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Archive for July, 2010
3 Levels of Buy-In
2010
07.05
07.05
Recently I was re-reading the book ITby Craig Groeschel. (Not the Stephen King It) I highly recommend it for anyone who hasn’t read it. In this book Craig mentions something that really struck me as profound. In the book Craig discusses the concept of Buy-In. I thought it was highly relevant to what we’re doing at The Avenue and wanted to share what he said. So with full credit to Craig, here are the three levels.
Level 1-This is where someone buys into an idea enough to benefit from it. For example someone goes to a restaurant because they really like the food. Or someone goes to a particular grocery store because it’s on the way home from work. The key word here is consumption. At this level people are most concerned about themselves and “what’s in it for me.”As soon as something better or easier comes along, these people go with it. In churches this level of buy in indicates the people who show up because of what they get out of the experience and what it does for them. This is where must people start out at a church.
Level 2-This is where people have bought in enough to contribute comfortably. For example this level of Buy-In occurs when someone gives of their time or resources as long as it doesn’t interfere with anything else. Think of dropping your change into the bucket next to the Santa with the bell outside Wal-Mart. The key word here is convenience. In church world this is the person who is moving slightly beyond being a consumer and contributes in some way as long as it isn’t hard and doesn’t require a lot. Unfortunately, I believe this is where most people stay for the majority of their lives as a Christ follower.
Level 3- These are the people who believe in something enough to give their lives to it. These people recognize that their lives fully belong to Jesus and arrange their world accordingly. These people reorganize their time, resources, and priorities and what they feel God is calling them too. A key word here would be sacrifice. These people sacrifice their convenience and desires for the good of something else. Far and away these are the people that bring change to the world. This isn’t limited to “famous” Christians. These are the men and women who simply live for something greater than themselves.
If we want to see gospel change brought to Old Louisville and the University, then we have to become and raise up people who have level 3 Buy-In.
Home Groups – Sign Up Now!
2010
07.02
07.02
The Avenue is excited to announce that we are launching home groups all over the city beginning Aug 1st!
There are 3 groups in the Old Louisville area, one in Southern Indiana and one on the east end of Louisville. We would love for you to join us. If you are interested we are doing an 8 week study on the heart of the gospel for us, our city & our world.
It will give you a great chance to begin to meet new friends, to experience Christian community & to begin to serve in the area you will meet.
If you are interested email us @ info@avechurch.com or simply post your name below & let us know your age & stage of life.
for example – I’m Ben I’m 35 have 3 kids & want to be in a group – I live in Old Louisville!
Then we will plug you into a group & get you connected.
A different way – 2 Thieves
2010
07.01
07.01
A Different Way – 2 Thieves
Tertullian once said, “Just as Christ was crucified between 2 thieves, so this doctrine is ever crucified between 2 errors.” Each of these thieves steal the full beauty of the gospel & take the rich, and beautiful grace of God and makes it small.
Tim Keller calls those 2 thieves religion & irreligion.
Religion is my high school! I grew up going to an ultra conservative Christian high school where moralism ruled the day! There were more rules than anyone could imagine, rules about how much facial hair you could have, rules about how straight your tie should be, and my favorite rules about how much gum you could chew. They gave awards to the best Christians at the end of the year and at our prom we couldn’t dance (dancing leads to shinanigans!) all we could do is sit around & eat dinner together. Sometimes religious circles are just creepy! Like the time my high school teacher brought in a video of his wife giving birth & thought it was ok to show it to his high school history class.
What religion leads us to is two responses that are completely opposite but have the same root.
- The first is where my high school lead me, it is self hatred. Scripture tells us, all of us have sinned, it even tells us that the core of hearts is deceitful. So in this system of belief you get exhausted from trying to live a perfect life when we know we can’t. The beauty of grace is the knowledge that I am completely sinful yet completely loved!
- The second response is Self Rightouesness. You come to believe that you are better than others because you live up to a certain moral clarity. So instead of being humble, you become arrogant, loud & embarrassing to those of us who really are seeking to follow the way of Jesus. Scripture tells us, that our greatest deeds are like filthy rags. So even when we are at our best we miss the mark! So why boast of anything other than the cross of Jesus?
The Second thief is irreligion. As religion values truth above grace, irreligion values grace without truth. It tells us that each of us create our own standards of living, each of us are free to live how we want when we want. They speak of a God of love ,if a God exists, but the love of their God costs them nothing. The beauty of the gospel is that his love lead him to action on our behalf. That even when we failed he loved! Because of that love we desire to serve him & desire to be obedient.
Richard Rohr says, “that is the great surprise – We don’t come to Jesus by getting it right we come to him by getting it wrong!”
A different way – The gospel of Jesus teaches us that we are more sinful & flawed than we could ever imagine. We are also more deeply loved by our creator than we could ever hope!
When we speak of a different way this is the heart of the message!
The gospel is a different way – it sits between 2 thieves who cast stones at each other & it rejects them both and invites both of them to a different way. The beauty of a life with Christ.