revisiting Lupton

I spent a little time tonight looking through my notes from when Bob Lupton was with us last month. Just a few more random notes and quotes from Bob:

"New wine has to go in new wine skins. We have to be bold enough to create new structures for this harvest season."

"The Kingdom of God is multi-lingual, multi-racial, and multi-ethnic. I suspect then, that we should worship together, work together, live together."

"What's wrong with this picture? We have a sense that something's not right...."
- programs don't fix it.
- service does not equal empowerment.
- doing church does not equal empowerment.
- proximity does not equal community.

"Servanthood is not what we want. Partnership is what we want."
"The Gospel of community is key."

"There needs to be someone who is tending and intentional and identifying the gifts of each person in the village. A community chaplain who is building community, promoting love of God and neighbor, someone who is helping to make visible the invisible kingdom (Colossians 1:15)"

During lunch, Bob was telling our table how he met with some experts to ask them how to retard the inevitable institutionalization of a program or structure because they ultimately become about self-preservation. The experts told him three things:
1. Don't hire staff. They become dependent on their paychecks.
2. Don't acquire property.
3. Let go and give away as much and as often as you can...(properties, titles, positions, etc..)