Be interested in people
I love this quote that Bryan at “aGCB” included in his post “Take Courage & Love People“:
Be encouraged that simply finding people interesting and caring about them is a beautiful pathway into their heart. Evangelism gets a bad reputation when we are not really interested in people and don’t seem to care about them. People really are interesting. Every person you talk to is an amazing creation of God with a thousand interesting experiences…. Very few people are interested in others. If you really find their story interesting, and care about them, they may open up to you and want to hear your story—Christ’s story. (John Piper, Finally Alive, 185)
People are interesting. Be interested in who they are as God’s creation. Who knows… they may even become interested in you when they notice the difference that Jesus Christ makes in your life… assuming he is making a difference.
The Blacks met with us this morning
This morning, Dave and BeckyLynn Black met with our church. They told us about their work in Ethiopia and invited us to partner with them. Specifically, they talked about their work in Burji, Gondor, and Alaba. They would like for us to pray about continuing to help the churches in the Alaba area of Ethiopia.
During the meeting, BeckyLynn showed us some slides and videos of their previous work in Ethiopia. In order for us to view the presentation, we had to set our chairs up in rows. After only a few months of setting the chairs in circles, arranging the chairs in rows seems very strange. But, it was necessary this morning.
After the meeting, Dave and BeckyLynn invited anyone who was interested in going to Ethiopia next July to meet with them for a few minutes. Twelve of us met with them, but they said they only had room for four people to go. So, over the next few months, we’ll be praying about which four to send. We hope this will be a deepening of our relationship with the churches in the Alaba area of Ethiopia.
This is what Dave said about our meeting on his blog (today at 4:38 p.m. – you can see a few pictures there as well):
Rumor has it that the bigger the church, the better. That noses and nickels matter most. It’s a rumor, folks. You’ll be delighted to know that God uses churches of all sizes and shapes — big and small. Today we met with a fascinating, radiant Christian community called Messiah Baptist Church. This small church is breaking down Everest-sized barriers in the community by simply being the hands and feet of Jesus to their neighbors. Wow! Folks, isn’t it about time we got back to the Bible’s way of moving people toward Christ?
But there I go preaching again. The real point of this post is to say how much Becky and I enjoyed our time at Messiah this morning. As always. Becky was phenomenal as she presented what the Lord Jesus is doing in Burji, Gondar, and Alaba. Afterwards we had a pow-wow with anyone interested in possibly coming with us next July. Would you believe that about half of the adults in the congregation attended? Just talking with them fired me up about reaching the lost and sacrificing my time and talents for the Muslims, the animists, and the Orthodox of Ethiopia.
Our being at Messiah today was no accident. I firmly sense in my spirit that the time has come for them to send a team along with us. I sense in this congregation the glory of God. The glory of God is not something to mess around with. To replace it with a lesser glory is nothing but idolatry. Here is, I sense, a group of simple followers of Jesus who are heaven-bent on reaching the community around them — and the world — with the love of Christ. We’re co-laborers for God. As iron sharpens iron, I would love to spend time in Ethiopia with some of the people of Messiah.
So we’ll see whom the Lord appoints to come with us. Meanwhile, if you’re a redemptive person, thank the Lord for giving you that desire. All of us are commissioned by Jesus to prepare webs of relationships whereby others come to know Him. This next week would be a good time for me to reach out to lost scholars, lost students, gas station attendants — whomever! — with a smile and maybe (as the Lord opens the door) with a loving word about Jesus. Wow, do I love the Gospel. Like a good steak, let it sizzle, hiss, and spit!
While I appreciate the kind words about our little assembly of Jesus-followers, and I certainly hope that we demonstrate the glory of God to one another and to our community, I must say that I heartily agree with Dave at one point in particular: their being with the believers who are part of Messiah today was no accident! I’ve talked with several brothers and sisters, and God used the Blacks this morning to rekindle our hearts to proclaim to the gospel in our neighborhoods, our city, our country, and our world!
