The Rise and Rise of Apostolic Movements
My new book begins with an ancient Chinese saying that goes like this…
After a time of decay comes the turning point. The powerful light that has been banished returns. There is movement, but it is not brought about by force. … The movement is natural, arising spontaneously. The old is discarded and the new is introduced. Both measures accord with the time; therefore no harm results.
I start with this because I believe it profoundly captures the spirit of our own times. It seems to me that this is exactly what is happening in our own day. And I am not only referring to the emerging church phenomenon in the narrow sense of the term, but rather to the emergence of new ‘apostolic movements.’ A much larger, and more thoroughgoing phenomenon.
I have become thoroughly convinced that the 21st Century will be marked by the emergence of dynamic, agile, transformative movements in the West. I also believe that it is only this form that can recapture the West from its spiritual demise. It is also this form of ecclesia (incidentally the same form found in the early Christian movement) that offers Western Christianity its best chance for renewal.
If the problem has become that we don’t really know how this form of ecclesia (the primary NT wiord for the church) manifests and organizes because we have become so captivated by a predominantly institutional idea of the church, then our hope lies in remembering it rather than inventing it. The underlying thesis of my book is that it lies latent/dormant in all of God’s authentic people. It is not something that we have to trump up, we simply have to ‘remember’ - hence the book is called The Forgotten Ways.
I am about to start blogging more consistenly on this theme. I welcome you feedback and insights along the way. I hope you find this to be a journey of discovery wherein you (and your community) can find yourselves in a new way–as an apostolic people involved in an apostolic movement.
Comments
14 Responses to “The Rise and Rise of Apostolic Movements”
Leave a Reply
The Books
COMING SOON!
Affiliates
Recent Blog Entries
Recent Comments
-
The Problem of institutions (Part I)
- Eleanor Burne-Jones said: Surely we can't create...
- Alan Hirsch said: They come and go all too...
- Andrew said: Just noticed a wording...
- Andrew said: Didn't notice the word ...
- Alan Hirsch said: By the way, if it is not...
- Andrew said: A postscript to my last...
- Andrew said: I don’t know whether you...
- alan hirsch said: Agent B sounds very...
- Agent B said: No fair. You can write...
- Michael McAleer said: I think there are two...
…the movement is natural, arising spontaneously. The old is discarded and the new is introduced…
Reading your Chinese saying about the old being discarded as the new is introduced reminds me of another quote I have found helpful…
All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; Second, it is violently opposed; and Third, it is accepted as self-evident.
– Arthur Schopenhauer, 1788-1860 (attrib)
I look forward to getting a copy of your new book. “The Shaping of Things to Come” was a real blessing and eye opener in many ways.
These preliminary comments related to your book stir something in me. I am confussed about we are doing as a group of ‘post traditional churchies’ I constantly feel we lack missionality and so on. But what I do feel is that we are acting on a stiring deep within, a search for these ‘Forgotten Ways’.
“I hope you find this to be a journey of discovery wherein you (and your community) can find yourselves in a new way–as an apostolic people involved in an apostolic movement.”
Mate - what a call to arms! It’s an exciting thought, and I look forward to reading about, and joining in with, this journey.
Hi Alan,
met you in Switzerland in May and I’m really looking forward reading your book! I am intrigued by that part of your quote above:
“The old is discarded and the new is introduced. Both measures accord with the time; therefore no harm results.”
Working with both, a transforming traditional community (at the YMCA) and an emergent community here in germany (Kubik) I found that change and harm tend to come hand in hand. So I am curious and that is a good thing! It is nice to be able to read some of your thoughts through your blog! Thanks for sharing!
Bjoern
[...] Hirsch I have stumbled across Alan Hirsch’s Blog “The forgotten ways”, which acompanies his new Book under the same title.He starts it with the following quote (from a chinese saying): After a time of decay comes the turning point. The powerful light that has been banished returns. There is movement, but it is not brought about by force. … The movement is natural, arising spontaneously. The old is discarded and the new is introduced. Both measures accord with the time; therefore no harm results. [...]
