TO INTENTIONALLY 'MORPH'
By Steve Behlke
I saw this recently and wondered what some of you might think about it.
The following is one way of seeking and intentionally developing a rhythm of Christianity with a small, committed group of Christian friends. It's an unfinished discussion between Christian leaders about developing a "missional order", a pattern for living the Christian life. It comes from the community development team of Image Dei Community, a church in Portland, OR.
We use the acronym MORPH to capture what we want to see in ourselves as we encourage each other to go deeper in God together while on mission. We describe the actual practices this way:
MORPH means on a weekly basis we covenant to be:
Missional - I will involve myself in some activity that engages and/or enriches my neighborhood or community or city (or world if traveling)
Other-centered - I will choose to look beyond myself and bless three people in some conscious act of goodness or generosity (of the three, I will try to bless at least one person inside the *Imago Dei Community).
Replenishing - I will read at least five chapters of a NT book, two chapters of an OT book, and at least one chapter of a spiritually-edifying book or article.
Prayerful - I will quiet my soul and spend one uninterrupted hour with God in prayer. I will seek to live prayerfully that I might partner with God in His work in and around me.
Hospitable - I will extend or receive hospitality on three occasions (at least once with *Imago Dei folks, and preferably at least once with non-Christian friends in a home or third place)
Obviously, this community is very intentional about Christian discipleship (Christian formation). For some of us this would be great to do something like this ("awesome, let's do it!"); but for others this seems too rigid, monastic, or legalistic ("yuck, never!"). For sure, something like this must never be a list of duties, for we don't need another law.
But, as busy as we are, the intention behind this is to make room in our lives for worshiping God, following Jesus and partnering with the Holy Spirit in ways that matter most to God and to us.
So, what do you like about the above MORPH rhythm? What would you add or subtract - for you, for your small group - to more intentionally follow Christ as a way of life, as a way of community?
For those who gravitate toward something like this, it must stem from God-given desires and goals, be given lots of time and discussion to develop, and be implemented in a true, Jesus-following, grace-community of believers.
Who would you do something like this with?
What if you or your small group, or what if some core groups of women or couples or young people or men prayed and developed a similar but tailor-made "missional order"?
Share your ideas...
*Substitute your church's name for Imago Dei
I saw this recently and wondered what some of you might think about it.
The following is one way of seeking and intentionally developing a rhythm of Christianity with a small, committed group of Christian friends. It's an unfinished discussion between Christian leaders about developing a "missional order", a pattern for living the Christian life. It comes from the community development team of Image Dei Community, a church in Portland, OR.
We use the acronym MORPH to capture what we want to see in ourselves as we encourage each other to go deeper in God together while on mission. We describe the actual practices this way:
MORPH means on a weekly basis we covenant to be:
Missional - I will involve myself in some activity that engages and/or enriches my neighborhood or community or city (or world if traveling)
Other-centered - I will choose to look beyond myself and bless three people in some conscious act of goodness or generosity (of the three, I will try to bless at least one person inside the *Imago Dei Community).
Replenishing - I will read at least five chapters of a NT book, two chapters of an OT book, and at least one chapter of a spiritually-edifying book or article.
Prayerful - I will quiet my soul and spend one uninterrupted hour with God in prayer. I will seek to live prayerfully that I might partner with God in His work in and around me.
Hospitable - I will extend or receive hospitality on three occasions (at least once with *Imago Dei folks, and preferably at least once with non-Christian friends in a home or third place)
Obviously, this community is very intentional about Christian discipleship (Christian formation). For some of us this would be great to do something like this ("awesome, let's do it!"); but for others this seems too rigid, monastic, or legalistic ("yuck, never!"). For sure, something like this must never be a list of duties, for we don't need another law.
But, as busy as we are, the intention behind this is to make room in our lives for worshiping God, following Jesus and partnering with the Holy Spirit in ways that matter most to God and to us.
So, what do you like about the above MORPH rhythm? What would you add or subtract - for you, for your small group - to more intentionally follow Christ as a way of life, as a way of community?
For those who gravitate toward something like this, it must stem from God-given desires and goals, be given lots of time and discussion to develop, and be implemented in a true, Jesus-following, grace-community of believers.
Who would you do something like this with?
What if you or your small group, or what if some core groups of women or couples or young people or men prayed and developed a similar but tailor-made "missional order"?
Share your ideas...
*Substitute your church's name for Imago Dei
I must admit that when I was first reading this, my flesh popped up, probably because of my past relationship with legalism. But, I was reminded that, while Christ wants us to experience His grace, there are many times we are instructed to admonish, to be held accountable (two being I Thess. 5:12-15 and II Thess. 3:14-15.
The structure of this can seem scary also. I know from personal experience, though, that if I don't set aside the time to spend with God, or to serve in some way, I usually don't do it.
