by Mike Chong Perkinson
Josh McDowell, author and lecturer, says these revealing words about himself:
Almost every dysfunction is a truth out of balance. I had lost hope of ever being in control of my life. The dominant childhood feeling for me was to be important. My dominant fear was the fear of dying without being important. I believe it motivated me in a lot of the books, videos, films, to say ‘yes,’ and talk about myself. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, ‘And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ That gave me courage. If I always do what I’ve always done, I’ll always be what I’ve always been. I’ve asked God to bring me to the point where my outer ‘no’ will be an inner ‘no’, and my outer ‘yes’ will be an inner ‘yes’.
“God showed me I need to live this out, so that I can be a healthy person. I must deny myself, those patterns of response that are unpleasing to God. In the last few years, I’ve seen more things in my life that I don’t like, but I’ve never been more excited because I’m growing. I’m really becoming free. If we’re all supposed to be perfect, we wouldn’t need unconditional love. So often in the church, when you look good, when you have no problems, they applaud you. When you go to Alcoholics Anonymous, if you have a problem, they applaud you. In the church we often look good and get worse. In Alcoholics Anonymous you look worse, and get better. I’m getting better. It’s my response to mature in the Holy Spirit. I thank God that He’s alive and working in my life. (Taken from Alan Nelson, Broken In The Right Places, pp. 198-199)
One of the greatest struggles we face as leaders, for that matter as Christians, is that our fallen human nature, motivated by fear, causes us to lean upon ourselves and draw upon our own soul strength, upon our talent, gifts, knowledge, magnetism, eloquence or cleverness. All too often our ministry endeavors are self-serving as Josh McDowell so honestly states. We do it to feel better, relieve guilt, find identity, to feel important, be needed, etc. In contrast, ministry in its purest form give life rather than taking life. Ministry in Christ takes the attention off of oneself, providing life. However, neurotic service (takes life) indicates a desire or need for attention and may result from guilt or a need for approval rather than selfless love. Maybe we should call this the parasitic leadership. As Tom Johnston says, “a protégé wants what is in your heart and parasite wants what is in your hand.”
Recognizing that our inner worlds and outer worlds are not always in harmony is a challenge for all of us. Acting holy and mastering the behaviors is much easier than overcoming the internal world of motivation. For example, you know whether or not you’re really a servant by the way you react in your heart when you’re treated like one. As leaders, we embrace the ideology of being servants for Christ, understanding it conceptually. In reality, we tend to live from our fear and insecurity rather than the grace, freedom and love in Christ. The true test of whether or not we are genuine, authentic servants of God, and not just people who want a place for ourselves, is when we get down to the simple task of serving. Those who are servants are really interested in serving Christ by serving the other. The gain of the Kingdom is their objective. Jesus flows through us for His gain. Those who are not are more interested in how and where they serve, not to mention with whom they serve. Self-gain is baptized in scriptural language and is their objective. We use Jesus for personal gain.
Who am I when I am alone with God? Who am I when no one is looking? Is my inner world and outer world the same? Or, at least moving in the direction of being the same? Am I growing in Christ’s love or simply growing in my duties? How would our spouse’s truly describe our life in Christ? How would our children describe our life in Christ?
Our style of leadership, based in Jesus, is “incarnational.” An old adage typifies my point: “Every man has three names; one his father and mother give him; one others call him; and one he acquires himself.” What is the name you and I are acquiring for ourselves? Incarnational leadership means one must lead primarily out of who one is and not what one knows, who one knows, what one can do, or how one can do it. Henri Nouwen says it well: “Christian leadership is not a leadership of power and control, but a leadership of powerlessness and humility in which the suffering servant of God, Jesus Christ, is made manifest. I, obviously, am not speaking about a psychologically weak leadership in which the Christian leader is simply the passive victim of the manipulations of his milieu. No, I am speaking of a leadership in which power is constantly abandoned in favor of love.” (In The Name of Jesus, p. 63) We are then, to be just like Jesus, who became a man, humbling Himself and being of no reputation, and being obedient to the point of death. Unless we allow the power of God to impact us, the reality of His presence will be circumvented. Jesus must be in us, in order for Him to be given away.
It is precisely the lack of humility (motivated by fear) before God that is the root cause of nearly all leadership problems. For example, if the power resources transcend the character strength of the individual, collapse or a moral lapse is inevitable. Simply, God does not work through us greatly until we recognize our impotence. The lyrics of an old song reinforce my point, “If you want to be great in God’s Kingdom learn to be the servant of all.”
All of this to say, we must be honest before God and before some trusted brothers and sisters in Christ, confessing our sins and allowing God to daily transform our hearts into the Image of His Son. It is one thing to be positionally saved through Christ’s atoning work. It is another to be relationally saved in Christ, abiding in the Vine daily as He stretches the capacity of our hearts to reflect His life, love and nature (Galatians 2:20; 5:22-23). And so, let’s abandon power in favor of love. Just in case it is not obvious enough yet, start at home. Live Jesus with your family. Our ministry begins with Jesus and me (son/daughter), Jesus and my family (servant), and Jesus and my calling (servant and steward). Redeemed life begins from the heart, resulting in a transformed individual radically in love with Christ, loving others as they love themselves, and reproducing the life and love of Jesus in others (making disciples).
Monday, November 26, 2007
Flow
by Tom Johnston
When it comes to ministry, we try so hard. We want to “make it happen,” or “git `er done.” While I admit hard work is part of ministry – and life in general – the most fruitful times we experience are the result of not our action alone, but rather when we are acting in concert with God. I call it being in the flow.
There is a convergence which comes when, by our obedience, we are in the God-authored place/circumstance/situation of service and we are functioning in the grace empowerment on our life – that God-authored combination of our personal wiring, experience, spiritual gifting, and natural talents. When this happens, we are flowing with and in the Spirit of God, working seamlessly, and often effortlessly, with Him, and He through us. Jesus said it this way –
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. John 5:19-20 ESV
God’s grace on a life is not just for salvation, but for the empowerment of destiny – and produces the unique contribution to the Kingdom economy only that individual can make. This empowerment of God by His grace, and the consequent destiny should determine our assignment – the place of service we are engaged in. When it grace empowerment and assignment match, we can flow with the Spirit, doing the Father’s will, and bear much fruit for His glory.
So, how can we be “in the flow” consistently? Jesus gives us several keys, both from His words and His life-pattern. First, let’s take a look at how he wraps it all together. He sums it up in the Vine & Branches metaphor and calls it abiding:
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 14:4-5 ESV
The “abiding” is not action-oriented, but relationally-oriented. It is a state of being in Christ, not a state of doing for Christ. The vital life of Jesus flows into us from our regular and continual communion with Him as we abide in Him through the Spirit. This is Jesus’ pattern:
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. Mark 1:35-39 ESV
Jesus went from one place of prayer, one place of communion with the Father, to another – and in between He spoke the truth, brought healing to the sick, forgiveness and acceptance to the “sinners,” broke demonic powers, delivered justice to the oppressed and spoke prophetic rebuke to the religious elite. He was always abiding, He was constantly in concert with the Father, constantly “in the flow.”
My encouragement is for us all to spend more time communing with Him through reflective prayer informed by the Scripture, so that as we move through our day, we can be in the flow, guided and empowered by the Spirit. I would also encourage us to reflect on our current ministry assignment – does it fit our grace empowerment, or is there some change needed – in us or the circumstance or way of ministry – that needs to come so that we can flow with the Spirit, bearing much fruit for the Father.
May the Lord teach you how you specifically can abide in Him, and may you flow in your grace for His glory.
When it comes to ministry, we try so hard. We want to “make it happen,” or “git `er done.” While I admit hard work is part of ministry – and life in general – the most fruitful times we experience are the result of not our action alone, but rather when we are acting in concert with God. I call it being in the flow.
There is a convergence which comes when, by our obedience, we are in the God-authored place/circumstance/situation of service and we are functioning in the grace empowerment on our life – that God-authored combination of our personal wiring, experience, spiritual gifting, and natural talents. When this happens, we are flowing with and in the Spirit of God, working seamlessly, and often effortlessly, with Him, and He through us. Jesus said it this way –
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. John 5:19-20 ESV
God’s grace on a life is not just for salvation, but for the empowerment of destiny – and produces the unique contribution to the Kingdom economy only that individual can make. This empowerment of God by His grace, and the consequent destiny should determine our assignment – the place of service we are engaged in. When it grace empowerment and assignment match, we can flow with the Spirit, doing the Father’s will, and bear much fruit for His glory.
So, how can we be “in the flow” consistently? Jesus gives us several keys, both from His words and His life-pattern. First, let’s take a look at how he wraps it all together. He sums it up in the Vine & Branches metaphor and calls it abiding:
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 14:4-5 ESV
The “abiding” is not action-oriented, but relationally-oriented. It is a state of being in Christ, not a state of doing for Christ. The vital life of Jesus flows into us from our regular and continual communion with Him as we abide in Him through the Spirit. This is Jesus’ pattern:
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. Mark 1:35-39 ESV
Jesus went from one place of prayer, one place of communion with the Father, to another – and in between He spoke the truth, brought healing to the sick, forgiveness and acceptance to the “sinners,” broke demonic powers, delivered justice to the oppressed and spoke prophetic rebuke to the religious elite. He was always abiding, He was constantly in concert with the Father, constantly “in the flow.”
My encouragement is for us all to spend more time communing with Him through reflective prayer informed by the Scripture, so that as we move through our day, we can be in the flow, guided and empowered by the Spirit. I would also encourage us to reflect on our current ministry assignment – does it fit our grace empowerment, or is there some change needed – in us or the circumstance or way of ministry – that needs to come so that we can flow with the Spirit, bearing much fruit for the Father.
May the Lord teach you how you specifically can abide in Him, and may you flow in your grace for His glory.
Monday, October 29, 2007
The Clock is Ticking
by Tom Johnston
Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. John 4: 35 ESV
This is an amazing scene: Jesus having had a dialog with the Samaritan woman, the disciples have returned from getting take-out food and are weirded-out by the fact that the Rabbi is talking to a woman – and not one of good reputation to boot! They are so wrapped up in the day-to-day of life and so stunned by Jesus breaking some serious social and religious taboos that they miss the fact that the entire village is now surging out of the town and coming up to see Jesus. They are so caught in their own moment that they fail to realize the work of the Father – Jesus’ “food” – which is at hand. They could not see the harvest before them, they were still looking for something in the future, specifically, the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom through Jesus. Looking for the Kingdom in the future, they missed the Kingdom in their now.
Are we like the disciples? Is the Church in the West so caught up in the concerns of day-to-day life (read: American Dream) that we miss seeing the harvest? Are we so caught up in the politico-religious Culture War in our country that we can’t see the white fields? Can it be that, looking to see people assured of eternity, we actually miss the opportunity to lovingly serve them in the now, and demonstrate for them the presence of God’s Kingdom rule on Earth? In many ways we need to have our eyes opened to see the potential harvest in our now.
It is our belief that in each generation there is a harvest of souls to be gathered, and it is Christ’s desire to see these people enter into His Kingdom community. But do we have time to see and engage the harvest? Are we so busy running like the rats in the proverbial race that we have no time for the harvest? As we shift our life from zero to 60 every morning are we zipping past the people whom Jesus is calling to Himself? Maybe we are plugging into our personal iPod-of-a-life and tuning everyone else out.
Or, are we placing are harvest hope (read: bets) on some cataclysmic future series of events which will drive people to Jesus? (Like His love isn’t enough to win their hearts?) Earthquakes, forest fires, tsunamis, stock market crashes, you know, God roughing us up a bit, so we get it. Sure would be a whole lot less work for us!
