Someone asked me recently what BAM is and I liked my response so much that I'm posting it here:
BAM stands for "Business as Missions." The idea is that we do business as a way to do ministry in a foreign country, particularly "closed" or "creative access" countries. It is NOT "business as a front for missions" or "business with enough Christianity to raise funds from Christians" but real mission work accomplished through real business.
Actually, I don't think BAM is (or should be) limited to foreign fields. I think BAM could mean "Business as Ministry" even in our home country and be an effective way to reach people who would never come to visit a church out of the blue.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Training
Well, I wish I could go into detail on this blog about our training, but I can't. However, I do want to explain and share a little.
We are doing BAM (Business as Missions) here at The Location. (I think I'm going to start calling it "The Location" instead of "here at our location" all the time. Sounds more interesting; more mysterious.) And I will say that it is related to agriculture. That's all I'm going to reveal on this blog.
So what was this training? Well, we do agricultural promotion. That means we have a particular crop that we promote for people here to plant and harvest. It is a crop that many don't know a lot about, but it is suitable and can bring them a good income, too. It is also good for the environment in many ways. So, our agricultural promotion program is a win-win situation for us, for them and for the environment. If that is all we did it would be a good thing for The Location and The People here. (I guess we have to start calling them "The People" rather than just "the people we're working with here at our location.")
But our agricultural program also allows us the opportunity to build relationships with these unreached people in these unreached villages. We get to know them through this work and they get to know us. The local government is completely behind our activities, too, because it will help them have an income, help the environment and help the economy. So whenever we go visit these villages there is no suspicion on behalf of the government--"Are they CIA spies? Are they spreading foreign religion?" No, we've answered that question in their minds already--"Oh, they're there promoting The Crop." (I see a trend here: The Location. The People. The Crop.) So as time goes on and we build relationships it will be only natural to share our beliefs with The People. It won't be as problematic because no one will think that is the main reason we're there.
We have designated a group leader in each village for those who are planting The Crop. Most of these people are also the village headman or the vice-headman. And it is these group leaders we invited for a three-day training this past week. And we had a lot of fun together.
Most of these guys live way up in the mountains and out in the jungles. They represent the poorest of the poor, and also the most difficult peoples to access in this country. But we brought them into town to our office and had all of our lessons prepared with pictures on a power-point. We projected this on a big screen and it was all very impressive to them. Most development organizations just have someone talking without any visual aids, or with minimal visual aids. We had our power point presentations, videos, materials for them to touch and hold, and different things for them to eat and taste. It was all new to them and they all returned to their villages excited about the possibilities for planting The Crop.
They are also more motivated than ever because they now see and know for sure that we are for real. Many people visit country villages and promote different crops promising to buy it at high prices. Then when harvest comes the promoters are no where to be found, or they offer prices much lower than what was promised. The government has been guilty of the same thing. Therefore, most villagers are wary of outsiders who come in promoting something and hyping their product. It takes time, but we plan to always do what we say and build their trust. Over time they will see that we are not trying to trick them or take advantage of them.
So I believe our training has opened a lot of doors. I am confident now that when I, or one of our staff, visits these villages in the future we will be more eagerly welcomed. I am confident that we will now get more requests from families in these villages to plant The Crop than we can supply. I am confident they will be more determined to plant The Crop in the right way so that it thrives and produces the best possible harvest.
Mostly, I pray to our God that his Holy Spirit will open doors through all of these activities for us to share about his great love and offer of forgiveness. I pray that lives will be changed and villages transformed. If you have a moment, please pray for these same things, too.
We are doing BAM (Business as Missions) here at The Location. (I think I'm going to start calling it "The Location" instead of "here at our location" all the time. Sounds more interesting; more mysterious.) And I will say that it is related to agriculture. That's all I'm going to reveal on this blog.
So what was this training? Well, we do agricultural promotion. That means we have a particular crop that we promote for people here to plant and harvest. It is a crop that many don't know a lot about, but it is suitable and can bring them a good income, too. It is also good for the environment in many ways. So, our agricultural promotion program is a win-win situation for us, for them and for the environment. If that is all we did it would be a good thing for The Location and The People here. (I guess we have to start calling them "The People" rather than just "the people we're working with here at our location.")
But our agricultural program also allows us the opportunity to build relationships with these unreached people in these unreached villages. We get to know them through this work and they get to know us. The local government is completely behind our activities, too, because it will help them have an income, help the environment and help the economy. So whenever we go visit these villages there is no suspicion on behalf of the government--"Are they CIA spies? Are they spreading foreign religion?" No, we've answered that question in their minds already--"Oh, they're there promoting The Crop." (I see a trend here: The Location. The People. The Crop.) So as time goes on and we build relationships it will be only natural to share our beliefs with The People. It won't be as problematic because no one will think that is the main reason we're there.
We have designated a group leader in each village for those who are planting The Crop. Most of these people are also the village headman or the vice-headman. And it is these group leaders we invited for a three-day training this past week. And we had a lot of fun together.
Most of these guys live way up in the mountains and out in the jungles. They represent the poorest of the poor, and also the most difficult peoples to access in this country. But we brought them into town to our office and had all of our lessons prepared with pictures on a power-point. We projected this on a big screen and it was all very impressive to them. Most development organizations just have someone talking without any visual aids, or with minimal visual aids. We had our power point presentations, videos, materials for them to touch and hold, and different things for them to eat and taste. It was all new to them and they all returned to their villages excited about the possibilities for planting The Crop.
They are also more motivated than ever because they now see and know for sure that we are for real. Many people visit country villages and promote different crops promising to buy it at high prices. Then when harvest comes the promoters are no where to be found, or they offer prices much lower than what was promised. The government has been guilty of the same thing. Therefore, most villagers are wary of outsiders who come in promoting something and hyping their product. It takes time, but we plan to always do what we say and build their trust. Over time they will see that we are not trying to trick them or take advantage of them.
So I believe our training has opened a lot of doors. I am confident now that when I, or one of our staff, visits these villages in the future we will be more eagerly welcomed. I am confident that we will now get more requests from families in these villages to plant The Crop than we can supply. I am confident they will be more determined to plant The Crop in the right way so that it thrives and produces the best possible harvest.
Mostly, I pray to our God that his Holy Spirit will open doors through all of these activities for us to share about his great love and offer of forgiveness. I pray that lives will be changed and villages transformed. If you have a moment, please pray for these same things, too.
Where is Koffijah?
I'm in the middle of a special training right now for village leaders who are working with us. Exciting! Sixteen guys from twelve villages. All unreached. We have a great opportunity here, and they are all excited to be working with us. More later....
Sunday, February 22, 2009
National Tentmakers
Okay, I have to admit, I am very excited about this. As far as I know, I coined the term "national tentmaker" but it wouldn't surprise me if someone else has used this term for years without me being aware. That's okay with me.
There is a really good book about Tentmaking written by Peter Lai. I really recommend reading it because there is a lot of good stuff in there. However, one tendency I don't really like is that it seems Lai has taken "tentmaking" and made it an office. You know what I mean, "God gave some to be apostles, some to be pastors, some to be tentmakers..." I don't agree with that tendency.
Tentmaking, for one, is a modern term we use for people doing any kind of vocational work with the purpose of doing mission work. Originally, Paul actually made tents. (Well, he was a leather-worker, I'm told, which is the meaning of the term.) So, we've taken his example, assuming that he did this to fund himself (which I'm sure he did) and applied it to other types of vocations or businesses done with the view of doing missions. And I'm fine with all of that.... I just would never want to become dogmatic about it, "Well, you're not a REAL tentmaker!"
Traditionally we think of tentmakers being tentmakers for two purposes:
1. Access to restricted areas (such as "closed" countries)
2. Financial support
But I think there is a third purpose and is perhaps the best reason to be a tentmaker:
3. Association
Being a tentmaker allows a Christian worker to relate to regular people as regular people and not as some kind of religious clergy that are often hard for the local people to figure out. It also shows that we are not Christians because we're paid to be Christians or because it is a requirement for our job. We follow Jesus because we ourselves really, really want to. And that goes a long way in encouraging others we meet to consider believing in Christ themselves. They can't just say, "Well, I'm not a pastor (like you)."
But we most often think of a tentmaker as being a missionary.... that is, someone (usually from the West) who goes cross-culturally. But after serving here at our location for a number of years I asked myself, Why can't the nationals be tentmakers themselves without going cross-culturally? If tentmaking is an effective way for me to do ministry, why can't the nationals do ministry through tentmaking, too? If we really believe in the priesthood of all believers then I think that national tentmaking is the natural conclusion.
Now, this opened up a whole new can of worms in my thinking. And there is too much to put into one blog post. However, I still believe that nationals can be tentmakers for the same three reasons: Access, Financial Support and Association.
Access. In our location nationals are not free to travel about the country and live in any village they choose for any reason. They can move to a village they want, but they have to have a good reason. If they simply go to preach the gospel they will get arrested and all their property will be confiscated. However, if they go to do some sort of business then they are allowed to live in a village where they can do that.
Financial Support. In my post "Easy Money" I talked about some of the problems with simply paying people to do ministry. Well, there are more. For one, it is illegal in my location for a foreigner to hire a national to "spread religion." So, when people do that (and they do) it has to be "under the table." But it leaves the national without a good explanation for those in authority about the source of their funding. It raises suspicion. I personally know nationals who have been arrested and disappeared by the authorities never to be heard from again. But when a national works for a legitimate company or does legitimate business, the officials can clearly see how they make a living, and suspicions are eased.
Association. Beyond government officials, being a national tentmaker helps other nationals accept them as well. These national tentmakers are able to demonstrate that they aren't Christians because they're being paid to be Christians. They have to work to make a living just like everyone else. They follow Christ because they really believe in him, not because anyone expects them to.
So, to answer the question in my last post of what do we do with people who we've discipled... Well, some of them return home. Others go to work with us in some fashion. And some are being set up as national tentmakers.
During their time with us as interns we are able to get to know them really well. We don't promise to set anyone or everyone up as a national tentmaker... we don't even dangle it out in front of them. But when we see those who have a true heart for God and know they are ready, this is our goal--to put them in a position to reach people in very unreached places with the transforming love of Christ by doing a business that makes sense for our location.
There is a really good book about Tentmaking written by Peter Lai. I really recommend reading it because there is a lot of good stuff in there. However, one tendency I don't really like is that it seems Lai has taken "tentmaking" and made it an office. You know what I mean, "God gave some to be apostles, some to be pastors, some to be tentmakers..." I don't agree with that tendency.
Tentmaking, for one, is a modern term we use for people doing any kind of vocational work with the purpose of doing mission work. Originally, Paul actually made tents. (Well, he was a leather-worker, I'm told, which is the meaning of the term.) So, we've taken his example, assuming that he did this to fund himself (which I'm sure he did) and applied it to other types of vocations or businesses done with the view of doing missions. And I'm fine with all of that.... I just would never want to become dogmatic about it, "Well, you're not a REAL tentmaker!"
Traditionally we think of tentmakers being tentmakers for two purposes:
1. Access to restricted areas (such as "closed" countries)
2. Financial support
But I think there is a third purpose and is perhaps the best reason to be a tentmaker:
3. Association
Being a tentmaker allows a Christian worker to relate to regular people as regular people and not as some kind of religious clergy that are often hard for the local people to figure out. It also shows that we are not Christians because we're paid to be Christians or because it is a requirement for our job. We follow Jesus because we ourselves really, really want to. And that goes a long way in encouraging others we meet to consider believing in Christ themselves. They can't just say, "Well, I'm not a pastor (like you)."
But we most often think of a tentmaker as being a missionary.... that is, someone (usually from the West) who goes cross-culturally. But after serving here at our location for a number of years I asked myself, Why can't the nationals be tentmakers themselves without going cross-culturally? If tentmaking is an effective way for me to do ministry, why can't the nationals do ministry through tentmaking, too? If we really believe in the priesthood of all believers then I think that national tentmaking is the natural conclusion.
Now, this opened up a whole new can of worms in my thinking. And there is too much to put into one blog post. However, I still believe that nationals can be tentmakers for the same three reasons: Access, Financial Support and Association.
Access. In our location nationals are not free to travel about the country and live in any village they choose for any reason. They can move to a village they want, but they have to have a good reason. If they simply go to preach the gospel they will get arrested and all their property will be confiscated. However, if they go to do some sort of business then they are allowed to live in a village where they can do that.
Financial Support. In my post "Easy Money" I talked about some of the problems with simply paying people to do ministry. Well, there are more. For one, it is illegal in my location for a foreigner to hire a national to "spread religion." So, when people do that (and they do) it has to be "under the table." But it leaves the national without a good explanation for those in authority about the source of their funding. It raises suspicion. I personally know nationals who have been arrested and disappeared by the authorities never to be heard from again. But when a national works for a legitimate company or does legitimate business, the officials can clearly see how they make a living, and suspicions are eased.
Association. Beyond government officials, being a national tentmaker helps other nationals accept them as well. These national tentmakers are able to demonstrate that they aren't Christians because they're being paid to be Christians. They have to work to make a living just like everyone else. They follow Christ because they really believe in him, not because anyone expects them to.
So, to answer the question in my last post of what do we do with people who we've discipled... Well, some of them return home. Others go to work with us in some fashion. And some are being set up as national tentmakers.
During their time with us as interns we are able to get to know them really well. We don't promise to set anyone or everyone up as a national tentmaker... we don't even dangle it out in front of them. But when we see those who have a true heart for God and know they are ready, this is our goal--to put them in a position to reach people in very unreached places with the transforming love of Christ by doing a business that makes sense for our location.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Easy Money
Here at our location we are actively involved in discipleship. It is not the only thing we do. But I believe it is the core of what we are doing to reach this country and the many unreached people groups here. It would be easy to gather a bunch of people willing to go out and preach the gospel to other nationals here. However, if the right people aren't chosen, or if they are not properly discipled and prepared, it could be a disaster.
Corruption is a way of life in our location. Corruption is found, not only in the government and in those who serve as officials, officers and office workers, but in every other arena where money or power is found. In the market, people pay others off to get the corner stall. In private companies accountants and workers find ways to skim off money by lying and cheating. At the gas pump the attendants offer to write receipts for any amount you want so that the person buying fuel can keep the difference. In school, students get passing grades when when they buy "gifts" for their teachers. Many teachers encourage their students to cheat in order to pass. Far too many teachers offer special "tutoring" sessions at other times that students can attend for a small fee--and improve their chances of getting a good grade.
And corruption is found in the church, too. It is rampant. Money that is offered is kept by those in power. Money that is designated for certain people or needs is "taxed" by the pastors. Many pastors raise twice or triple the amount of money they need to build their churches. Those who have a position in the church try to use their faith to impress outsiders who might give them money. Often there is no accounting, no reporting and no transparency when it comes to the financial dealings of the pastor, who controls all the money. For all the things that are not taught about from the Bible, tithing is one that is never forgotten. And every single time an offering is gathered, the song "I Surrender All" is sung. I'm not kidding. If there is a second special offering, then they sing it twice.