Alan - isn’t there a sense too of not just remembering but re-inventing as opposed to inventing?
‘Jesus following’ was by intent (and probably still remains) the only truly multicultural world faith - part of reason probably as to why there is so much space for freedom in Eccelisiogy.
So can we point to a perfect model or context of what Christianity should look like?
Alan,The deconstructing that is taking place across the board seems to me to be a type of prophetic trumpet, echoeing Jeremiah 1:10
“See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow,
to build and to plant.” There must be an uprooting and tearing down for us to be able to build and plant. Quoting you: “The underlying thesis of my book is that it lies latent/dormant in all of God’s authentic people. It is not something that we have to trump up, we simply have to ‘remember’ - hence the book is called The Forgotten Ways.”–BRAVO! The hopeful thing here is that we must rely upon the Spirit to guide us into this truth because we have not been there before (most of us anyway). This “holy remembering” will require us to listen with a desperate ear.
Simon, you are right that there must always be a level of ‘re-inventing’ ourselves. I think of it more as recalibrating. Going back/going deep to recover lost potencies and then re-applying them to a new situation. But your point is well taken.
the forgotten way of the spirit
the focus of the chinese proverb is not in new replacing old, but in the return of the powerful light that once was. one of our most significant challenges is that we are so tied to the material realm. our definition of new is tied up in its relationship to what is old… everything is tied to what precedes it, it is all materialist: post-modernism is defined by not being like what preceded it…
the christ came to restore what had been lost, not what did not exist, not simply replacing new for old. the christ restored in the material realm what was always in existence, he renewed the original eternal in place of the temporary temporal. when we see the spiritual reality, we perceive the always existent, eternal ecclesia and those who see it are inspired to bring it into reality in their day
the true church is always emerging. emerging from its momentary temporal expression to better reflect the reality of the spirit in the eternal moment. the 20th century highlights an enlightenment in the church concerning the present day work of the spirit of god and of christ - a restoration of a light that had always existed. the 21st century should highlight a restoration of the forgotten way of the spirit
a celtic son
I love the thought of remembering what church had looked like, deconstructing what it is, is an essential part of reconstructing it. The question remains firmly set: How can we rebuild church and my thinking always goes back to the question how church did look like and was meant to be. @celtic son: Thanks for highlighting the role of the spirit! I still am very much a trinitary living person, the balance within the god-team is very important to me. @Alan: Thanks for your kind comment on my blog! We had a good time visiting Houston and talking with Doug Pagitt, Mark Berry, Debbie Jones and others about a learning trail. Forge came up once or twice and I am curious how Forge works. The “about” Page on Forge Website sounds like just the thing to have - shame that your on the other end of the world. Greetings Bjoern
believing is seeing…!
in my mind “the thought of remembering what church had looked like” and your question, “How can we rebuild church and my thinking always goes back to the question how church did look like and was meant to be” relates to the role of the spirit…
in relatively contemporary idiom, the spirit is the “red pill” (reference “The Matrix”)enabling us to perceive the spiritual reality, beyond the material illusion we are otherwise limited to… the church already exists in the spiritual realm as god intends it to be, he has spoken it into being before the beginning of time… the spirit reveals it to us and we participate by bringing it into the natural realm… god’s kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven.
we can see the patterns of what is real, in spiritual terms, in elements of the church throughout the ages… it’s not so much that history repeats as that people in different ages re-engage with the eternally existent elemental truth and it resonates…
what we need is an engagement with the great eternal church, the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us. simons comment “not just remembering but re-inventing as opposed to inventing?” is helpful. we are not so much re-inventing from a spiritual perspective, because the eternal, elemental already exists, but we are re-inventing from a natural perspective as we bring that eternal, elemental into the temporal practical world.
it all exists but requires us to believe so that we see…
Hi Celtic son!
This sounds amazingly deep and highly theological, but honestly I don’t have a clue where I would start from a more practical point of view.