It could be we are still hoping to win the Culture War by electing the right candidates to office and passing laws which will Christianize everybody. Get the right people in the right places and – zingo – the next thing you know everybody is wearing a white shirt and tie and parting their hair on the right side of their head and it is 1957 all over again. God forbid we have to cross some social barriers to minister to unfriendly people who look different from us! Much easier to get the vote out and pass laws instead!
Here is the reality of it all – 7 out of 10 people within walking distance of you right now as your read this are not going to go into eternity knowing Jesus. You don’t need to meet anyone new to share Christ – you already know the harvest – maybe you just can’t see it. And those people that you know don’t need to be attacked by terrorists, struck by falling space junk or come to financial ruin so Jesus can get through to them. They just need us – Jesus’ people – His Church, to live like Him in front of them. His love embodied in our arms, our hands our words, our actions of service. Yes, some will still reject Him – but we will increase the population of the future Kingdom, and quite probably pull a little bit more of that future into our now.
The clock is ticking on this generation’s opportunity. May God open all of our eyes to see the harvest in our day – and that our harvest is ready now.
Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. John 4: 35 ESV
This is an amazing scene: Jesus having had a dialog with the Samaritan woman, the disciples have returned from getting take-out food and are weirded-out by the fact that the Rabbi is talking to a woman – and not one of good reputation to boot! They are so wrapped up in the day-to-day of life and so stunned by Jesus breaking some serious social and religious taboos that they miss the fact that the entire village is now surging out of the town and coming up to see Jesus. They are so caught in their own moment that they fail to realize the work of the Father – Jesus’ “food” – which is at hand. They could not see the harvest before them, they were still looking for something in the future, specifically, the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom through Jesus. Looking for the Kingdom in the future, they missed the Kingdom in their now.
Are we like the disciples? Is the Church in the West so caught up in the concerns of day-to-day life (read: American Dream) that we miss seeing the harvest? Are we so caught up in the politico-religious Culture War in our country that we can’t see the white fields? Can it be that, looking to see people assured of eternity, we actually miss the opportunity to lovingly serve them in the now, and demonstrate for them the presence of God’s Kingdom rule on Earth? In many ways we need to have our eyes opened to see the potential harvest in our now.
It is our belief that in each generation there is a harvest of souls to be gathered, and it is Christ’s desire to see these people enter into His Kingdom community. But do we have time to see and engage the harvest? Are we so busy running like the rats in the proverbial race that we have no time for the harvest? As we shift our life from zero to 60 every morning are we zipping past the people whom Jesus is calling to Himself? Maybe we are plugging into our personal iPod-of-a-life and tuning everyone else out.
Or, are we placing are harvest hope (read: bets) on some cataclysmic future series of events which will drive people to Jesus? (Like His love isn’t enough to win their hearts?) Earthquakes, forest fires, tsunamis, stock market crashes, you know, God roughing us up a bit, so we get it. Sure would be a whole lot less work for us!
It could be we are still hoping to win the Culture War by electing the right candidates to office and passing laws which will Christianize everybody. Get the right people in the right places and – zingo – the next thing you know everybody is wearing a white shirt and tie and parting their hair on the right side of their head and it is 1957 all over again. God forbid we have to cross some social barriers to minister to unfriendly people who look different from us! Much easier to get the vote out and pass laws instead!
Here is the reality of it all – 7 out of 10 people within walking distance of you right now as your read this are not going to go into eternity knowing Jesus. You don’t need to meet anyone new to share Christ – you already know the harvest – maybe you just can’t see it. And those people that you know don’t need to be attacked by terrorists, struck by falling space junk or come to financial ruin so Jesus can get through to them. They just need us – Jesus’ people – His Church, to live like Him in front of them. His love embodied in our arms, our hands our words, our actions of service. Yes, some will still reject Him – but we will increase the population of the future Kingdom, and quite probably pull a little bit more of that future into our now.
The clock is ticking on this generation’s opportunity. May God open all of our eyes to see the harvest in our day – and that our harvest is ready now.
Servant Leadership
by Mike Chong Perkinson
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45
What you are shouts so loudly in my ears I cannot hear what you say. Emerson
Leadership Tension: One can do the right thing and do it poorly or one can do things right while doing the wrong thing. This is possibly why many ministries flounder.
It is said that a manager is one who gets things done right, while a leader is one who gets the right things done. Management follows good leadership. Let me use for example a group of people that are tearing up a field so that a baseball park might be built on it. No matter how good the management is, it is all worthless if the group of people are working on the wrong field. Leadership is the ability to find the right field. We are in great need of spiritual leaders; being busy is not our goal, but doing what is right and pleasing to the Lord for the benefit of the Kingdom is. As a result, the most effective leader is one who is willing to serve and be led by the Master Himself. We want people who are servant leaders and not leaders who simply want to be served. Keep in mind, we are never beyond a task (that is, above doing it). If our Master can lower Himself to the service of a slave as He washed the disciples’ feet; surely we can allow ourselves to not be above any task.
Five questions are in need of answering by us on a regular basis. They are:
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45
What you are shouts so loudly in my ears I cannot hear what you say. Emerson
Leadership Tension: One can do the right thing and do it poorly or one can do things right while doing the wrong thing. This is possibly why many ministries flounder.
It is said that a manager is one who gets things done right, while a leader is one who gets the right things done. Management follows good leadership. Let me use for example a group of people that are tearing up a field so that a baseball park might be built on it. No matter how good the management is, it is all worthless if the group of people are working on the wrong field. Leadership is the ability to find the right field. We are in great need of spiritual leaders; being busy is not our goal, but doing what is right and pleasing to the Lord for the benefit of the Kingdom is. As a result, the most effective leader is one who is willing to serve and be led by the Master Himself. We want people who are servant leaders and not leaders who simply want to be served. Keep in mind, we are never beyond a task (that is, above doing it). If our Master can lower Himself to the service of a slave as He washed the disciples’ feet; surely we can allow ourselves to not be above any task.
Five questions are in need of answering by us on a regular basis. They are:
What are we leading/managing? Too often we lead a structure and not people. We are more interested in building a ministry than doing ministry with people. Our focus is always to build people and not our ministry. I realize this is obvious, but people are the ministry. The following is the way I seek to build people (taken from Matthew 5:13-16):
“Light the lamp” -- Help people light their lamps through the Holy Spirit. This is the stage of salvation and healing. Many who come to you, even those who know the Lord, are dry and without life and in tremendous need of healing.
“Let your light shine” -- Help people practice individual spirituality in their private life. We want people to grow as Christians from the inside out.
“Set it on a lampstand” -- Help people share the reality of God’s work in their life to everyone they come in contact with by word and deed. This tends to come more naturally when people’s lives are changed. This sets us up for our “virus” approach to evangelism. We desire to infect people with Jesus. The best way to do this is to catch the “virus” of Jesus ourselves and be the church anywhere, everywhere, and all the time.
Why are we leading? This should be brought before the Lord on a regular basis. He will purify our motives as we grow as leaders. Practically, if you discover you are leading out of an incorrect motive, don’t quit. Let God purify you as you lead. The single greatest need of spiritual leaders today is to ignore the voice of flesh that beckons us to be noticed and successful and learn to hear the voice of God that beckons for us to be humble and for Christ to be noticed.
Where is the leadership going to take you? Do we really know where we are trying to take the people? Keep in mind, it is ludicrous that others can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there. This does not imply that you have to be an alcoholic to minister to alcoholics. Rather, it clarifies for us the key of being servants and broken before God. Are you actually living out what you are leading? The destination is more than systems and numbers, it is about character and the forming of Christ in people.
What are the values we embrace? And do they fall in line with what we are doing? All too often, people will do the opposite of what they profess to value. For example, they say they believe in servant leadership, but rarely serve when the opportunity comes. We know we are actually servants in our hearts the moment we are treated like one and we are ok with it.
Is the ministry growing? This is where the American success mindset has really impacted us. We tend to believe that growth is best monitored by numerical increase. Always remember, a large ministry does not mean anything more than a large ministry. It does not necessarily mean the people are growing in Christ. By this, I am not suggesting we do not want more people to get saved nor am I being critical of large ministries. Remember big is not better. Small is not better. Better is better. Our focus is not get to bigger, but to grow big people. We will let the Lord take care of the increase. Here is the criterion I use to determine if my ministry is growing or not:
Are people’s relationships with God stabilizing? Before we can change the world, we need to see God change the world of individuals.
Are people’s relationships with each other growing?
Is concern for the lost and broken increasing in the fellowship? Are they beginning to reach out?
Are we beginning to reproduce ourselves? This will involve discipleship of Christians and non-Christians. Where the presence of the Lord is, life will happen. As Acts 2:47 seems to indicate, people coming to Christ is a by-product of our relationship with Jesus – the lived way with Christ, with others and for others.
May we all become servant leaders, who desire nothing more or less than living our lives to the King and His Kingdom. To help us prepare our hearts for such I offer you this prayer.
THE SERVANT LEADERS’ PRAYER
Don’t give us blessings--give us grace to be unquestionably obedient to Your every last command and desire.
Don’t give us status--give us a place to serve.
Don’t give us things for our use--use us.
Don’t give us a mansion to live in--give us a springboard to take Christ’s love to the whole world.
Don’t give us good jobs--put us to work.
Don’t give us pleasure--give us perspective.
Don’t give us satisfaction--teach us sacrifice.
Don’t give us entertainment--enable us.
Don’t give us good salaries--give us strength to do Your will.
Our great joy in life is in pleasing our Lord--and there is no other joy comparable.
- Gordon Aeschiman
God raise up servant leaders!
Tell me what you think. Let’s talk about it.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Becoming What?
by Mike Chong Perkinson
Any developmental process must consider the aspect of becoming; that is, dealing with the growth of the organism from a single cell into multiple cells. In other words, it is not so much what an organism is that is critical but what it is becoming. The purpose of a thing defines the essence or the nature of a thing.
When it comes to church growth and leadership issues, the emphasis tends to fall towards function and the goals the group is pursuing. This is not to say that such consideration is wrong, but to assert that the old adage of “putting the cart before the horse” is often in play when it comes to building church leadership structures. What we are inferring is that the theological basis and purpose of the church is often assumed and left unclear, often misunderstood. The pastor or leader is pressed by competitive demands of success and financial pressures to produce something that is worthy of recognition – a product if you will. Without addressing the matter of pride and selfish ambition, the pastor naively pursues pastoring with an agenda to see people come to know the love of God but finds the demands of the organization and the product overtake the desire of the pastor to truly shepherd God’s people into a life of spiritual fullness.
The movement of our church age is more towards building bigger churches than it is building big people. Remember big is not better nor is small better – better is better. With such a system in place, one has to be suspicious of the underlying values and philosophical base that supports such a structure. All too often, at least in our opinion, we see powerful leadership structures, built within the holy walls of the church with great organizational skill and powerful results that resemble the things of the Kingdom in operation but lack in the deeper dimension of actual Kingdom life that is expressed most clearly in the Fruit of the Spirit.