It is the goal of many a young Christian here to be "sponsored" by a foreigner. Unlike in the US where many pastors make much less than the people in their congregations, here people can make out quite well on $50 a month, and live a much more comfortable life than they would if they were an upland farmer. So the idea of being "sponsored" to do any kind of ministry is very attractive. So much so, it attracts those who don't really have a heart for ministry but are interested in the good life.
So how do we avoid this? One way is that we have our young disciples do an internship. They live together up in the mountains, outside of town, and in addition to studying the Bible, they work. It is not very attractive because they don't make a lot of money (they make enough and more than they did before, but not anything to go ga-ga over) and they aren't studying English. Living in the country they don't have the opportunity to go to "fun" things in town like bars, dance clubs and festival events. Now, we do take them out on picnics, hikes and enjoyable things like that. But for those who are looking to just have fun and consume the foreigners money--well, they opt out. We have had more than one person decide to quit after joining us for a week. And that is okay. Our discipleship program is not for everyone. But we have designed it to help us weed out those who are not sincere and who are more interested in advancing themselves than they are in serving God and ministering to others.
Another way we avoid corruption is by giving our disciples good examples. They have all seen bad examples of Christians leaders. We want to show them there are those who are sincere and honest in their service to God. So, we have one such person who lives with our interns and disciples them on a daily basis. If they were to become like this man we will not be disappointed. We also bring in other national Christians to teach them for short-term series. We want them to see those national Christians who serve God in honest and effective ways and who aren't motivated or sustained by foreigners. We want to get past the idea (in national Christians' minds) that they can only do anything a foreigner sponsors them to do, and past the idea (in national non-Christians' minds) that Christianity is a foreign religion. Good national examples gives them the opportunity to see the light.
Another thing we do is we set high goals and standards for them. We have them read the entire Bible (most national Christians and even pastors have not ever done that). We have them memorize songs and scripture. We have them teach and share. We have them visit people in the village three times a week. We have them talk to the "big people" (village headmen and leaders), which is an intimidating thing for them to do, by inviting the village leaders to a dinner we host. We have them learn ways to do agriculture (raise fish, frogs, rabbits, plant fruit trees, soybeans, etc.) so that they will know how to feed themselves and their families without depending on anyone. In fact, that is one of our high standards for all of them--they must learn how to live AND serve God by working and making enough money to support themselves.
By the end of the internship everyone knows they haven't signed up for "easy money" from foreigners when they join with us. But they will have an example of how to live, work, eat and do ministry in a village by having done these very things with us.
So what do we do with them when we are finished? Stay tuned for my next post about that!
Corruption is a way of life in our location. Corruption is found, not only in the government and in those who serve as officials, officers and office workers, but in every other arena where money or power is found. In the market, people pay others off to get the corner stall. In private companies accountants and workers find ways to skim off money by lying and cheating. At the gas pump the attendants offer to write receipts for any amount you want so that the person buying fuel can keep the difference. In school, students get passing grades when when they buy "gifts" for their teachers. Many teachers encourage their students to cheat in order to pass. Far too many teachers offer special "tutoring" sessions at other times that students can attend for a small fee--and improve their chances of getting a good grade.
And corruption is found in the church, too. It is rampant. Money that is offered is kept by those in power. Money that is designated for certain people or needs is "taxed" by the pastors. Many pastors raise twice or triple the amount of money they need to build their churches. Those who have a position in the church try to use their faith to impress outsiders who might give them money. Often there is no accounting, no reporting and no transparency when it comes to the financial dealings of the pastor, who controls all the money. For all the things that are not taught about from the Bible, tithing is one that is never forgotten. And every single time an offering is gathered, the song "I Surrender All" is sung. I'm not kidding. If there is a second special offering, then they sing it twice.
It is the goal of many a young Christian here to be "sponsored" by a foreigner. Unlike in the US where many pastors make much less than the people in their congregations, here people can make out quite well on $50 a month, and live a much more comfortable life than they would if they were an upland farmer. So the idea of being "sponsored" to do any kind of ministry is very attractive. So much so, it attracts those who don't really have a heart for ministry but are interested in the good life.
So how do we avoid this? One way is that we have our young disciples do an internship. They live together up in the mountains, outside of town, and in addition to studying the Bible, they work. It is not very attractive because they don't make a lot of money (they make enough and more than they did before, but not anything to go ga-ga over) and they aren't studying English. Living in the country they don't have the opportunity to go to "fun" things in town like bars, dance clubs and festival events. Now, we do take them out on picnics, hikes and enjoyable things like that. But for those who are looking to just have fun and consume the foreigners money--well, they opt out. We have had more than one person decide to quit after joining us for a week. And that is okay. Our discipleship program is not for everyone. But we have designed it to help us weed out those who are not sincere and who are more interested in advancing themselves than they are in serving God and ministering to others.
Another way we avoid corruption is by giving our disciples good examples. They have all seen bad examples of Christians leaders. We want to show them there are those who are sincere and honest in their service to God. So, we have one such person who lives with our interns and disciples them on a daily basis. If they were to become like this man we will not be disappointed. We also bring in other national Christians to teach them for short-term series. We want them to see those national Christians who serve God in honest and effective ways and who aren't motivated or sustained by foreigners. We want to get past the idea (in national Christians' minds) that they can only do anything a foreigner sponsors them to do, and past the idea (in national non-Christians' minds) that Christianity is a foreign religion. Good national examples gives them the opportunity to see the light.
Another thing we do is we set high goals and standards for them. We have them read the entire Bible (most national Christians and even pastors have not ever done that). We have them memorize songs and scripture. We have them teach and share. We have them visit people in the village three times a week. We have them talk to the "big people" (village headmen and leaders), which is an intimidating thing for them to do, by inviting the village leaders to a dinner we host. We have them learn ways to do agriculture (raise fish, frogs, rabbits, plant fruit trees, soybeans, etc.) so that they will know how to feed themselves and their families without depending on anyone. In fact, that is one of our high standards for all of them--they must learn how to live AND serve God by working and making enough money to support themselves.
By the end of the internship everyone knows they haven't signed up for "easy money" from foreigners when they join with us. But they will have an example of how to live, work, eat and do ministry in a village by having done these very things with us.
So what do we do with them when we are finished? Stay tuned for my next post about that!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Jesus' Discipleship #8: Commission
Over the next few days I will share with you some of my thoughts regarding how we prepare young people to serve God. I believe that the most effective leaders are not the ones who are taught, but the ones who are discipled. Jesus knew what he was doing when he took twelve disciples to follow and serve with him for three years rather than opening a school offering classes on theology.
If you have been following this series on Jesus’ Discipleship then you know that the last stage of Jesus’ approach for preparing the twelve disciples is that he sends them out permanently. You may be familiar with the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20:
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus told his disciples to go make disciples. How do you think they would do that? Probably not a lot unlike the way Jesus made them disciples. A part of making disciples was to baptize them into Christ and teach them to obey Christ.
The book of Acts chronicles much of the early witness and ministry of these twelve men. And though they are not without problems (confusion about God’s mission, confusion about Jewish-Gentile relationships and issues, controversy about distribution of goods, persecution, etc.), they have certainly become emboldened in their faith. They have grown up. They have become men of God. Those who were once disciples have now become apostles.
What is an apostle? The word apostle originated from the Greek word apostolos. This word means “one sent.” It is the noun form of the verb “to send.” It is basically the same as the word “missionary,” which is derived from the Latin word “to send,” missio. Jesus said to them, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21) Jesus sent them with a mission when he told them to “go and make disciples of all nations….”
However, it would be remiss not to mention some of the significant events that happened in the lives of the disciples between the time when they were sent out on their short-term mission and the time they’re sent out permanently. These very events both tested them and further prepared them. Although, I don’t think we can repeat many of these for our own discipleship programs.
Messianic Storm. There was an incredible amount of hope surrounding Jesus during the later stages of his ministry on earth. The masses finally had an amazing sort of guy who was a good candidate to fulfill their prophetic hopes of a Messiah to come and save/lead them. Some believed. Some doubted. Many hoped. There was a storm of political and spiritual opinions blowing around Jesus and his disciples as they entered Jerusalem. The disciples were not immune to this storm and they knew they were near the center of all the talk in the city. They could feel that big things were about to happen, but they did not know what. They still didn’t understand what the promised Messiah would be. In fact, they still tended to think like the majority of people in Israel that he would be a political figure. They had no idea he had to die.
Final Meal. This wasn’t just any meal. It was full of anticipation. Jesus said his appointed time was near. (Matthew 26:18) As they were eating Jesus takes off his clothes and goes around washing everyone’s feet. He predicts his betrayal. He instructs them to eat the bread and drink the wine, symbols of his body and blood. Then he teaches them saying that their grief would turn to joy. The disciples didn’t understand.
Prayer. We see in John 17 that Jesus prayed for his disciples. He prayed earnestly. He committed all of his disciples to the Father. He prayed they would be one.
Betrayal. One of their own betrayed Jesus and had him arrested. This was a part of the Messianic storm—some believed Jesus to be a false messiah and wanted him dead. Perhaps Judas thought he could speed things along by forcing Jesus hand. We don’t know. But his betrayal played a part in the incredible events to follow. Jesus knew the betrayal was going to happen and told his disciples as much. But they all affirmed their allegiance and swore they would never fall away. But Jesus knew they didn’t even know what they were talking about. They would be tested.
Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion. Jesus was then arrested, tried and condemned to die by crucifixion—the most grueling form of capital punishment. His death proved to all the naysayers (so they thought) that Jesus was in fact NOT the messiah. (He was dead—how could he possibly redeem Israel now?) And his death crushed all the hopes of those who had believed—even the disciples. We can see this clearly in Luke 24:13-24 as two disciples talked with the risen Jesus not knowing it was him. “The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” They didn’t want to give up their faith, but their lack of understanding left them with no choice.
Resurrection. Seeing Jesus risen from the dead had a profound impact on the disciples. Well of course it did! How could it not have had an impact? Slowly, the disciples began to believe again, although their paradigms were not just being shifted—they were being torn out of place and moved to another hemisphere. Some still doubted and wondered why Jesus would be going up into heaven and not “redeeming Israel” as they still expected him to. But they would soon come to complete understanding that Jesus died to redeem people from sin and Satan’s kingdom.
Holy Spirit. Jesus gave them the Holy Spirit. We see in Acts 2 that they Holy Spirit caused the disciples to start speaking in all of the regional languages of the day. So they immediately started praising God in those languages and telling the native listeners (who were in town for the Pentecost festival) about Jesus. The mission was underway.
Though we can’t stage all of these events for each group of people we disciple, we can certainly help them understand what Jesus’ first disciples experienced. The same Jesus who died and rose again is still alive for us now. The same Holy Spirit who enabled and led the first disciples can enable and lead us now. The transformation those disciples experienced can be experienced by all of those who put their trust in Jesus and follow him as Lord in our days. The transformation is necessary. It motivates us to the point where we have to share the good news.
And so they were sent out. They were tried, tested, reaffirmed, ridiculed and persecuted. But they led thousands of people from many ethnicities to find forgiveness in Christ and reconciliation with God. The world would never be the same because of them. They were never the same because of Jesus. Many of them, if not all, were eventually put to death for their witness about Christ. And Jesus sent them ahead knowing this would be the case.
Like Jesus, we can pray for those we send out. Jesus prayed in John 17:11, “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one.” Even though they were martyred God protected them from Satan’s influence. They never gave up their faith again and they accomplished the mission of making disciples that Jesus had given them. May we pray that those we disciple will do the same.
Eight post summary:
1. Jesus’ life was already an ongoing example of effective ministry, of which he later included them, before he called them and before he sent them out to do ministry on their own.
2. After spending time in prayer Jesus chose specific people to be his disciples, to live with him and follow him for about three years. He chose a limited number of people and poured himself into them rather than trying to get as many as he could.
3. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled teaching appearances with his disciples but invited them to live with him 24/7. They did not only hear what he was about, they saw it every day.
4. Jesus spent time teaching his disciples important concepts and truths so they would have understanding. He taught them in ways that were not available for those in the general public who followed him.
5. Jesus responded to events, circumstances, questions and persecution in society and used these as a context to teach and train his disciples.
6. Jesus trained his disciples and gave them special abilities to minister to the felt needs of the people. In helping people with their physical problems they would have an audience for their spiritual message.
7. Jesus sent his disciples out to do ministry (preach and heal) on a temporary basis so they would have experience for when they would do so permanently. When they returned the disciples reported what they had done and Jesus debriefed them, teaching things they would not have learned except for their trial experience. Jesus didn’t send them cross-culturally but to those of the same culture so they could have an immediate impact.
8. Jesus sent out his disciples (now apostles) permanently after the series of incredible events that form the core of the gospel message that we have forgiveness of sins because of Jesus’ death and eternal life because of his resurrection. Jesus prayed earnestly for his disciples, enabled them by the Holy Spirit, and commissioned them to make disciples of all nations.
If you have been following this series on Jesus’ Discipleship then you know that the last stage of Jesus’ approach for preparing the twelve disciples is that he sends them out permanently. You may be familiar with the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20:
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus told his disciples to go make disciples. How do you think they would do that? Probably not a lot unlike the way Jesus made them disciples. A part of making disciples was to baptize them into Christ and teach them to obey Christ.
The book of Acts chronicles much of the early witness and ministry of these twelve men. And though they are not without problems (confusion about God’s mission, confusion about Jewish-Gentile relationships and issues, controversy about distribution of goods, persecution, etc.), they have certainly become emboldened in their faith. They have grown up. They have become men of God. Those who were once disciples have now become apostles.
What is an apostle? The word apostle originated from the Greek word apostolos. This word means “one sent.” It is the noun form of the verb “to send.” It is basically the same as the word “missionary,” which is derived from the Latin word “to send,” missio. Jesus said to them, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21) Jesus sent them with a mission when he told them to “go and make disciples of all nations….”
However, it would be remiss not to mention some of the significant events that happened in the lives of the disciples between the time when they were sent out on their short-term mission and the time they’re sent out permanently. These very events both tested them and further prepared them. Although, I don’t think we can repeat many of these for our own discipleship programs.
Messianic Storm. There was an incredible amount of hope surrounding Jesus during the later stages of his ministry on earth. The masses finally had an amazing sort of guy who was a good candidate to fulfill their prophetic hopes of a Messiah to come and save/lead them. Some believed. Some doubted. Many hoped. There was a storm of political and spiritual opinions blowing around Jesus and his disciples as they entered Jerusalem. The disciples were not immune to this storm and they knew they were near the center of all the talk in the city. They could feel that big things were about to happen, but they did not know what. They still didn’t understand what the promised Messiah would be. In fact, they still tended to think like the majority of people in Israel that he would be a political figure. They had no idea he had to die.
Final Meal. This wasn’t just any meal. It was full of anticipation. Jesus said his appointed time was near. (Matthew 26:18) As they were eating Jesus takes off his clothes and goes around washing everyone’s feet. He predicts his betrayal. He instructs them to eat the bread and drink the wine, symbols of his body and blood. Then he teaches them saying that their grief would turn to joy. The disciples didn’t understand.
Prayer. We see in John 17 that Jesus prayed for his disciples. He prayed earnestly. He committed all of his disciples to the Father. He prayed they would be one.
