OUT

Paul Vieira in his book Jesus Has Left The Building has 7 chapters (out of 17) with a common word in each title, OUT. These chapters identify what he believes to be 7 characteristics of the early body of Jesus' followers. Here are the titles with a few of my own summaries and/or comments.

Inside OUT: They Were Amphibious
I mentioned this a few posts ago where I called Christians frogs. People that are called to live amphibiously in two communities-the culture at large and the spiritual family of the body of Christ.

OUT Of Order: They Were Chaotic
They lacked heavy human structure and control and were thus guided by the mysterious and often seemingly messy ways (at least to human eyes) of the Holy Spirit.

Hung Out: They Knew Their Teacher
Learning and spiritual nourishment came from discipleship (i.e. living life with their great mentor-Jesus), not passively listening to the lectures of some great religious guru.

OUTlook: They Were Ruined For This World
The world and its ways lost its appeal to them in light of following Jesus, and it earned them the titles of either holy or crazy.

Down and OUT: Prayer Gave Them Their Mission
Prayer, coupled with the belief that God actually speaks to His followers, is where they got their marching orders. Boardrooms full of human strategies probably weren't nearly as relied upon as they are today.

OUTcry: They Remembered The Poor
A strong trust in God's care lead them to not fear poverty and thus share their blessings with those in need, thus taking Jesus personal mission to the poor seriously.

OUTspoken: They Had A Voice To The Culture
Rather than living exclusively in the bubble of their own sub-culture, they infiltrated the popular culture and thus earned a voice to be able to speak into people's hearts and lives.

If you go to Paul's Website, you can download free audio readings up through chapter 10 of his book at this point.