Zack Exley

Revolution in Kansas City 10 October, 2007

I’ve been arguing on this blog that a real revolution is happening inside of Christianity—one that the left needs to learn about, learn from and collaborate with. As you might guess, I’m running up against some healthy skepticism. So you can imagine my excitement when, in Kansas City the other day, Elizabeth and I happened upon a big old church with this sign hanging across it:

Please check out the church’s incredible website and MySpace page.

We arrived at the service early and found in the parking lot a memorial exhibition to Missouri, Kansas andIraqi war casualties that is making the rounds of local churches.

Inside the sanctuary, an eclectic group was gathering for the service: young, old, Asian, black, white, Latino, tattooed, pierced and clean cut. There were a ton of little kids running around. (And we noticed at least three pregnant women—watch out, this church is growing!)

We had read on the Church’s website that it is has a “Neighbor to Neighbor” ministry that feeds about 150 people every day. The mission also provides other services such as on-site health care, seasonal clothing, hygiene supplies, showers, voicemail, job placement, addiction referrals, and more. It looked like a good handful of the people attending had come in through Neighbor to Neighbor.

On a screen above the alter, a projected slide read:

The mission of Revolution is to create a Christlike culture in which ordinary people are empowered to do extraordinary things by rethinking societal norms, removing the dividing barriers and reshaping the future of the world.

Two young pastors (maybe in their 20′s?) did the preaching. The sermon was on Luke 14, in which Jesus attends a banquet with a bunch of rich people and annoyed them:

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:12-14)

The preacher explained that (just like today) big dinners were a common form of socializing in Jesus’ time and that (just like today) there were all kinds of social norms and expectations about who you invited to your banquet (i.e. you invited people who were just like you!).

I’m paraphrasing, but the preacher said something like,

Jesus was basically offering a toast at the banquet. He was sitting there among his wealthy hosts and their guests. And his toast was essentially, “What you’ve done here—the people you’ve invited and the way you’ve gone about this whole banquet—it’s all wrong!”

At that particular point in his short ministry, Jesus had been getting a lot of attention and stirring things up. So maybe these rich folks had invited him over as sort of an up-and-coming celebrity. And what does Jesus do? Shows up and insults them. Maybe they were the liberal do-gooder rich folks of their day. And Jesus tells them they need to stop hanging out with each other and start hanging out with the poor.

I’ve actually been to a couple dinners just like that (with rich do-gooders and an up-and-coming political celebrity or two). At neither one did the up-and-comer insult his or her gracious hosts, but I’m cringing just thinking about how awkward and uncomfortable it would have been if s/he had.

The preacher then asked us to take a few moments to talk with the person sitting next to us about what table in our lives we most valued gathering at. I talked to a man behind me who had found the church by coming to itsbanquet table, its “Neighbor to Neighbor” ministry.

The gathering in this church was Jesus’ banquet table made real. I’ve now been to a lot of churches that “preach revolution,” but this is the first where middle class folks were standing shoulder to shoulder with homeless people. And in a way that few Methodist services are, this one was punctuated by lots of loud and soft Amens and Hallelujahs—there was something about the mix of people, and the struggles that they were living out right there through that church, that gave the service a whole different spirit than the typical suburban church service. After the service, Elizabeth and I talked at length to the man behind me about some of the things he’s been through recently, and how the church had helped him not only get back on his feet, but also to find meaning and belonging.

After the service we also got the story about how “Revolution” had come to this 100 year-old Methodist church. Two years ago, two young pastors were placed at the church by the Methodist Central Command (I’m making that up, I don’t know what they call it). The church was down to a couple dozen, mostly elderly members in a church with room for hundreds. In other words, the church was dying.

The young pastors, a married couple, got the go-ahead from the elders to try something new. They refocused the church on missional work and started doing church in some new ways that were more welcoming to outsiders and young people.

Now the pews are nearly full—though a some people were missing this weekend due to a Chiefs game.

At the Catalyst conference, several speakers talked about how the traditional denominations are dying. All the growth in North American Christianity is coming from non-denominational evangelical churches. There were some incredible statistics. I thought the Baptists were doing OK, but apparently they’re loosing members rapidly too.

The church groups huddling in the parking lot after the Catalyst conference were psyching themselves to go back home and make changes just like the Revolution pastors have. (One thing that indicates how large this movement is: the Revolution pastors I spoke to hadn’t even heard of the Catalyst conference.)

The young leaders at Revolution have the answer for the denominations. Hopefully, the Methodists are watching and learning from their church in Kansas City.