Betrayal. One of their own betrayed Jesus and had him arrested. This was a part of the Messianic storm—some believed Jesus to be a false messiah and wanted him dead. Perhaps Judas thought he could speed things along by forcing Jesus hand. We don’t know. But his betrayal played a part in the incredible events to follow. Jesus knew the betrayal was going to happen and told his disciples as much. But they all affirmed their allegiance and swore they would never fall away. But Jesus knew they didn’t even know what they were talking about. They would be tested.
Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion. Jesus was then arrested, tried and condemned to die by crucifixion—the most grueling form of capital punishment. His death proved to all the naysayers (so they thought) that Jesus was in fact NOT the messiah. (He was dead—how could he possibly redeem Israel now?) And his death crushed all the hopes of those who had believed—even the disciples. We can see this clearly in Luke 24:13-24 as two disciples talked with the risen Jesus not knowing it was him. “The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” They didn’t want to give up their faith, but their lack of understanding left them with no choice.
Resurrection. Seeing Jesus risen from the dead had a profound impact on the disciples. Well of course it did! How could it not have had an impact? Slowly, the disciples began to believe again, although their paradigms were not just being shifted—they were being torn out of place and moved to another hemisphere. Some still doubted and wondered why Jesus would be going up into heaven and not “redeeming Israel” as they still expected him to. But they would soon come to complete understanding that Jesus died to redeem people from sin and Satan’s kingdom.
Holy Spirit. Jesus gave them the Holy Spirit. We see in Acts 2 that they Holy Spirit caused the disciples to start speaking in all of the regional languages of the day. So they immediately started praising God in those languages and telling the native listeners (who were in town for the Pentecost festival) about Jesus. The mission was underway.
Though we can’t stage all of these events for each group of people we disciple, we can certainly help them understand what Jesus’ first disciples experienced. The same Jesus who died and rose again is still alive for us now. The same Holy Spirit who enabled and led the first disciples can enable and lead us now. The transformation those disciples experienced can be experienced by all of those who put their trust in Jesus and follow him as Lord in our days. The transformation is necessary. It motivates us to the point where we have to share the good news.
And so they were sent out. They were tried, tested, reaffirmed, ridiculed and persecuted. But they led thousands of people from many ethnicities to find forgiveness in Christ and reconciliation with God. The world would never be the same because of them. They were never the same because of Jesus. Many of them, if not all, were eventually put to death for their witness about Christ. And Jesus sent them ahead knowing this would be the case.
Like Jesus, we can pray for those we send out. Jesus prayed in John 17:11, “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one.” Even though they were martyred God protected them from Satan’s influence. They never gave up their faith again and they accomplished the mission of making disciples that Jesus had given them. May we pray that those we disciple will do the same.
Eight post summary:
1. Jesus’ life was already an ongoing example of effective ministry, of which he later included them, before he called them and before he sent them out to do ministry on their own.
2. After spending time in prayer Jesus chose specific people to be his disciples, to live with him and follow him for about three years. He chose a limited number of people and poured himself into them rather than trying to get as many as he could.
3. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled teaching appearances with his disciples but invited them to live with him 24/7. They did not only hear what he was about, they saw it every day.
4. Jesus spent time teaching his disciples important concepts and truths so they would have understanding. He taught them in ways that were not available for those in the general public who followed him.
5. Jesus responded to events, circumstances, questions and persecution in society and used these as a context to teach and train his disciples.
6. Jesus trained his disciples and gave them special abilities to minister to the felt needs of the people. In helping people with their physical problems they would have an audience for their spiritual message.
7. Jesus sent his disciples out to do ministry (preach and heal) on a temporary basis so they would have experience for when they would do so permanently. When they returned the disciples reported what they had done and Jesus debriefed them, teaching things they would not have learned except for their trial experience. Jesus didn’t send them cross-culturally but to those of the same culture so they could have an immediate impact.
8. Jesus sent out his disciples (now apostles) permanently after the series of incredible events that form the core of the gospel message that we have forgiveness of sins because of Jesus’ death and eternal life because of his resurrection. Jesus prayed earnestly for his disciples, enabled them by the Holy Spirit, and commissioned them to make disciples of all nations.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Jesus' Discipleship #7: Send and Debrief
Over the next few days I will share with you some of my thoughts regarding how we prepare young people to serve God. I believe that the most effective leaders are not the ones who are taught, but the ones who are discipled. Jesus knew what he was doing when he took twelve disciples to follow and serve with him for three years rather than opening a school offering classes on theology.
Jesus’ ultimate purpose in taking disciples and training them was to one day send them out to teach and do ministry on their own in a similar fashion to how they were doing it with Jesus. But Jesus didn’t just dump them on the world. Before he sent them out permanently, he sent them out temporarily.
Before sending them out, Jesus instructed them on what to do (preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick) and when they returned they reported to Jesus all they had done. (Luke 9:1-10) Jesus took them away to a quiet place to get some rest (Mark 6:31) and presumably “debrief” them on all they did and encountered. When Jesus sent out 72 disciples in a similar fashion in Luke 10, it is clear that Jesus was careful to correct some potentially dangerous thinking when he debriefed them. They excitedly reported to Jesus that even demons submitted to them in his name. But Jesus warned them to be excited about their salvation, not about their presumed spiritual power.
By sending the disciples out for a “short-term mission” they not only gained valuable experience for when the time came to do it on their own, but Jesus was also able to teach them in ways that would be impossible if they hadn’t had those experiences. By debriefing them, Jesus helped prepare them even more.
Another interesting point is that Jesus didn’t send them cross-cultural for this experience. Certainly, that time would come and we see it when we read the book of Acts. However, in Matthew 10:5-6 he says, “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.” It would be a mistake to say that it was because Jesus was teaching them to look down upon outsiders that he didn’t send his disciples to them. No, at the end of the same book (Matthew 28) we see Jesus sending them to “all nations.” My thought is that Jesus knew they would only be going for a short time so he sent them to people with whom he knew they could make an immediate impact. Sending them to other ethnicities would have required more time for them to learn the languages and cultures. That would come later (Acts 2 when they were given the ability to speak these other languages), but for now, they would serve with people in their same culture. By doing this they were still prepared to do so cross-culturally in the future.
Note: It would be incorrect to call what the disciples did on their short-term trip an “internship.” That is because an internship is usually done under the tutelage of someone more experienced. It would be more appropriate to call the three-year time they spent with Jesus their “internship” and their short-term mission a “trial ministry.” If we prepared our young brothers and sisters in the US for ministry in the same way, they would do a three-year internship under the tutelage of an effective minister/ministry while being taught through that experience, and then they would be sent out to do ministry in a separate, unsupervised location, for a short period of time as a trial ministry, before being sent out to do permanent ministry.
Seven post summary:
1. Jesus’ life was already an ongoing example of effective ministry, of which he later included them, before he called them and before he sent them out to do ministry on their own.
2. After spending time in prayer Jesus chose specific people to be his disciples, to live with him and follow him for about three years. He chose a limited number of people and poured himself into them rather than trying to get as many as he could.
3. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled teaching appearances with his disciples but invited them to live with him 24/7. They did not only hear what he was about, they saw it every day.
4. Jesus spent time teaching his disciples important concepts and truths so they would have understanding. He taught them in ways that were not available for those in the general public who followed him.
5. Jesus responded to events, circumstances, questions and persecution in society and used these as a context to teach and train his disciples.
6. Jesus trained his disciples and gave them special abilities to minister to the felt needs of the people. In helping people with their physical problems they would have an audience for their spiritual message.
7. Jesus sent his disciples out to do ministry (preach and heal) on a temporary basis so they would have experience for when they would do so permanently. When they returned the disciples reported what they had done and Jesus debriefed them, teaching things they would not have learned except for their trial experience. Jesus didn’t send them cross-culturally but to those of the same culture so they could have an immediate impact.
Jesus’ ultimate purpose in taking disciples and training them was to one day send them out to teach and do ministry on their own in a similar fashion to how they were doing it with Jesus. But Jesus didn’t just dump them on the world. Before he sent them out permanently, he sent them out temporarily.
Before sending them out, Jesus instructed them on what to do (preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick) and when they returned they reported to Jesus all they had done. (Luke 9:1-10) Jesus took them away to a quiet place to get some rest (Mark 6:31) and presumably “debrief” them on all they did and encountered. When Jesus sent out 72 disciples in a similar fashion in Luke 10, it is clear that Jesus was careful to correct some potentially dangerous thinking when he debriefed them. They excitedly reported to Jesus that even demons submitted to them in his name. But Jesus warned them to be excited about their salvation, not about their presumed spiritual power.
By sending the disciples out for a “short-term mission” they not only gained valuable experience for when the time came to do it on their own, but Jesus was also able to teach them in ways that would be impossible if they hadn’t had those experiences. By debriefing them, Jesus helped prepare them even more.
Another interesting point is that Jesus didn’t send them cross-cultural for this experience. Certainly, that time would come and we see it when we read the book of Acts. However, in Matthew 10:5-6 he says, “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.” It would be a mistake to say that it was because Jesus was teaching them to look down upon outsiders that he didn’t send his disciples to them. No, at the end of the same book (Matthew 28) we see Jesus sending them to “all nations.” My thought is that Jesus knew they would only be going for a short time so he sent them to people with whom he knew they could make an immediate impact. Sending them to other ethnicities would have required more time for them to learn the languages and cultures. That would come later (Acts 2 when they were given the ability to speak these other languages), but for now, they would serve with people in their same culture. By doing this they were still prepared to do so cross-culturally in the future.
Note: It would be incorrect to call what the disciples did on their short-term trip an “internship.” That is because an internship is usually done under the tutelage of someone more experienced. It would be more appropriate to call the three-year time they spent with Jesus their “internship” and their short-term mission a “trial ministry.” If we prepared our young brothers and sisters in the US for ministry in the same way, they would do a three-year internship under the tutelage of an effective minister/ministry while being taught through that experience, and then they would be sent out to do ministry in a separate, unsupervised location, for a short period of time as a trial ministry, before being sent out to do permanent ministry.
Seven post summary:
1. Jesus’ life was already an ongoing example of effective ministry, of which he later included them, before he called them and before he sent them out to do ministry on their own.
2. After spending time in prayer Jesus chose specific people to be his disciples, to live with him and follow him for about three years. He chose a limited number of people and poured himself into them rather than trying to get as many as he could.
3. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled teaching appearances with his disciples but invited them to live with him 24/7. They did not only hear what he was about, they saw it every day.
4. Jesus spent time teaching his disciples important concepts and truths so they would have understanding. He taught them in ways that were not available for those in the general public who followed him.
5. Jesus responded to events, circumstances, questions and persecution in society and used these as a context to teach and train his disciples.
6. Jesus trained his disciples and gave them special abilities to minister to the felt needs of the people. In helping people with their physical problems they would have an audience for their spiritual message.
7. Jesus sent his disciples out to do ministry (preach and heal) on a temporary basis so they would have experience for when they would do so permanently. When they returned the disciples reported what they had done and Jesus debriefed them, teaching things they would not have learned except for their trial experience. Jesus didn’t send them cross-culturally but to those of the same culture so they could have an immediate impact.
Church Identity
I have some more church thoughts tonight...
In the last post I said that often our churches don't grow because we have a misunderstanding of what church really is. And I would love to spend time... and I certainly will as time goes on... talking about what the church is really supposed to be in God's eyes. But tonight I want to talk a little bit about the importance of knowing what the church is really supposed to be.
I don't think it is important.
What!!! That can't be! Well, let me explain...
I do think that it is important to dismantle misunderstandings about the church in order for us to get out of the ruts and get moving in the right direction. And, with correcting misunderstandings you will probably be using correct understandings to do so. That is fine. But...
I think when the Bible uses the word church it is a descriptive term and not a proscriptive one. The Bible describes the church, and refers to the church, but I don't think it ever says... This is what the church should be.... Now, it does say how people should be in the church, but never gets down to defining what the church should be at each location around the world. (Please correct me if I'm wrong and I'm missing something.)
Church is what happens when people come together as they seek, serve, follow and praise Jesus in their lives. Church is the people of God who are called by Christ's name. Church is those people who are a part of God's family. Church is everyone who has pledged their allegiance to Christ. And if we talk about a local church, that is just the same thing as above for those who live close enough to share that faith, fellowship and service on a regular basis.
But do you see where the focus is? It is on Christ. Do you see where their identity lies? In Christ. Do you see where their commitment is placed? On Christ. Their identity is defined by being in Christ. Nothing else defines them further other than location.
In our day and age we might have a hundred "churches" in a given city. Usually we can see the definitions between churches by looking at their buildings. Others we can see the definitions by seeing who is in attendance on Sunday morning. If we looked deeper, we might see the lines of definition in the membership registries. We can certainly see the definitions between various denominations. We have made all kinds of sub-divided categories in which we "identify" ourselves as being this church and not that church. But what possible identity could/should we have as a church that is different from what God wants for all churches?
So, even if we are trying to do a new work and remove many of the misunderstandings about church I don't think it is important to somehow define our new group as "the church that doesn't have misunderstandings about church." I don't think we need to find a niche or a special identity, "Our church is...." Sure, we will have an identity. Sure, our group will have a definite flavor, style and emphasis. Sure, we may be more on target than other groups of Christians that meet together regularly. But it just doesn't have to be consciously defined.
The only thing that has to be consciously defined is Christ. We find our identity in him. We should gather because we're excited about him not because we're excited about ourselves gathered together. We must take our focus off of "our church" and put it on Christ.
So I don't think it is so important for us to consciously know what the church is really supposed to be because if we are consciously seeking Christ and are really following his will then we are already what the church is supposed to be.
In the last post I said that often our churches don't grow because we have a misunderstanding of what church really is. And I would love to spend time... and I certainly will as time goes on... talking about what the church is really supposed to be in God's eyes. But tonight I want to talk a little bit about the importance of knowing what the church is really supposed to be.
I don't think it is important.
What!!! That can't be! Well, let me explain...
I do think that it is important to dismantle misunderstandings about the church in order for us to get out of the ruts and get moving in the right direction. And, with correcting misunderstandings you will probably be using correct understandings to do so. That is fine. But...
I think when the Bible uses the word church it is a descriptive term and not a proscriptive one. The Bible describes the church, and refers to the church, but I don't think it ever says... This is what the church should be.... Now, it does say how people should be in the church, but never gets down to defining what the church should be at each location around the world. (Please correct me if I'm wrong and I'm missing something.)
Church is what happens when people come together as they seek, serve, follow and praise Jesus in their lives. Church is the people of God who are called by Christ's name. Church is those people who are a part of God's family. Church is everyone who has pledged their allegiance to Christ. And if we talk about a local church, that is just the same thing as above for those who live close enough to share that faith, fellowship and service on a regular basis.
But do you see where the focus is? It is on Christ. Do you see where their identity lies? In Christ. Do you see where their commitment is placed? On Christ. Their identity is defined by being in Christ. Nothing else defines them further other than location.
