The Next Step
As some of my readers know (and some may not know), when our church meets together, the teaching is a little different than the teaching (preaching?) when most churches meet. What do I mean? Well, typically, our teaching is in the form of a discussion.
Generally, we have an agreed up subject or passage of Scripture. Someone agrees to teach that subject or passage. What that means is that that person facilitates a discussion concerning the subject or passage. The amount of lecture combined with discussion/dialog depends on who is teaching / facilitating our teaching time.
Since more than one person is speaking, the teaching can get very specific. Someone may ask a specific question that affects what the person is facing in life. Another person may make a completely different comment, but just as specific and just as personal to that person or to someone else.
The last time we met as a church, we met around tables. When we do this, along with the teaching I described above, the person leading our teaching also gives us a question or topic to discuss around each table (with 6-10 people at each table). In this way, even more people take part in the teaching, and even more specific and personal questions or applications or problems or comments are considered.
This type of teaching is much more direct and more personal and (I think) more discipling than any other that I’ve ever experienced. But, there may still be something missing. Let me try to explain.
Margaret, my wife, and I were talking about the teaching and our time together. Later, we also talked with another couple who are our close friends. We all agreed that something is missing, and that’s the next step. The next step would be for the teaching to move beyond words and concepts into action.
Let me give you an example. Suppose, for instance, that we’re talking about reaching out to our neighbors, coworkers, family, etc. with the gospel. As we talk about this subject, several people may offer specific examples of opportunities that they’ve had to share the gospel with others. Others, then, would probably share that they know that they need to share the gospel (and they may even have someone specific in mind), but they struggle with doing that. We would probably encourage that person, and even pray for him or her right then.
But, what about the next step? What needs to happen next? Well, someone needs to come alongside that person and help him or her to share the gospel with the other person that God has brought to mind. And, that could happen right away.
Imagine, we’re sitting together as the church (either around tables or in a circle), and someone expresses a struggle with sharing the gospel with a neighbor. We encourage the person and pray for him or her. Then – the next step – someone offers to go with that brother or sister (perhaps at that very moment) to share the gospel with the neighbor. Or, perhaps someone else offers to take the struggling brother or sister along on a trip to the food pantry when the gospel is often shared.
There are so many possibilities, but it means taking the next step – the step away from concept and toward action.
I think this is an important step for us (and any church and all believers) to take. Why? Because discipleship (becoming more mature in Jesus Christ) is not only about concepts. Instead, it’s also about obediently following Jesus Christ throughout our lives.
Have you ever been part of a church meeting when people took the next step, and actually acted to help a brother or sister right away (it doesn’t have to be with evangelism, it could be with anything)? What do you think?
How is New Testament Introduction Helpful?
As I mentioned a few days ago (see my post “Teaching Jude“), I am guest lecturing this morning on the topic of the Epistle of Jude. I am very excited about this opportunity, and hope that I have more opportunities to teach New Testament and New Testament Theology.
While preparing my lecture, I began to wonder how helpful New Testament introduction material is for the church. What do I mean by New Testament introduction material? Well, this is the outline of my presentation on the Epistle of Jude:
* Text and Transmission
* Canonical Status
* Authorship
* Similarities with 2 Peter
* Date and Destination
* Purpose
* The False Teachers
* Structure/Outline
* Theology
Concepts such as authorship, provenance, destination, date of writing, purpose, etc. are important in introducing the New Testament in a college, university, or seminary course. Are these ideas and concepts also important and helpful to the church?
What do you think?
Can you imagine the impact…
I’ve been outside the United States a few times. Twice, I went specifically to serve people in the name of Jesus – once to Nicaragua and once to Ethiopia. In each instance, the time spent serving people from another country/culture changed me as much as it changed the people there. In many ways, during those times, I was forced to take my thoughts off of myself and my “things,” and put those thoughts towards other people.
