died facing the right direction … It is not difficult to understand why a church would want to disconnect from the world around it. Just watching the five o’clock news can make a person want to give up. If our perception is that people don’t care anyway, if our conclusion is that no one is really open to the truth, and since there’s overwhelming evidence that the hearts of individuals and the heart of society seems to have hardened beyond repair, it is no wonder that churches have become spiritual bomb shelters. Yet the church is not called to survive history, but to serve humanity … The life of the church is the heart of God. The heart of God is to serve a broken world. ” (p 23) McManus goes on to say that when the church ceases to use it’s muscles in serving, it begins to atrophy. Even worse, “the real tragedy is not that churches are dying but that churches have lost their reason to live! Dying is a natural and noble part of life. All too often we take the promise that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church as a guarantee that no local church will ever close it’s doors. How could we ever gather this from the one who told us that, unless a seed dies first, it cannot bear fruit? Before we can even begin to explore how the church can really live, we must first be willing to die. We must be willing to die to our conveniences, our traditions, and our preferences – everything that places us above others.” (p 24) He goes on to say that just like a bell curve, the church begins to decline right after the highest point when it has the most people & the most money because Success blinds us to the force of atrophy…

McManus contends that in seminaries, pastors were being equipped to preserve the past rather than create the future. “We became known for being traditional rather than transformational. The ritual replaced the radical. The pastor/teacher replaced the apostle/evangelist … Pastors found themselves experts in Biblical exegesis, but novices in cultural exegesis. The rapid shifts in society only added to their dilemma … We’ve spent millions of dollars preserving our music and hymnals rather than creating worship that expresses the culture in which we live. And while we find it difficult enough to change in areas related to style, sound, and structure, in more substantive areas of change we lack even the wisdom to change.” (p 25) OUCH!

Parachurch Ministries > “The parachurch created a missiological rather than theological environment … In many ways the emergence of the parachurch reflects the paralysis within the local church. When we stopped calling youth to the mission of Christ, Youth With A Mission emerged. When we ignored the opportunity to reach university students, Campus Crusade emerged. When we settled for church attendance and neglected discipleship, Navigators emerged. When we hesitated to call men to the role of spiritual leadership, Promise Keepers emerged. Yet while the parachurch was rallying and mobilizing men and women whose hearts were longing to serve Christ, it was at the same time accelerating the spiritual anemia and decline of the local church. The church became a fortress from the world rather than the hope of the world.” (p 27)

The removal of prayer from the public schools > “The crisis did not begin when prayer was removed from public schools but when we stopped praying. This event was not the starting point of our cultural decline but the result of years of the church’s diminishing influence on society.” (p 27)

Well, I still haven’t gotten all the way through, but I’ll do more later :)