In our day and age we might have a hundred "churches" in a given city. Usually we can see the definitions between churches by looking at their buildings. Others we can see the definitions by seeing who is in attendance on Sunday morning. If we looked deeper, we might see the lines of definition in the membership registries. We can certainly see the definitions between various denominations. We have made all kinds of sub-divided categories in which we "identify" ourselves as being this church and not that church. But what possible identity could/should we have as a church that is different from what God wants for all churches?
So, even if we are trying to do a new work and remove many of the misunderstandings about church I don't think it is important to somehow define our new group as "the church that doesn't have misunderstandings about church." I don't think we need to find a niche or a special identity, "Our church is...." Sure, we will have an identity. Sure, our group will have a definite flavor, style and emphasis. Sure, we may be more on target than other groups of Christians that meet together regularly. But it just doesn't have to be consciously defined.
The only thing that has to be consciously defined is Christ. We find our identity in him. We should gather because we're excited about him not because we're excited about ourselves gathered together. We must take our focus off of "our church" and put it on Christ.
So I don't think it is so important for us to consciously know what the church is really supposed to be because if we are consciously seeking Christ and are really following his will then we are already what the church is supposed to be.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Vendor-Dispenser
One reason the church doesn't grow very well (anywhere in the world) is because we often misunderstand what the church is.
Now, I am not one to blame those who come to church for having wrong ideas about the church. I don't think it is effective. I don't think we make much of a difference when we build big beautiful church buildings, encourage people to give special offerings to build it, have dedication services and prayers, refer to the auditorium as a "sanctuary," pretty much only use it for Sunday worship services, adorn it with crosses and other lavish decorations and then tell people, "Now remember... this is not a temple. Your body is a temple of the Lord." Even if we repeated that every Sunday (which we wouldn't do because that would get too repetitive) people still wouldn't get it. They would still have notions of the building being some sort of sacred place. They would still call it a "church."
I agree we need to teach people what the truth is, but I also think it is up to those who are in charge of things to be responsible for not reinforcing misunderstandings by how we set things up or do them. One good way of not allowing people to think of the church building as a sacred place (a temple) is not to have one. One good way of not allowing people to think that the preacher is clergy is not to have one preacher, but to regularly have people with full-time money-making jobs do the preaching and share responsibility for it. One good way of not allowing people to think that church is a service on Sunday morning (a mass) is not to offer regular public services, but have meetings with people in the community many times a week and new people who come are those who are invited by those who are already a part.
In any case, one of the main misunderstandings about the church is that it is a place to get some spiritual goods. Now, if we view it as buying these goods (because we give an offering) then the church is a Spiritual Goods Vendor. If we view it as receiving it for free, then the church is a Spiritual Goods Dispenser. Either way we have some big misunderstandings. Read what Aaron Saufley writes in his blog The Road Less Traveled:
“If you see the church as a provider of spiritual goods and services for you, you’re not seeking the good of the church… you’re a parasite. But if you see the church as the forgiven community of God (it’s a beautiful mess, really) who is on mission with Jesus to take back people and places for the kingdom, then you seek the church’s good.”
Aaron gets it. I hope that we can see the church as God's community on mission with Jesus. Very good.
Now, I am not one to blame those who come to church for having wrong ideas about the church. I don't think it is effective. I don't think we make much of a difference when we build big beautiful church buildings, encourage people to give special offerings to build it, have dedication services and prayers, refer to the auditorium as a "sanctuary," pretty much only use it for Sunday worship services, adorn it with crosses and other lavish decorations and then tell people, "Now remember... this is not a temple. Your body is a temple of the Lord." Even if we repeated that every Sunday (which we wouldn't do because that would get too repetitive) people still wouldn't get it. They would still have notions of the building being some sort of sacred place. They would still call it a "church."
I agree we need to teach people what the truth is, but I also think it is up to those who are in charge of things to be responsible for not reinforcing misunderstandings by how we set things up or do them. One good way of not allowing people to think of the church building as a sacred place (a temple) is not to have one. One good way of not allowing people to think that the preacher is clergy is not to have one preacher, but to regularly have people with full-time money-making jobs do the preaching and share responsibility for it. One good way of not allowing people to think that church is a service on Sunday morning (a mass) is not to offer regular public services, but have meetings with people in the community many times a week and new people who come are those who are invited by those who are already a part.
In any case, one of the main misunderstandings about the church is that it is a place to get some spiritual goods. Now, if we view it as buying these goods (because we give an offering) then the church is a Spiritual Goods Vendor. If we view it as receiving it for free, then the church is a Spiritual Goods Dispenser. Either way we have some big misunderstandings. Read what Aaron Saufley writes in his blog The Road Less Traveled:
“If you see the church as a provider of spiritual goods and services for you, you’re not seeking the good of the church… you’re a parasite. But if you see the church as the forgiven community of God (it’s a beautiful mess, really) who is on mission with Jesus to take back people and places for the kingdom, then you seek the church’s good.”
Aaron gets it. I hope that we can see the church as God's community on mission with Jesus. Very good.
Jesus' Discipleship #6: Impart Abilities
Over the next few days I will share with you some of my thoughts regarding how we prepare young people to serve God. I believe that the most effective leaders are not the ones who are taught, but the ones who are discipled. Jesus knew what he was doing when he took twelve disciples to follow and serve with him for three years rather than opening a school offering classes on theology.
The tall African man stood up in front of the class and asked the room full of mid-western Bible college students, “When you come to my country with your Bible degree—what do you have to offer the people here? Will our government let you in? Will a company hire you to fill a position? Will you know how to install water systems? Will you know how to grow crops to feed the hungry or vaccinate their livestock? Will you know how to train the people in health education? Will you be able to teach them about business? Will you be able to process and market their products to international companies?”
The point was well-taken. Many times we are prepared only for spiritual needs and strategies for planting churches. We have learned the Bible well, but we have nothing to offer people in the areas they are most concerned about. True, people’s greatest need is to be forgiven and reconciled to God—but addressing felt needs is often the best way that we show love and compassion and open the door to spiritual transformation. Jesus did this very thing. He healed the sick. He fed the hungry. And he also preached repentance to those same people.
Jesus also equipped his disciples to meet the felt needs of people. Jesus trained his disciples and gave them special abilities to use among the people. In Matthew 10 Jesus sends out his twelve disciples on a short-term mission and instructs them to preach the message of God’s kingdom, and to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, [and] drive out demons.” (Matthew 10:8)
But before he sent them out, Matthew 10:1 says that Jesus, “gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” Before he sent them out, he prepared them to deal with the real issues people were facing. In helping people with their physical problems they would have an audience for their spiritual message.
An important part of our discipleship program here at our location is training our young interns in agriculture. Because a large percentage of the population of this country works in agriculture, this is a very important subject. In particular, we teach our interns to be able to do certain things that most nationals don’t already know how to do, such as raise tilapia or frogs, make organic fertilizer, grow soybeans, cultivate and plant fruit trees. Even if our interns do not continue on to work with us, they have valuable skills to use and introduce to their own villages. These will help them not only to feed their own families, but to help others to feed their families, too. It will also give them an opportunity to build relationships with people and share the message of Christ.
Six post summary:
1. Jesus’ life was already an ongoing example of effective ministry, of which he later included them, before he called them and before he sent them out to do ministry on their own.
2. After spending time in prayer Jesus chose specific people to be his disciples, to live with him and follow him for about three years. He chose a limited number of people and poured himself into them rather than trying to get as many as he could.
3. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled teaching appearances with his disciples but invited them to live with him 24/7. They did not only hear what he was about, they saw it every day.
4. Jesus spent time teaching his disciples important concepts and truths so they would have understanding. He taught them in ways that were not available for those in the general public who followed him.
5. Jesus responded to events, circumstances, questions and persecution in society and used these as a context to teach and train his disciples.
6. Jesus trained his disciples and gave them special abilities to minister to the felt needs of the people. In helping people with their physical problems they would have an audience for their spiritual message.
The tall African man stood up in front of the class and asked the room full of mid-western Bible college students, “When you come to my country with your Bible degree—what do you have to offer the people here? Will our government let you in? Will a company hire you to fill a position? Will you know how to install water systems? Will you know how to grow crops to feed the hungry or vaccinate their livestock? Will you know how to train the people in health education? Will you be able to teach them about business? Will you be able to process and market their products to international companies?”
The point was well-taken. Many times we are prepared only for spiritual needs and strategies for planting churches. We have learned the Bible well, but we have nothing to offer people in the areas they are most concerned about. True, people’s greatest need is to be forgiven and reconciled to God—but addressing felt needs is often the best way that we show love and compassion and open the door to spiritual transformation. Jesus did this very thing. He healed the sick. He fed the hungry. And he also preached repentance to those same people.
Jesus also equipped his disciples to meet the felt needs of people. Jesus trained his disciples and gave them special abilities to use among the people. In Matthew 10 Jesus sends out his twelve disciples on a short-term mission and instructs them to preach the message of God’s kingdom, and to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, [and] drive out demons.” (Matthew 10:8)
But before he sent them out, Matthew 10:1 says that Jesus, “gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” Before he sent them out, he prepared them to deal with the real issues people were facing. In helping people with their physical problems they would have an audience for their spiritual message.
An important part of our discipleship program here at our location is training our young interns in agriculture. Because a large percentage of the population of this country works in agriculture, this is a very important subject. In particular, we teach our interns to be able to do certain things that most nationals don’t already know how to do, such as raise tilapia or frogs, make organic fertilizer, grow soybeans, cultivate and plant fruit trees. Even if our interns do not continue on to work with us, they have valuable skills to use and introduce to their own villages. These will help them not only to feed their own families, but to help others to feed their families, too. It will also give them an opportunity to build relationships with people and share the message of Christ.
Six post summary:
1. Jesus’ life was already an ongoing example of effective ministry, of which he later included them, before he called them and before he sent them out to do ministry on their own.
2. After spending time in prayer Jesus chose specific people to be his disciples, to live with him and follow him for about three years. He chose a limited number of people and poured himself into them rather than trying to get as many as he could.
3. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled teaching appearances with his disciples but invited them to live with him 24/7. They did not only hear what he was about, they saw it every day.
4. Jesus spent time teaching his disciples important concepts and truths so they would have understanding. He taught them in ways that were not available for those in the general public who followed him.
5. Jesus responded to events, circumstances, questions and persecution in society and used these as a context to teach and train his disciples.
6. Jesus trained his disciples and gave them special abilities to minister to the felt needs of the people. In helping people with their physical problems they would have an audience for their spiritual message.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Jesus' Discipleship #5: Crux of Discipleship
Over the next few days I will share with you some of my thoughts regarding how we prepare young people to serve God. I believe that the most effective leaders are not the ones who are taught, but the ones who are discipled. Jesus knew what he was doing when he took twelve disciples to follow and serve with him for three years rather than opening a school offering classes on theology.
Perhaps the crux of discipleship that Jesus employed with his 12 disciples was responding to events, circumstances, questions and persecution.
In living life together you face everything together. When things happened to Jesus, the disciples were right there with him. When things happened to the disciples, Jesus was right there with them. How Jesus would respond to such events became some of the most crucial and memorable teaching moments of his time with the twelve disciples. In fact, in reading the Gospels, the bulk of the narrative about Jesus and his disciples is in describing how Jesus responded to events and questions that arose in the course of their lives together. These instances became the most critical lessons the disciples learned. And one could argue that these lessons were learned much better than any other thing they were taught.
When the people brought children to Jesus and the disciples balked, Jesus taught them about their importance to God. (Matthew 19:13-15)
When Jesus saw the widow offer her two pennies to the temple treasury, he pointed it out and taught his disciples about giving their all. (Luke 21:1-4)
When Jesus observed the condition of self-righteousness in the religious leaders, he told a parable to his disciples about a tax-collector begging for mercy and humbling himself before God. (Luke 18:9-14)
When a rich young man approached Jesus and asked him how to be saved, Jesus taught about sacrifice. (Matthew 19:16-30)
When Jesus saw a crowd of hungry people he responded by miraculously feeding them. (John 6:1-13)
When the Pharisees opposed Jesus and complained about his disciples “unlawfully” eating the heads of grain on the Sabbath, Jesus taught from the Old Testament about the meaning of the Sabbath. (Mark 2:23-27)
When friends of a paralyzed man lowered him through a roof in front of Jesus, Jesus forgave his sins and healed him. (Mark 2:1-12)
So many more examples could be raised. And one thing is true--had the disciples not been living together with Jesus 24/7, most of these opportunities would have been lost. But this demonstrates the power of the witness of a godly person who puts himself in contact with society and responds in godly ways to events, circumstances, needs, questions and persecutions.
We would do well to simply follow Jesus’ example and do away with religious “programs” all together. Instead of planning an event and inviting people to it, Jesus went out among the general population and did effective ministry by responding to events that arose in everyday life. And then he used those situations and responses to teach and train his disciples. After seeing how Jesus performed among society, the disciples would have a good basis for doing likewise on their own.
One of the most exciting parts of our discipleship training here in our location is that several times a week our interns visit people in the adjoining village. They go out with no agenda other than to spend time with the people, get to know them and to be sensitive to ways in which they can serve those they meet. In the course of doing this they have helped people prepare their crops for the market, repaired their houses and participated in many conversations about God and the Bible. Responding to real events and real people becomes one of the most effective forms of ministry we can do.
Five post summary:
1. Jesus’ life was already an ongoing example of effective ministry, of which he later included them, before he called them and before he sent them out to do ministry on their own.
2. After spending time in prayer Jesus chose specific people to be his disciples, to live with him and follow him for about three years. He chose a limited number of people and poured himself into them rather than trying to get as many as he could.
3. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled teaching appearances with his disciples but invited them to live with him 24/7. They did not only hear what he was about, they saw it every day.
4. Jesus spent time teaching his disciples important concepts and truths so they would have understanding. He taught them in ways that were not available for those in the general public who followed him.
5. Jesus responded to events, circumstances, questions and persecution in society and used these as a context to teach and train his disciples.
Perhaps the crux of discipleship that Jesus employed with his 12 disciples was responding to events, circumstances, questions and persecution.
In living life together you face everything together. When things happened to Jesus, the disciples were right there with him. When things happened to the disciples, Jesus was right there with them. How Jesus would respond to such events became some of the most crucial and memorable teaching moments of his time with the twelve disciples. In fact, in reading the Gospels, the bulk of the narrative about Jesus and his disciples is in describing how Jesus responded to events and questions that arose in the course of their lives together. These instances became the most critical lessons the disciples learned. And one could argue that these lessons were learned much better than any other thing they were taught.
When the people brought children to Jesus and the disciples balked, Jesus taught them about their importance to God. (Matthew 19:13-15)
When Jesus saw the widow offer her two pennies to the temple treasury, he pointed it out and taught his disciples about giving their all. (Luke 21:1-4)
When Jesus observed the condition of self-righteousness in the religious leaders, he told a parable to his disciples about a tax-collector begging for mercy and humbling himself before God. (Luke 18:9-14)
When a rich young man approached Jesus and asked him how to be saved, Jesus taught about sacrifice. (Matthew 19:16-30)
When Jesus saw a crowd of hungry people he responded by miraculously feeding them. (John 6:1-13)
When the Pharisees opposed Jesus and complained about his disciples “unlawfully” eating the heads of grain on the Sabbath, Jesus taught from the Old Testament about the meaning of the Sabbath. (Mark 2:23-27)
When friends of a paralyzed man lowered him through a roof in front of Jesus, Jesus forgave his sins and healed him. (Mark 2:1-12)
So many more examples could be raised. And one thing is true--had the disciples not been living together with Jesus 24/7, most of these opportunities would have been lost. But this demonstrates the power of the witness of a godly person who puts himself in contact with society and responds in godly ways to events, circumstances, needs, questions and persecutions.