Now, Dave Black (November 11, 2010 at 7:26 a.m.) has written an exhortation that I cannot ignore. I hope, as you read it, that you cannot ignore it either. We must ask ourselves what we’re doing… really doing… in the name of Jesus, and what we’re doing in our own name. Are we completely giving of ourselves, or are we holding part back so that we can maintain our stuff?
Here is the quote:
I had been hearing about missionaries all of my life. And now I’m the GIF, the Guy In Africa, that eccentric person who can’t feel comfortable among opulence any more, who stays up half the night thinking about a sick child in Alaba or a suffering woman in Burji or a persecuted evangelist in Gondar. I don’t ever want to lose this feeling, this marveling at the world, this attraction to a country called Black-Faced (Ethiopia) filled with outcasts and dying people and babies suffering from malaria and women needing fistula surgery, this nation of 80 million people worshiping their trees or their saints or their false gods. I never want to forget how incredibly small you feel when you’re trying to bring medical supplies through customs or watching the heart-wrenching poverty or scooping up a half-naked infant or standing next to the graves of missionaries from past generations who went out to the field and never came back home (or was it ever “home” for them again?). Can you imagine what would happen if Christians in America were to grasp the principle of sharing what they have to meet the needs of the Gospel around the world? Can you imagine what the impact would be if we stopped spending 95 percent of our church budgets on ourselves? Can you imagine the change it would make if we lived a lifestyle that matched our responsibility to a lost and dying world? Seven years ago my lifestyle was up from grabs. Every thought and every action was tested by the simple teachings of Scripture. I decided, along with Becky, that I would lay up no treasure for myself on this earth. Suddenly I was free — free from my bondage to material things, free to allow God to use me — a nobody — to be His hands and feet and arms in Africa.
I can imagine the impact. I can imagine the change. I’ve seen a small sample personally, and I’ve read about it in the New Testament.
The question is… now that we can imagine it… are we willing to live it? What is preventing us (me and you) from living it?
Shifting Focus
A few days ago, I saw a short video (just over 4 minutes long) on Facebook called “Paradigm Shift.” (If you have Facebook, you can watch the video at this link. If you do not have Facebook, you can also watch the video on YouTube here.)
The video begins with the main character thinking only about himself. Each encounter with different people is viewed as an annoyance, a hindrance, a distraction, or a delay. He never thinks about the other person.
In the course of the video, he is handed a special pair of glasses. Now, when he looks at someone, he sees a problem that the person is facing. The man who cut in front of him at the coffee shop recently lost his job. The barista is fighting addiction. The woman who took his parking place is grieving her best friend. The boy who skateboarded behind his car just needs someone to care.
At the end, the man decides to talk to the boy, indicating that he is going to be the person to care.
Of course, we don’t have special glasses to tell us what is troubling other people. But, like the man in the video, we must begin by considering the other person. We must (as Paul would put it) think of others as more important than ourselves.
This means that in our day-to-day activity (yes, it’s not just on Sundays anymore), we must deny ourselves (our flesh?) and instead choose to honor others.
Then, since we don’t have special glasses, another step is required. Instead of simply considering others as more important and thinking about others, we must make the next step of talking to other people. That’s right… we have to step out of our busy lives and spend time conversing with the people that God brings across our path.
I know… you’re right… you have places to go and things to do. But, if we don’t make time for other people, then are they really important to us? If we can’t stop and talk to someone – and perhaps help them as well – do we really love them?
It would be great to have special glasses or know what’s in the heart of men like Jesus, but we don’t. We demonstrate that we love God and love others by begin willing to set aside our agenda and our plans, and spending time with the people around us, talking with them, listening to them, caring about them, and then caring for them.
The first step is the hardest, I think. What is that step? The first step is getting our minds off of ourselves, and thinking about and caring about other people. Yes, even that person that cuts you off in traffic, or breaks in front of you at a restaurant, or takes a long time in the checkout line.
Can we do that? Can we actually care about other people?
Did She Really Mean That?
