Barefoot Church: Serving the Least in a Consumer Culture

1. WHY A BAREFOOTED CHURCH:In Chapter one we will summarize the stories and calling of Brandon and Jen Hatmaker that led to the Barefooted Church journey. In it we will discuss the commonality of frustration with so many believers who feel that there's 'got to be more'. We'll also begin to shape a framework through stories of 'just as frustrated' pastors and their struggle to shape their church to be more mission minded.* Doing More* The Barefooted Story* Making it Personal* Foundations for Structure.2. BEYOND the SOCIAL GOSPEL:In this chapter, we'll deal up front with key objections to serving the poor, starting with debunking the viewpoint that today's mission minded church is similar to historical social gospel. To do so, we'll build a biblical case for service and take a look at how serving has never been so relevant a tool for reaching our culture. We'll spend some time observing social trends and contrast today's movement with the unbiblical form of past social gospel (specifically in the areas of eschatology and doctrine of salvation). We'll also discuss personal responsibility by unpacking the temptation to use the label of 'social gospel' as an excuse to deflect social responsibility, and expose how we often reduce the gospel to being just spiritual good news while ignoring the emotional, relational, and physical needs of our world.* 'The twentieth-century consumer economy has produced the first culture for which a beggar is a remind-er of nothing.' — John Berger (Why? There is no reason for poverty today. We literally have every re-source to abolish it. Our only need is the people willing to give it.) binding and lossening.* The Church of tomorrow (what are we leaving our kids)* Hollywood and Justice: Where's the Church?* Never been more culturally relevant. (Church Growth)* A discussion of changing the posture of church to the unbelieving world through observing the natural 'Missional Flow' as discussed by Hugh Halter's 'Tangible Kingdom'3. THE DANGER with MISSIONAL without MISSION-MINDED:Chapter three will defend and celebrate fully the missional movement in the American church (as more than a fad) as the rediscovered biblical posture of Jesus, the Apostles, and the early church into the world. We'll discuss briefly through stories some major victories that have been experienced in the missional church, we'll discuss some of the new revelations of missional leaders, and we'll discuss some of the upcoming challenges of missional: Specifically the upcoming battle to not allow our 'missional communities' to become prideful, self-serving 'micro-consumer churches'. We'll propose the scriptural mandate to serve selflessly as a key component of keeping our posture 'outward'.* MISSIONAL JARGIN (defining missional, mission, and compassion).* Missional is not a Fad. It's Biblical. Service is the key to keeping it outward.* Observing what's next on the missional landscape: Serving's impact on missional/incarnational communi-ty.* Why the mission to engage need is critical (a) biblical (b) continuous.4. BALANCING GATHERING and SENDING of the Church (finding the crisis)The focus of this chapter will be to discuss through story and structure how (1) exposing, (2) experiencing, and (3) engaging need (crisis) creates a natural intersection between the sending and gathering components of church. At this place is created a spiritual 'Sweet Spot' for any faith community. We'll discuss the design and purpose of tension between the attractional and missional components of church, and give examples of how SERVING THE LEAST can be the catalyst for how the two can ultimately and uniquely work together. This chapter will offer a hopeful future for believers and leaders who feel they have to choose one emphasis over the other but want to do both.* Both/And: Key to our strategy (Hugh Halter)* Our Nature to gather. Our gathering Culture.* Need: Spiritual, Emotional (relational), and Physical — Mother Teresa.* Strategy of Exposing, Experiencing, and Engaging needs in community.5. TENSION and STRUCTURING FOR SERVING (Compassion Ministry)This chapter will dig deeper into the built in 'tension' of mission. We'll discuss the personal, spiritual, and corpo-rate impact of giving away, offer a framework to build upon, and help the reader process the journey. We'll share stories of tension and celebrate the breakthroughs that resulted from addressing the tension in community. A helpful element of this chapter will be found in highlighting the reality of dealing with where we really are in our organizational structure and offering some sensible next steps.* Structure of staff meetings* Personnel and Salaries.* Structuring through tension.* The sacrifice of tension.* The difference between self-less service and self-service.* Evaluating our motives.6. SERVICE-MINDED COMMUNITY.The key to effective missional/incarnational community is found in maintaining our missional posture. We also need to understand the difference between being mission minded and being missional. This requires not only an individual understanding of our 'sentness' but also a collective structure (as discussed in the intro) that provides (1) margin to live a 'sent' life and (2) the permission to make doing so in community a priority. Since one of the goals of the Barefooted Church is to move away from service events to service as a lifestyle, this chapter will provide a very simple and specific list of essentials for serving in community that helps catalyze that change in perspective. (and the stories that go with them).* Mission and staying 'sent'* Decentralized leadership* Illustrating the 'love your neighbor, serve your city' model.* Balancing Incarnational Community with Missional Community7. EVANGELISM AND SERVING (Compassion Ministry)The common belief is that serving never leads to conversion. Untrue. Alan Graham once said, 'There are two in-extricable links to the Gospel: Evangelism and Serving the Poor'. This chapter will tell story after story of how people have earned the trust of the lost through serving resulting in them coming to faith. Powerful stories. We will focus on how serving without motive literally creates a bridge to sharing faith, how it often leads to earning the right to be heard, how it often restores broken faith, and the impact of the reality that when 'it's the Gospel you receive, it's the Gospel you intuitively life.'* Two Inextricable Links: Gospel and Serving the Poor* Posture of Service and the walls it breaks down* Stories of those coming to faith through service* Stories of those returning to faith through relationship/service8. DISCIPLESHIP AND SERVING (Compassion Ministry)One of the most surprising fruits of serving the least is heart transformation. For years as a Pastor of Spiritual development, I did everything I could to help people grow. We had program after program and bible study after bible study. Each time resulting in people feeling like they just needed to be fed more. This chapter will discuss the personal journey of transformation, how serving the least is a huge part of discipleship, and will offer some amazing stories of life-long believers who experienced the nourishment of the Spirit for what some consider the 'first time in their lives' through serving the poor. To quote one such person, 'I found Jesus at the bottom. It's a wonder I ever had any real fellowship with Him at any other place.'* Go and make disciples. What does that mean?* Selfless Service of a Disciple: Serving with a REAL heart to gain nothing.* Obedience, Self-Sacrifice, and Sacrificial giving.* 'Nothing of great significance comes without great sacrifice'* The strategy of doing what you least want to do.