No Perfect People Allowed : Creating a Come as You Are Culture in the Church

by John Burke

• ISBN13: 9780310256557
• ISBN10: 0310256550
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-06-01
• Publisher: Harpercollins Christian Pub

Summary

How do we live out the message of Jesus in today's ever-changing culture? The church is facing its greatest challenge--and its greatest opportunity--in our postmodern, post-Christian world. God is drawing thousands of spiritually curious "imperfect people" to become his church--but how are we doing at welcoming them?No Perfect People Allowed shows you how to deconstruct the five main barriers standing between emerging generations and your church by creating the right culture. From inspiring stories of real people once far from God, to practical ideas that can be applied by any local church, this book offers a refreshing vision of the potential and power of the Body of Christ to transform lives today."We now are living in a post-Christian America--and that means we must be rethinking ministry through a missionary mindset. What makes this book both unique and extremely helpful is that it is filled with real-life stories of post-Christian people becoming followers of Jesus--not just statistics or data about them." Dan Kimball, Author, The Emerging Church." . . John's 'get it' factor with people, lost or found, is something to behold! Reading this book filled me with optimism regarding the next generation of pastors and faith communities . . ." Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community ChurchNo Perfect People Allowed is a timely and necessary word for church leaders in a post Christian culture. John Burke serves up quite a tasty meal full of the rich nutrients that will strengthen the Body of Christ. Randy Frazee, Senior Pastor, Pantego Bible Church; Author, The Connecting Church and Making Room for Life

Table of Contents

Introduction: God's Story in Our Stories	9	(6)
Part One: The Struggle for Emerging Generations
1 The First Corinthian Church of America	15	(14)
2 Cynical and Jaded: Results of the Postmodern Experiment	29	(22)
Part Two: The Struggle with Trust
3 Doubters Wanted: Creating a Culture of Dialogue	51	(18)
4 Losing My Need to Pretend: Creating a Culture of Authenticity	69	(18)
Part Three: The Struggle with Tolerance
5 Come as You Are: Creating a Culture of Acceptance	87	(18)
6 But Don't Stay That Way: Creating a Culture of Growth	105	(20)
7 What about Other Religions? The Tolerance Litmus Test-Q1	125	(22)
8 How Do You Feel about Gays? The Tolerance Litmus Test-Q2	147	(20)
Part Four: The Struggle with Truth
9 The Humble Truth about Truth: Creating a Culture of Truth-Telling Humility	167	(18)
10 Tribal Truth: Creating the Culture of Incarnational Truth	185	(20)
Part Five: The Struggle with Brokenness
11 All God Intended You to Be: Creating a Culture of Hope	205	(18)
12 Mental Monogamy: Creating a Culture of Sexual Wholeness	223	(20)
13 Recovering an Addicted Generation: Creating a Culture of Healing	243	(24)
Part Six: The Struggle with Aloneness
14 Nobody Stands Alone: Creating a Culture of Connection	267	(18)
15 The Family I Never Had: Creating a Culture of Family	285	(18)
Part Seven: The Struggle Forward
16 Life or Death? Creating a Culture for Emerging Leaders	303	(12)
Acknowledgments	315	(2)
Notes	317