To put it simply, we have worldly leadership systems and values baptized into the world of the church and pawned off as God’s wisdom and design. By this, we are not suggesting that worldly leadership structures are bad in and of themselves or that the church does not need assistance in organizational development. Instead, it must be acknowledged that the church is an organization that resembles the world’s organization and is in need of organizational assistance. However, the church is not a business, although it has many similarities, it is a design of our Father who, by His sovereignty, has ordained the church to be His primary vehicle of edification for the body of Christ. The church then needs to operate by the values and philosophical base that is set in the scripture regarding its existence and conduct. It is clearly defined in scripture who we are to be and how we are to function as the people of God. We need to be able to stop and consider “why we are” before we ask “who we are.” The “why” question answers the “who” question and releases us to find our purpose and our being at the same time. Once we have answered the nagging question regarding our existence, we can safely engage into the arena of life and function freely. Being always precedes doing and function always comes from life. Philosophically, it is impossible to separate being and function. Let me explain, will and function exist like two sides of a coin, both operating and carrying on a different role and yet, are uniquely tied to the coin. The coin is being (the state of “isness”). When we look at the coin, we can differentiate various elements of it like heads and tails or will and function. However, the various pieces make up the whole and that we call a “coin.” For there to be function we must have being just like heads and tails would not exist without the essence called the coin. (Obviously this illustration can be extrapolated further with more detail – for our purposes we simply want to illustrate the inter-connectedness of being and function.)
The church has fallen prey to the forces of our society in that it has embraced, almost unknowingly, the values of a success-driven society that puts function in front of doing; to the point of ignoring being all together. God is more interested in who we are becoming as persons. Our pathways for spiritual formation in the church should then be built upon the “irreducible core” of helping people develop in their love for God, love for each other, and the making of disciples as life is lived out.
And so, who are you becoming? What is church becoming? How do the ministry processes and systems in your church help you develop disciples that love God, love others, and make disciples? How are you doing in living out the “IC”?
May we all become the people God has built us to be reflecting His glory as we live life. After all, “the glory of God is a human being fully alive.” (Irenaeus)
Any developmental process must consider the aspect of becoming; that is, dealing with the growth of the organism from a single cell into multiple cells. In other words, it is not so much what an organism is that is critical but what it is becoming. The purpose of a thing defines the essence or the nature of a thing.
When it comes to church growth and leadership issues, the emphasis tends to fall towards function and the goals the group is pursuing. This is not to say that such consideration is wrong, but to assert that the old adage of “putting the cart before the horse” is often in play when it comes to building church leadership structures. What we are inferring is that the theological basis and purpose of the church is often assumed and left unclear, often misunderstood. The pastor or leader is pressed by competitive demands of success and financial pressures to produce something that is worthy of recognition – a product if you will. Without addressing the matter of pride and selfish ambition, the pastor naively pursues pastoring with an agenda to see people come to know the love of God but finds the demands of the organization and the product overtake the desire of the pastor to truly shepherd God’s people into a life of spiritual fullness.
The movement of our church age is more towards building bigger churches than it is building big people. Remember big is not better nor is small better – better is better. With such a system in place, one has to be suspicious of the underlying values and philosophical base that supports such a structure. All too often, at least in our opinion, we see powerful leadership structures, built within the holy walls of the church with great organizational skill and powerful results that resemble the things of the Kingdom in operation but lack in the deeper dimension of actual Kingdom life that is expressed most clearly in the Fruit of the Spirit.
To put it simply, we have worldly leadership systems and values baptized into the world of the church and pawned off as God’s wisdom and design. By this, we are not suggesting that worldly leadership structures are bad in and of themselves or that the church does not need assistance in organizational development. Instead, it must be acknowledged that the church is an organization that resembles the world’s organization and is in need of organizational assistance. However, the church is not a business, although it has many similarities, it is a design of our Father who, by His sovereignty, has ordained the church to be His primary vehicle of edification for the body of Christ. The church then needs to operate by the values and philosophical base that is set in the scripture regarding its existence and conduct. It is clearly defined in scripture who we are to be and how we are to function as the people of God. We need to be able to stop and consider “why we are” before we ask “who we are.” The “why” question answers the “who” question and releases us to find our purpose and our being at the same time. Once we have answered the nagging question regarding our existence, we can safely engage into the arena of life and function freely. Being always precedes doing and function always comes from life. Philosophically, it is impossible to separate being and function. Let me explain, will and function exist like two sides of a coin, both operating and carrying on a different role and yet, are uniquely tied to the coin. The coin is being (the state of “isness”). When we look at the coin, we can differentiate various elements of it like heads and tails or will and function. However, the various pieces make up the whole and that we call a “coin.” For there to be function we must have being just like heads and tails would not exist without the essence called the coin. (Obviously this illustration can be extrapolated further with more detail – for our purposes we simply want to illustrate the inter-connectedness of being and function.)
The church has fallen prey to the forces of our society in that it has embraced, almost unknowingly, the values of a success-driven society that puts function in front of doing; to the point of ignoring being all together. God is more interested in who we are becoming as persons. Our pathways for spiritual formation in the church should then be built upon the “irreducible core” of helping people develop in their love for God, love for each other, and the making of disciples as life is lived out.
And so, who are you becoming? What is church becoming? How do the ministry processes and systems in your church help you develop disciples that love God, love others, and make disciples? How are you doing in living out the “IC”?
May we all become the people God has built us to be reflecting His glory as we live life. After all, “the glory of God is a human being fully alive.” (Irenaeus)
The Leadership Bypass
by Tom Johnston
Very often when we discuss the issue of leadership development in the local church we are really discussing how a particular church develops leaders to serve within the context of that specific church. Most of us as pastors are engaged in leadership development for the needs of our own ministry. Certainly, such leaders are needed, but let us suggest to you a broader view, a Kingdom view. Jesus said,
And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Luke 10:2 ESV
Leadership development in our churches must be about the harvest, not just about getting people to run our programs and church activities. Jesus’ concern expressed here is for the ingathering of people into His Kingdom, and not just the maintaining of those of the wheat who are already in the barn. As our good friend and mentor Dr. Bob Logan always says, we need to raise leaders from the harvest for the harvest.
While the care, nurture and discipleship of existing Christians are essential parts of the church’s ministry, and as such requires devoted leadership, we have allowed our leadership development track, to a great extent, to be driven by the needs of those already in the church. In doing such, we have spiritually neutered our “leaders,” validating their attendance at meetings and the performance of tasks within ministry programs. We have not, by and large, had the expectation that those called “leaders” should be involved in spiritual reproduction – sharing their faith and making disciples for Jesus Christ. Many of our leaders are nothing more than mid-level program managers in our local church organizations. Could it be that we need to let our developing leaders bypass serving the church through the myriad of things we seem to find to do (and some which really need to be done) and let them directly engage the harvest? We need an HOV lane on our development pathway for leaders, allowing them to zip by the slow moving traffic of the church ministry and operations, and let them engage directly in the harvest.
Another way we need to create a “bypass” for our leaders is to use developmental processes and sponsorship structures that empower people to go beyond us. We often find churches where the pastor uses the “Undergrowth Principle” – “you can grow as long as you’re under me.” Can someone get by you to a fuller expression of their gifting and calling, perhaps surpassing you in fruitfulness and effectiveness? Do you have an open-ended leadership development process, or does their road come to an end at the inside of the metaphorical door of your church? Robert Clinton has suggested in several of his works that we often encounter problems with people in the churches we care for simply because we are in the way of their further spiritual development. He suggests that many of those we call “rebellious” are actually people who have out-grown the current opportunities to learn and serve in our churches, and if we could facilitate them into new opportunities for both – perhaps in an expression of church beyond our own local setting, we would be serving the needs of the Kingdom more completely.
None of us have enough leaders – and the harvest awaits. We need to establish our churches as “leadership development engines” and see our role not just as shepherds but as equippers of the saints – and cut those saints loose in the harvest fields. Make leaders – lots of them, and give them over to Jesus, and watch what He does with them – in your local church and beyond.
Very often when we discuss the issue of leadership development in the local church we are really discussing how a particular church develops leaders to serve within the context of that specific church. Most of us as pastors are engaged in leadership development for the needs of our own ministry. Certainly, such leaders are needed, but let us suggest to you a broader view, a Kingdom view. Jesus said,
And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Luke 10:2 ESV
Leadership development in our churches must be about the harvest, not just about getting people to run our programs and church activities. Jesus’ concern expressed here is for the ingathering of people into His Kingdom, and not just the maintaining of those of the wheat who are already in the barn. As our good friend and mentor Dr. Bob Logan always says, we need to raise leaders from the harvest for the harvest.
While the care, nurture and discipleship of existing Christians are essential parts of the church’s ministry, and as such requires devoted leadership, we have allowed our leadership development track, to a great extent, to be driven by the needs of those already in the church. In doing such, we have spiritually neutered our “leaders,” validating their attendance at meetings and the performance of tasks within ministry programs. We have not, by and large, had the expectation that those called “leaders” should be involved in spiritual reproduction – sharing their faith and making disciples for Jesus Christ. Many of our leaders are nothing more than mid-level program managers in our local church organizations. Could it be that we need to let our developing leaders bypass serving the church through the myriad of things we seem to find to do (and some which really need to be done) and let them directly engage the harvest? We need an HOV lane on our development pathway for leaders, allowing them to zip by the slow moving traffic of the church ministry and operations, and let them engage directly in the harvest.
Another way we need to create a “bypass” for our leaders is to use developmental processes and sponsorship structures that empower people to go beyond us. We often find churches where the pastor uses the “Undergrowth Principle” – “you can grow as long as you’re under me.” Can someone get by you to a fuller expression of their gifting and calling, perhaps surpassing you in fruitfulness and effectiveness? Do you have an open-ended leadership development process, or does their road come to an end at the inside of the metaphorical door of your church? Robert Clinton has suggested in several of his works that we often encounter problems with people in the churches we care for simply because we are in the way of their further spiritual development. He suggests that many of those we call “rebellious” are actually people who have out-grown the current opportunities to learn and serve in our churches, and if we could facilitate them into new opportunities for both – perhaps in an expression of church beyond our own local setting, we would be serving the needs of the Kingdom more completely.
None of us have enough leaders – and the harvest awaits. We need to establish our churches as “leadership development engines” and see our role not just as shepherds but as equippers of the saints – and cut those saints loose in the harvest fields. Make leaders – lots of them, and give them over to Jesus, and watch what He does with them – in your local church and beyond.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
"Personal Change Precedes Corporate Change": A Church Growth Strategy or a Lived Reality?
by Mike Chong Perkinson
Leadership and serving God’s people can be a very burdensome task if not properly approached. Exhortations such as “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9) and “Strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed” (Hebrews 12:12- 13) embody the reality of growing tired in the arena of ministry and our responsibility to continue.
On top of this Satanic attack in all facets of our lives brings a level of frustration and tiredness all by itself. Questioning God, ourselves, and our ability to lead God’s people, all lead to the demise of ministry if we permit the evil one to have any foothold on our faith. The distractions the enemy places in our lives quietly drain from us the very life we are trying to offer people. Since, we cannot remove the distractions from this existence a more focused understanding of God’s call on our lives must be implemented and practiced daily.