So, recently I was talking with an older lady who is part of another church in our town. (You don’t know her or the church, trust me.)
She was talking about the recent youth pastor that was hired by the church. She was very excited. She said, “We finally have someone who cares about our young people.”
I’ll be honest… I’m still scratching my head about her statement.
Certainly she doesn’t mean that no one else cares for the teenagers – well, except for the person paid to do something with them. So, what did she mean?
I guess, the best spin that I could put on it, is that she meant that no one was doing things with the young people or spending time with them, so they hired someone for that purpose, and she’s glad that there’s someone to do it now.
Maybe that’s what she meant… maybe not. I don’t know. Like I said, I’m still scratching my head.
Teaching: An Analogy
I recently read a very good analogy on teaching that I wanted to share with my readers. The analogy is found in this comment on Lionel’s (from “A View From The Woods“) post called “We Supposed To Be Brothers,” and it was written by someone named Daniel. (I told him that I was going to steal it.) Here is the analogy:
In pondering all this, I have often ended up imagining what it would be like, to see someone “teaching†something like how to ride a bike, in the same manner that we “teach†in the conventional, church manner…
What would people think, if they came over one day and observed me “teaching†my kids how to ride a bicycle, which actually meant that my kids had to sit and listen to me, several times a week, talk for an hour or so about all the intricacies of how bicycles work. Each session would cover a different specific aspect of the mechanical workings of bicycles. I could cover the history and evolution of bicycle design, or go into intricate detail on the ways bicycles are ridden around the world. Week after week, I could lecture, and show slides, and have guest speakers, and on and on. But if after several years of doing this, and I never actually put my kids on a bike, and expected them to learn to ride on their own? People would think I was insane. They would hardly consider me a “teacher†of how to ride a bicycle, based on the fact that I failed to actually produce any people who could now competently ride a bike on their own…
What do you think of Daniel’s comparison between teaching in the church and teaching to ride a bicycle?
Seeking Opportunities to “One Another”
A few days ago, my friend Maël at “The Adventures of Maël & Cindy” published a post called “Those ‘one another’s.” Almost everyone knows about all the instructions and examples in Scripture in which the authors exhort their readers to think about others. In the post, Maël listed these “one another’s”:
bearing one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2)
encouraging one another (1 Th 4:18; Heb 10:25)
exhorting one another (Heb 3:13)
praying for one another
confessing our sins to one another (Jm 5:16)
speaking the truth in love to one another (Eph 4:15)
admonishing one another (Col 3:16)
building up one another (1 Th 5:11)
teaching one another (Col 3:16)
comforting one another (1 Cor 13:11)
submitting to one another (Eph 5:21)
serving one another (Mt 20:27-8)
patiently bearing one another (Eph 4:2)
regarding one another as more important than ourselves (Rom 12:10)
caring for one another (1 Pt 4:10)
exercising our spiritual gifts to serve one another (1 Pt 4:10)
being kind and tenderhearted to one another (Eph 4:32)
forgiving one another (Eph 4:32)
loving one another (Jn 13:34-5)
In response, my friend Jonathan commented, “A good follow up question, are we seeking opportunities to do them or are we sitting by passively doing them whenever someone gets desperate enough to ask for it?”
I’ve been thinking about Jonathan’s question since I read it a few days ago. I think he points out a huge difference in how we live our lives among other believers and among the world. Do we sit back and wait for people to ask us for help, or do we actively seek opportunities to help others, to teach others, to forgive others, to care for others?
Looking at Maël’s list, which “one another” do you think is most difficult to you? Thinking about Jonathan’s question, how important is it that we actively seek opportunities to do these “one another’s”?
Scary things
Three years ago, I wrote a post called “Scary things.” It’s one of my favorite posts of all times. It was fun to write, and it tends to get great comments.
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What could be more appropriate on Halloween than a list of scary things? Of course, since the name of this blog is “The Assembling of the Church”, these scary things may be a little different than they appear:
1.) A being with multiple heads. I’ve heard it said that a creature without a head is a monster. I think an organism with multiple heads is a monster as well.
