More about the Church in a Prison
Three months ago, I published a post called “Starting a Church… in a Prison?” That post linked to a post written by Jim at “Crossroad Junction” called “Planting Churches.”
In that post, Jim talked about “planting” churches in prisons and helping the prisoners teach and disciple one another as they lived among the others in the prison population.
Last week, Jim added an update to the bottom of his post. Here is part of what he wrote:
I was unable to return to that housing unit until a month later. When I did, I was swamped by guys telling me how Jesus was doing amazing things among them as they met together. Their enthusiasm was contagious!
It’s now three months later, and that church is truly indigenous and going strong, just like I knew it would.
When we minister and plant churches the way Jesus taught us to do it, it works. Imagine that!
Use the link above to read the rest of Jim’s post and update. He even describes some of the results of this indigenous church among the prisoners.
This story reminds me about Paul in Thessalonica. Paul was also only able to spend a few weeks in that city, but later, when he wrote them a letter, he praised them for their hard work on behalf of the gospel.
Paul helped them as they began to follow Jesus. Then he trusted God to direct them through his Spirit. Of course, like Jim above, Paul returned (via a co-worker and his letters) to check on these believers and continue to help them in their new life with Christ.
I love these real-life practical examples. Thanks, Jim! (By the way, in his post, Jim also says that he’s been amazed at how God is working among the homeless in a similar way.)
The who, what, where, when, and why of the One Anothers
Jon at “Jon’s Journey” has started what appears to be a fascinating series looking at the who, what, where, when, and why (and perhaps how?) of the “one another” passages in Scripture. His first post in the series, “Five W’s of One Another,” begins by asking “What?” verses/exhortations we are talking about.
Jon combines all these exhortations in a list, and summarizes as follows:
So what are the instructions in these one another verses? Hospitality, humility, harmony, not slandering, encouraging, teaching, admonishing (giving advice), agreeing with, forgiving, submitting, singing together, kindness, compassion, bearing with, serving, accepting, and the repeated call to love one another.
I’ll be honest… I’ve read and written about these verses many, many times. The “what” part is extremely familiar. I’m really looking forward to the follow-up posts in which Jon discusses the other W’s: Who, where, when, why, and perhaps “how?” even though it’s not exactly a “w” question.
The more least or the less least?
My good friend Dan at “Some Church Stuff” writes thought-provoking articles. His latest is called “making the least the least.”
His point is that Jesus (and the authors of the New Testament) consistently exhorted people toward humility, considering others as more important, service for others, etc. But, among the church today, we tend to revere a different set of people – those at the top, not those at the bottom.
Here is Dan’s introduction:
In the modern church people celebrate the best and brightest. The pastor is a good speaker or a good organizer or a good people manager. The people leading the music are the best singers and musicians that group has to offer (which sometimes isn’t much, but that is not the point). The guys who stand before the congregation to read that week’s bible passage are the best orators, the James Earl Jones of the group so to speak. Everyone puts on their best clothes and their best attitude and everyone comes together and celebrates the best.
It has always seemed to me that Jesus taught that the best way to lead is to serve others. On the other hand, it seems the church today has bought into the reverse notion: the best way to serve is to lead others. This results in the wrong kind of leadership and following the wrong kinds of examples.
It is amazing what happens and what God does when the quietest voices are given the opportunity to speak, and when they are actually heard. It is amazing how God moves when the weakest or the least trained are allowed to serve. It’s almost as if God is demonstrated in their weaknesses and their lack of ability.
But, then, I think I’ve heard something like that before…
Radiating ripples of “private sin”
One of my favorite bloggers of all time is Brant Hansen. I’ve followed him through at least two different blogs. His series “If Jesus had a blog” is perfect combination of sarcasm and creativity, mixed with some genuine discipleship.
But, his latest post – which is not sarcastic at all – is one of my all time favorites from this all time favorite blogger. The post is called “The Myth of Private Sin.”
The point of Brant’s post is that sins that we may consider to be “private” actually affect the people around us. Some of those effects are obvious; some are not obvious. But the effects are there nonetheless.