Spend time in solitude and prayer? Seek out the prophetic gifted? The spirit is within me, guiding me, reminding me of the truth that is in Jesus and more, he teaches me as I live the tiny life I have been given. I strive to keep a balance in my view of god after the fashion of the trinity, the god-team as I perceive it, so the spirit has a integral part in all of this.
But in the everyday life, leading a small community of faith I live in realtionship with the triune god. Simply. How do we bring the eternal, elemental into the temporary world? Any pracitical suggestions might help me understand more fully.
Thanks for the answer!
Björn
hi bjorn…
relationship with the triune god is absolutely the key. everything else emanates from there…
my response was not intended to be deep or theological… simply reflect my thinking and experience… “deep” probably reflects my inability to communicate what i’m thinking that well and “theological” scares me - theology to me is knowledge about god… my journey is hopefully about getting to know god, not just know stuff about god - its primarily relational not intellectual
i don’t profess to be some kind of guru and to have answers for others, just to be a pilgrim on a journey and to want to learn from the experience and from the experience of others. in terms of sharing some practical experiences this may well be long winded… it is probably a bit much to put up on a blog, i don’t want to hijack mr hirsch’s blog if my blah is irrelevant to others. i’ll give it a go this time, but if you wanted to pursue anything it might be more appropriate to email (perhaps mr hirsch or an administrator could give guidance!)
in practical terms you have as good a start as i’ve found… i have just returned from four days away in solitude and prayer… in the last couple of weeks i’ve really felt the need to clear my mind of the urgent and immediate needs that so easily press in and take up my time and just sit quietly and listen. so i cancelled everything including employment for a few days to develop my relationship with the triune god.
the idea of seeking out the prophetically gifted is good and bad! what isn’t. there are good and bad prophets - the ministry of the prophet needs to be subject to the prophets. i’m not sure either that we have a good handle on the prophetic in the church today. i’m not impressed with those who like to throw their clapping audience a little fish from time to time.i look for someone who is going to teach me to fish.
we of the new covenant are all god’s prophetic people and we all need each other - there are no giant lives… and no tiny lives either - there is only one life. each of us begins with a bundle of talents and we co-operate with god in accordance with the gifts as he has chosen to distribute them and in accordance with the measure of faith which we have - which again is a gift from god. out of our relationship with god comes a response that seeks to please him because of all he has given us - we are no measured against others, but against ourselves - am i becoming who god says i am?
in all honesty i probably could have done with a four week retreat! the first couple of days were spent simply trying to still my soul. stop the noise in my head. clarify what issues i’ve been caught up in that are actually not really significant. try to identify my own motives for doing what i do and what are the areas of self-centredness in me that i need to surrender.
although i do try to get away alone three or four times a year, this was my first escape this year… i’ve been “too busy” - the perennial westerners excuse! hence my soul searching about personal motivations - i can be a rescuer in the sense that i take personal esteem from helping others - so although the rescuing may be necessary and a good thing, i need to be aware that from my own perspective mine may not be a totally healthy motivation…
i try to analyse myself (hopefully in some sort of objectivity and not too anal!) in the way that i would analyse the motives of others. in the heat of the business (busy-ness) of life i find i’m not so good at self awareness, like most people i just react - and often have to apologise afterwards. when i take sufficient time out i can work on processing me - why do i do what i do, why do i react wrongly in certain situations…
as i do this there seems to be a consequential clarity of thought regarding the kingdom of god. it seems that when i can be honest with myself about core issues and commit to a process of changing my patterns of behaviour to better reflect god’s patterns then i can see and hear the things of god better - i think it’s what the bible means by repentance… changing my mind from the way my materially focussed and influenced thoughts are, to the way that god says they really are and making a commitment to re-invent myself to become who god invented me to be in the first place… if it sounds deep it’s just my limited intellect struggling to make sense of a process… i hope it’s of some help!
