Rhythms – Practicing the Ways & Values of God’s Kingdom

Mission Trip Syndrome

If you were a youth group kid like me I am sure you are very familiar with “mission trips.” Growing up my high school youth group had a few mission trips that we went on every year and I can remember them like they were yesterday. I think I remember them so vividly because they were these monumental spiritual experiences for me. I have plenty of funny memories like being chased by llamas in Ecuador -you wouldn't think it, but a herd (pack? ... flock?) of llamas is pretty scary if they are charging you down a mountainside. But what I remember most was how impacted many of us were. It seemed like every time God touched peoples' lives on those trips. Without fail kids would come home on a “spiritual high." Unfortunately, in a similar pattern we cynically began to believe that it rarely lasted. People would be convicted or encounter God in a profound way and we would all confidently declare that things would be different – that we were finally going to take this Christian thing seriously. It had to be because of what we had experienced together. Some people had lasting change – but many of us slowly moved back to life as usual, like nothing happened except we went on a really fun trip with some good memories. I have since become less cynical and I sincerely believe people had real experiences on my high school trips. Real enough experiences where macho football guys were crying while sharing around a campfire (in front of girls no less).

 I think these experiences pose a big question in youth ministry or really any short term trip. It makes us wonder what’s up with these “spiritual highs” and why do they often wear off for so many of us?

Well, let’s just think for a minute what is actually happening on these trips. You gather a bunch of kids (or adults), take them out of the distractions of everyday life and have them spend a ton of time together. They are sharing meals, stories and experiences. They are consistently worshiping together, praying together. They are spending personal time with God and journaling. And all of this is usually in the context of serving others. People get to experience a week of practicing rhythms of God’s kingdom with others. On a mission trip our context is drastically different than everyday life and it can have a profound impact on us. 

          I think it is because, as Christians, these are some of the rhythms of a redeemed life, rhythms of new creation.  So when we live that out, especially in community, we feel alive – we feel connected with God and with other believers. Kingdom and Mission are never meant to be an isolated event; these concepts were not meant to be designated for a couple weeks during a trip. God’s Kingdom Mission is meant to be lived out as everyday rhythms of the Church. God wants to use us in everyday life, in everyday moments and relationships. We must escape the paradigm that we participate in episodes of Christianity and instead train ourselves to live by the everyday rhythms of God’s Kingdom. Unfortunately, many of us boil our faith down to a series of religious events or episodes and we do not know how to follow God in the simple, the mundane the everyday parts of life.

Moving from an episodic faith to a rhythmic faith

If you have made it this far you probably noticed that I used the word “rhythm." alot. So what do I mean by this word rhythm?

In a book called Missional Small Groups by Scott Boren he describes cultural habits and norms with the term “rhythm." He believes that we all live according to life rhythms – some are good and some fail to offer much that is worth listening to. Most of us don't really pay much attention to the rhythms that are shaping our life – they are either so ingrained in our lives or our culture that they are sometimes difficult to recognize. Each culture has its own set of rhythms that they knowingly or unknowingly march to the beat of.  It could include rhythms of working, eating, playing, learning, gathering and creating. In short, they are the practices, habits, disciplines and routines that we regularly do in our day to day lives.

For many folks in America our rhythms revolve around individualistic pursuits – so our rhythms might be established for the pursuit of things like success, wealth, value, identity and consuming the next thing. Our cultural rhythms for the most part revolve around the idea that the world and everything in it exists to aid me in pursuing my goals, dreams and success. Whether we want to admit it or not our framework for our everyday stuff generally revolves around pursuing what might make us feel happy and fulfilled.

Some rhythms are harmful, some are neutral and some are beneficial but as Christians any of our rhythms can have Gospel life breathed into it.

The folks at Soma Communities in Tacoma, WA say it like this, “Rhythms don’t seek to add more to our schedule but instead we want to bring Gospel intentionality to the things we are already doing.”

What that means is that Kingdom rhythms aren’t a new “to-do list” but instead, it is a new framework that begs the question, “What would the everyday rhythms of my life look like if the gospel of God’s redemptive Kingdom permeated every facet of my life?”

I think if the church wants to be effective in our changing culture it has to recognize the rhythms of the Gospel – the rhythms of God’s kingdom so that it can effectively “march to the beat of a different drum." When we start living by the rhythms of God’s Kingdom we function as instruments that play God’s kingdom song for the world hear. And a church playing that song together puts on display a different kingdom - One ruled by a good King who is making all things new. 