Finally, ministry involves us as persons and so, we do the work of God as human beings who find some sense of fulfillment in obeying our Lord. In some way, we all minister in the areas of life where we are still working out our own understanding of God, theology, and brokenness. Frederick Buechner was not far off when he said “all theology is autobiography.” This is not to suggest such a subjective element is negative, but to simply make an observation. Now, combine this with the hedonistic model of life our society embraces and you have all the makings of a ministry that is centered on the self and personal fulfillment. Hence, the people become a means to an end and internal comfort is the utmost priority people tend to seek. One could say the highest moral reality is to feel good. I find such a philosophy difficult to digest when we read of Jesus and His personal torment surrounding the finality of His mission: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38). Following in the spirit of Christ, we find Peter making a bold declaration regarding the reality of suffering. He says:
But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (I Peter 2:20-21, NIV)
It is intensely difficult to encourage people, in our day and age, to adopt a philosophy of life that is willing to give itself for the glory of God, the establishing of His presence in this world (Kingdom centered living which involves sacrifice), and the restoration of the Imago Dei (Image of God) in individuals (Paul tells us we have been given the ministry of reconciliation, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20). The type of people we often encounter in our church work are those who are trying to find a church to meet their personal needs (needs are not bad in and of themselves), rather than finding a place where they can glorify God and offer their service or gifts for the glory of God and advancement of the Kingdom on earth. I am not inferring that seeking God or a church to deal with one’s brokenness is wrong, but that the church never moves from existing as an oasis for personal fulfillment to an oasis that provides comfort to a lost and suffering world. Yes, there is a time for healing and rest, but many never want to move out of this stage in their lives. After all, the healing stage involves a tremendous amount of meticulous attention from others; being the center of the world is a wonderful feeling many do not want to give up. How do we overcome such a difficulty? Although, many are seeking truth in our day and age, the general populace is not interested in following Christ via the 'take up your cross and follow me' mode, but rather “help me to do what I want to do and I’ll attend your church” philosophy. The old Puritan adage is so true: “The truth will set you free, but it will kill you first.” Maybe this is what “personal change precedes corporate change” really means. Not the simple shift of a paradigm or a model to more effectively do church but a transformation that allows us to be the church.
THE PROBLEM
Sinfulness is a large problem and has been since the dawn of time. We are, unfortunately, creatures who want dominion in our lives and a God who will see to it that our wishes are honored. Religious devotion is the norm with very little concern for the element of holy living and the establishment of the Kingdom or reign of God in our hearts. The prophet Hosea spoke well when he uttered the charge against Israel:
Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying. (Hosea 4:1-3, NIV)
A religious contract has been negotiated by many with God. A contract God has not agreed to in any way. This contract involves religious devotion (going to service and tithing and moral living) from the human side and blessing, peace, and happiness from the divine side. In other words, we give some praise strokes and in return He gives us happiness. Much like investment happy America, we want a maximum return for a minimum investment.
All of this makes me wonder if the slogan “personal change precedes corporate change” has been, at times, reduced to nothing more than a new and fancy slogan to help us “super size” our churches with very little emphasis on super sizing the saints. One would think that the greatest marketing tool we have in our repertoire is a transformed life living in the love and power of the Holy Spirit. Just a thought, but living as real and genuine Christians might actually allow us to truly impact our culture. Just a thought.
THE SOLUTION
Our nation is in dire need of repentance. The Church needs to turn from our religious playground and fall on our knees and cry out to God Almighty for grace and mercy. Much like the people of Hosea’s day, we assume God must forgive us, “He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds” (Hosea 6:1, NIV). As a result, repentance is optional and our great American ideology of entitlement tells us God has to forgive us because we are entitled to it. No wonder God says, “What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears” (Hosea 6:4, NIV). Our commitment to God is so flippant. God help us.
To point the finger at our nation is not adequate nor is it proper to simply adjust the direction of our finger and place the blame on the hard-hearted state of the Christian community. My heart breaks for the state of the nation and the Church. The increase of violence, terrorism, and apathy in our land only amplifies the predicament we find our world in. The prayer of Nehemiah is a model for all in leadership to emulate:
I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. (1:6b-7, NIV)
As strange as it might sound, the sin committed by our city and nation is also our sin. As a people of God, we too, have contributed to the sin of the nation by not turning our own lives to His ways. Joshua 7:10-15 records the reply of Yahweh to Joshua over the lost battle at Ai, where 36 men were killed because of sin in the camp. We know the story, Achan was the one who looted from the plunder and took some of the devoted things (7:20-21). Strangely enough, when Yahweh speaks, it is Israel, not Achan, who is indicted and punished.
Much like our physical bodies, when one part is out of sorts, the whole is impacted. We cannot turn our eyes from the nation and bury our heads in the sand of religious denial and pretend to be a holy people when injustice is taking place around us. Isaiah confronts us with his words:
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. (1:15-17, NIV)
Our worlds are so limited, so small. As long as the problems and the demise of our cities are not a threat to us, we are minimally impacted. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. What keeps us from weeping over cities? Maybe what we need to do is repent personally over the disobedience we have been involved in. Is it possible we need to repent over a heart that really does not care for our neighbor, but only for the peaceful advancement of our own little world?
I am not suggesting we plunge into a social agenda only, but that we ponder what it means to be a follower of Christ in a broken and lost world that is much bigger than the small islands of existence we live upon. I invite you to ask the Lord what it means to glorify God in our personal worlds. We can’t touch the world at large until we touch the lives in our world. May God help us become people who have rivers of living water flowing from their lives (John 7:38), so that the world might know how good and awesome our God is! May personal change truly precede corporate change as we become the sons and daughters our Father intended us to be.
Leadership and serving God’s people can be a very burdensome task if not properly approached. Exhortations such as “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9) and “Strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed” (Hebrews 12:12- 13) embody the reality of growing tired in the arena of ministry and our responsibility to continue.
On top of this Satanic attack in all facets of our lives brings a level of frustration and tiredness all by itself. Questioning God, ourselves, and our ability to lead God’s people, all lead to the demise of ministry if we permit the evil one to have any foothold on our faith. The distractions the enemy places in our lives quietly drain from us the very life we are trying to offer people. Since, we cannot remove the distractions from this existence a more focused understanding of God’s call on our lives must be implemented and practiced daily.
Finally, ministry involves us as persons and so, we do the work of God as human beings who find some sense of fulfillment in obeying our Lord. In some way, we all minister in the areas of life where we are still working out our own understanding of God, theology, and brokenness. Frederick Buechner was not far off when he said “all theology is autobiography.” This is not to suggest such a subjective element is negative, but to simply make an observation. Now, combine this with the hedonistic model of life our society embraces and you have all the makings of a ministry that is centered on the self and personal fulfillment. Hence, the people become a means to an end and internal comfort is the utmost priority people tend to seek. One could say the highest moral reality is to feel good. I find such a philosophy difficult to digest when we read of Jesus and His personal torment surrounding the finality of His mission: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38). Following in the spirit of Christ, we find Peter making a bold declaration regarding the reality of suffering. He says:
But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (I Peter 2:20-21, NIV)
It is intensely difficult to encourage people, in our day and age, to adopt a philosophy of life that is willing to give itself for the glory of God, the establishing of His presence in this world (Kingdom centered living which involves sacrifice), and the restoration of the Imago Dei (Image of God) in individuals (Paul tells us we have been given the ministry of reconciliation, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20). The type of people we often encounter in our church work are those who are trying to find a church to meet their personal needs (needs are not bad in and of themselves), rather than finding a place where they can glorify God and offer their service or gifts for the glory of God and advancement of the Kingdom on earth. I am not inferring that seeking God or a church to deal with one’s brokenness is wrong, but that the church never moves from existing as an oasis for personal fulfillment to an oasis that provides comfort to a lost and suffering world. Yes, there is a time for healing and rest, but many never want to move out of this stage in their lives. After all, the healing stage involves a tremendous amount of meticulous attention from others; being the center of the world is a wonderful feeling many do not want to give up. How do we overcome such a difficulty? Although, many are seeking truth in our day and age, the general populace is not interested in following Christ via the 'take up your cross and follow me' mode, but rather “help me to do what I want to do and I’ll attend your church” philosophy. The old Puritan adage is so true: “The truth will set you free, but it will kill you first.” Maybe this is what “personal change precedes corporate change” really means. Not the simple shift of a paradigm or a model to more effectively do church but a transformation that allows us to be the church.
THE PROBLEM
Sinfulness is a large problem and has been since the dawn of time. We are, unfortunately, creatures who want dominion in our lives and a God who will see to it that our wishes are honored. Religious devotion is the norm with very little concern for the element of holy living and the establishment of the Kingdom or reign of God in our hearts. The prophet Hosea spoke well when he uttered the charge against Israel:
Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying. (Hosea 4:1-3, NIV)
A religious contract has been negotiated by many with God. A contract God has not agreed to in any way. This contract involves religious devotion (going to service and tithing and moral living) from the human side and blessing, peace, and happiness from the divine side. In other words, we give some praise strokes and in return He gives us happiness. Much like investment happy America, we want a maximum return for a minimum investment.
All of this makes me wonder if the slogan “personal change precedes corporate change” has been, at times, reduced to nothing more than a new and fancy slogan to help us “super size” our churches with very little emphasis on super sizing the saints. One would think that the greatest marketing tool we have in our repertoire is a transformed life living in the love and power of the Holy Spirit. Just a thought, but living as real and genuine Christians might actually allow us to truly impact our culture. Just a thought.
THE SOLUTION
Our nation is in dire need of repentance. The Church needs to turn from our religious playground and fall on our knees and cry out to God Almighty for grace and mercy. Much like the people of Hosea’s day, we assume God must forgive us, “He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds” (Hosea 6:1, NIV). As a result, repentance is optional and our great American ideology of entitlement tells us God has to forgive us because we are entitled to it. No wonder God says, “What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears” (Hosea 6:4, NIV). Our commitment to God is so flippant. God help us.
To point the finger at our nation is not adequate nor is it proper to simply adjust the direction of our finger and place the blame on the hard-hearted state of the Christian community. My heart breaks for the state of the nation and the Church. The increase of violence, terrorism, and apathy in our land only amplifies the predicament we find our world in. The prayer of Nehemiah is a model for all in leadership to emulate:
I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. (1:6b-7, NIV)
As strange as it might sound, the sin committed by our city and nation is also our sin. As a people of God, we too, have contributed to the sin of the nation by not turning our own lives to His ways. Joshua 7:10-15 records the reply of Yahweh to Joshua over the lost battle at Ai, where 36 men were killed because of sin in the camp. We know the story, Achan was the one who looted from the plunder and took some of the devoted things (7:20-21). Strangely enough, when Yahweh speaks, it is Israel, not Achan, who is indicted and punished.
Much like our physical bodies, when one part is out of sorts, the whole is impacted. We cannot turn our eyes from the nation and bury our heads in the sand of religious denial and pretend to be a holy people when injustice is taking place around us. Isaiah confronts us with his words:
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. (1:15-17, NIV)
Our worlds are so limited, so small. As long as the problems and the demise of our cities are not a threat to us, we are minimally impacted. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. What keeps us from weeping over cities? Maybe what we need to do is repent personally over the disobedience we have been involved in. Is it possible we need to repent over a heart that really does not care for our neighbor, but only for the peaceful advancement of our own little world?
I am not suggesting we plunge into a social agenda only, but that we ponder what it means to be a follower of Christ in a broken and lost world that is much bigger than the small islands of existence we live upon. I invite you to ask the Lord what it means to glorify God in our personal worlds. We can’t touch the world at large until we touch the lives in our world. May God help us become people who have rivers of living water flowing from their lives (John 7:38), so that the world might know how good and awesome our God is! May personal change truly precede corporate change as we become the sons and daughters our Father intended us to be.
The Revolution: Of the Heart, From the Heart
by Tom Johnston
The great harvest of souls we all seek – and Jesus desires – can only come as God works a great transformation in His Church. Not just a change of systems, or of formats, or of ministries and programs, or ways of holding services, but of true inward transformation of our hearts. We all know a revolution is needed in the Church so a revival can happen in the world. But this revolution is not simply structural, but takes place within the heart of every Christian leader and disciple.
I was confronted in my devotional reading recently by Luke 6:46 (ESV):
"Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
Ouch. We need to own this one. I need to own this one. Jesus goes on to speak about how if we do what He says we will have a firm foundation for life, standing up to the floods which come. Amazing. The Church in the West is being washed away by the floods of culture and irrelevance, among other things. People in the Church have lives which are as much storm-damaged as those outside. The stats indicate little difference, or in other words – little true transformation.