We would do well to simply follow Jesus’ example and do away with religious “programs” all together. Instead of planning an event and inviting people to it, Jesus went out among the general population and did effective ministry by responding to events that arose in everyday life. And then he used those situations and responses to teach and train his disciples. After seeing how Jesus performed among society, the disciples would have a good basis for doing likewise on their own.
One of the most exciting parts of our discipleship training here in our location is that several times a week our interns visit people in the adjoining village. They go out with no agenda other than to spend time with the people, get to know them and to be sensitive to ways in which they can serve those they meet. In the course of doing this they have helped people prepare their crops for the market, repaired their houses and participated in many conversations about God and the Bible. Responding to real events and real people becomes one of the most effective forms of ministry we can do.
Five post summary:
1. Jesus’ life was already an ongoing example of effective ministry, of which he later included them, before he called them and before he sent them out to do ministry on their own.
2. After spending time in prayer Jesus chose specific people to be his disciples, to live with him and follow him for about three years. He chose a limited number of people and poured himself into them rather than trying to get as many as he could.
3. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled teaching appearances with his disciples but invited them to live with him 24/7. They did not only hear what he was about, they saw it every day.
4. Jesus spent time teaching his disciples important concepts and truths so they would have understanding. He taught them in ways that were not available for those in the general public who followed him.
5. Jesus responded to events, circumstances, questions and persecution in society and used these as a context to teach and train his disciples.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Jesus' Discipleship #4: Ears to Hear
Over the next few days I will share with you some of my thoughts regarding how we prepare young people to serve God. I believe that the most effective leaders are not the ones who are taught, but the ones who are discipled. Jesus knew what he was doing when he took twelve disciples to follow and serve with him for three years rather than opening a school offering classes on theology.
Discipleship requires teaching. Yes, discipleship is more than academic training. Yes, the best lessons our disciples can learn will come from the examples we give them. But if we are going to dismantle wrong ways of thinking and open their eyes to understanding relevant truths, we have to explain some things.
If we read in the gospels we will see Jesus telling the masses a lot of stories. Parables. Sometimes we assume that Jesus’ reason for telling stories was simply his folksy nature of reaching out to normal people. It is true that people will remember a story much longer than they will a theory, so using stories is an effective form of communication. However, there were political reasons, too.
When Jesus told his stories he often said something to the effect of, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” To ‘hear’ means to understand. Jesus wanted people to understand, but he wanted them to think about it, too. Those who would mull over the meaning of one of Jesus’ stories, and then figure out the meaning, would be one who had “ears to hear.” This also means that there would be those who wouldn’t understand the meaning of Jesus’ words. Stating plainly to the world, “I am the Christ,” would have some severe consequences. First, it would be a miscommunication knowing that most people had a misconception about who the messiah was to be and what he was to do. Second, such a statement would have gotten Jesus arrested a lot faster than he did. The time was not yet right as Jesus had to prepare his disciples first.
With that in mind, Jesus often pulled his disciples aside and explained to them the meaning of parables. He would teach them in ways not available for those in the general public who followed him. Even if the disciples didn’t have “ears to hear” for themselves, Jesus would explain so they could understand. And beyond explaining parables, Jesus often taught his disciples many lessons he did not share with the crowds.
Teaching people the truth is more than teaching doctrine. Jesus didn’t just want his disciples to be able to rattle off seven points regarding a particular systematic theology. No, he wanted them to understand. Understanding true things that were previously misunderstood is gaining the ability to “see” and to “hear.” Once we are hearing and seeing, we then become passionate about showing these truths to others so that they, too, can see and understand. Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
Teaching our interns is an important part of our discipleship program here at our location even though it is not the only thing we do. Beyond reading the Bible on their own, our interns spend two hours each morning studying lessons and concepts regarding God and living according to his will. It is important for them not to simply be taught about God’s way, but for them to really grasp it, and to understand the real problems and issues people face in this world. One of our most common prayers we pray with our interns is, “Please give us eyes to see and ears to hear.”
Four post summary:
1. Jesus’ life was already an ongoing example of effective ministry, of which he later included them, before he called them and before he sent them out to do ministry on their own.
2. After spending time in prayer Jesus chose specific people to be his disciples, to live with him and follow him for about three years. He chose a limited number of people and poured himself into them rather than trying to get as many as he could.
3. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled teaching appearances with his disciples but invited them to live with him 24/7. They did not only hear what he was about, they saw it every day.
4. Jesus spent time teaching his disciples important concepts and truths so they would have understanding. He taught them in ways that were not available for those in the general public who followed him.
Discipleship requires teaching. Yes, discipleship is more than academic training. Yes, the best lessons our disciples can learn will come from the examples we give them. But if we are going to dismantle wrong ways of thinking and open their eyes to understanding relevant truths, we have to explain some things.
If we read in the gospels we will see Jesus telling the masses a lot of stories. Parables. Sometimes we assume that Jesus’ reason for telling stories was simply his folksy nature of reaching out to normal people. It is true that people will remember a story much longer than they will a theory, so using stories is an effective form of communication. However, there were political reasons, too.
When Jesus told his stories he often said something to the effect of, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” To ‘hear’ means to understand. Jesus wanted people to understand, but he wanted them to think about it, too. Those who would mull over the meaning of one of Jesus’ stories, and then figure out the meaning, would be one who had “ears to hear.” This also means that there would be those who wouldn’t understand the meaning of Jesus’ words. Stating plainly to the world, “I am the Christ,” would have some severe consequences. First, it would be a miscommunication knowing that most people had a misconception about who the messiah was to be and what he was to do. Second, such a statement would have gotten Jesus arrested a lot faster than he did. The time was not yet right as Jesus had to prepare his disciples first.
With that in mind, Jesus often pulled his disciples aside and explained to them the meaning of parables. He would teach them in ways not available for those in the general public who followed him. Even if the disciples didn’t have “ears to hear” for themselves, Jesus would explain so they could understand. And beyond explaining parables, Jesus often taught his disciples many lessons he did not share with the crowds.
Teaching people the truth is more than teaching doctrine. Jesus didn’t just want his disciples to be able to rattle off seven points regarding a particular systematic theology. No, he wanted them to understand. Understanding true things that were previously misunderstood is gaining the ability to “see” and to “hear.” Once we are hearing and seeing, we then become passionate about showing these truths to others so that they, too, can see and understand. Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
Teaching our interns is an important part of our discipleship program here at our location even though it is not the only thing we do. Beyond reading the Bible on their own, our interns spend two hours each morning studying lessons and concepts regarding God and living according to his will. It is important for them not to simply be taught about God’s way, but for them to really grasp it, and to understand the real problems and issues people face in this world. One of our most common prayers we pray with our interns is, “Please give us eyes to see and ears to hear.”
Four post summary:
1. Jesus’ life was already an ongoing example of effective ministry, of which he later included them, before he called them and before he sent them out to do ministry on their own.
2. After spending time in prayer Jesus chose specific people to be his disciples, to live with him and follow him for about three years. He chose a limited number of people and poured himself into them rather than trying to get as many as he could.
3. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled teaching appearances with his disciples but invited them to live with him 24/7. They did not only hear what he was about, they saw it every day.
4. Jesus spent time teaching his disciples important concepts and truths so they would have understanding. He taught them in ways that were not available for those in the general public who followed him.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Jesus' Discipleship #3: Share Your Life
Over the next few days I will share with you some of my thoughts regarding how we prepare young people to serve God. I believe that the most effective leaders are not the ones who are taught, but the ones who are discipled. Jesus knew what he was doing when he took twelve disciples to follow and serve with him for three years rather than opening a school offering classes on theology.
How many professors do you know who actually have their students living under the same roof and sitting at the same table for every meal? Can you imagine professors sharing the same bathroom with their students, doing laundry and making trips to the grocery store together? What if a professor had his students with him when he went on speaking trips or on vacation with his family? How many people would volunteer to be professors if they were required to live with their students 24/7? How many people would enroll as students?
Well, this approach to teaching students isn’t really necessary when the subject matter is primarily academic. (Again, we almost always make the mistake of thinking that discipleship is primarily an academic endeavor.) Taking turns with the washing machine would probably not help anyone come to a better understanding of microbiology or sixteenth century literature. But it very well could provide the context for teaching about patience, respect and service.
In our training institutions most instruction is scheduled into weekly time slots that usually last an hour or so at a time, up to three times a week. Both professors and students appear for the class, instruct or receive instruction, and disappear until the next scheduled appearance. Again, this works well for learning about topics. However, it doesn’t work well for molding behavior or skills. It could work well for molding our thinking, but without more exacting supervision, there is no guarantee there will be lasting application.
The word “disciple” bears a close resemblance to the word “discipline.” In English, discipline can mean “punishment,” “course of study,” or “training.” A disciple, in the model of twelve disciples of Jesus, is one who is being trained. A disciple is not someone who is just being taught (or punished, for that matter).
Training goes beyond teaching. Some say training is void of teaching—getting people to learn skills through repetition without any instruction regarding the concepts or reasons behind those activities. However, that is not true training—that is animal training. True training is where trainees are taught the concepts and reasons as a foundation for understanding and then are coached repeatedly until they are able to master the skills at hand. Mere teaching is assuming that if the concepts are taught, students will be able to go out there and do them on their own. And, unfortunately, this is where most of our Christian leadership training stands.
The difference is in what we impart to those we instruct. If we have students, we primarily impart knowledge. If we have disciples, we impart behavior as well as knowledge. And, to put it bluntly, knowledge is much easier to impart—especially if we ourselves fail in the behavior arena.
When I think about Christians I’ve known through the years who have most influenced me, I don’t think so much about the ones who may have been very smart and full of good knowledge and theories. Instead, I think about the people I’ve seen actually live out their faith in their daily lives and consistently demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control). These are the qualities, if possessed, that will make Christians the most effective as they purpose to influence those around them. These qualities will make them more effective than if they just have a lot of knowledge, but do not possess these fruit. And so having these fruit of the Spirit is so much more important than academic knowledge. Yet, in most of our modern training institutions, students are never rigorously graded on these behavior qualities like they are on academic knowledge. Our grading systems betray where our real values lie.
Now, before I go further, please don’t assume I am saying academic knowledge is not valuable. It is very valuable! However, it is not primarily valuable. It is not an either/or question—everyone will agree that the best student or disciple is one who possesses both the academic and the behavioral qualities. The problem is when we pay “lip service” to training people to be loving, patient, good, gentle and self-controlled, and then spend 95% of our time filling their brains with knowledge. Even Paul said that knowledge “puffs up” but love “builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1)
As an instructor of others (whether that might be a professor, preacher or teacher) it is easy to fool people. I can appear for classes, services and conferences to teach on a topic such as “evangelism” and give the best and most inspiring stories and theories. People may love what I teach, write it down, publish it and teach it to others. But what happens when I leave their presence and go out among people who do not believe in Jesus? When an opportunity arises to speak about Christ do I share, or do I move on because I am too busy? Do I treat them with the same love and respect that I do my peers?
If I had a disciple traveling with me, he would feel me rather hypocritical if he heard me speak one way and then live another. However, if the opposite were true, and my disciple saw that I shared with people a certain way and I therefore taught about evangelism in the same way, then he would most likely learn to put it into practice. Those who just hear me teach learn about evangelism as a topic. Those who see me teach one way and live another are disenfranchised. But those who see me live the right way and later on teach accordingly, will be the ones who really get the lesson.
This is what Jesus did with his twelve disciples. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled appearances to his disciples to teach them. No, he invited them to live with him. In fact, most or all of his lessons to them weren’t even scheduled, but were in response to real events and circumstances that arose in their lives. The disciples watched Jesus. They saw what he did when he encountered children, beggars, Pharisees, widows, prostitutes, soldiers and sick people. They lived with Jesus 24/7 and were therefore able to see what really motivated him—what he really was all about.
Effective discipleship (which produces effective people) demands that we share our lives with our disciples. It requires more than making “teaching appearances.” First of all, it requires that we, ourselves, possess the behavioral qualities we wish to impart to others. Secondly, it requires that we let our disciples into to our lives enough so that they see us react and respond in the right way to unplanned events that arise in course of everyday living. When they experience this with us, then they get the lesson.
Our approach here in our location is to have this close relationship with our disciples. Not only us, but those we have discipling our interns live with them on a daily basis to demonstrate proper behavior and to coach and guide them in the same.
Three post summary:
1. Jesus’ life was already an ongoing example of effective ministry, of which he later included them, before he called them and before he sent them out to do ministry on their own.
2. After spending time in prayer Jesus chose specific people to be his disciples, to live with him and follow him for about three years. He chose a limited number of people and poured himself into them rather than trying to get as many as he could.
3. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled teaching appearances with his disciples but invited them to live with him 24/7. They did not only hear what he was about, they saw it every day.
How many professors do you know who actually have their students living under the same roof and sitting at the same table for every meal? Can you imagine professors sharing the same bathroom with their students, doing laundry and making trips to the grocery store together? What if a professor had his students with him when he went on speaking trips or on vacation with his family? How many people would volunteer to be professors if they were required to live with their students 24/7? How many people would enroll as students?
Well, this approach to teaching students isn’t really necessary when the subject matter is primarily academic. (Again, we almost always make the mistake of thinking that discipleship is primarily an academic endeavor.) Taking turns with the washing machine would probably not help anyone come to a better understanding of microbiology or sixteenth century literature. But it very well could provide the context for teaching about patience, respect and service.
In our training institutions most instruction is scheduled into weekly time slots that usually last an hour or so at a time, up to three times a week. Both professors and students appear for the class, instruct or receive instruction, and disappear until the next scheduled appearance. Again, this works well for learning about topics. However, it doesn’t work well for molding behavior or skills. It could work well for molding our thinking, but without more exacting supervision, there is no guarantee there will be lasting application.
The word “disciple” bears a close resemblance to the word “discipline.” In English, discipline can mean “punishment,” “course of study,” or “training.” A disciple, in the model of twelve disciples of Jesus, is one who is being trained. A disciple is not someone who is just being taught (or punished, for that matter).
Training goes beyond teaching. Some say training is void of teaching—getting people to learn skills through repetition without any instruction regarding the concepts or reasons behind those activities. However, that is not true training—that is animal training. True training is where trainees are taught the concepts and reasons as a foundation for understanding and then are coached repeatedly until they are able to master the skills at hand. Mere teaching is assuming that if the concepts are taught, students will be able to go out there and do them on their own. And, unfortunately, this is where most of our Christian leadership training stands.