Here are a few excerpts:
The older I get, the more convinced I am there is no private sin. They don’t all wind up on page two, but the surface of the pond is never undisturbed by the pebble. The ripples move well beyond ourselves, and, in many cases they radiate through generations…
But even if they didn’t know [about your ‘private sins’], the sins in your head aren’t private. Mine affect my attitude. They keep me from being concerned about other people. They make me a jerk, in seemingly unrelated ways. (“Why’s Brant a jerk?” “Probably something seemingly unrelated.”)
I would just add one more thought to this excellent post – and, please, take a few minutes to read his post.
There is another reason that “private sin” is not really private. If I am sinning, then I am disobeying God. If I am disobeying God, then I am not obeying God. This affects myself, and it also affects my brothers and sisters in Christ around me.
No, “private sin” is not private.
Preaching and Teaching in the New Testament was interactive… but do we care?
Jon at “Jon’s Journey” linked to two interesting posts that considered the methods of preaching and teaching in the Gospels and in Acts – that is, when Jesus was preaching or teaching and when his followers were preaching and teaching. Jon summarized the findings in his post “Interactive Teaching in the New Testament.”
Jon (and the original author of the posts) separate preaching and teaching examples from the New Testament into several nonexclusive categories:
- Unclear as to interaction
- Non-interactive
- Initiated by others
- Dialogue
- Includes action events
Interestingly, the original author began this study by searching for scriptural defenses and methods of preaching. His conclusions were not what he expected.
In fact, he found that most preaching/teaching examples in the New Testament included some type of interaction.
I suspect (although I haven’t done a formal study) that if the examples of preaching/teaching unbelievers and believers were separated, those involving only believers (i.e., the church) would include an even greater percentage of interaction.
But, I wonder… even given this evidence from the New Testament and even given the studies that show most people do not learn or grow through monologue preaching… will people even care? Is the modern method of monologue preaching and teaching in the church so ingrained that it cannot be changed?
It can be changed. I know from example and experience. But the question remains: Will people care?
What pastoring is NOT
Continuing my (unintentional) series on pastoring, I want to link to a new blog site (for me). I noticed this site because of a link to my post “The dangers of ‘pastoring’ hundreds or thousands.”
The post I’m referring to was written by Reuben at “Phoenix Preacher” and is called “Christ is the Head of the Church. Period.”
While Reuben’s post focuses on one particular (celebrity) church leader, I would like to point out a more general section where he discusses what pastoring is NOT:
This needs to be clarified by maybe discussing what a pastor is not. A pastor does not lock himself in an office and study for 50 hours a week while “elders and deacons” or simple pew pigeons are out doing the ministry. That is what you call a paid theologian. Case closed. A pastor does not spend his days in the back of a coffee house running up the church credit card while blogging and facebooking all week. A pastor does not take off on 6 month book tours, speaking at every church in the country but his own. These are bloggers, or professional speakers, but not pastors. A pastor does not cut out the kind of crowd he wants swamping the church every Sunday, building prejudice, stereotypes, mockeries, and foul theology to cut people from the herd because of their clothes, weight, or choice of TV shows.
I think there are many activities and examples that could be added to this list, but it’s definitely a good start.
Pastoring is about caring for people – actively caring for and helping people.
(Note: I removed the quotes for “Dan”… who is apparently allergic to them.)
Jesus Says… the April Fools Edition
For those of you who have followed this blog for a while (at least a week), you know that I love sarcasm. So, as you can imagine, April Fools Day is a high holy day for me – just a little sarcasm to kick things off.
Anyway, I love the jokes and the hoaxes and the fake Google announcements. Plus, April Fools Day is only two days after my birthday, so that makes it extra special.
This year, I saw several videos and articles and posts that made me chuckle. But, I really enjoyed a post by Jon at “Jon’s Journey” called “Fools Day Quotes From Jesus.” Here are few of Jon’s “Jesus quotes”:
“You should come visit my church this Sunday.”
“My church has the best worship band.”
“You should give 10% to your church.”
“You should serve in your church programs.”