Excerpts

No Perfect People AllowedCopyright © 2005 by John BurkeRequests for information should be addressed to:Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataBurke, John, 1963–No perfect people allowed : creating a come-as-you-are culture in the church / John Burke.p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.Summary: “Discusses ways church leaders and congregations can reach out to and connectwith postmodern, post-Christian society”— Provided by publisher.ISBN-10: 0-310-25655-0ISBN-13: 978-0-310-25655-71. Pastoral theology. 2. Postmodernism—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title.BV4011.3.B87 2005253—dc22 2005000359This edition printed on acid-free paper.All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New InternationalVersion®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission ofZondervan. All rights reserved.The quotations from the writings and interviews with Mark Laaser are used with his permission.The Twelve Steps are reprinted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (AAWS).Permission to reprint the Twelve Steps does not mean that AAWS has reviewed or approved the contentsof this publication or that AAWS necessarily agrees with the views expressed herein. AA is a programof recovery from alcoholism only—use of the Twelve Steps in connection with programs andactivities that are patterned after AA but address other problems, or in any other non-AA context,does not imply otherwise. Additionally, while AA is a spiritual program, AA is not a religious program.Thus, AA is not affiliated or allied with any sect, denomination, or specific religious belief.The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websitesare not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do wevouch for their content for the life of this book.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or anyother—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.Interior design by Tracey WalkerPrinted in the United States of America05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 /?DCI/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Artist: Patrick ShinnAll artwork has been contributed by artists at Gateway Community Church.INTRODUCTION: GOD’S STORY IN OUR STORIESPeople ask me how long it took to write this book. The truth is—aboutfifteen years.I left the business world for campus ministry fifteen years agobecause I wanted to help my generation find authentic faith like I was beginningto experience. The first seven years of ministry to America’s first postmodern*generation were discouraging—I almost lost hope. Since then,God has turned my philosophy of church and ministry upside down. I nowbelieve that only a church full of imperfect people, acting as his Body, canbring the hope and healing needed to change our postmodern world for thebetter—one life at a time. That’s why I’ve written this book, because I seeGod powerfully at work in our generation.A year ago I attended a conference about ministry in a postmoderncontext. I found myself terribly discouraged and bothered—and tired ofmodern-church deconstruction! For the past six years, I’ve read numerousbooks, attended conferences, and surfed the blogs about the emergingtrends of new generations and their new ways of thinking.We have deconstructedeverything, identified all the problems with the current church,and proclaimed what we knew would not work.We’ve read statisticians likeBarna, Gallup, and Regele warn of the impending doom for our generationand the church in America.What disturbs me is the absence of a path forward. We don’t needmore deconstruction, more theories, and more statistics; rather, we needtangible evidence that God is still doing what God has always done in everygeneration, constructing his church out of the most hopeless situation. It’snot tearing-down time anymore—it’s construction time!At the conference that day, I ran into JackKuhatschek from Zondervan, whom I had metyears earlier. He listened as I shared stories of theamazing things we’ve seen God doing in a cynical,skeptical, broken generation. I explained the hopeI see for our generation in our church and in otherchurches around the country. Intrigued, Jack flewto Austin later that month and heard many powerfulstories from the people themselves. Jackencouraged me to share this with others whodesire to see God reaching our broken post-Christian,postmodern culture. No Perfect PeopleAllowed gives tangible evidence that God can anddoes reach our generation through his church.Austin is a window into the future because itattracts so many young adults. A Forbes surveycalled it America’s “coolest” city, ranking it thebest place for singles in America—singles whomove here from all over the country, seekingemployment in our high-tech, recreational, artsycapital city.The stories in this book represent the diversityof our generation across the nation. You’llread about people who grew up on the East Coastand the West and in between, from the wealthy tothe poor, from Anglo, Black, Hispanic, and Asianbackgrounds, singles and marrieds. This is trulythe most diverse generation in American history,and, as you’ll see, it’s a generation not easilyreached by a one-size-fits-all approach. But thepeople of this generation form the context inwhich the church must function, and they live allaround you right now.Though I’ve changed some names and details where necessary to protectthe privacy of my friends at Gateway, the stories in this book are about realpeople dear to my heart. (Those who requested I use their real names arenoted with a double dagger—††.) They have willingly shared their struggles,barriers, and brokenness 10 enness in hopes of helping others find God’s goodness.Some have not arrived at faith but have allowed me to present their stories inprocess. The hardest part was selecting a few stories to include, since thereare hundreds more to be told of God’s amazing works in reclaiming our generationas his family.I’ve written this book primarily for leaders—church leaders, smallgroup leaders, and ministry leaders—to help them create a come-as-youareculture to bridge the chasm between the church and our postmodernworld.Yet I believe No Perfect People Allowed gives a unique insight into thestruggle for faith that will benefit everyone—skeptics and believers alike.You will see in vivid detail how God meets seeking people in mysterious,unique ways, and you will see how no one is too far away or too far gone forGod’s loving reach.Whoever you are, I pray this book inspires in you a confidence that Godis still at work in our generation. I pray you are motivated to action so thatwe may see his-story continue to unfold through his church for generationsto come. My desire in writing is to tell God’s story about his work in onechurch for our generation. I’m amazed at God’s great work and what he’sshowing us. This is simply a gift we’ve received that we share, and so we passon what we received in the hope that others might receive the same gift fromGod.My prayer for this book is that God might use it to give his greatest giftto our generation—and the next and the next—through his church.

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Excerpted from No Perfect People Allowed: Creating a Come as You Are Culture in the Church by John Burke
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