So, I guess my thoughts are that, yes, I believe it could become too rigid, legalistic even. But, I also believe, that, maybe in a small group, in a loving, admonishing atmosphere, that it could spear us on to a closer walk with God, and greater service to our church and community.
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Great comment, and I get your point about protecting people from legalism. But that's why developing a rhythm of life needs to be personalized, tweaked to fit us. If it's not a fit for us, and if we don't do this as an issue of trust, then this all just becomes additional stuff to do, rules to follow, and more pressure to perform, no thanks!
So it needs to be personalized. And grace - trust and love - must be alive and central in that community of friends.
For, it does seem like it may be good to develop some sort of "rhythm" that counteracts the hectic and dizzying, high octane, low time-for-God pace that the world runs us on, and which is true to each individual (or group) and their desires and personality and way of relating with God.
For me this might include silence and prayer and bible reading (contemplative spirituality) but also acting on the truths I hold to, serving others, and hospitality, feasting and celebrating with friends in Christ's name (active spirituality).
These types of things bring God glory too. These types of activities should also be considerred acts of worship.
Paul's frequently thelogized on this aspect of Christian life and worship. But more than anything, it seems to reflect in many ways the very life that Jesus Christ lived while He was here on earth. And that's a truly Christian Spirituality that I want to emulate.
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Cheryl, I think I was part of the same legalistic church community you were...for a short time anyways. I don't want to name names, so I'll be intentionally vague. Was it MVBC?
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Gabe,
Yes it was. Actually, that was one of many for my whole life until about 5 years ago. When were you there? Mike was actually assistant pastor there from '95-2000
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Yes, I remember Mike in that role. I went there -- and was pretty active -- for about four or five months in the fall of '98 into January of '99. I actually had the opportunity to preach a New Year's Eve sermon there.
All things considered, I'm thankful for having had the experience of, as Pastor Tharp used to call it, an Independent, Fundamental, Bible-Believing, King James Only, Soul-Winning, Baptist Church. I count each of my church experiences to have been profitable. However, in the case of MVBC, I didn't stay there long because the church culture demanded strict conformity to numerous superficial, rather arbitrary, extra-biblical rules.
Did you and Mike leave abruptly, or were there things which bothered you for a long time?
Gabe
BLOG ALERT: THIS IS STEVE B., YOUR CONVERSATION IS GREAT, AND WHILE I DO NOT "DEMAND STRICT CONFORMITY TO MY SUPERFICIAL RULES,"
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HAHA-you crack me up. Thank you for not "demanding" anything-and I agree that this conversation does not belong here!
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Hi Steve,
I think I basically do the "O", "R" and "P" of that plan most of the time. Missions and Hospitality are areas that I've waxed and wanned on over the years, but I don't I entirely neglect those areas. I think if you read that article it would seem to promote a legalistic approach. However I think if we really search our minds as to what we do in our private lives we will see, as I have that we aren't very far from that model. I think it is a good starting point from which we can grow more in our walk with God.
Reading the Bible is extremely important, but I don't like to be told how, what part, or how often to read it. Sometimes I hate to put my Bible down and other times I spend a lot more time in Bible related reading. When I've worked at forming a disciplined approach to Bible reading I do tend to get legalistic. I then always fall away from that model because my nature is not rigid.
I also like to read the classics and contemporary novels. Currently I'm reading some very sweet books written by a woman named Dora Jesse Saint or Miss Read (her pen name). She is an English author who was a school teacher. Right now I'm finishing the first of the "Thrush Green" series called, "Thrush Green". The time period of these books is from the 1950's forward to a date that I haven't determined yet. I am almost thinking they would be good for a Christian reading group.
Dora Saint is very nonjudgmental in her handling of her characters. She lets them live out their character and they are very real. The Anglican Church and the Catholic Church figure prominently in the lives of the characters and the period of time in these books. The semi-fictional society is Christian. The line is very fine between real England and Miss Read's imaginary England. The characters' families, and others i.e., doctors, inn keepers, shop owners, pub owners, etc. all live according to a high moral standard based on Christian Doctrine. They aren't all really good Christians, but Christianity determines the sense of right and wrong of most of the characters.
My point in all of this is that I think getting into reading other than the Bible, especially for those of us who've been studying it for many, many years, is a very good thing. I find myself walking right into Jesus in some novels, this series especially. I think the big thing in these books is seeing how excepting she is of all personalities. I see myself loving more diverse people from all my reading.
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I like this alot, thanks.
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I think this is helpful; setting goals is indispensable to progress. We don't become engineers or nurses, or even learn to read by committing ourselves to a few hours each week. If it takes hundreds upon hundreds of hours of study and hard work - indeed, years of full-time study in most cases - to learn anything substantial, why should discipleship be any different?
On another note, you say, "[S]omething like this must never be a list of duties, for we don't need another law." What place do you give to the notion of duty or obligation? Does grace free us from all obligations/duties? In other words, you seem to lump 'legalism,' 'law,' and 'duty' together, and toss them out as pre-grace-age relics. Is this right or have I misunderstood you?