“To the church in…” suggests unity as opposed to exclusion
I love that line. “‘To the church in…’ suggests unity as opposed to exclusion.” I stole that line from my friend Eric (from “A Pilgrim’s Progress“) in his post “To the Church in…” In part of the article, Eric says:
As I have read Paul’s letters over the years, I have pictured him writing to a local body. In particular, I have pictured those who are in the church (of some city) to the exclusion of those who aren’t in the church. I suppose I was inadvertently taking the modern view of church membership and placing it upon those churches. For example, I was picturing Paul writing to the members of the church in Rome, while not writing to those who were not members.
As I read Paul’s letters today, I think the apostle was emphasizing something else when he wrote, “To the church in…” Paul was making it clear that he was writing to ALL the saved people/followers of Jesus/Christians who happened to reside in a particular city. Paul had no aim of excluding any Christian from hearing the letter, but was simply addressing it to those who were in the church body in a particular geographic region…
This ought to make us think about how we view the church. If Paul wrote to all the Christians in an area, it is clear that he considered them ALL to be part of the church. Paul did not make the universal/local distinction that we tend to make in the modern church. If Paul saw, for example, all the Christians in a city as part of the church of that city, that should inform us as we think about issues of unity and membership.
I agree, Eric. When “membership” becomes exclusionary, it is also divisive and it also becomes unscriptural. Great post!
By watching Christians…
Yesterday, I read an excellent post by Joe (JR) at “More Than Cake” called “Daisy Cutter Doctrine.” Joe is interacting with Skye Jethani. But, I am posting this because of a quote that Joe uses to close his post. It is a quote by Phil Vischer, one of the founders of Big Idea Productions and VeggieTales:
I am growing increasingly convinced that if every one of these kids burning with passion to write that hit Christian song or make that hit Christian movie or start that hit Christian ministry to change the world would instead focus their passion on walking with God on a daily basis, the world would change… So why do I believe a thousand kids walking with God will have more impact on the world than one kid making a hit movie? Because the world learns about God not by watching Christian movies, but by watching Christians. – Phil Vischer, Me, Myself, and Bob, pg. 243
A Family Business?
Something strange happens when a family goes into business together. Relationships change. Priorities change. Goals change.
Relationships, priorities, goals, and other things also change when the church (a family) begins to act as a business.
Jeff at “Losing My Religion: Re-Thinking Church” has written a very thought-provoking series about this topic. Here are links to his posts:
1. Church as Business (part 1–A Rose By Any Other Name)
What do you think?
Moth Balls
Dave Black published this a few days ago on his blog:
I recall how one year, when we still lived in California, Becky and I dined at Sir Winston’s Restaurant aboard the Queen Mary, which is permanently docked in Long Beach Harbor. It’s sad to contemplate such a great ocean liner in moth balls, good for little more than weddings and parties. The book of Acts, which will be the focus of next week’s theology class, is the story of a church on the go. The same quality of church can be born in Nelson, Virginia, and in your town or city. The mark of a “moving” church is that it exists for others. Vitality, vibrancy, urgency, and involvement complement each other. Both our beliefs and our style of life testify to the life-changing power of Jesus. The church in America needs to rediscover the power of the Gospel. Unless the quality of our lives is a contrast to the dull drabness of the world, our churches deserve to be docked forever like the Queen Mary.
I have heard people talk about the “life” of their church as it relates to their Sunday and/or Wednesday meetings. It seems to me that those planned, weekly meetings are the “dock” for the church. For life to exist, it must exist outside of those planned, weekly meetings.
Perhaps many people think there is life in the church, but they are actually just seeing activity at the dock?
Advancing the cause of Christ
A few days ago, Alan Hirsch spoke about “advancing the cause of Christ in our day.” This summary comes from “almost an M.” (ht: Alan at DownshoreDrift):
1. Recover Jesus – there must be a primary focus on who Jesus is. Failure to do this can have severely negative consequences. In addition to the key themes of the birth, life, death, resurrection, and coming return of Christ, the church should see the incarnational life as a model for disciples to live.