2.) Self-mutilation. It is scary to me to think of people who will wilfully harm their own body. You know what I mean, and I’m sure you’ve all witnessed it: people who are perfectly willing to hack off an arm or a leg, or remove their spleen, all the while crying, “It’s merely a flesh wound”. This is scary.
3.) Insenstivity to pain. This is another scary thing to me. Can you imagine living life without knowing when you are hurt. Imagine having an arm or leg or spleen that is shrivelling up and dying, and yet you do not realize it. Although I’m sure that if you had this problem, you would pay extra attention to the parts of your body to make sure that none are hurting.
4.) Fratricide. My brother often made me angry, but I can’t imagine killing him. I mean, sure, he was wrong often, and I was never wrong. But, I would not have killed him just for being wrong. And, the words that I said to him don’t count as murder, right? Fratricide is certainly scary.
5.) Ghosts. I don’t like ghosts. I mean, they look real, but they’re only spiritual. There’s no physical substance; they can’t actually do anything. What good is something that is only spiritual which can’t affect the physical?
6.) Zombies. Zombies scare me. They act like they’re alive – they move and make noise even though the noise is mostly moaning and groaning and grumbling. But, they’re not actually alive. Instead they only move based on their dead instincts.
7.) Vampires. Vampires are very smooth, but they don’t add to life, they suck the life out of people. Vampires are fun to watch and incredibly good to the ego. But when it comes down to it, they’re dead and they kill other things. This is scary.
8.) Werewolves. These guys act like normal people, but then, at certain times, they turn into something completely different. They act different. They talk different. They hang out with different types of creatures. Then, they go back to their normal existence when the special time is over. This is scary.
9.) Haunted houses. These are special places where the spiritual realm exist. You have to be careful when you go into these places, because they make people do weird things; things they wouldn’t normally do outside the haunted house. The good thing is, it seems the spiritual things rarely venture outside the haunted house.
10.) Masks. These are truly scary. I mean, the face on the outside is scary enough, but who knows what the face underneath looks like? The face underneath is the one that I’m scared of.
So, what scares you?
Discipleship by example
Two and a half years ago, I wrote a post called “Discipleship by example.” I was thinking about the importance of example earlier this week when I was speaking to a group of pastors. Most of the people there did not know me, and I will probably never see them again. Thus, there was no way that I could teach by example, so my teaching was limited. Example is extremely important.
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My good friend Glenn from “Bad Theology” (isn’t that a great blog name?) has written a great post called “Modeling a godly lifestyle“. He talks about a friend of his who has encouraged and admonished him toward godliness in the past. Then, Glenn recounts a recent encounter with his friend in which his friend encouraged him toward godliness (stimulated him to love and good deeds?) by his actions, without a word spoken. Consider Glenn’s conclusion:
I think that this type of “accountability” or encouragement [having an example to follow] is one of the most effective means of leading others closer to God. While it will often be beneficial and necessary for me to exhort or confront my friends and family concerning our relationships and walks with the Lord, I think a godly lifestyle on my part will always resonate louder and give ample opportunity for the Holy Spirit to personally encourage or convict those around me.
I think Glenn has hit on a basic truth of discipleship, but one that is rarely given the same prominence today that it is given in Scripture. That basic truth of discipleship is modeling godliness – living as an example to other believers in order to help them grow toward maturity in Jesus Christ.
While words and teaching are very important, we are never instructed by the authors of Scripture to simply follow a set of rules. Instead, we are given examples – sometimes even the authors themselves. Consider these passages:
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. (John 13:14-15 ESV)
Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. (1 Corinthians 10:11 ESV)
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. (Philippians 3:17 ESV)
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me- practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:9 ESV)
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7 ESV)
For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. (2 Thessalonians 3:7-9 ESV)
But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:16 ESV)
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12 ESV)
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. (Hebrews 13:7 ESV)
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11 ESV)
…not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:3 ESV)
Are you surprised at the number of examples? Are you surprised at the extent to when this idea is spread throughout the New Testament? Believe it or not, this is only a small sample of passages that teach us to both follow the example of godly people and to live our lives as an example to others.