But there is hope – all we need to do is return to the firm foundation of the commands of Christ. Now, I am not making some pitch here for some kinds of return to doctrinal “purity” or “orthodoxy” (whatever that means to you in your stream of the church - I hope you are already there!), or a certain perspective on Scripture. But rather a return to orthopraxy – actually doing what Jesus said to do. Seem too simple? Read on.
Here is my point. Jesus statement in 6:46 falls just after the Sermon on the Mount, the ethical teaching of Jesus – you know, care for the poor, treat others like you want to be treated, don’t be judgmental or critical, be forgiving, show love to those who hate you. That’s right, we know this stuff. But do we really, as the Church, do it? (And are we really the Church if we don’t? But that’s another article.) The real issue Jesus is pointing out here is the heart – when it is good, goodness flows from the life. When it is bad, rottenness flows (6:43-45). It is the heart issue which He is speaking to – not just the behavior. We so often seek to modify our own behavior and the behavior of those we minister to (Pavlov did this once with some dogs), but what Jesus is talking about is a heart which is devoted to the King and His Kingdom – “Why do you call me, Lord, Lord…”
The Revolution must first come to our hearts – we must be taken captive by the King:
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14, ESV)
From our hearts the Revolution of the Kingdom can spread to those around us in the Church, and then to the world. Goodness is infectious, hope contagious, love exemplified is unstoppable. Holy passion for people, birthed in us by the Spirit of Christ Jesus, will be what motivates us all to engage in His mission of reaching those who have yet to love Him. If the Church in the West can just become revolutionized in its’ heart, a spiritual awakening/revival/revolution will occur, and the West will be won (one?) again for Christ.
May your heart be revolutionized, again and continually, by Jesus. May you become a Kingdom revolutionary of goodness, of light, of love. May we all be empowered with such passion for Christ and from Christ that we live a simple and authentic faith, doing the good works of Jesus, living as an example to the world around us.
The great harvest of souls we all seek – and Jesus desires – can only come as God works a great transformation in His Church. Not just a change of systems, or of formats, or of ministries and programs, or ways of holding services, but of true inward transformation of our hearts. We all know a revolution is needed in the Church so a revival can happen in the world. But this revolution is not simply structural, but takes place within the heart of every Christian leader and disciple.
I was confronted in my devotional reading recently by Luke 6:46 (ESV):
"Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
Ouch. We need to own this one. I need to own this one. Jesus goes on to speak about how if we do what He says we will have a firm foundation for life, standing up to the floods which come. Amazing. The Church in the West is being washed away by the floods of culture and irrelevance, among other things. People in the Church have lives which are as much storm-damaged as those outside. The stats indicate little difference, or in other words – little true transformation.
But there is hope – all we need to do is return to the firm foundation of the commands of Christ. Now, I am not making some pitch here for some kinds of return to doctrinal “purity” or “orthodoxy” (whatever that means to you in your stream of the church - I hope you are already there!), or a certain perspective on Scripture. But rather a return to orthopraxy – actually doing what Jesus said to do. Seem too simple? Read on.
Here is my point. Jesus statement in 6:46 falls just after the Sermon on the Mount, the ethical teaching of Jesus – you know, care for the poor, treat others like you want to be treated, don’t be judgmental or critical, be forgiving, show love to those who hate you. That’s right, we know this stuff. But do we really, as the Church, do it? (And are we really the Church if we don’t? But that’s another article.) The real issue Jesus is pointing out here is the heart – when it is good, goodness flows from the life. When it is bad, rottenness flows (6:43-45). It is the heart issue which He is speaking to – not just the behavior. We so often seek to modify our own behavior and the behavior of those we minister to (Pavlov did this once with some dogs), but what Jesus is talking about is a heart which is devoted to the King and His Kingdom – “Why do you call me, Lord, Lord…”
The Revolution must first come to our hearts – we must be taken captive by the King:
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14, ESV)
From our hearts the Revolution of the Kingdom can spread to those around us in the Church, and then to the world. Goodness is infectious, hope contagious, love exemplified is unstoppable. Holy passion for people, birthed in us by the Spirit of Christ Jesus, will be what motivates us all to engage in His mission of reaching those who have yet to love Him. If the Church in the West can just become revolutionized in its’ heart, a spiritual awakening/revival/revolution will occur, and the West will be won (one?) again for Christ.
May your heart be revolutionized, again and continually, by Jesus. May you become a Kingdom revolutionary of goodness, of light, of love. May we all be empowered with such passion for Christ and from Christ that we live a simple and authentic faith, doing the good works of Jesus, living as an example to the world around us.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Just Say No
by Tom Johnston
During the 1980’s there was the now-famous “Just Say No” campaign to teach teens and children that they could refuse the temptation of illicit drug use when such an opportunity was presented to them. The push for awareness did much to bring to the forefront the major issue we face with drug addiction in our country. Today, the Church in the West faces a similar scourge – we have an addiction of our own – and most of the pastors I know are enslaved to this poison.
What are we addicted to? Transfer growth. Yup, that’s it. We are driven by the need to see our churches “grow,” our “ministry expand” and our “community impact increase” (not to mention the desire to increase the church budget). We need the validation of more people attending our gatherings and services. Attendance at a service is the core metric of the church in our country, the one by which we measure success. This is how we “get high” as pastors. We get a “buzz” off our numbers, and we are addicted.
Rather than make our own disciples, which we validly do want more of, we are very content to let the wandering sheep from another flock nestle in with us. Think I’m crazy? With the hundreds of billions of dollars we are spending on ministry each year in the US, the evangelism growth rate of the Church is still at only about 5-7%, meaning that 93-95% of our growth comes from people who are already Christians!
Still think I’m crazy? Then ask yourself this question: When was the last time you sent someone packing? I mean, not some problem folks you are dealing with in church discipline, but rather, say, a healthy, spiritually mature, financially well-off couple with 2.5 kids who have been long-term members at the church down the street. These folks show up at your doorstep as “visitors” for a few weeks – and you’re hoping that they are going to make your church their new spiritual home – you need the “workers” and the cash. And this “hit” makes you feel good because they are coming to your place!
Ever stop to think why they are visiting? What happened at the last place? Was there a problem which needs to be resolved? Is their motive consumer-oriented, and they are “shopping” for a new church? Your place is nicer, better worship, more programs? Or are they “cruise-imatics” always moving from church to church?
Whatever the reason, if you receive them into fellowship, you have the potential of doing several (negative) things: first, you may enable their dysfunctional behavior – the root of the reason for transition; second, you receive that dysfunction into your church by receiving them, and third; you could mar the Body of Christ, leaving issues unresolved, and mostly, you allow attendance to be your core metric, displacing a call to devotion to Christ, His Church and His mission. The focus switches from disciple-making to vending spiritual goods and services so people attend, and you feed the transfer cycle of the consumer-driven church.
Please do not believe the lies, either. What lies? The ones the Enemy whispers in the ears of the addicted pastor: “Their last pastor didn’t really understand them.” “I can help them in a way he couldn’t.” “They need our church to take the next step in their spiritual growth” “Our church is better.” Now, none of us would admit to the last one, yet most of us believe it. The fact is that you – and the church you pastor – are probably no better than the last ones, and any potential issues will remain unresolved.
Granted, there are valid reasons for people coming to your church who are already Christians. Maybe they have moved into the area and are looking for a church. Fine and dandy, no problem here – folks need a church family to be part of. Maybe they have had a valid issue with the last church leadership which wasn’t able to be resolved. Not an issue either, once you check it out in order to determine the validity. Or maybe they are truly called alongside you and your church to work together. No problem – simply have them go back to their pastor and get their pastor’s blessing and release, and receive them in as gifts from God. The problem is, most of the times we don’t follow through like this. We are so glad simply to have someone come that we see no evil and hear no evil. We praise God that our core metric has increased and the budget too. (Yesssssss, my precioussss, we mustn’t forgetsss the budget!)
The problem with the pattern of transfer growth is that it puts our focus on the wrong thing – attendance - and keeps us from engaging the lost, making more and better disciples of Jesus Christ. If the church is growing by transfer, there is less of a motivation for evangelism. All the resources (time, energy, money) then turn inward to care for those already attending. This pattern also weakens the discipleship of the individual and the church as a whole, as no challenges are issued to the individual to address relational conflicts or issues with past pastoral leaders, and on the corporate level, there is not cost of discipleship – one only needs to attend to fulfill their obligation.
As pastors, we can address this temptation we face, and subvert the cycle of transfer growth, seeing healthy disciples made for Jesus. We can be freed from our addiction. By simply building relationship with other pastors in our areas and opening communication with them when someone from their church comes, we can strengthen the Body of Christ as a whole. In one area I pastored in, fourteen churches were networked together for prayer and ministry, and the relational bonds established allowed us to successfully address this exact issue. From there, all you need to do is engage those visiting Christians around receiving a blessing. If they are willing to pursue such a blessing, then they can come, if they are not, then you need to “just say no.”
During the 1980’s there was the now-famous “Just Say No” campaign to teach teens and children that they could refuse the temptation of illicit drug use when such an opportunity was presented to them. The push for awareness did much to bring to the forefront the major issue we face with drug addiction in our country. Today, the Church in the West faces a similar scourge – we have an addiction of our own – and most of the pastors I know are enslaved to this poison.
What are we addicted to? Transfer growth. Yup, that’s it. We are driven by the need to see our churches “grow,” our “ministry expand” and our “community impact increase” (not to mention the desire to increase the church budget). We need the validation of more people attending our gatherings and services. Attendance at a service is the core metric of the church in our country, the one by which we measure success. This is how we “get high” as pastors. We get a “buzz” off our numbers, and we are addicted.
Rather than make our own disciples, which we validly do want more of, we are very content to let the wandering sheep from another flock nestle in with us. Think I’m crazy? With the hundreds of billions of dollars we are spending on ministry each year in the US, the evangelism growth rate of the Church is still at only about 5-7%, meaning that 93-95% of our growth comes from people who are already Christians!
Still think I’m crazy? Then ask yourself this question: When was the last time you sent someone packing? I mean, not some problem folks you are dealing with in church discipline, but rather, say, a healthy, spiritually mature, financially well-off couple with 2.5 kids who have been long-term members at the church down the street. These folks show up at your doorstep as “visitors” for a few weeks – and you’re hoping that they are going to make your church their new spiritual home – you need the “workers” and the cash. And this “hit” makes you feel good because they are coming to your place!
Ever stop to think why they are visiting? What happened at the last place? Was there a problem which needs to be resolved? Is their motive consumer-oriented, and they are “shopping” for a new church? Your place is nicer, better worship, more programs? Or are they “cruise-imatics” always moving from church to church?
Whatever the reason, if you receive them into fellowship, you have the potential of doing several (negative) things: first, you may enable their dysfunctional behavior – the root of the reason for transition; second, you receive that dysfunction into your church by receiving them, and third; you could mar the Body of Christ, leaving issues unresolved, and mostly, you allow attendance to be your core metric, displacing a call to devotion to Christ, His Church and His mission. The focus switches from disciple-making to vending spiritual goods and services so people attend, and you feed the transfer cycle of the consumer-driven church.
Please do not believe the lies, either. What lies? The ones the Enemy whispers in the ears of the addicted pastor: “Their last pastor didn’t really understand them.” “I can help them in a way he couldn’t.” “They need our church to take the next step in their spiritual growth” “Our church is better.” Now, none of us would admit to the last one, yet most of us believe it. The fact is that you – and the church you pastor – are probably no better than the last ones, and any potential issues will remain unresolved.