2. Make disciples – this is what Jesus calls the church to do. We are to make little living images of Jesus. If we fail to make disciples, we will not be effective at anything that is relevant to the church. It is possible to have people referring to themselves as Christian, but not to look anything like Christ. This possibility and reality according to some modern day claims should make the church have a serious re-evaluation of the discipling process.
3. Engage the world as sent people – God sent Jesus. Jesus came as one who was sent. God and the Son sent the Holy Spirit. The sending character of God says something about how we are to engage humanity. How we are to live life.
4. An apostolic environment – to have a missional church, you must have a missional ministry that encompasses the five aspects of ministry found in Ephesians 4. Having a ministry view of only the pastor / teacher is not correct. Church leaders that operate with this myopic view need to expand their understanding and ministry expressions.
5. Organic systems – the way the church should organize itself. Moving away from a top-down approach, the church needs to move toward development as viral or movement effect.
6. Communitas – we must “put adventure back into the venture of the church.†Relating or fellowshipping together because we are together is not sufficient. There must be a greater cause that draws us toward the purpose of Christ and away from being safe in risk-free environments.
I would add one caveat to this list: We must define these terms as we see them in Scripture. In other words, many churches and believers would claim to have these things. But, when you compare them to Scripture, they look nothing alike.
So, what do you think of Hirsch’s list? What would you add or remove?
The Good Samaritan meets Health Care Reform
Joe (JR) at “More Than Cake” has written a post that excellently exposes our hypocrisy. The post is called “A Parable of Political Compassion,” and it presents the parable of the Good Samaritan in a updated, and timely, fashion.
Here is Joe’s post:
———————————————
As our nation bickers over the right political solution to the problems facing the American healthcare system, I think ww are loosing sight of the real meaning of compassion. The following parable illustrates this well.
A Crowd gathered around the broken form of a Young Man who was lying motionless on the roadside Moments before the Young Man was riding his bike down the street, when suddenly struck by a car. Dazed and confused, the Crowd looked around for someone to offer direction on what they should do.
A Doctor came to the scene. He quickly ran to the Young Man’s side, bent down and began searching through his pockets. When the Doctor could not find an insurance card, he quietly moved away and said, “I cannot help this man.â€
As the crowd became angry, a successful trial Lawyer came to the scene. Upon seeing the man bleeding to death, and hearing the story of the Doctor who refused to help, the Lawyer became angry. She decried this great injustice saying, “no one in America shouod be refused medical care just because he cannot pay.†The Lawyer quickly bent down beside the Young Man bleeding on the ground. She put her business card in the man’s pocket and said, “when you get well, come and see me. I will be sure to represent you in a big-money lawsuit against that Doctor, the Hospital, and the Insurance companies.â€
Growing more angry, the Crowd began to grumble and complain, “what is wrong with this country!?â€
A wealthy US Senator whose office was close to the scene came into the crowd. Seeing the Young Man bleeding to death on the ground, he cried out, “why has no one helped this man?!†The crowd reported the story of the Doctor and the Lawyer. The Senator knew something must be done quickly to save this man’s life. He jumped into action. He climbed onto a nearby soapbox and gave an impassioned speech to the enraged Crowd. â€We need change! We must pass a law to help this man who does not have healthcare! There are many Rich People in this country who have enough money to help this man get care. Come with me and we will pass a Law that will force these Rich People and Big Companies to pay for this man’s healthcare!â€
The crowds loved the words of compassion spoken by the wealthy-Senator, made signs in support of his speech and followed after him to help pass a Law.
Before the Crowds could leave, a well-known Pastor jumped into the middle of the ruckus and decried to the immorality of the Senator’s proposed Law. The Pastor used his great influence and spoke passionately from the Bible to rally a counter-protest against the Senator and his Law.
The TV cameras soon arrived to film the scene. The nicely-dressed Anchorwoman knelt gently beside the injured man. She held a microphone to the injured man’s mouth and asked for a statement decrying the evils of the American healthcare system. Unable to speak or sign a press release, the Anchorwoman moved on to interview the Senator, the Doctor, the Pastor and people in the Crowd.
