A2 Session Seven: John Burke

Topic: Create a "Come as you are," Culture in Your Church John Burke is the pastor of Gateway Community Church in Austin, TX. He wrote a great book, that has really influenced my thinking called No Perfect People Allowed. When he started out, he though postmodern ministry was all about wrestling with truth, but he found out that the brokenness of people's lives really became the key issue. The culture is the most important thing about our church, but it's the hardest to get a handle on because it's so invisible in a sense. Creating a "come as you are" culture in a postmodern world...

1. Create a culture of grace-giving acceptance (ask questions, listen, show mercy) "I can almost guarantee in our hyper-sexed culture, that there will be sexual problems in the lives of the people in your church." "People naturally feel judged -- what they don't naturally get is Romans 8:1." He doesn't mean that you don't deal with sin...but you start with grace first. (See the masterpiece, not the mud.)
2. Create a culture of dialogue -- allow space for people to doubt...creating places for dialogue allows the Spirit to move and work within a person...."How long will the people in your church allow other people to doubt and question before they try to start forcing change?"
3. Create a culture of authenticity -- when we play the game that says that we have everything together, we stay stuck