Granted, there are valid reasons for people coming to your church who are already Christians. Maybe they have moved into the area and are looking for a church. Fine and dandy, no problem here – folks need a church family to be part of. Maybe they have had a valid issue with the last church leadership which wasn’t able to be resolved. Not an issue either, once you check it out in order to determine the validity. Or maybe they are truly called alongside you and your church to work together. No problem – simply have them go back to their pastor and get their pastor’s blessing and release, and receive them in as gifts from God. The problem is, most of the times we don’t follow through like this. We are so glad simply to have someone come that we see no evil and hear no evil. We praise God that our core metric has increased and the budget too. (Yesssssss, my precioussss, we mustn’t forgetsss the budget!)
The problem with the pattern of transfer growth is that it puts our focus on the wrong thing – attendance - and keeps us from engaging the lost, making more and better disciples of Jesus Christ. If the church is growing by transfer, there is less of a motivation for evangelism. All the resources (time, energy, money) then turn inward to care for those already attending. This pattern also weakens the discipleship of the individual and the church as a whole, as no challenges are issued to the individual to address relational conflicts or issues with past pastoral leaders, and on the corporate level, there is not cost of discipleship – one only needs to attend to fulfill their obligation.
As pastors, we can address this temptation we face, and subvert the cycle of transfer growth, seeing healthy disciples made for Jesus. We can be freed from our addiction. By simply building relationship with other pastors in our areas and opening communication with them when someone from their church comes, we can strengthen the Body of Christ as a whole. In one area I pastored in, fourteen churches were networked together for prayer and ministry, and the relational bonds established allowed us to successfully address this exact issue. From there, all you need to do is engage those visiting Christians around receiving a blessing. If they are willing to pursue such a blessing, then they can come, if they are not, then you need to “just say no.”
Just Say Yes
by Mike Chong Perkinson
The odd tension we face in serving our Lord within the sphere of pastoral ministry is the paradoxical nature of public ministry and our human state. You know the reality that while we seek to draw people’s attention to Jesus we do so by being visible, receiving attention ourselves. God seeks to display the wonder of His Son through human vessels. Complicating this paradoxical tension is the unfortunate reality that the mystery of the Kingdom is often lost within the confines of our understanding what makes a man or woman of God successful in ministry.
It is quite apparent that no matter how we slice it, what we score (attendance, buildings and cash) determines how we really define success and what we ultimately say “yes” to. The tension is that those who are called to this incredible privilege of shepherding God’s people struggle to make ends meet trying to obey the voice of their Father (saying “yes” to God) while trying to measure up to the human standards that tend to dominate our church world.
It’s that odd curiosity that surfaces when you are attending a pastor’s gathering - curiosity that wants to know just how big the other pastor’s church is. Of course we like people asking us how our church is doing when large numbers are getting saved, attendance is increasing, disciples are being made, and money is flowing in – ask away. However, when numbers are not increasing we tend to shy away from the question and when asked we oddly default to a biblical description. It might sound something like this, “Mike how’s your church doing?” Translated means how many are you running?
If my church is not growing numerically, I might answer with, “Well, we are growing deep in our love for God and each other, people’s lives are really changing and our hearts are breaking for the lost.” Isn’t that strange, we tend to default to a biblical response in the midst of perceived failure. Maybe that should be the response in every case?
A good friend of mine who pastors a great church once said to me, “It will be rather embarrassing when I get to heaven and talk with the apostle Paul and have to tell him that I could not grow the church or do what the Father wanted because I did not have an adequate parking lot.” Now please know that I am all for speaking our culture’s language and providing adequate parking and the like for people. However, my friend caught the essence of his struggle in ministry. He realized he was looking to external realities and the humanistic definition of success to drive him rather than what the Father had called him to do.
As the Church we tend to over-react to our problems and swing the pendulum to the opposite extreme. We often react by dealing with the wineskin (our form and structure) rather than taking a hard look at the wine. Is the life, love and grace of Jesus manifested in our lives, our families, our leadership community, our church, etc? Reaction is not the issue here but response, more specifically our response to God.
In my pastoral experience I have met many leaders who have dreams and aspirations that are from God Himself and yet are not living out that dream. Instead they find themselves caught in the machinery of church, serving the demands of the form and structure while seeking (often well intentioned) to bring people to Christ. Our scorecards only make this more difficult as the core matrix of success still hovers around attendance, buildings and cash. As my pastor said years ago, “Just because you have a lot of people does not mean you have a church. It just means you have a lot of people.”
And so, just say yes to the voice of our Father who called you and still desires to pour His life, love and grace in you and through you for the expressed purpose of extending His Kingdom in your life and the lives of those you are privileged to lead. Say yes to God!
The odd tension we face in serving our Lord within the sphere of pastoral ministry is the paradoxical nature of public ministry and our human state. You know the reality that while we seek to draw people’s attention to Jesus we do so by being visible, receiving attention ourselves. God seeks to display the wonder of His Son through human vessels. Complicating this paradoxical tension is the unfortunate reality that the mystery of the Kingdom is often lost within the confines of our understanding what makes a man or woman of God successful in ministry.
It is quite apparent that no matter how we slice it, what we score (attendance, buildings and cash) determines how we really define success and what we ultimately say “yes” to. The tension is that those who are called to this incredible privilege of shepherding God’s people struggle to make ends meet trying to obey the voice of their Father (saying “yes” to God) while trying to measure up to the human standards that tend to dominate our church world.
It’s that odd curiosity that surfaces when you are attending a pastor’s gathering - curiosity that wants to know just how big the other pastor’s church is. Of course we like people asking us how our church is doing when large numbers are getting saved, attendance is increasing, disciples are being made, and money is flowing in – ask away. However, when numbers are not increasing we tend to shy away from the question and when asked we oddly default to a biblical description. It might sound something like this, “Mike how’s your church doing?” Translated means how many are you running?
If my church is not growing numerically, I might answer with, “Well, we are growing deep in our love for God and each other, people’s lives are really changing and our hearts are breaking for the lost.” Isn’t that strange, we tend to default to a biblical response in the midst of perceived failure. Maybe that should be the response in every case?
A good friend of mine who pastors a great church once said to me, “It will be rather embarrassing when I get to heaven and talk with the apostle Paul and have to tell him that I could not grow the church or do what the Father wanted because I did not have an adequate parking lot.” Now please know that I am all for speaking our culture’s language and providing adequate parking and the like for people. However, my friend caught the essence of his struggle in ministry. He realized he was looking to external realities and the humanistic definition of success to drive him rather than what the Father had called him to do.
As the Church we tend to over-react to our problems and swing the pendulum to the opposite extreme. We often react by dealing with the wineskin (our form and structure) rather than taking a hard look at the wine. Is the life, love and grace of Jesus manifested in our lives, our families, our leadership community, our church, etc? Reaction is not the issue here but response, more specifically our response to God.
In my pastoral experience I have met many leaders who have dreams and aspirations that are from God Himself and yet are not living out that dream. Instead they find themselves caught in the machinery of church, serving the demands of the form and structure while seeking (often well intentioned) to bring people to Christ. Our scorecards only make this more difficult as the core matrix of success still hovers around attendance, buildings and cash. As my pastor said years ago, “Just because you have a lot of people does not mean you have a church. It just means you have a lot of people.”
And so, just say yes to the voice of our Father who called you and still desires to pour His life, love and grace in you and through you for the expressed purpose of extending His Kingdom in your life and the lives of those you are privileged to lead. Say yes to God!
Success and failure is not the issue in the Kingdom of God. God is not interested in how many we have or how effective we are as He is how obedient we have been, how faithful we have been as sons/daughters, servants, and stewards of the Kingdom. The issue for us as sons and daughters of the King is obedience and only doing what we see the Father doing. Success is best defined as obedience.
- Are you doing what the Father is asking of you?
- Are you waking up each day feeling like its Christmas because you get to partner with the King of Kings?
- Are you more in love with Jesus today?
- Are people pressing you and asking you about the hope that is within you? (1 Peter 3:15)
Just say yes to God, submit to His call and purpose in your life and be the son/daughter He has made you to be and seek out a mentor or coach to help you grow in your spirituality as well as grow in your ministry skill sets.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Pivot Point for the Christian West
by Tom Johnston
When the Emperor Constantine won the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 A.D. the emerging Christian Church in the Western world entered into a new central role in society and culture. While preparing for the battle, Constantine, who was not a follower of Christ, had a vision from the Christian God in which he saw the Cross – with the words written over it - in hoc signo vinces — "In this sign you will conquer." This was a pivotal point for the Western Church.
Painting a cross on the shields of his solders as a talisman, Constantine wins the battle. One year later he issues the Edict of Milan, legitimizing the Christian faith, ending persecution and restoring the property rights of Christians. This paves the way for the Emperor Theodosius I to make Christianity the official state religion of Roman Empire in 391 A.D. The rest is, as they say, history.
From the Fourth Century on we begin to see the emergence of something we have come to call Christendom – a geo-socio-political reality in which the Church became the central influence in politics, government, culture and everyday life. For more than a millennium this order grew in geographic scope and temporal power. The Christian Church became the central pole of the fabric of the life in the West, for nobles and commoners alike. Culture is a system of customs, values and beliefs, and for centuries the Church was the major influencer in all of things.
This began to change during the Enlightenment and the Protestant Reformation, where the power of the Church was questioned by empiricists and ultimately fractured by reformers, with its political role weakened along with the monarchies it supported – and which had supported it.
Even within Protestantism, the concept of Christendom lived on, now empowered by the new concept of democracy. This was all brought to the shores of the New World by the Pilgrims in their vision for a new social order based in their views of Scripture and a new awareness of their own political power, and embodied in John Winthrop’s City on a Hill. So, the Church in the U.S. is an inheritor of the concept of Christendom, which continued to exert influence in our nation into the Twentieth Century. Since the 1960’s the perceived division between the Church and the rest of society has grown, culminating in what is now termed “The Culture War.”
Many in the Church seek to fight to maintain the last vestiges of Christendom, seeking to re-exert cultural influence through political means. Those who seek to limit what they consider to be the archaic beliefs and restrictive rules of Christian faith push back – with both vaguely defined groups becoming “pro”-something while acting very “anti” in their words and behaviors.
But here is the truth – Christendom is dead. Let’s face it, the culture war has been lost – even the “sin stats” of the Church in America look like those of the non-professing segment of our society. The Church is no longer calling the shots, morally, culturally or politically. Statistics indicate that we aren’t even reaching a percentage of the population equivalent to our own children. So, what do we do? Give up? Run away? Turn inward? Many have responded in such ways, and many more will do so. Yet we have a great opportunity ahead of us, one which could see a rebirth of the Church in the West. But it will require yet another pivot point.
With the Church no longer being the center pole of the Western world, we must shift our thinking. No longer the cultural driver or universal center, we must become the resource of our society. We live in the midst of so much tremendous need in all areas, and we have the opportunity to bring the resources of the living Christ to bear on those issues. We must serve others – even those who we may consider to be like “Samaritans.” We must love our neighbors – unconditionally – just as God has first loved us – “while we were yet sinners.” We must be willing to resource local community needs, working alongside governmental and “secular” agencies. We must stop trying to compete for the “marketshare” of the American heart and minds, and bring the wholeness of Christ to those with broken hearts and troubled minds. We should not compromise our prophetic mandate to point out sin in the culture, but before we talk about their speck we have to first remove our log. We have to call sin what it is – sin, but words flowing from a heart full of God’s grace – which will be received when we do our own repentance. When we do this, and someone asks us why, it is then we can share the love and life of Christ with them, giving a defense for the hope that is within us.
So Christendom is dead, but the Church is very much alive. We have before us a great opportunity, but to take advantage of this we must no longer try to dominate and be the center, but rather we must serve and become the resource Christ would have us be to our society.