The Crowds passed by chanting their support for their chosen cause. The cameras followed. The young man was left alone, bleeding to death on the roadside.
An Elderly Man came to the scene. He bent down, and forced his aging fingers to bandage the wounds. The Elderly Man had no money of his own so he sold his car to help pay for the young man’s medical care.
Which of these people; the Doctor, the Lawyer, the Senator, the Pastor, the Crowds or the Elderly-Man reflect true compassion?
Which of these people offered a real solution to the dying man?
Which of these people are you?
———————————————
As you consider the implications of Joe’s post, consider this as well. In the first 200-300 years of the church, the church was known for one thing in particular: taking care of people. The pagans who wrote against the church and Christianity always wrote about how Christians would pay their own money to take care of each other and even to take care of people who were not believers.
They would take care of the poor, the orphans, the widows, those in prison, etc. And, they wouldn’t simply throw money at some program to care for “the poor,” they would take care of poor people.
The Roman world first noticed Christianity because of the way that Christians cared for other people.
If the church still acted in this way, there would be no reason for “health care reform.” In fact, if the church still acted in this way – the way that Jesus prescribed – we could do away with all of our “evangelism programs” as well.
The Preeminence of Christ in the Church
According to Paul, Jesus Christ has the preeminent place in the church:
And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. (Colossians 1:18 ESV)
But, at times, when you look at the various church meetings around the country (and perhaps the world), there are others who seem to be preeminent… that is, they seem to have the most significance. How can we as the church ensure that Jesus Christ has the preeminence?
Last week, Dave Black said this on his blog (Thursday, August 27, 2009 at 11:25 am):
What will enhance His preeminence?
Some time ago I began a list of ways I feel we can help our local churches become more consistent with the Scripture’s emphasis upon the supremacy of Christ. If we take Col. 1:18 seriously, its ramifications in any local church will become creative and exciting. But we must be willing to follow the Scriptures into the nitty-gritty, day-by-day workings of our churches. Rigid, harsh, legalistic measures have no place in this process. But perhaps there are some practical steps we can take as the Holy Spirit leads us.
1) Work to implement a biblical pattern of plural eldership.
2) Acknowledge Jesus as your church’s only “Senior Pastor” (1 Pet. 5:4).
3) Substitute the name “Jesus Christ” for your pastor’s name on your church’s marquee.
4) Begin calling each other “brother” and “sister” in accordance with Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 23. This includes leadership.
5) Follow Paul’s injunction in 1 Cor. 14 and allow several people to teach during the assembly while others weigh their teaching. This can be accomplished even if you retain the traditional homily/monologue by allowing others to have a “word” either before or after the sermon.
6) Encourage the priesthood of all believers by allowing greater participation in your gatherings.
7) Observe the Lord’s Supper regularly (weekly if possible) as a full meal in which you celebrate the presence and soon return of Jesus. Remember, many evangelicals are converting to Catholicism and the Orthodox Church today partly because they have grown weary of the anthropocentricity of the typical evangelical church, where the pastor is central.
8 ) Leaders can avoid giving the impression that they are “above” or “apart from” the congregation by speaking from the floor (instead of from the platform) and by foregoing the use of a pulpit.
9) Put missions first in all you do. Your church can’t come first. If you’re occupied with its life and function, you’ll think inwardly. What sets a true evangelical church apart is its commitment to the Gospel.
10) Accordingly, adjust your church budget to reflect a commitment to outreach rather than inreach. No more of the mindset of “God bless us four and no more”! In prayer, in strategy, in cooperation — become intentional about reaching out. We do this by working in social concern within our communities, by planting new churches, by encouraging sister churches, by eating and drinking with the lost and even attending their parties (as Jesus did). We do this by folding the new lambs into the flock. We do this by growing through world missions and by developing a plan to infiltrate and influence it for Jesus Christ. We do this by keeping the Great Commission before the people both in knowledge and in practice. We do this by supporting missionaries — not just those sent out by a denominational board but real flesh-and-blood church members. Elders themselves must lead by giving and going. Let your church reach and reach and reach — in all directions!
