by Jim Henderson

Where is Off The Map headed? For those of you who follow Off The Map I thought it might be interesting to provide a feel for what we think the road ahead might hold for us. It has been an exciting first five years we anticipate even more from the God who likes us.

We Exist!

Somewhere along the line Off The Map turned 5 – Yea for us!!

Seeing several failed projects in my rear view mirror from taking the “I can change the world in a year” approach, I determined, when starting Off The Map, to keep a softer, more moderate foot on the gas pedal.

Coming into your fifties has some huge upsides, not the least of which is that you have now collected hard evidence of life patterns (good and bad) and hopefully significant amounts of denial and minimization have been squeezed out of you by the steamroller called Life. Consequently I decided to try the five year experiment with Off The Map.

Where We’ve Been – Doable Evangelism – our back door into the church

I’m convinced that my interest in evangelism is not born so much out of a desire to see more people get into heaven (although I do want that) as it is about irritating people.

I’m a provocateur. I get energy seeing people struggle with new ideas and old biases. I like to help them move past reactivity and into creativity. I like to help them escape those nasty cul de sacs and get out on the freeway. I like to help them think, pray and imagine new possibilities to old problems.

Most of us know that non Christians have a bad taste in their mouth about our traditional attempts to convert them but less well known is the distaste Christians have for the evangelism. It turns out that this is one issue Christians and non Christians have more agreement around than disagreement.

Off The Map decided to take on this issue with one caveat. We didn’t want to offer a “cooler version of an old approach”. We wanted to reinvent the whole enchilada. We knew that the one word ordinary Christians associate with evangelism was not-doable (I know it’s not a word but you get the idea). So, being provocateurs we decided to call our approach Doable Evangelism (an oxymoron to be sure).

We started by building a picture frame using the available materials of ordinary people’s lives (time, money, energy and fear) and paint our picture of doable evangelism within those borders. We had to leave a lot of things out. We had to decide what was essential and what was peripheral. We didn’t leave much space for long explainers or cool technical flourishes. We also purposely left “blank spaces” where an ordinary Christian could add their own touch. And it had to be as user friendly as a “paint by numbers” painting. We called our little invention Ordinary Attempts.

We are going to continue to move forward with Doable Evangelism. We have created a one day seminar for those who want to learn more about how Doable Evangelism can be utilized in their churches.

Where We’re Going – Doable Spirituality – our back door into the culture

Boomers thought that getting to the moon was a pretty cool idea until they got a close look. There’s a reason no one has rushed back over the past 35 years. It looks nice from a distance but there really isn’t much to write home about once you’ve taken a couple of spins on the rover. It turns out that the moon is actually more launch-pad than landing zone. Now that NASA has a more comprehensive view (getting to Mars) they understand the role the Moon can play in helping them get to their next destination. In other words, landing on the Moon was never really and end in itself, President Kennedy’s bold leadership appeal notwithstanding. Landing on the Moon has value when it is understood as a step toward something larger, something more profound – something like exploring the universe.

Please – No More Religion
One thing we know for sure- the world doesn’t need another religion!

Walk around the spiritual life bazaar and you will find 3 basic choices packaged using different names, containing the same ingredients and usually promising the same outcomes- hipness, happiness or heaven

   1. Beliefs – right thinking gets you in
   2. Religion – right behavior gets you in
   3. Spirituality – right feeling gets you in

The Spirituality of Me
Maybe it’s just me but it seems that there is increase in vitriol, mean spiritedness and just plain selfishness associated with religion and spirituality on almost all fronts. Christians want a theocracy, New Agers want to feel mellow and Muslims want the advantages of the West without experiencing the sins of the West. They all have a plan for how to escape being left behind and each of them claims that they are right and everyone else is wrong.

Religion is about me getting to heaven, Beliefism is about me being right and Spirituality (the religion formerly known as the last bastion of pure motives) is about me getting comfortable without accountability. Escapism, beliefism, religiosity and the self fulfillment groups consistently over promise and under-deliver, Christianity included!

Why I Don’t Want to be called a Christian (sometimes)
Many of us find ourselves defending a religion we don’t identify with. We feel trapped in a historical convergence. The only thing we know for sure is that we believe in Jesus, his story and we want others to experience him as well. We feel no need to defend the “historical claims of Christianity” but we do feel passionate about trying to live a life that attempts to imitate the values and practices of the founder of our movement. We want his story to be told through us.

We believe God is inviting us to explore and explain doable kinds of spirituality – practices not philosophies and to engage the larger culture in that exploration and involvement.

The Fear of Being Overly Human(e)
There appears to be a deep seeded fear among today’s religious service providers of appearing overly human (or humane). This has led to spiritual offerings that have little to do with people’s ordinary lives and the issues that impact them day to day. Escapism is the big seller whether it’s called the rapture, prosperity, feeling good, or certainty. This is true irregardless of your belief system of choice. What’s missing is something called doable. What’s missing is something called otherly.

Doable Means…
Doable means an ordinary person can put your idea into practice without a lot of effort. It is different than a thought, feeling, reflection or even a prayer. It is an intentional act of love, an attempt to serve. The size of the act is irrelevant – the motive is what counts. The founder of our movement illustrated this in his stories about the woman who gave a penny giving more than those who gave hundreds of dollars and the cup of cold water given to a child not going unrewarded.

Otherly Means…Otherly means our spirituality is directed toward others. It is not about me, mine or ours instead it’s about them and theirs. Again the size or scope of the act is not the issue the intention of the heart is the issue. Jesus loved the whole world but he spent much of his time talking with individuals. Jesus spent a lot of time connecting with, redirecting and introducing people to a God who likes them. At Off The Map we like to say – Jesus walked on water once – the rest of the time he took a boat. We think there is much of value to discover in the lives of ordinary people.

We think there’s a place in our cultures spiritual quest for Doable Spirituality be it ordinary acts of kindness like paying attention to others or churches remaking themselves as community development centers to Tsunami relief efforts, Doable Spirituality helps us learn how to become the spiritual concierge in our communities. Doable Spirituality gives all of us a way to go into our world with good news.

We want to bring new offerings of doable spirituality to the marketplace that will help Christians and Non Christians make their (little) worlds a better place.

We intend to create a new category of spirituality for non religious spiritual seekers (nrss)–spiritual practices that are about serving others more than a religion of me for me and about me. Think “Habitat for Humanity” for the soul.

Blogs and More
Beginning next month we will launch the Doable Spirituality Blog edited by Lisa Wellington. This blog will gather the stories of practitioners of Doable Spirituality. Be sure and log in when you see it. We will also be presenting a variety of events this year that will explore Doable Spirituality like “What Ever Happened to the Holy Spirit” with David Ruis, smaller conferences and then our annual Doable Spirituality conference in Seattle later this year – don’t miss that gathering of the tribes.