What are your thoughts?
When the Emperor Constantine won the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 A.D. the emerging Christian Church in the Western world entered into a new central role in society and culture. While preparing for the battle, Constantine, who was not a follower of Christ, had a vision from the Christian God in which he saw the Cross – with the words written over it - in hoc signo vinces — "In this sign you will conquer." This was a pivotal point for the Western Church.
Painting a cross on the shields of his solders as a talisman, Constantine wins the battle. One year later he issues the Edict of Milan, legitimizing the Christian faith, ending persecution and restoring the property rights of Christians. This paves the way for the Emperor Theodosius I to make Christianity the official state religion of Roman Empire in 391 A.D. The rest is, as they say, history.
From the Fourth Century on we begin to see the emergence of something we have come to call Christendom – a geo-socio-political reality in which the Church became the central influence in politics, government, culture and everyday life. For more than a millennium this order grew in geographic scope and temporal power. The Christian Church became the central pole of the fabric of the life in the West, for nobles and commoners alike. Culture is a system of customs, values and beliefs, and for centuries the Church was the major influencer in all of things.
This began to change during the Enlightenment and the Protestant Reformation, where the power of the Church was questioned by empiricists and ultimately fractured by reformers, with its political role weakened along with the monarchies it supported – and which had supported it.
Even within Protestantism, the concept of Christendom lived on, now empowered by the new concept of democracy. This was all brought to the shores of the New World by the Pilgrims in their vision for a new social order based in their views of Scripture and a new awareness of their own political power, and embodied in John Winthrop’s City on a Hill. So, the Church in the U.S. is an inheritor of the concept of Christendom, which continued to exert influence in our nation into the Twentieth Century. Since the 1960’s the perceived division between the Church and the rest of society has grown, culminating in what is now termed “The Culture War.”
Many in the Church seek to fight to maintain the last vestiges of Christendom, seeking to re-exert cultural influence through political means. Those who seek to limit what they consider to be the archaic beliefs and restrictive rules of Christian faith push back – with both vaguely defined groups becoming “pro”-something while acting very “anti” in their words and behaviors.
But here is the truth – Christendom is dead. Let’s face it, the culture war has been lost – even the “sin stats” of the Church in America look like those of the non-professing segment of our society. The Church is no longer calling the shots, morally, culturally or politically. Statistics indicate that we aren’t even reaching a percentage of the population equivalent to our own children. So, what do we do? Give up? Run away? Turn inward? Many have responded in such ways, and many more will do so. Yet we have a great opportunity ahead of us, one which could see a rebirth of the Church in the West. But it will require yet another pivot point.
With the Church no longer being the center pole of the Western world, we must shift our thinking. No longer the cultural driver or universal center, we must become the resource of our society. We live in the midst of so much tremendous need in all areas, and we have the opportunity to bring the resources of the living Christ to bear on those issues. We must serve others – even those who we may consider to be like “Samaritans.” We must love our neighbors – unconditionally – just as God has first loved us – “while we were yet sinners.” We must be willing to resource local community needs, working alongside governmental and “secular” agencies. We must stop trying to compete for the “marketshare” of the American heart and minds, and bring the wholeness of Christ to those with broken hearts and troubled minds. We should not compromise our prophetic mandate to point out sin in the culture, but before we talk about their speck we have to first remove our log. We have to call sin what it is – sin, but words flowing from a heart full of God’s grace – which will be received when we do our own repentance. When we do this, and someone asks us why, it is then we can share the love and life of Christ with them, giving a defense for the hope that is within us.
So Christendom is dead, but the Church is very much alive. We have before us a great opportunity, but to take advantage of this we must no longer try to dominate and be the center, but rather we must serve and become the resource Christ would have us be to our society.
What are your thoughts?
People of the Treasure
by Mike Chong Perkinson
“God chooses agents who will make it evident that the power which brings the ‘dead’ to ‘life’ is not theirs but His. The minister is like an ‘earthen pot’: cheap, fragile, expendable, unrepairable.” - Jerome Murphy-O’Connor
Strained relationships and disappointments are not only a part of the life of the church in the 21st century it was clearly evident in the life of the early church. After a careful reading of the letters to the church in Corinth, one discovers that the Spirit-people at Corinth were not at all impressed with the apostle Paul. They wanted a leader with more charisma and in whose power and presence they could take pride. He, however, exhibited none of the qualities they desired. In addition to his unimpressive personality and mediocre preaching, his life was characterized by setbacks and failures and suffering. A resume that one would not want for a life of Spirit-empowered person, at least that was what Corinth thought. How could such a weak and fragile person be God’s agent in the salvation of humanity?
This apparently weak apostle utilizes the imagery of clay vessels or “earthen pots” to paint a picture of our walk with Jesus. What comes to mind from the first century context is the imagery of a wrestler who is in the grips with a more skilled opponent. Before a bout, wrestlers would oil their bodies. As they would begin to perspire, sweat now mixed with oil and after a few falls on the soft floor of the ring their bodies became encrusted with clay to the point where they looked like clay statues. Men made of the material that cheap household vessels were crafted.
We live in a world full of clay pots and vessels. The church often finds itself highlighting the clay pot (the wineskin - vessel) more than the treasure that lies within it. The problem is not our worship styles necessarily (although some our outdated) or how we do church. Leith Anderson makes this bold assertion:
While the New Testament speaks often about churches, it is surprisingly silent about many matters that we associate with church structure and life. There is no mention of architecture, pulpits, lengths of typical sermons [or sermons!], rules for having a Sunday school. Little is said about style of music, order of worship, or times of church gatherings. There were no Bibles, denominations, camps, pastor’s conferences, or board meeting minutes. Those who strive to be New Testament churches must seek to live its principles and absolutes, not reproduce the details. (Quoted in Renovation of the Heart, Dallas Willard, p. 235)
We, as a church, have successfully turned the focus to the vessel and away from the treasure that gives life. We are good at reproducing details without principles. Time and time again in our history, we see major movements begin and then fade. That’s why we use the description of “early” (Dominicans, Quakers, Methodists, etc.) when describing a movement. The vessel that emerged in the outbreak of a radical move of God gradually overwhelmed the treasure it initially served to convey. Eventually we add the new movement to our list of movements to be showcased in our museum of Christian history. There is a vast difference between people of the vessel and people of the treasure.
CHARACTERISTICS OF VESSEL PEOPLE AND TREASURE PEOPLE
LIVING AS PEOPLE OF THE TREASURE
If a revolution is going to take place then we must return to the simplicity of our faith, the Irreducible Core of loving God, loving others, and making disciples as we live life. We can live as people of the treasure by living out the following.
“God chooses agents who will make it evident that the power which brings the ‘dead’ to ‘life’ is not theirs but His. The minister is like an ‘earthen pot’: cheap, fragile, expendable, unrepairable.” - Jerome Murphy-O’Connor
Strained relationships and disappointments are not only a part of the life of the church in the 21st century it was clearly evident in the life of the early church. After a careful reading of the letters to the church in Corinth, one discovers that the Spirit-people at Corinth were not at all impressed with the apostle Paul. They wanted a leader with more charisma and in whose power and presence they could take pride. He, however, exhibited none of the qualities they desired. In addition to his unimpressive personality and mediocre preaching, his life was characterized by setbacks and failures and suffering. A resume that one would not want for a life of Spirit-empowered person, at least that was what Corinth thought. How could such a weak and fragile person be God’s agent in the salvation of humanity?
This apparently weak apostle utilizes the imagery of clay vessels or “earthen pots” to paint a picture of our walk with Jesus. What comes to mind from the first century context is the imagery of a wrestler who is in the grips with a more skilled opponent. Before a bout, wrestlers would oil their bodies. As they would begin to perspire, sweat now mixed with oil and after a few falls on the soft floor of the ring their bodies became encrusted with clay to the point where they looked like clay statues. Men made of the material that cheap household vessels were crafted.
We live in a world full of clay pots and vessels. The church often finds itself highlighting the clay pot (the wineskin - vessel) more than the treasure that lies within it. The problem is not our worship styles necessarily (although some our outdated) or how we do church. Leith Anderson makes this bold assertion:
While the New Testament speaks often about churches, it is surprisingly silent about many matters that we associate with church structure and life. There is no mention of architecture, pulpits, lengths of typical sermons [or sermons!], rules for having a Sunday school. Little is said about style of music, order of worship, or times of church gatherings. There were no Bibles, denominations, camps, pastor’s conferences, or board meeting minutes. Those who strive to be New Testament churches must seek to live its principles and absolutes, not reproduce the details. (Quoted in Renovation of the Heart, Dallas Willard, p. 235)
We, as a church, have successfully turned the focus to the vessel and away from the treasure that gives life. We are good at reproducing details without principles. Time and time again in our history, we see major movements begin and then fade. That’s why we use the description of “early” (Dominicans, Quakers, Methodists, etc.) when describing a movement. The vessel that emerged in the outbreak of a radical move of God gradually overwhelmed the treasure it initially served to convey. Eventually we add the new movement to our list of movements to be showcased in our museum of Christian history. There is a vast difference between people of the vessel and people of the treasure.
CHARACTERISTICS OF VESSEL PEOPLE AND TREASURE PEOPLE
LIVING AS PEOPLE OF THE TREASURE
If a revolution is going to take place then we must return to the simplicity of our faith, the Irreducible Core of loving God, loving others, and making disciples as we live life. We can live as people of the treasure by living out the following.
- Give up your life and live as Jesus lived in every venue. There is no distinction between sacred and secular. Focus on the principles and absolutes of Scripture – the treasure—don’t major on the minors or details.
- Make disciples – we are all apprentices of Jesus. The church is to be a place where people are shown and taught how to be disciples of Christ, becoming lights in a darkened world (Philippians 2:15).
- Immerse yourself in the presence of God. That is, seek out God’s presence in every situation of life. The psalmist cried out, “The nearness of God is good.” (Psalm 73:28).
- Transformed: Living lives that do not focus only on behaviors, but the heart. The natural outcome or side effect of a transformed life it to live like Jesus lived and love like Jesus loved. This is a revolution of “peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). We are most like God when we seek to make peace. We invite you into a revolution that seeks to…
- Be genuinely kind to hostile people, returning a blessing for a curse.
- Be kind to everyone and especially to your family (Galatians 6:10).
- Find someone to disciple you and find someone to disciple.
Go and live your life based in and around the King and the Kingdom of God, loving all He loves, and seeking to make disciples of all who submit their lives to the King!
Tell me what you think. Let’s talk about it.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
A Gospel That Retreats And Isolates
by Mike Chong Perkinson
April 2007
“Christians in the postmodern world will succeed, not by watering down the faith, but by being a counter-cultural community that invites people to be shaped by the story of Israel and Jesus.” (Dr. Robert Webber)
Being counter-cultural is no easy matter. It is hard to be a person who loves those who are full of hate and evil. The choice of retreat and building a Christian culture that lives in protected isolation is much easier. After all, it’s so hard to keep pure in this world. How do we keep our children from engaging in evil without allowing them the safety of retreat? What does it mean to be in the world but not of it? Aren’t we supposed to hate sin? Hard questions and this article will not provide an adequate answer. Instead of providing an answer, I wish to pose some questions.
There is so much talk in our Christian culture about “avoiding the appearance of evil,” which translated often means staying away from anything and anyone that is evil. The definition of evil is subjective and interpreted individually by each believer and the verse is oddly utilized in situations that seem to be nothing more than a statement of preference.
Exactly what is evil? If we are applying the biblical definition, the entire world is. After all, it is anti-God, full of self and engaged in a conspiracy that is led by Lucifer himself. If we are going to avoid the appearance of evil, then maybe we should pack up and retreat? Maybe, this is the time to ask the U.S.S. Enterprise to beam us up?