“Make sure you pick a church that belongs to an evangelical denomination.”
Use the link above to jump over to Jon’s post and read the rest of the “quotes.”
Great job, Jon! But, next time, don’t give it away in the title. I think many people would love to think that Jesus said stuff like that…
So, what else did Jesus NOT say?
When an enemy becomes a friend…
Yesterday, I linked to a post written by my friend Stephanie at “Dead and Domestic.” She wrote that post about her husband Dan. Today, she’s published another post that’s worth reading called “Friend or Enemy?”
In this new post, Stephanie writes about someone who she once considered an enemy, but who grew to be a friend. I was very encouraged and challenged by Stephanie’s words. Even though this person originally challenged her and frustrated her and angered her, she stuck with him and recognized that he genuinely cared about her.
But, she didn’t start out thinking that way. Stephanie writes:
When I was first introduced to him ( via the internet ), I was less than impressed. I’m pretty sure we got into it a few times. His views on the church and Christianity were drastically different than mine. They made me uncomfortable. They made me angry. I thought him arrogant and pretentious. How dare he challenge me on everything I knew to be true? After our discussions ( which were more like arguments ) and reading his blog, I felt hurt and confused. He was confusing other believers. He was hurting other people, I was sure, just as he was hurting me. He was creating holes inside of me. Gaps in my logic. I was so angry.
Now, you may know the person that Stephanie is writing about. But, I’m not linking to her because of that.
Instead, I want you to think about these questions: How do you respond when someone’s views challenges your long-held beliefs? Is it possible that person is a friend instead of an enemy? How would you tell the difference?
When people share from their heart, do we listen?
My Google Reader is filled with “starred” posts again. I “star” a post when I want to go back to it later, to read it again, to think about what the author is saying, to comment, or perhaps all of the above.
I’ve noticed that in many of these “starred” posts – the posts that caught my attention – the author is sharing from the depths of his or her heart, sharing the pain and struggle of life, sharing the fears and rejection and disappointments and tears. And, these posts have caused me to wonder about myself: What do I do when someone shares these kinds of things with me? Do I listen… really listen? Or do I immediately try to “fix” the problem?
I’m going to share some of these posts with you for one reason… that we can all learn to listen to one another better:
- “I’m a little legalist” by James at “Seeking a Kingdom“
- “Wondering whether I’ll ever really follow Jesus” by Joshua at “Called to Rebuild“
- “Hard to Live by Grace” by Mark at “Called Out in Kansas“
- “comfortably numb” by Dan at “Some Church Stuff“
- “My husband is an asshole” by Stephanie at “Dead and Domestic“
I invite you to read, listen, and learn along with me.
Do we have to care about how people feel or react?
If you’ve read this blog for only a short time, you’ve probably surmised that I enjoy questions that do not have easy answers. For one thing, I’m not opposed to answering, “I don’t know.” For another thing, I’m not opposed to answering, “Maybe” or “Sometimes.”
These kinds of questions remind me that I am not dependent on my own answers or understanding, but instead I must remain completely dependent on God working through me and others through his Holy Spirit. (This kinda goes along with my post “Sometimes I can’t stand that guy Jesus.”)
I think that Miguel from “God Directed Deviations” has asked one of those difficult questions in his post “Do I have to care about how you feel?”
For example, just consider the opening barrage of questions:
Do I have to care about how others feel? If I am speaking the truth in love, although some may get upset or offended, if I am correcting a point of error in someone’s doctrine, even though they might not like it, if I am calling someone to repent with raised voice and strained facial muscles, even though it might be perceived as “angry,” am I supposed to take into consideration how someone feels about those things? On the one hand, if I do care about how others feel, doesn’t that make me a slave to every whimsical passion that others may have and cause me to be ever adjusting and never satisfying? On the other hand, if I don’t care about how people feel, doesn’t that make me a sociopath?
Like I said, no easy answers. If we observe how Jesus responded to people in the Gospels, at times we see him approaching people in a way that seems overly gentle, and at other times we see him approaching them in a way that seems overly harsh.
So, how do you decide how to approach people?