The difference is in what we impart to those we instruct. If we have students, we primarily impart knowledge. If we have disciples, we impart behavior as well as knowledge. And, to put it bluntly, knowledge is much easier to impart—especially if we ourselves fail in the behavior arena.
When I think about Christians I’ve known through the years who have most influenced me, I don’t think so much about the ones who may have been very smart and full of good knowledge and theories. Instead, I think about the people I’ve seen actually live out their faith in their daily lives and consistently demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control). These are the qualities, if possessed, that will make Christians the most effective as they purpose to influence those around them. These qualities will make them more effective than if they just have a lot of knowledge, but do not possess these fruit. And so having these fruit of the Spirit is so much more important than academic knowledge. Yet, in most of our modern training institutions, students are never rigorously graded on these behavior qualities like they are on academic knowledge. Our grading systems betray where our real values lie.
Now, before I go further, please don’t assume I am saying academic knowledge is not valuable. It is very valuable! However, it is not primarily valuable. It is not an either/or question—everyone will agree that the best student or disciple is one who possesses both the academic and the behavioral qualities. The problem is when we pay “lip service” to training people to be loving, patient, good, gentle and self-controlled, and then spend 95% of our time filling their brains with knowledge. Even Paul said that knowledge “puffs up” but love “builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1)
As an instructor of others (whether that might be a professor, preacher or teacher) it is easy to fool people. I can appear for classes, services and conferences to teach on a topic such as “evangelism” and give the best and most inspiring stories and theories. People may love what I teach, write it down, publish it and teach it to others. But what happens when I leave their presence and go out among people who do not believe in Jesus? When an opportunity arises to speak about Christ do I share, or do I move on because I am too busy? Do I treat them with the same love and respect that I do my peers?
If I had a disciple traveling with me, he would feel me rather hypocritical if he heard me speak one way and then live another. However, if the opposite were true, and my disciple saw that I shared with people a certain way and I therefore taught about evangelism in the same way, then he would most likely learn to put it into practice. Those who just hear me teach learn about evangelism as a topic. Those who see me teach one way and live another are disenfranchised. But those who see me live the right way and later on teach accordingly, will be the ones who really get the lesson.
This is what Jesus did with his twelve disciples. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled appearances to his disciples to teach them. No, he invited them to live with him. In fact, most or all of his lessons to them weren’t even scheduled, but were in response to real events and circumstances that arose in their lives. The disciples watched Jesus. They saw what he did when he encountered children, beggars, Pharisees, widows, prostitutes, soldiers and sick people. They lived with Jesus 24/7 and were therefore able to see what really motivated him—what he really was all about.
Effective discipleship (which produces effective people) demands that we share our lives with our disciples. It requires more than making “teaching appearances.” First of all, it requires that we, ourselves, possess the behavioral qualities we wish to impart to others. Secondly, it requires that we let our disciples into to our lives enough so that they see us react and respond in the right way to unplanned events that arise in course of everyday living. When they experience this with us, then they get the lesson.
Our approach here in our location is to have this close relationship with our disciples. Not only us, but those we have discipling our interns live with them on a daily basis to demonstrate proper behavior and to coach and guide them in the same.
Three post summary:
1. Jesus’ life was already an ongoing example of effective ministry, of which he later included them, before he called them and before he sent them out to do ministry on their own.
2. After spending time in prayer Jesus chose specific people to be his disciples, to live with him and follow him for about three years. He chose a limited number of people and poured himself into them rather than trying to get as many as he could.
3. Jesus didn’t simply make scheduled teaching appearances with his disciples but invited them to live with him 24/7. They did not only hear what he was about, they saw it every day.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
It's not sexy, but it has teeth
Just thinking a little about the post I made today (Choose a Few, Train a Lot) in the context of church planting in America. Of course, I didn't write it thinking about that context, but I wrote it thinking about our context over here. But when I read this from the perspective of those in America who are trying to plant big happening churches, or to grow big happening ministries, I think they will think this is a pretty boring approach.
Boring. Not exciting. Not flashy. Not impressive. Not... sexy.
One of my favorite movies is "The Firm" with Tom Cruise. Cruise's character is a lawyer with a firm that represensts these mobsters, and he wants out, but they threaten him, and then he meets these FBI guys that want him to gather evidence against the firm for them. So, he is caught in between and realizes his life is messed up, possibly forever, and tries to find a way out. In the end he gives the FBI guy enough evidence to put the firm partners away, but it is not the 'smoking gun' the FBI guy is looking for. When the the FBI guy balks, Cruise's character says, "It's not sexy, but it has teeth."
It's not sexy, but it has teeth.
It may not impress anyone, but it gets the job done very well.
That is discipleship the way Jesus did it. Jesus didn't do it to impress the Pharisees. "Wow, look at Jesus' approach--he is so smart and innovative! Maybe we should think about getting a few of our own apostles at the synagogue." In fact, I don't think Jesus did much of anything to impress people. He didn't do miracles for the effect it had on the crowd. "Oh, they love it! They love it!" as he bows before an applauding mass of people. Jesus wasn't into his own fame like many of us would be. You could say he was into God's fame, but it wasn't the same as human pomp and pride.
To be sexy is to be impressive. A "sexy" girl is someone who impresses men who like pretty girls. A "spiritually sexy" person is someone who impresses people who like spiritual people. If I know you are impressed by humility, I can then impress you by being so humble. So, I've raised your opinion of me by demonstrating my humility to you. If I know you are impressed by influence, I can then impress you by being the one up in front of large crowds of people. So, I've raised your opinion of me by demonstrating my leadership prowess to you.
You see, anything we do to have the effect of raising someone's opinion of us (impressing them) is pride, even if that thing is Christian spirituality. And I don't think Jesus got caught up into this. I don't think he lived to impress people in the way we often do. But he lived to get the job done.
Taking a few disciples and training them for a few years to go out and do the same isn't going to impress many Christians who are looking for impressive people to write articles about or ask to publish books. But it just may be the thing that begins the transformation of your community.
Boring. Not exciting. Not flashy. Not impressive. Not... sexy.
One of my favorite movies is "The Firm" with Tom Cruise. Cruise's character is a lawyer with a firm that represensts these mobsters, and he wants out, but they threaten him, and then he meets these FBI guys that want him to gather evidence against the firm for them. So, he is caught in between and realizes his life is messed up, possibly forever, and tries to find a way out. In the end he gives the FBI guy enough evidence to put the firm partners away, but it is not the 'smoking gun' the FBI guy is looking for. When the the FBI guy balks, Cruise's character says, "It's not sexy, but it has teeth."
It's not sexy, but it has teeth.
It may not impress anyone, but it gets the job done very well.
That is discipleship the way Jesus did it. Jesus didn't do it to impress the Pharisees. "Wow, look at Jesus' approach--he is so smart and innovative! Maybe we should think about getting a few of our own apostles at the synagogue." In fact, I don't think Jesus did much of anything to impress people. He didn't do miracles for the effect it had on the crowd. "Oh, they love it! They love it!" as he bows before an applauding mass of people. Jesus wasn't into his own fame like many of us would be. You could say he was into God's fame, but it wasn't the same as human pomp and pride.
To be sexy is to be impressive. A "sexy" girl is someone who impresses men who like pretty girls. A "spiritually sexy" person is someone who impresses people who like spiritual people. If I know you are impressed by humility, I can then impress you by being so humble. So, I've raised your opinion of me by demonstrating my humility to you. If I know you are impressed by influence, I can then impress you by being the one up in front of large crowds of people. So, I've raised your opinion of me by demonstrating my leadership prowess to you.
You see, anything we do to have the effect of raising someone's opinion of us (impressing them) is pride, even if that thing is Christian spirituality. And I don't think Jesus got caught up into this. I don't think he lived to impress people in the way we often do. But he lived to get the job done.
Taking a few disciples and training them for a few years to go out and do the same isn't going to impress many Christians who are looking for impressive people to write articles about or ask to publish books. But it just may be the thing that begins the transformation of your community.
Jesus' Discipleship #2: Choose a Few, Train a Lot
Over the next few days I will share with you some of my thoughts regarding how we prepare young people to serve God. I believe that the most effective leaders are not the ones who are taught, but the ones who are discipled. Jesus knew what he was doing when he took twelve disciples to follow and serve with him for three years rather than opening a school offering classes on theology.
Most approaches to Christian ministry take a “reach all you can” approach. Churches try to become as big as they can, as fast as they can. Some even boast about how fast they’ve grown. “We’re one of the fastest growing churches in America!” Mission agencies try to recruit anyone they can who will agree to go overseas and plunge into the work. Bible colleges try to recruit as many students to come to their campuses and fight vigorously to keep high school youth group members from choosing to go to the university.
The “reach all you can” approach is not unique to Christian ministries. Actually, Christian ministries are just copying what they see all around them in the world. Politicians try to get as many people as they can to vote for them. Activists try to get as many people as they can to join their cause. Television shows try to get as many people as they can to watch their programs. Sporting events try to get as many people as they can to fill their stadiums. And businesses try to get as many people as they can to buy their products.
Why do they do this? It is simple, really. More money. More power. More of their fame in our lives. There are financial advantages of reaching many. Politicians want the power they receive when elected. Television shows want the ratings, which translates to a higher price they can charge to their commercial advertisers. More tickets sold means more money. Coca-Cola wants to put a can of their soda in the hands of everyone on earth—not because they feel they are contributing to the betterment of humanity, but because if they can get everyone in the world to give them just 50 cents, they are making billions of dollars.
So how about Christian ministries? Big numbers means big success if we look at it the way the world does. A larger congregation means churches have reached more people (and can collect bigger offerings). A larger enrollment means Bible colleges can educate more future preachers (and receive more tuition and dormitory fees). A large and growing church means the preacher gets offers to speak in many different high-profile venues and offers to write books. These things increase our wealth, our power and our fame.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I like big churches. I like big ministries. I think many of them are doing great things for kingdom. I hope they continue to do so! Jesus said to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, so that is a big job to do and we better get to doing it.
The issue is motivation (Why are we doing this way?) and method (Whose example are we following?). If our motivation is money, power and popularity, then we have a basic problem. If we claim it is not, but in our hearts it is, we have a bigger problem. If our method comes from politicians and businesses, we may tend to water down our message to reach more people or require less to sell more. I would dare say that selling a can of Coke is much easier to do than training someone to be a faithful follower of Christ. Christ requires much more. Coke only requires about 50 cents.
It is interesting to see the method Jesus took to redeem the world. Could he have done the large crowds, tent meetings and crusades? Of course he could have. On a number of occasions he spoke to very large crowds. He also fed a meal to a pretty numerous crowd one day. But his method for reaching the world in addition to preaching his message to the masses, was to take twelve young men with him everywhere he went for about three years, train them, and then later send them out to the world.
Sometimes we get the wrong image of Jesus and his disciples. We think that twelve was all he could get to devote three years to him. If we imagine a hippie-looking guy with long hair, a big beard and a white robe walking around speaking in King James English in our modern American cities, we would be surprised to think that he could get FIVE others to don robes, grow their beards and follow him around speaking like that, much less twelve!
But actually Jesus had hundreds of people following him. When he chose his disciples he wasn’t just trying to snatch up whoever he could get. No, his choosing of the disciples was more of a limiting decision than a rallying call. If Jesus would have chosen, he could have had many more disciples. In fact, even in Luke 10 he sends out 72 of his followers in a similar way he had sent out his twelve. But only twelve were designated apostles. Only to them did he teach and train in a special way different from the masses. Only twelve “made the cut” so to speak.
In the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke it shows us that Jesus spent time alone and in prayer and fasting before he chose his first disciples. (It was during this time that Jesus was tempted, and one of the temptations Satan presented to Jesus was to rule “all the kingdoms of the world.” Satan said, “It will all be yours” if Jesus only worshiped him.) He didn’t choose them haphazardly, and he didn’t put up a sign asking for all who are interested to come and apply. No, he went to them and called them. He chose them specifically. And out of hundreds that he could have chosen, he chose twelve, “that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.” (Mark 3:14)
Instead of getting as many as he could, Jesus chose a smaller number of those with whom he could work. He wanted to keep the teacher-student ratio low, so that they could benefit the most from their time with him. Instead of teaching many a little bit, he chose a few to train a lot.
And who did Jesus choose? Did he go to their high schools and ask the teachers for a list of their top students? Did he go to the Pharisees and ask for a few of their most promising pupils? Did he go to the synagogues and ask for those with the best attendance? No; none of the above. He didn’t choose those who were the best looking, who had the most money, were the most talented, the smartest or the best educated. Those people probably wouldn’t have agreed to follow Jesus like the disciples did anyway. No, he chose fishermen who were noted as being uneducated. We don’t know much more about them. But I believe Jesus chose those not with all the ability, looks, money and intelligence, but those who had an honest heart. They weren’t all that talented, but they were faithful, available and teachable. And Jesus poured himself into them.
It has been demonstrated that those who win two or three people to Christ, disciple them, and then send them out each to do the same—reach two or three people for Christ and disciple them—will end up seeing more people come to Christ over time than the super-preacher who reaches 10,000 people to Christ by himself every year. The cell church model is built on this precept. In 20 years, the super-preacher who reaches 10,000 per year will have reached 200,000 people. However, the movement where three people are discipled per person each year, in 20 years will have reached well over 4.5 million people.
So, in our ministries it is better to reach a few and disciple them a lot rather than reach all we can and disciple them a little. Instead of focusing on “reaching all we can” we should focus on discipling as much as we can. Even if the world around us is in a “reach all you can” mode, we should not follow suit. We know better. Most families do not choose to have as many babies as they can. Why? Because then you have to feed them and raise them all. And we know how much energy that takes. Raising people to be Christ-like shouldn’t take any less energy.
We should, instead, meet many people and then choose a few to disciple especially. When we choose, we should choose those who have the heart that is needed to be a faithful disciple of Jesus and servant of God—not those who are just talented. When the time comes to send them out, we don’t want them to crash and burn, and neither do we want them to get off track with the wrong motives.
This is our approach here at our location. I am very careful about choosing the right people. If I tempted people here with the idea of making a lot of money, learning English or being sent to study in America, I could get a lot of people. However, these people would rarely, if ever, come back to reach and serve their own people. Instead they would just continue going out and away to develop themselves and seek their personal fortune. But we choose people who have demonstrated a heart for God, even if they have not finished high school, do not know any English and have only known living in the countryside. These upland farmers here are like the fishermen of Galilee. Not all of them are ready, but a few of them will be trained and one day sent out to reach their brothers, sisters, friends and families. Please pray for us and for them!
Two Post Summary:
1. Jesus’ life was already an ongoing example of effective ministry, of which he later included them, before he called them and before he sent them out to do ministry on their own.
2. After spending time in prayer Jesus chose specific people to be his disciples, to live with him and follow him for about three years. He chose a limited number of people and poured himself into them rather than trying to get as many as he could.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Jesus' Discipleship #1: Do It First
Over the next few days I will share with you some of my thoughts regarding how we prepare young people to serve God. I believe that the most effective leaders are not the ones who are taught, but the ones who are discipled. Jesus knew what he was doing when he took twelve disciples to follow and serve with him for three years rather than opening a school offering classes on theology.