Modelling and example, then, are a major aspect of biblical discipleship – of teaching people what it means to live as a child of God. Notice that throughout Scripture we are taught to follow those who actually live as a child of God, not those who speak about or teach about being a child of God.
Of course, in this idea of discipleship by example, there is a built in assumption: the people involved in the discipleship relationship must have access to one another’s lives. Furthermore, this access can’t be a surface level access. This type of discipleship requires sharing life together, both the good times and the bad times, both the high points and the low points, both the good examples and the bad examples.
I believe this last point is exactly why we have de-stressed discipleship by example and stressed discipleship by teaching only. In our individualistic and entertainment driven society, we are not willing to share our lives with other people. We want what we want, when we want it. We want to do things that are fun or pleasing to us. The idea of inviting someone else into our lives, to consider their needs, or yielding our will to theirs is completely foreign. In fact, in order to think about and live this type of discipleship by example it would take a new way of thinking – a renewed mind, in fact – a mind that is not conformed to the common ways of thinking. But, of course, this is exactly what Paul exhorts us toward – a renewed mind.
So, whose example are you following? Are you living your life as an example to others? Are you sharing your life with other people in such a way that you both see the example of others and you allow others to see your own example?
Lessons from the Trail
Two years ago, my son Jeremy and I joined our friend Jim and his son Jason on an Appalachian Trail hike. I wrote about some lessons learns soon afterward. The first post was called “Lessons from the Trail 1 – Introduction.” Here is that post and links to the other posts in the series.
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Lessons from the Trail 1 – Introduction
From Thursday, October 9, through Saturday, October 11, my son, Jeremy, and I joined my friend, Jim, and his son, Jason, on a hiking and camping trip through a very small portion (21 miles) of the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. If you are not familiar with the Appalachian Trail, it winds its way through the Appalachian Mountains for over 2100 miles from Maine to Georgia. We started in Pennsylvania where the trail ran near the home of Jim’s father, who dropped us off at our starting point, picked us up at our destination, and offered wonderful hospitality before and after our trip.
Our hike started in Pine Grove Furnace State Park and ended just over 21 trail miles and just over 50 hours later in picturesque Boiling Springs, PA. During the hike, we saw many beautiful sites, almost ran out of water, battled very sore muscles, and learned alot about ourselves. In fact, this series is not going to be about the hike, per se. I am not going to share my trip diary, although I did keep one. Instead, I want to share some “life lessons” that I learned on this trip.
Now, I recognize that 21 miles is not a long way to hike for many people. In fact, we passed some hikers who were walking the entire length of the AT over several months. One man who passed us was running our route in less than one day. However, for two 40 (+) year old men and two teenage boys, it was a long hike.
I was surprised at how much I learned about life during this hike. Some of these lessons I learned through my own quiet meditation (well, mostly quiet… there was some grunting and groaning) during the hike. Other lessons I learned while talking with Jim or the boys. It seemed like every turn in the trail, every ascent or descent, every rocky ridge, every ache and pain offered more lessons, if I was willing to learn. I tried to learn. Perhaps you can help me.
As I share these various life lessons, I encourage you to help me and others learn about life together. Perhaps you have a story to share; then please share it. Perhaps you have another perspective; then share that. Please use my hiking and camping trip as an opportunity to “exhort one another”.
(By the way, if you’re interested, I’ve posted pictures from our trip on our family blog in a post called “Appalachian Trail Hiking/Camping Pictures“. I’ll probably post more about the trip there in a few days.)
(NOTE: Those pictures are not available anymore. But you can see the picture in this facebook album.)
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Lessons from the Trail:
1. Introduction
2. Preparation
3. Watching
4. Burdens
5. Leaders