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Great question. What do you think I meant when on the one hand I said the aforementioned list contains good things that are potentially beneficial to each believer who embraces them and, on the other hand, I also warn us not to let these things become merely "a list of duties" that become "another law"?
I am glad you asked the question, Gabe. No, I am not anti-obligations and duties. Sometimes it's all we have left when faced with the choice to do right or wrong. And for sure, we are obligated to be responsible in our families, jobs, finances, etc. We have obligations in terms of our relationship to Christ and one another. I have a duty and an obligation to be loving and faithful to my wife.
But in each of these relationships, the sense of "duty" is not the highest virtue or value. I do not regularly want to be responsible to my boss or to be kind to my children or to love my wife out of mere duty or obligation. Nor does my wife! She would not appreciate it if after I blessed her with a special night out and told her how much I loved her and that I would marry her again a thousand times over, when she says, "Thanks honey, I love you too." Imagine how she would feel if I tell her, "No problem, it was my duty. I feel that I am under obligation to do this for you."
It's the same with any list of things we may do to "intentionally morph." If they are done out of mere duty, in the above sense, devoid of relationship, devoid of love, solely under the category of "I must do these things as a duty," then a great loss occurs. A sense of life and joy gets squeazed out of doing them. A sense of duty alone, without faith in God's grace, without love in response to God's love, without holy desire and delight in glorifying God and becoming like Him in heart, word, and lifestyle, leaves mere duty and obligation in the dust.
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Thanks for your response. Maybe this discussion should have taken place under another entry, since it is not immediately related to MORPH. Nevertheless, I will offer a couple thoughts, which I hope will contribute to the dialogue.
(1) First of all, I’m glad to hear that you’re not anti-obligation!
(2) I think your analogy shows the obvious limitations of making ‘a sense of duty’ our sole motivation for action. I, however, think another analogy is necessary to fill out the story. Think back to when you and Polly got married. Imagine if you said to the minister officiating the wedding, “Listen, pastor, this marriage vow is filled with obligations and duties, and quite frankly, we don’t need another law. This is not because I don’t want to do what’s right, but because I want to do things out of a loving motivation. Therefore, since I prefer ‘grace’ to ‘law,’ I will tell my wife-to-be that I will trust God and hope that actions motivated by love follow.” I think your wife would be equally disappointed as she would in your analogy. My point: “Relationship” and “grace” do not nullify duties. In fact, duties are important for all meaningful relationships, including ours with Christ. For example, we have an obligation to love God and obey His commands.
(3) I agree with you that “a great loss occurs” when we do things out of a mere sense of duty. However, this hardly means that we should see commands or moral obligations as something to be detested. Sure, we find terrible vices in legalism (e.g., arrogance, self-righteousness, judgmentalism, superficiality, etc.), but we don’t have to attach these to the notion of duty. Since the New Testament is replete with commands and moral obligations, we should probably, in a nuanced way, appreciate the role of moral obligation while resisting the vices Christ spoke so harshly against. In short, I don’t think there is an inherent contradiction between grace and duty or responsibility, as there is between grace and legalism. Dallas Willard, in Renovation of the Heart, points out that it requires more grace to obediently follow Christ than it does to ask forgiveness when we don’t. That is, it takes grace to fulfill our duties. (More might have to be said this.)
Hope to hear back soon…
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Gabe, great points!
What I hear is that we have a basic lovefest of agreement!
Here's what I hear: (1) Neither of us is anti-duty or obligation. (2) Neither of us thinks that a sense of duty should be our sole motivation. (3) We both agree that it is important to do things that improve our relationships and bless others, both with our wives (each of our analogies) and with God (the point of the original blog). (4) We each agree that grace does not nullify obligations, but motivates, fuels, empowers, and enlivens our doing the right things in the relationships to which we have "obligated" ourselves. (5) We also agree that we are obliged to love and obey God.
This conversation is really a great and clarifying conversation.
The list of "things to do" mentioned in the original "morph" blog, are not all commands of God. They are means of positioning ourselves to be loved and to love, to engage relationally, mindfully, bodily, with the God who loves us and compels our trust. For me, with faith in them, with love for God, I will be able to enter into similar ways of living and patterns of relating to God.
But for me, if I do not engage them with faith or with love for God, they will be mere duty and obligation, and for me, I've lived that way for too long. I want even my duties and obligations to be full of life and faith and love!
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Well said. Thanks. You're a great interlocutor!
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I got excited when I read about the MORPH idea. It didn't seem legalistic to me. I like having guidelines to follow, goals set before me to try to reach.
I really liked their suggestions of intentional goals for mission. I agree with Pastor Steve that it should be tweaked to match a group's intended purpose.
I'd love to do it; it sounds like a good thing for my church!
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Excellent. So, how would you get something like this going? Would you do this as part of your small group? Would a group grow up around this idea?
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