The very first thing that we must do when we want to teach or train (disciple) others is to do it first. We must do the things we want them to learn how to do before we begin training them. We must be the things we want them to be before we begin teaching them.
When you first read this, you might say, “Well, of course!” But this basic principle is so often bypassed. We feel we don’t need to be actually doing something in order to teach it to others if we already understand the theory. So, we just teach the theory. Or, maybe we’ve done it in the past, but are not currently doing it any more. That is better, but it still falls short.
The problem is that we major on theory and minor on experience. We think that we can train someone in a classroom to understand every facet of the theory (and we can) and then send them out to be effective in doing it. This is a flawed model, depending upon the subject of study. It is a very flawed model for preparing people for ministry, but it is the model we mostly employ in our Sunday schools and Bible colleges. Sure, Bible college students may be required to put in so many “ministry hours,” but those hours are usually not spent with their professors who are also doing the ministry, and in comparison to hours in the classroom, it is very small. We major on theory and minor on experience.
Jesus did the opposite with his disciples. First, Jesus was involved in ministry (successful, difference-making ministry) before he even called his disciples. When he did call them, he took them along. For a period it appears that they just followed him around and assisted him in his ministry. The best method for discipling others is to give them a good example of a successful ministry, and to let them take part in that ministry over a long period of time.
In most Christian academic settings (Why do we think that preparation for ministry is primarily an ‘academic’ endeavor?) students are mostly impressed with the teaching ability, the intelligence or the publishing success of their most talented professors. Students who are inspired by such professors typically want to become professors themselves—because that is the example they’ve been given. What is unfortunate is that the vast majority of Bible college professors spend nearly 100% of their time around other Christians and next to no time with people outside the Christian community.
Jesus didn’t make this mistake. A quick reading of the Gospels will show that he spent as much (if not more) time with the “unreached” community as he did with the religious leaders and even privately with his own disciples. Jesus’ ministry was at the junction of the rubber and the road and consequently spent the most time on the very issues that are the most common when it comes to serving and reaching the lost. He spent very little time in deep theological debates on whether or not angels have free will or in the linguistic parsing of Hebrew verbs. The Pharisees and Sadducees were good at that.
When the Pharisees met Jesus’ disciples they noted (pointed out) that the disciples were “unschooled” men. This meant that they hadn’t attended religious schools of the day, been ordained or theologically trained in a formal setting. They certainly had that option in those times and that was the typical route for religious people to take. Instead, the disciples were learning “on the job” with Jesus. He was their example of how to make a difference in the world—not just how to understand abstract theories.
As we seek to train young people here at our location we purpose, first, to be doing the kinds of things we want them to do. If we want our disciples to evangelize, we need to be sharing the gospel and allowing them to join us as we do. If we want them to lead a Bible study, we need to give them a good example of how that is done. If we want them to read their Bibles, we need to be reading it every day. If we want them to love others and serve them, we need to be doing that, first, so that they will see how it is done, and then what happens when it is done.
Not only must I be an example, but so must those I have overseeing our interns on a daily basis. For this reason I have been very careful in choosing those who will disciple our interns. I found a couple of good young men who are honest seekers and servers of Jesus and good examples to all the interns who will come and study with them.
Someone once said, “Jesus didn’t practice what he preached. He preached what he practiced.” This makes a very good point. We must ‘be’ and ‘do’ before we attempt to teach others to be and do those same things.
The very first thing that we must do when we want to teach or train (disciple) others is to do it first. We must do the things we want them to learn how to do before we begin training them. We must be the things we want them to be before we begin teaching them.
When you first read this, you might say, “Well, of course!” But this basic principle is so often bypassed. We feel we don’t need to be actually doing something in order to teach it to others if we already understand the theory. So, we just teach the theory. Or, maybe we’ve done it in the past, but are not currently doing it any more. That is better, but it still falls short.
The problem is that we major on theory and minor on experience. We think that we can train someone in a classroom to understand every facet of the theory (and we can) and then send them out to be effective in doing it. This is a flawed model, depending upon the subject of study. It is a very flawed model for preparing people for ministry, but it is the model we mostly employ in our Sunday schools and Bible colleges. Sure, Bible college students may be required to put in so many “ministry hours,” but those hours are usually not spent with their professors who are also doing the ministry, and in comparison to hours in the classroom, it is very small. We major on theory and minor on experience.
Jesus did the opposite with his disciples. First, Jesus was involved in ministry (successful, difference-making ministry) before he even called his disciples. When he did call them, he took them along. For a period it appears that they just followed him around and assisted him in his ministry. The best method for discipling others is to give them a good example of a successful ministry, and to let them take part in that ministry over a long period of time.
In most Christian academic settings (Why do we think that preparation for ministry is primarily an ‘academic’ endeavor?) students are mostly impressed with the teaching ability, the intelligence or the publishing success of their most talented professors. Students who are inspired by such professors typically want to become professors themselves—because that is the example they’ve been given. What is unfortunate is that the vast majority of Bible college professors spend nearly 100% of their time around other Christians and next to no time with people outside the Christian community.
Jesus didn’t make this mistake. A quick reading of the Gospels will show that he spent as much (if not more) time with the “unreached” community as he did with the religious leaders and even privately with his own disciples. Jesus’ ministry was at the junction of the rubber and the road and consequently spent the most time on the very issues that are the most common when it comes to serving and reaching the lost. He spent very little time in deep theological debates on whether or not angels have free will or in the linguistic parsing of Hebrew verbs. The Pharisees and Sadducees were good at that.
When the Pharisees met Jesus’ disciples they noted (pointed out) that the disciples were “unschooled” men. This meant that they hadn’t attended religious schools of the day, been ordained or theologically trained in a formal setting. They certainly had that option in those times and that was the typical route for religious people to take. Instead, the disciples were learning “on the job” with Jesus. He was their example of how to make a difference in the world—not just how to understand abstract theories.
As we seek to train young people here at our location we purpose, first, to be doing the kinds of things we want them to do. If we want our disciples to evangelize, we need to be sharing the gospel and allowing them to join us as we do. If we want them to lead a Bible study, we need to give them a good example of how that is done. If we want them to read their Bibles, we need to be reading it every day. If we want them to love others and serve them, we need to be doing that, first, so that they will see how it is done, and then what happens when it is done.
Not only must I be an example, but so must those I have overseeing our interns on a daily basis. For this reason I have been very careful in choosing those who will disciple our interns. I found a couple of good young men who are honest seekers and servers of Jesus and good examples to all the interns who will come and study with them.
Someone once said, “Jesus didn’t practice what he preached. He preached what he practiced.” This makes a very good point. We must ‘be’ and ‘do’ before we attempt to teach others to be and do those same things.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Jesus' Discipleship Intro: House of Cards
Have you ever try to build a house out of playing cards? I used to be pretty good at it. One of the things that is frustrating when you're first starting out, however, is getting those first few cards to stand up. You prop two cards against each other and then try to put a roof on it and then... poof... it all falls down. Sometimes you get a little further along and it falls down. Sometimes, as you get going building different levels and wings you spend as much time picking up fallen cards as you do constructing new cards. It becomes just as difficult to keep a card standing as it does to stand it up in the first place.
I often feel that ministry is the same way. We want to build a big church for God's glory. We know that it is not a building, but made up of people. But as soon as we get a few people in we try to get a few more in. But with more people, the flavor of the group changes... attention is divided among more people... different people take on different roles... etc. When new people come in, the original people leave. They are like the cards that you just can't seem to keep standing up for a long time in your house of cards.
I believe with all my heart that God doesn't want us to build his church as a house of cards. In fact, I am quite certain that God is in favor of firm foundations--building on the rock, not on the sand, etc. So, how does this apply to church planting? One word: Discipleship.
It is sad that we tend to differentiate between evangelism and discipleship, as if they are two completely separate endeavors. However, in the most quoted Biblical text on evangelism (the so-called "Great Commission" in Matthew 28:18-20) Jesus' command is not to "preach the good news" but it is to "make disciples" and to "teach them to obey everything I have commanded you." We don't do discipleship after we do evangelism. We do evangelism by doing discipleship. Have you ever thought of that before?
Much of this discussion could center on the theology of salvation, but I don't want to get into that here on this blog. I do believe that a Christian is a disciple of Jesus, a disciple of Jesus is a Christian. I do not believe someone is a Christian if they are not a disciple of Jesus. But my convictions about this doesn't lead me to "water down" discipleship, by saying that anything is discipleship (like mere church attendance) because this person is a Christian. No, instead it leads me to "beef up" evangelism.
It is relatively easy to get people to raise their hands and say they will be a Christian. Just like it is relatively easy to give birth to a baby. However, like a newborn baby, these new believers will soon die if they are not fed and taken care of. Or, they will continue to exist at a state of believing they are saved when they have still not been transformed. Perhaps they have simply accepted a new religion but have not been born again.
When a baby is born the work of the parents is not over. (Anyone with children is laughing now.) No, the work just begins. And if I am the one who fathered (or mothered) this child, then it is my responsibility to raise this child. Will I always raise this child? Of course not. Part of the whole point of raising a child is to teach the child to be able to do things on his or her own without the help of the parent. They must learn to become independent. And, one day, we all hope they will have their own children. But if we abandon them at birth, none of that will likely happen.
When we lead someone to Christ, the work has just begun. Yes, they are a new life, but we want to make sure that life grows strong and that faith is rooted to the point that they will survive and grow. I think you understand the analogy.
So I believe the core of every ministry should be discipleship. I don't think we should do evangelism until we have a system of discipleship ready to go. The next question is... what is discipleship?
In planning meetings with other Christians the topic of discipleship often arises. Then, invariably, the discussion always moves on to "discipleship materials." To us, discipleship is reading a book or lesson material together with someone, meeting with them once a week to discuss it, and then going through a workbook together where we each write our answers in blanks following questions about the reading material. Now, doing something like that is not a bad thing to do. But is it discipleship? I say it is not... at least, not completely.
One time I heard a Seminary professor respond to someone's question about what kinds of discipleship programs they had at his church. In truth, they didn't have anything designated "discipleship" but just did all the regular activities traditional American churches do. But wanting to sound professorial and sophisticated, this professor said that their Sunday services are their discipleship program. Their potluck dinners are their discipleship programs. Everything the church does was their discipleship program.
Now, I agree that everything a church does should be for discipleship rather than for religious tradition or mere entertainment. Hopefully the worship and sermons help people to grow in their faith. But are typical church services and potluck dinners discipleship? I say they are not.. at least, not completely.
So, what is discipleship? I think the answer to this is found in the example of Jesus who took twelve disciples to follow him. So, over the next few days we will look at Jesus' discipleship and see how he did it. Perhaps there are other ways to do it, and I am not arguing there are not. But for what it is worth we will examine Jesus' approach.
Stay tuned...
I often feel that ministry is the same way. We want to build a big church for God's glory. We know that it is not a building, but made up of people. But as soon as we get a few people in we try to get a few more in. But with more people, the flavor of the group changes... attention is divided among more people... different people take on different roles... etc. When new people come in, the original people leave. They are like the cards that you just can't seem to keep standing up for a long time in your house of cards.
I believe with all my heart that God doesn't want us to build his church as a house of cards. In fact, I am quite certain that God is in favor of firm foundations--building on the rock, not on the sand, etc. So, how does this apply to church planting? One word: Discipleship.
It is sad that we tend to differentiate between evangelism and discipleship, as if they are two completely separate endeavors. However, in the most quoted Biblical text on evangelism (the so-called "Great Commission" in Matthew 28:18-20) Jesus' command is not to "preach the good news" but it is to "make disciples" and to "teach them to obey everything I have commanded you." We don't do discipleship after we do evangelism. We do evangelism by doing discipleship. Have you ever thought of that before?
Much of this discussion could center on the theology of salvation, but I don't want to get into that here on this blog. I do believe that a Christian is a disciple of Jesus, a disciple of Jesus is a Christian. I do not believe someone is a Christian if they are not a disciple of Jesus. But my convictions about this doesn't lead me to "water down" discipleship, by saying that anything is discipleship (like mere church attendance) because this person is a Christian. No, instead it leads me to "beef up" evangelism.
It is relatively easy to get people to raise their hands and say they will be a Christian. Just like it is relatively easy to give birth to a baby. However, like a newborn baby, these new believers will soon die if they are not fed and taken care of. Or, they will continue to exist at a state of believing they are saved when they have still not been transformed. Perhaps they have simply accepted a new religion but have not been born again.
When a baby is born the work of the parents is not over. (Anyone with children is laughing now.) No, the work just begins. And if I am the one who fathered (or mothered) this child, then it is my responsibility to raise this child. Will I always raise this child? Of course not. Part of the whole point of raising a child is to teach the child to be able to do things on his or her own without the help of the parent. They must learn to become independent. And, one day, we all hope they will have their own children. But if we abandon them at birth, none of that will likely happen.
When we lead someone to Christ, the work has just begun. Yes, they are a new life, but we want to make sure that life grows strong and that faith is rooted to the point that they will survive and grow. I think you understand the analogy.
So I believe the core of every ministry should be discipleship. I don't think we should do evangelism until we have a system of discipleship ready to go. The next question is... what is discipleship?
In planning meetings with other Christians the topic of discipleship often arises. Then, invariably, the discussion always moves on to "discipleship materials." To us, discipleship is reading a book or lesson material together with someone, meeting with them once a week to discuss it, and then going through a workbook together where we each write our answers in blanks following questions about the reading material. Now, doing something like that is not a bad thing to do. But is it discipleship? I say it is not... at least, not completely.
One time I heard a Seminary professor respond to someone's question about what kinds of discipleship programs they had at his church. In truth, they didn't have anything designated "discipleship" but just did all the regular activities traditional American churches do. But wanting to sound professorial and sophisticated, this professor said that their Sunday services are their discipleship program. Their potluck dinners are their discipleship programs. Everything the church does was their discipleship program.
Now, I agree that everything a church does should be for discipleship rather than for religious tradition or mere entertainment. Hopefully the worship and sermons help people to grow in their faith. But are typical church services and potluck dinners discipleship? I say they are not.. at least, not completely.
So, what is discipleship? I think the answer to this is found in the example of Jesus who took twelve disciples to follow him. So, over the next few days we will look at Jesus' discipleship and see how he did it. Perhaps there are other ways to do it, and I am not arguing there are not. But for what it is worth we will examine Jesus' approach.
Stay tuned...
Monday, February 9, 2009
Planting a Church, Reaching a Community
Planting a church is one thing; reaching a community is another. What has God called us to do? Certainly, one way we can reach a community is to plant a church in its midst. But having planted a church, have we reached the community? I say not yet.
Unfortunately, we are often all too satisfied when we've planted a church. Planting a church is a lot of hard work. It takes time, energy, blood, sweat and tears. And there is always an on-going, never-ending stream of issues, problems and work that come with planting and running a church. So often we are left with this sub-conscious feeling, "Let me get this work done, first, then we'll think about doing something else."