a couple of years ago on a visit to scotland - the land of my birth - i had some time out on my own and i sensed a conviction that god was “speaking” to me, gently chiding me that i had settled for less than his best… i’ve spent the last couple of years trying to unpack what that means for me and in all honesty that was all i really sensed on this retreat too…
it suggests to me that i still have personal issues to resolve in this area, before moving on to anything else. i need to get a firm hold in my mind of what god’s will is for my life and to do that i need to take seriously what paul says to the romans in romans 12 - don’t conform any longer to the way the world has taught me to think but change my mind to agree with what god thinks about me
the material realm has such a hold on us that our christianity is a dull image of what i believe christ intended. he only spoke what he heard the father speak, he only did what he saw the father do - he saw in the spirit and then acted in the natural - the kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven when we speak out what god has already said and when we engage with what god has already done…
what is it that god has already said about the impact of your faith community in the world… say that to your faith community and to your community - then act on it. the first in the act of faith, a word of prophecy, the second is faith with works which is alive. when you take time out of the hustle and bustle and reflect on the spiritual elements of your community what do you see, what is god already doing in the world outside of any of the faith communities in your area - engage with that…
8 years ago i suddenly had a picture in my mind, a faith community in a region 15 minutes from where i lived… a faith community that did not yet exist. i had recently resigned my position as an assistant pastor on the staff of a church of around 1000 people - it was not a healthy departure (i had strong disagreements with the leadership team about the direction of the church) i was burned out, angry, disappointed, disillusioned, spiteful etc etc etc
the picture i had actually upset me because i could not see that how it could have anything to do with me… i prayed. i shared the image with my wife and she was against anything to do with it… i prayed
over the next twelve months we attended a smaller fellowship with local ministers who cared for us, challenged us and helped us to process our pain and disappointment… i prayed. in the midst of my grief the scriptures spoke to me about coming to the altar when i knew someone held offence against me - and also about my own lack of forgiveness. i made an appointment with my previous senior minister and painfully shared how i felt and agreed to disagree on some things… i prayed
one night as we prayed together my wife, out of the blue, said “if it is a god thing, i’m not against the idea of us starting a church…” so, the process began. we discovered that the community that i had envisaged had ibn the last ten years had 4 church plants that we were aware of, all fail within two years - yet i was convinced because of a picture i had seen…
6 years ago, with two other families we began to meet as a small group and then to begin to have public gatherings. i had a full time job and at the same time i joined the board of a local community youth service, we gave some money to local schools and we supported the local work of scripture in the schools.
for the first two years the church increased in number slowly but surely. two other churches started in that time frame too. at the end of the second year people began to leave - mostly relocating out of our area - a couple upset with the direction we were taking. we bought books for the local primary schools library, sent a couple on a missions trek to china with money for the work in an orphanage.
after three and a half years the church began to increase in number again and has continued… in the meantime the other two churches have closed their doors…
three months ago, as the result of discussion with one of the local school principals, at our initiative, we embarked on a clean up day in the school. we partnered with the school staff, with another local church, with the school’s parents. we provided childcare for the day to enable people to participate… over 100 adults were involved - almost 40 children were cared for…
we provided hospitality for all involved. at morning tea, with about 100 people present - some staff, some parents, some people from another church and some who are journeying with us - with about 40 kids playing around. people were animatedly sharing with one another what they had been doing to help the school… a keen observer would have noticed me stood to one side with tears rolling down my cheeks as i recalled the picture i had seen 8 years before as it was played out in front of my eyes…
this is where my comments about the eternal church already existing stem from… i have come to believe - from this experience and many, many others - that in the beginning when god spoke he spoke all of human history into being and that he invites us to enter into what he has always intended… in eph 2:10 paul says we walk into works that god prepared in advance for us to walk in…
the early church is a helpful model, in a sense because they were more primitive and less professional, closer to the source and less distracted than we are, which is why the “third world” churches are helpful too. but in essence i believe that the true church in all eras basically plugs into the eternal, elemental by the power of the holy spirit and brings it into the temporal…
does any of this make sense? is it helpful? if it is just “amazingly deep and highly theological” then i have failed to communicate effectively… once again!
a celtic son
Hi Alan!
What exactly do you mean with “apostolic”? Is it the australian apostolic revolution kind, the north american “covering” kind or what?