Rhythms can help bridge the gap between our beliefs and values with how we actually live.

      So if you go to church it probably has a mission and set of values, whether you know or not. It might be written on pamphlets, business cards, on the website or something else saying something like "this is who we are, this is what we are here for, and these are the things that we value as a community." Nearly every church has “values” and if you go to a church you will most likely read them or hear them in a service and you will probably nod along in agreement. We like to agree on beliefs, purpose and values and it is good to come into agreement on those things; they're important. But one thing that I have noticed is that it is hard for people to know what to do with values beside agreeing with them. There can often be a disconnect in how our values affect our everyday life. How do values go from floating on a church website to moving into the heart and actions of a believer? That is what rhythms are – they are our values with some flesh on them. They are the ways in which we can tangibly walk out the things we believe and value in the reality and messiness of life. When we begin to practice the rhythms of God’s Kingdom then espoused values become actual values because we are actively integrating them into life through intentional practices. So if you value community, what are the communal rhythms you can practice in life? How about things such as sharing meals, inviting, celebrating with, encouraging, creating and playing with others. If you value justice, think of ways to incorporate rhythms of justice into your life. Rhythms are the ways that we intentionally put some flesh on our values, beliefs and convictions. That is the whole idea of incarnational living. The church seeks puts flesh on the teachings, the values and truth of Christ and His Kingdom (albeit imperfectly) so that God can be known in word and deed. And the best way I have come to understand that is by practicing rhythms of Jesus and His Kingdom. 

Examples of Kingdom Rhythms

So the concept of rhythms may sound a little strange to you still so let me try and explain through a couple of examples. 

Rehearsing the Gospel – We are a forgetful species. We give the goldfish a bum rap, but we have the ability to forget something as life-changing and beautiful as the Gospel and how it applies to our life. Somehow we are able comprehend the incredible truth claims of scripture, believe them and then live as if we had never heard them in the first place. I don't get it, I don't like it, but I recognize it in my own life. We have to be people who regularly preach the Gospel to ourselves and to each other. We need to be consistently shaped by the beautiful good news that we are no longer enemies of God but Sons and Daughters who get to approach His throne with confidence addressing Him as father – all through the humble, loving and gracious sacrifice of our King Jesus. I mean, how does this stuff not rock our world every single day? But if you are anything like me, then you need the constant reminder. I have found that if I don't intentionally remind myself, then I can let the stress, the pain, the difficulty of my life close in and choke out the peace, security and purpose that comes from knowing God views me as beloved. What does this look like as a rhythm? It can look like a lot of things – maybe you start every new day with a verse that captures the truth of who you are in the Gospel. Maybe you journal about the different ways the Gospel affects aspects of your life (identity, purpose, finances, relationships, career, etc.) Maybe it is through a worship song that articulates the Gospel to your soul. Whatever it is, a crucial rhythm of every Christian needs to be saturating our hearts, minds and our whole being with Gospel truth.

Eating – Somewhere along the line eating has become less communal and more… um primal. Unfortunately it wouldn't be too uncommon for you to see me shoving a burrito in my face while driving because I'm having a “busy day.” Maybe you can relate because for a lot of us a meal has been reduced to the lowest denominator - which is just to get some calories into our bodies. While this is certainly a good reason to eat – I think with some intentionality it can be so much more. Meal time in Jesus’ day was almost a sacred time. In fact, in some Jewish writings the table was affectionately called “little temple” because this was a place people gathered. It was a time to slow down, spend time with others, learn about each other’s live and celebrate God’s faithfulness. Using the most human, primal rhythm of eating (not sure if you knew this but we all need to do it – or we die) we can actually share life with others, learn the stories of co-workers on a lunch break, build relationships with people who are different than us or don’t know Jesus and strengthen relationships with friends and family. 

So, are you able to identify the rhythms of your life? How can you infuse even the most mundane rhythms of your life with Gospel/Kingdom intentionality? How might you shift eating into an invitational and communal rhythm? How can you infuse your work with Kingdom purpose? How can you use the current rhythms of your family to help disciple your kids? Jesus calls us to a life of following him, not episodes of religion - I pray for myself and anyone that may read this that we learn to follow Jesus it the simplicity and chaos of everyday life.