When a church is planted a community may still be far from reached. A big factor is the size of the community. But it would be helpful to look at the community and ask ourselves, "How is this community different because the church is here?" Certainly we can talk about the difference the church has made in the lives of the individuals who are a part of it, and that is not to be diminished! But imagine someone from out of town who knew nothing of your church came to the community for a visit. Could they stay a week there without ever realizing there was a church there? A month? Longer? If they didn't meet with anyone in the church and didn't go to the place of worship, would they hear about the church from others? Would they see things in the community that are the result of the church, ask about them and then be told, "Oh, that church over there did this"?
We often sell ourselves short. Or, we sell God short. We think planting a big, vibrant and successful church in an unreached community is a big task. And it is. But transforming an entire community with the love of Christ and his good news--that is even bigger. If you find yourself remarking, "God is doing some amazing things in this church." Then ask yourself, "Is God doing some amazing things in the community because of the church?"
When we start out working in a new city (anywhere in the world) we should not strategize in a narrow fashion: What is it going to take to plant a church in this city? Instead, we should strategize in a broad fashion: What is it going to take to reach this entire city for Christ? I believe planting churches is part of that. But not all. It would be nice to see that planting a church is part of our plan for reaching a community, not the entire plan.
It is funny that when missionaries go overseas they tend to think in more missional terms of reaching villages, people groups, cities and countries for Christ. But when Christian church planters in America start out, they think more in terms of just planting a church. We need to bring this missional mindset to our communities. What is it going to take to reach the bulk of the people here, not just some of them? In a city of 400,000 a church of 1,000 is only 0.25%.
Two things typically happen when we just plant a church. First, we find the loose Christians that aren't a part of another church, or we gather in Christians who like our new church better than their old church. Secondly, we reach people on the fringe. We reach a number of people in the community who are "easy to pick off" so to speak. They aren't the standard kind of non-Christians in the community.
Now, let me affirm that reaching fringe people is a good thing to do! If we look at the life and ministry of Christ, we will see that he did the same thing! Many people on the fringes of society came to and were welcomed by Christ. The church should be a place where people who are not so welcomed in the larger community are welcomed in.
But let us ask ourselves this question: Why don't most people in this community believe and follow Jesus? What are the strongholds that are keeping them outside the kingdom? What are the ideas, thoughts, assumptions they hold that keep them from believing? And then, how do we change those ideas (on a community-wide basis)? How to we combat the power of those strongholds? What will these people have to see/experience to change their minds?
That is our mission. Yes, it's pretty big. But isn't it delightful to be a part of what God is doing in this world?
Unfortunately, we are often all too satisfied when we've planted a church. Planting a church is a lot of hard work. It takes time, energy, blood, sweat and tears. And there is always an on-going, never-ending stream of issues, problems and work that come with planting and running a church. So often we are left with this sub-conscious feeling, "Let me get this work done, first, then we'll think about doing something else."
When a church is planted a community may still be far from reached. A big factor is the size of the community. But it would be helpful to look at the community and ask ourselves, "How is this community different because the church is here?" Certainly we can talk about the difference the church has made in the lives of the individuals who are a part of it, and that is not to be diminished! But imagine someone from out of town who knew nothing of your church came to the community for a visit. Could they stay a week there without ever realizing there was a church there? A month? Longer? If they didn't meet with anyone in the church and didn't go to the place of worship, would they hear about the church from others? Would they see things in the community that are the result of the church, ask about them and then be told, "Oh, that church over there did this"?
We often sell ourselves short. Or, we sell God short. We think planting a big, vibrant and successful church in an unreached community is a big task. And it is. But transforming an entire community with the love of Christ and his good news--that is even bigger. If you find yourself remarking, "God is doing some amazing things in this church." Then ask yourself, "Is God doing some amazing things in the community because of the church?"
When we start out working in a new city (anywhere in the world) we should not strategize in a narrow fashion: What is it going to take to plant a church in this city? Instead, we should strategize in a broad fashion: What is it going to take to reach this entire city for Christ? I believe planting churches is part of that. But not all. It would be nice to see that planting a church is part of our plan for reaching a community, not the entire plan.
It is funny that when missionaries go overseas they tend to think in more missional terms of reaching villages, people groups, cities and countries for Christ. But when Christian church planters in America start out, they think more in terms of just planting a church. We need to bring this missional mindset to our communities. What is it going to take to reach the bulk of the people here, not just some of them? In a city of 400,000 a church of 1,000 is only 0.25%.
Two things typically happen when we just plant a church. First, we find the loose Christians that aren't a part of another church, or we gather in Christians who like our new church better than their old church. Secondly, we reach people on the fringe. We reach a number of people in the community who are "easy to pick off" so to speak. They aren't the standard kind of non-Christians in the community.
Now, let me affirm that reaching fringe people is a good thing to do! If we look at the life and ministry of Christ, we will see that he did the same thing! Many people on the fringes of society came to and were welcomed by Christ. The church should be a place where people who are not so welcomed in the larger community are welcomed in.
But let us ask ourselves this question: Why don't most people in this community believe and follow Jesus? What are the strongholds that are keeping them outside the kingdom? What are the ideas, thoughts, assumptions they hold that keep them from believing? And then, how do we change those ideas (on a community-wide basis)? How to we combat the power of those strongholds? What will these people have to see/experience to change their minds?
That is our mission. Yes, it's pretty big. But isn't it delightful to be a part of what God is doing in this world?
Member Care: Missionaries and Fruit Trees
On the subject of a mission agency's approach for member care (the pastoral care of missionaries)...
Jesus said that if we make the tree good, it will produce fruit. He also said that if we abide in him, we will produce fruit. His command is not to produce fruit, but to abide in him. His promise is that, if we do, we will then produce fruit.
We are all on the field here with the hopes of producing fruit. We like to count the fruit we have produced and publish those numbers. We also like to count the number of trees we have planted out there trying to produce fruit and publish those numbers, too. But there is no fruit production where there are no healthy trees. Member care, to me, should be primarily about making sure that the trees are healthy.
What makes healthy trees? Water. Good soil. Protection from extreme temperatures. Fertilization and cultivation. Pruning. If healthy trees are the kind of workers we want, then they need to be meaningfully connected to God (and others) for his nourishment; they need to be protected from extreme crises; they need someone to give them specific things they need (fertilization) and to dig into their lives somewhat to let things sink in; they also need to be pruned by not being allowed to take on too much and allow other branches to cease bearing fruit because new growth is taking all the energy.
If trees in the garden are going to prosper, they need a gardener present. Of course, we can always say “God is present” but I think the gardener is not just God, but it is our member care people. Just like Jesus is the Chief Shepherd, he is also the Chief Gardener, but that does not preclude people from being pastors–human shepherds–or, in this case, human gardeners. Of course, a garden that is abandoned will not produce fruit as well as a garden that has a gardener that takes care of the garden very well. Conversely, if a gardener comes who doesn’t know what he’s doing, prunes too much, puts on too much fertilizer, and beats the trees instead of watering them, he can likewise kill the trees in the garden or hinder their fruit-production capabilities.
We need good gardeners who know what they are doing. I guess my point in this allegory is that member care doesn’t happen over e-mail and short visits to the field every 4-5 years. It doesn’t happen when the gardener spends his time working on the fence rather than on the trees. It doesn’t happen when a cow herder is sent to do the work of a gardener. It doesn’t happen when energy is spent planting more trees, or establishing more gardens in other areas, rather than on taking care of the ones already planted.
We need good gardeners who know what they are doing. I guess my point in this allegory is that member care doesn’t happen over e-mail and short visits to the field every 4-5 years. It doesn’t happen when the gardener spends his time working on the fence rather than on the trees. It doesn’t happen when a cow herder is sent to do the work of a gardener. It doesn’t happen when energy is spent planting more trees, or establishing more gardens in other areas, rather than on taking care of the ones already planted.
From my perspective, I think it would be a good idea for each field to have a member care worker who lives on the field rather than in the US. I think it would be a good idea for them to have learned the language and to have the deeper understanding of the culture that comes with language learning, and what it is like for a foreigner to live in that context long-term. I think it would be good for this person to spend months at a time helping and working alongside long-term workers in a limited way so that they can see what the workers are really like, beyond newsletters, e-mails, accountability reports and short-term visits.
I also think that member care people, while being informed on strategy and approaches, shouldn’t really focus on that aspect of the ministry, but should instead focus more on fostering spiritual health–the kind of abiding relationship with Christ that we need in order to produce fruit.
I have spent time planting fruit trees with local farmers. I have gone around and visited hundreds of fruit orchards. You can really tell the difference between those who plant a lot of 
trees–more than they can manage–and those who plant a smaller amount and manage it well. The former increases his production by planting a maximum number of trees. But because he can’t give the proper attention to the mass number of trees, each tree looks bare, too tall and wide (not pruned), and otherwise unhealthy. The amount of fruit produced per tree is very low. The latter, on the other hand, prunes, fertilizes and in some cases irrigates his fruit trees. These trees are lush, green, full, not too big, and they produce a lot of fruit per tree. The former grower allows his fruit trees to grow among the weeds, against our regulations. But the latter grower cuts the weeds and vines down so that the fruit trees are healthy and produce the best-tasting fruit.
trees–more than they can manage–and those who plant a smaller amount and manage it well. The former increases his production by planting a maximum number of trees. But because he can’t give the proper attention to the mass number of trees, each tree looks bare, too tall and wide (not pruned), and otherwise unhealthy. The amount of fruit produced per tree is very low. The latter, on the other hand, prunes, fertilizes and in some cases irrigates his fruit trees. These trees are lush, green, full, not too big, and they produce a lot of fruit per tree. The former grower allows his fruit trees to grow among the weeds, against our regulations. But the latter grower cuts the weeds and vines down so that the fruit trees are healthy and produce the best-tasting fruit. As someone on the outside who has tried to help these farmers, I can tell you that I would much rather have the latter type of grower. In fact, I think it is incumbent upon the fruit tree grower (or bee keeper, or goat herder for that matter) to do the best he can to provide for the health and success of the trees (or bees or goats, etc.) under his care.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Five Year Chunks
A couple thoughts about age and effectiveness...
I once heard someone say that we don't really settle into our personalities and who we are as a person until we reach the age of about 30. Really? That is amazing because we make so many life decisions before we reach 30 (well, many of us do): Our majors. Our mates. Our career path. Our decision to follow Jesus. Perhaps this is why so many of us change majors, change mates, change careers, and change in our commitment to Christ. Perhaps.
I also once heard someone say that they felt their most effective ministry years would come when they reach their 40's and 50's. Wow! This same person mentioned that Moses was called back to Egypt at the age of about 80.
Young people might often think of their ministry "prime" coinciding with their physical "prime"--in their mid-twenties. But that is probably NOT going to be the case. At least, we should hope it isn't! Hopefully, we'll all be serving God for many decades after our 20's, and it would be sad to think that our effectiveness would be going downhill the whole time. Unfortunately, we tend to place too much value on two things: 1) The "ability to relate" that young people supposedly have. 2) That the youth in a society are the prime targets for ministry. Perhaps I'll write more on this at another time.
I look at my own ministry here in 5-year chunks. I feel that my first five years on the field (in a different culture) were to learn the language, learn the culture, and begin to form ideas about the ways to increase God's kingdom and make a real impact on this society (rather than just doing a ministry). My second five year period was the process of getting things set up, putting pieces into place and getting ready to really make a Kingdom impact (still, doing ministry concurrently). The third five-year period has been the fruit-bearing period--the time when so many things come to fruition and the impact that I dreamed about before I ever came starts to become a reality.
Now, this teaches us a couple things. First, I think it shows that we cannot imagine or expect young missionary recruits, with no field experience and no fluency in the language, to have their strategy all mapped out before leaving for the field, or before spending enough time to become fluent in the language. Secondly, it shows us that to make a lasting difference we need a long-term approach.
Perhaps a fourth five-year chunk would be the time in which I have successfully worked myself out of a job--when the nationals have been trained and inspired to do everything that I might do myself, thus rendering me unnecessary. This is what we call a success in missions.
I once heard someone say that we don't really settle into our personalities and who we are as a person until we reach the age of about 30. Really? That is amazing because we make so many life decisions before we reach 30 (well, many of us do): Our majors. Our mates. Our career path. Our decision to follow Jesus. Perhaps this is why so many of us change majors, change mates, change careers, and change in our commitment to Christ. Perhaps.
I also once heard someone say that they felt their most effective ministry years would come when they reach their 40's and 50's. Wow! This same person mentioned that Moses was called back to Egypt at the age of about 80.
Young people might often think of their ministry "prime" coinciding with their physical "prime"--in their mid-twenties. But that is probably NOT going to be the case. At least, we should hope it isn't! Hopefully, we'll all be serving God for many decades after our 20's, and it would be sad to think that our effectiveness would be going downhill the whole time. Unfortunately, we tend to place too much value on two things: 1) The "ability to relate" that young people supposedly have. 2) That the youth in a society are the prime targets for ministry. Perhaps I'll write more on this at another time.
I look at my own ministry here in 5-year chunks. I feel that my first five years on the field (in a different culture) were to learn the language, learn the culture, and begin to form ideas about the ways to increase God's kingdom and make a real impact on this society (rather than just doing a ministry). My second five year period was the process of getting things set up, putting pieces into place and getting ready to really make a Kingdom impact (still, doing ministry concurrently). The third five-year period has been the fruit-bearing period--the time when so many things come to fruition and the impact that I dreamed about before I ever came starts to become a reality.
Now, this teaches us a couple things. First, I think it shows that we cannot imagine or expect young missionary recruits, with no field experience and no fluency in the language, to have their strategy all mapped out before leaving for the field, or before spending enough time to become fluent in the language. Secondly, it shows us that to make a lasting difference we need a long-term approach.
Perhaps a fourth five-year chunk would be the time in which I have successfully worked myself out of a job--when the nationals have been trained and inspired to do everything that I might do myself, thus rendering me unnecessary. This is what we call a success in missions.
Maybe I'll write a book someday...
...but not now. And so that means this blog is going to be a little unorganized, follow no overarching structure, sometimes random, and... well... a blog! I am too busy now to organize all my thoughts but I want to record them, publish them and share them, so I will do so whenever I have a thought about which I want to write. Perhaps the simple act of archiving all of my random thoughts will one day allow me to organize them into a book. I would like that very much... someday.
Seriously, I would really love to publish a book. It has been a desire of mine for sometime, even as I have friends who have published books. But whenever I start to think about sitting down and organizing all of my thoughts into a book I am hit with this thought: Do it first. Do what you are wanting to write about, and do it well. Do it successfully. Then you'll really have something to write about.
Well, I have been doing it now for about 3 years, but I still feel it is just getting started. So, give me another 10 years and perhaps I'll then be ready to write... we'll see.
For now... random thoughts.
Seriously, I would really love to publish a book. It has been a desire of mine for sometime, even as I have friends who have published books. But whenever I start to think about sitting down and organizing all of my thoughts into a book I am hit with this thought: Do it first. Do what you are wanting to write about, and do it well. Do it successfully. Then you'll really have something to write about.
Well, I have been doing it now for about 3 years, but I still feel it is just getting started. So, give me another 10 years and perhaps I'll then be ready to write... we'll see.
For now... random thoughts.
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