"This is beyond revival. This will take a revolution."

"This is beyond revival.  This will take a revolution."

These were the closing words of one of the pastors in Trinidad, at the end of the workshop this past Saturday.  After two very good days together, with intense and deep discussions, he made this declaration with a bit of sadness, yet also an undercurrent of hope.  The pastors and leaders in attendance caught the vision for a paradigm shift of seeing the potential of equipping the 99%, of redefining the church as the people rather than the building, of seeking to fulfill the Great Commandment and Great Commission through fulfilling the Great Commitment.  They were excited, animated, and hopeful.

At the same time, they recognized the challenge of change.  We all know that change is not easy and that it is often slow-going.  And that is what the pastor was acknowledging.  We coach pastors and denominational leaders on four key challenges that a church may go through in accepting a workplace ministry:

1. The challenge of people recognizing that this is what it means to be a Christian.  It is difficult to accept that worship is for all parts of life, including work.  It is difficult to accept that every person is in the fulltime ministry of giving glory to God, while our specific placement is different.  
2. The challenge of the inward pull of the gathered church - this is very strong and difficult to change.  We have been focused on the building and it's programs for so long.  To understand the importance of the scattered church will take time.
3. The challenge to the role of leaders - We do away with terms like "clergy" and "laity", recognizing that there is no holiness hierarchy; that there is simply the "people of God" and the "priesthood of all believers."  We want to work toward being a nation OF priests, rather than a nation WITH priests.  This challenge cuts both ways and can be difficult to accept by the church leaders and the members.
4. The challenge of sustaining change.  When change starts to happen, it can be difficult to sustain it, until there is a natural and self-sustaining response to whole-life discipleship.  The process can be long and complex.  There may be spiritual resistance at the beginning but without intentionality, there may also be a drift back to what is traditional and familiar.

While this can feel like a bit of a downer, it's a piece of reality that we believe is important to impart to church leaders.  But we also give them some simple ways to start:

1. You don't need to begin a series on work.  You just need to recognize that many of your listeners do work.
2. You don't need to present a whole new vision to the church that will take years to be adopted.  You simply have to ask your members what God is doing in their workplace, and how they can join Him in that work.  
3. Continue pastoral visits, but add in questions about their workplace, and how the church can better equip them to be a disciple in those places.  Take a position of a learner about workplace challenges.
4. You don't have to spend a lot of time explaining to people what has changed in your perspective.  You could just invite people to come to a workshop to explore what would help them live more fruitfully for Christ.  
5. You can start now.  

How did DML arrive in Trinidad?  We are working with an organization called Network for Christians in Business (NCB) led by Ladi Franklin.  NCB is an affiliate of Partners Worldwide, and I met Ladi many years ago when I worked for them.  We have connected on and off throughout the years, but in March of this year, she felt God very strongly telling her to work through the church.  She started asking questions about how that could be done and was directed to DML.  It was a joy to reconnect with her, in a much deeper way than before.  In the group picture, she is sitting to the left of me.

On Sunday, Ladi and her husband Vincent took me on a beautiful tour around the island.  So much beauty and an amazing history.  As is the case with most places, it is a history full of challenge and joy.  

One of the most amazing parts of the day was a small boat tour through canals that lead to the ocean, featuring so many mangrove trees (which are truly amazing), as well as many birds.  The most amazing bird is the national bird, the scarlet ibis.  We were there in the early evening when they all come to one island for the night, shared with other birds.  The flamingoes were there first, then the egrets and herons...and all of them move to the interior of the island as the scarlet ibis arrive...in the dozens and then hundreds.  Here are a few pictures, although as always, you can't truly capture the experience in pictures!

Trinidad with a view toward Tobago

Vincent and Ladi Franklin, a dear brother and sister in the Lord!

The ridge of mountains in the distance is Venezuela!  Just 6.8 miles away!

Mangrove trees - such cool trees!  The roots grow down from the branches, acting like breathing tubes!

Flamingoes are the first to come to the island every evening...

...followed by egrets (in white), herons, and then the red dots are the scarlet ibis.

The beautiful scarlet ibis...the national bird of Trinidad.  So striking against the blue and green!