11) Teach your people that every Christian is a minister and a missionary and that all of us together are necessary if the Body of Christ is to grow. Then, as the bond of love with Christ and others is secured, we can go out into the world and do great exploits for God.
Is he correct? What would you add to or subtract from his list?
Convictions without Separation
I greatly enjoyed reading and appreciated several blog posts written recently by Eric from “A Pilgrim’s Progress.” Here are those posts:
- A Question Desiring Answers: Should Christians Reconcile Infant Baptism and Believer’s Baptism
- Struggling with Unity and Baptism
- The Problem of “Second Order” Doctrines
- Unity and Baptism: A Possible Solution
- The Sacraments: What Should Bring Unity So Often Divides
In his posts, Eric considers the popular notion of three order of doctrines. The first “order” would be those doctrines that separate Christians from all others religions and beliefs. The third “order” would be those doctrines about which Christians disagree but do not (or should not) separate believers from one another.
The difficulty comes in what is usually referred to as “second order doctrines.” Christians disagree about these doctrines, and usually allow their disagreements to become reasons for separation. Eric discusses baptism as one of this so-called “second order” doctrines.
In Eric’s questions and study, he found the same thing that I’ve found: their are no second order doctrines in Scripture. There is a never a time in Scripture where one group of believers is told to separate from another group of believers because they hold to different understandings about the things of God.
Instead, we find just the opposite. Repeatedly we find the authors of Scripture instructing believers to come together, to reconcile, to consider others as more important. Yes, they are told, hold to your convictions (about sacrificed meat, or meeting days, etc.) but do not allow your convictions to become stumbling blocks for other brothers and sisters in Christ. Instead, yield to (submit to) others.
This is not a popular notion today. Today, many within the church choose to be right (and to prove their “rightness”) over and against yielding to others. We argue over nuances of doctrine that have been argued about for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years. We allow these differences to separate us.
When Paul was dealing with people who refused to eat meat sacrificed to idols, he started by admitting that idols were nothing. The idols were not gods, but were pieces of wood or stone. There was absolutely nothing wrong with eating meat that had been offered to these idols.
However, Paul recognized that some people in the church considered it wrong to eat meat that had been sacrificed to those idols. Because of their convictions, and because of his desire not to cause offense with his brothers and sisters in Christ, Paul said that he would not eat meat around these people. In fact, he said that if it caused problems for his fellow believers, he would never eat meat again.
Note, according to Paul, these people were wrong. They were wrong theologically. They misunderstood God and gods. They misunderstood the nature of idols. They misunderstood what it means to worship God. In spite of their being wrong, Paul changed his own practices to accommodate them and their wrong beliefs because he cared more about his brothers and sisters in Christ.
We need this attitude. We need to recognize that it is possible to hold convictions (about baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the nature of salvation, etc.) without separating from other brothers and sisters in Christ because of those convictions.
In other words, we do not deal with people and interact with them and fellowship with them based on their opinions or statements about various doctrines. Instead, we deal with, interact with, and fellowship with people based on their identity in Christ! If they are children of God then they are our brothers and sisters, regardless of how wrong they (or we) might be.
Yes, there are times when we should separate from others who call themselves believers. But, in those cases, we do not separate from one another but continue to call ourselves brothers and sisters. Instead, when we separate from another believer for various biblical reasons, we are to treat that person as if that person is NOT a brother or sister in Christ.
Our disunity is cause for alarm. Eric stresses the urgency and the importance in his posts. Jesus prayed that we would be one even as he and the Father are one. Why did Jesus pray for our unity? Because the world knows that Jesus came from God because of our unity. As it is, the world does not know. In fact, in many cases, the world is convinced that Jesus was just a good man and did not come from God – if he existed at all.
We must face the fact that our disunity (our failure to hold to our convictions without separating from one another) is one of the reasons that the world refuses to believe that Jesus is from God. We are working against our purpose by our disunity and separation.