Who do we boycott? What do we allow or not allow? Just how tight do we close our eyes and ears to the cries of the world? Is it wrong to have friends who do not know Christ? If we are to avoid everything that is evil, then should we stop reading the Bible because it contains scenes of rape, drunkenness, witchcraft, murder, lust and sex? How far do we take this? Are we even asking the right questions? If so, then Jesus violated this very command of Paul by associating with those who were evil. As a result, He was indicted as being a drunkard and a glutton (Matthew 11:19). I am grateful He hung out with sinners and loved them. As far as I recall, I am one of those evil sinners He was willing to sit with. The pure Son of God was so pure that He could love someone like me. Maybe that is the question we should be asking. Are we so pure with our lives that we look nothing like Jesus? We worry far too much about how much sin might get in and not enough about how much love might get out.
Maybe the question is not how do we avoid evil or how much evil do we avoid? Rather, how do we love and serve an evil and lost generation? Evangelical Christianity is far too concerned about power: how to get it and how to use it for personal gain. I somehow think that is the opposite of what Jesus is all about. The primary question believers should be asking is “What can I do to serve you?”
The gospel is not about getting “saved” and isolating. It is about a God who came to a sinful world. No matter how hard you try to be neat, changing diapers is a messy business. I suspect, dealing with sin and sinful people is no different. The wise sage of Proverbs tells us that “Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest” (Proverbs 14:4, NLT). There is no question that life is much more defined, predictable and even safe when we disallow sinners into the mix. Scripture does not tell us to keep the stable clean, but to keep our hearts pure. And one of the characteristics of a pure heart is its willingness to change diapers. We can’t transform culture until we find ourselves transformed. Jesus said it this way: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean” (Matthew 23:25-26, NIV).
The life of faith is not about judgment and withdrawal from an evil society. It is about engagement and sacrifice – something like taking up your cross and letting your light shine in such a way that all might see your good deeds and give praise to our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). As I write this article, I don’t hear too many people giving praise to God because of the good deeds of the church. God have mercy on us!
The revolution will come by way of incarnation, living out the reality of Jesus.
Tell me what you think. Let’s talk about it.
April 2007
“Christians in the postmodern world will succeed, not by watering down the faith, but by being a counter-cultural community that invites people to be shaped by the story of Israel and Jesus.” (Dr. Robert Webber)
Being counter-cultural is no easy matter. It is hard to be a person who loves those who are full of hate and evil. The choice of retreat and building a Christian culture that lives in protected isolation is much easier. After all, it’s so hard to keep pure in this world. How do we keep our children from engaging in evil without allowing them the safety of retreat? What does it mean to be in the world but not of it? Aren’t we supposed to hate sin? Hard questions and this article will not provide an adequate answer. Instead of providing an answer, I wish to pose some questions.
There is so much talk in our Christian culture about “avoiding the appearance of evil,” which translated often means staying away from anything and anyone that is evil. The definition of evil is subjective and interpreted individually by each believer and the verse is oddly utilized in situations that seem to be nothing more than a statement of preference.
Exactly what is evil? If we are applying the biblical definition, the entire world is. After all, it is anti-God, full of self and engaged in a conspiracy that is led by Lucifer himself. If we are going to avoid the appearance of evil, then maybe we should pack up and retreat? Maybe, this is the time to ask the U.S.S. Enterprise to beam us up?
Who do we boycott? What do we allow or not allow? Just how tight do we close our eyes and ears to the cries of the world? Is it wrong to have friends who do not know Christ? If we are to avoid everything that is evil, then should we stop reading the Bible because it contains scenes of rape, drunkenness, witchcraft, murder, lust and sex? How far do we take this? Are we even asking the right questions? If so, then Jesus violated this very command of Paul by associating with those who were evil. As a result, He was indicted as being a drunkard and a glutton (Matthew 11:19). I am grateful He hung out with sinners and loved them. As far as I recall, I am one of those evil sinners He was willing to sit with. The pure Son of God was so pure that He could love someone like me. Maybe that is the question we should be asking. Are we so pure with our lives that we look nothing like Jesus? We worry far too much about how much sin might get in and not enough about how much love might get out.
Maybe the question is not how do we avoid evil or how much evil do we avoid? Rather, how do we love and serve an evil and lost generation? Evangelical Christianity is far too concerned about power: how to get it and how to use it for personal gain. I somehow think that is the opposite of what Jesus is all about. The primary question believers should be asking is “What can I do to serve you?”
The gospel is not about getting “saved” and isolating. It is about a God who came to a sinful world. No matter how hard you try to be neat, changing diapers is a messy business. I suspect, dealing with sin and sinful people is no different. The wise sage of Proverbs tells us that “Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest” (Proverbs 14:4, NLT). There is no question that life is much more defined, predictable and even safe when we disallow sinners into the mix. Scripture does not tell us to keep the stable clean, but to keep our hearts pure. And one of the characteristics of a pure heart is its willingness to change diapers. We can’t transform culture until we find ourselves transformed. Jesus said it this way: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean” (Matthew 23:25-26, NIV).
The life of faith is not about judgment and withdrawal from an evil society. It is about engagement and sacrifice – something like taking up your cross and letting your light shine in such a way that all might see your good deeds and give praise to our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). As I write this article, I don’t hear too many people giving praise to God because of the good deeds of the church. God have mercy on us!
The revolution will come by way of incarnation, living out the reality of Jesus.
Tell me what you think. Let’s talk about it.
There Is No Box
by Tom Johnston
April 2007
Quite often, when I discuss the spiritual revolution the Lord is fomenting in the West, people consider the ideas and concepts around the issue to be “outside-the-box” thinking. (Some have actually said “Tom, get back in the box!”) In reality, it is simply a journey of radical rediscovery of the basic, orthodox truths of the New Testament scriptures. The core principles of loving God, loving others and making disciples for Christ everywhere all the time are actually the simple heart of Jesus’ teaching. It just seems revolutionary to some, because of their framework, their worldview, their box.
In the 1999 smash movie hit The Matrix, the hero Neo, on one of his journeys into the computer-generated reality of the Matrix encounters a child who is, apparently, bending a spoon with his mind. Neo sees this, and knowing this is impossible, asks how the child is bending the spoon. The child replies – “there is no spoon” – the child knows that the spoon doesn’t really exist, as it is just part of the Matrix sim-world. He is not altering the spoon; having been freed from the superimposed reality of the Matrix, he is willfully altering his perception of reality. Neo, having been recently released from the machine imposed domination of the Matrix, is still having trouble comprehending his reality. In an earlier scene, another character explains the Matrix to Neo, as the “world having been pulled over our eyes.” (Sounds like the first couple chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans to me!)
Many in the Western Church live in a virtual reality, a sim-world of their own making, the First Church of the Matrix, if you will. Not a box of orthodoxy, but a self-imposed box of orthopraxy – how we apply right belief to life and ministry. We have so compartmentalized our Christian existence, so boxed it in, labeled it sacred and secular, right and wrong, proper and improper – that we have marginalized ourselves in the culture. Indeed, even the word orthodoxy used to mean “right worship” – not as an event, but as a way of life lived unto God. We have changed it to mean “right belief,” as doctrine has become our focus. Our doctrine and theology might be O.K. (we all know in part, no stream has it all right - sorry), but our ecclesiology – our understanding of what the Church is, is so fundamentally flawed in the West that we live ineffective lives inside our Matrix-like box.
But the truth is – there is no box. The cultural (and sometimes doctrinal) definitions of “Church” which we hold create the limitations on our worldview, preventing the fullness of the knowledge of Christ to come to us, and ultimately through us to others (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). For His eternal perspective, beyond time and space, God sees no limits on His Church. We are the ones inside the box, inside our Matrix. He only sees His people – He sees sons and daughters, not the programs, budgets, buildings, crusades, outreach events, services or revival meetings. Embracing the simplicity of the Gospel is freeing to the soul, embracing the Church being simply the people of God is freeing to the Gospel.
Unfortunately, for those who think such simplicity is too far outside the box, the only other alternative is to try to “bend the spoon,” or in our case bend the box. Drawing on Jesus’ metaphor, these people have a focus on embellishing the wineskin, rather than focusing on producing some really good, mature spiritual wine (Luke 5:37-39). It is the heart of American marketing and consumerism to accentuate the packaging to sell a marginal or inferior product. Tweak the box all you want – you're still trapped inside it.
Join us in the revolution. Be free from your box. Cast your religious inhibitions aside and pursue Christ and His mission with reckless abandon.
What are your thoughts?
April 2007
Quite often, when I discuss the spiritual revolution the Lord is fomenting in the West, people consider the ideas and concepts around the issue to be “outside-the-box” thinking. (Some have actually said “Tom, get back in the box!”) In reality, it is simply a journey of radical rediscovery of the basic, orthodox truths of the New Testament scriptures. The core principles of loving God, loving others and making disciples for Christ everywhere all the time are actually the simple heart of Jesus’ teaching. It just seems revolutionary to some, because of their framework, their worldview, their box.
In the 1999 smash movie hit The Matrix, the hero Neo, on one of his journeys into the computer-generated reality of the Matrix encounters a child who is, apparently, bending a spoon with his mind. Neo sees this, and knowing this is impossible, asks how the child is bending the spoon. The child replies – “there is no spoon” – the child knows that the spoon doesn’t really exist, as it is just part of the Matrix sim-world. He is not altering the spoon; having been freed from the superimposed reality of the Matrix, he is willfully altering his perception of reality. Neo, having been recently released from the machine imposed domination of the Matrix, is still having trouble comprehending his reality. In an earlier scene, another character explains the Matrix to Neo, as the “world having been pulled over our eyes.” (Sounds like the first couple chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans to me!)
Many in the Western Church live in a virtual reality, a sim-world of their own making, the First Church of the Matrix, if you will. Not a box of orthodoxy, but a self-imposed box of orthopraxy – how we apply right belief to life and ministry. We have so compartmentalized our Christian existence, so boxed it in, labeled it sacred and secular, right and wrong, proper and improper – that we have marginalized ourselves in the culture. Indeed, even the word orthodoxy used to mean “right worship” – not as an event, but as a way of life lived unto God. We have changed it to mean “right belief,” as doctrine has become our focus. Our doctrine and theology might be O.K. (we all know in part, no stream has it all right - sorry), but our ecclesiology – our understanding of what the Church is, is so fundamentally flawed in the West that we live ineffective lives inside our Matrix-like box.
But the truth is – there is no box. The cultural (and sometimes doctrinal) definitions of “Church” which we hold create the limitations on our worldview, preventing the fullness of the knowledge of Christ to come to us, and ultimately through us to others (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). For His eternal perspective, beyond time and space, God sees no limits on His Church. We are the ones inside the box, inside our Matrix. He only sees His people – He sees sons and daughters, not the programs, budgets, buildings, crusades, outreach events, services or revival meetings. Embracing the simplicity of the Gospel is freeing to the soul, embracing the Church being simply the people of God is freeing to the Gospel.
Unfortunately, for those who think such simplicity is too far outside the box, the only other alternative is to try to “bend the spoon,” or in our case bend the box. Drawing on Jesus’ metaphor, these people have a focus on embellishing the wineskin, rather than focusing on producing some really good, mature spiritual wine (Luke 5:37-39). It is the heart of American marketing and consumerism to accentuate the packaging to sell a marginal or inferior product. Tweak the box all you want – you're still trapped inside it.
Join us in the revolution. Be free from your box. Cast your religious inhibitions aside and pursue Christ and His mission with reckless abandon.
What are your thoughts?
Friday, March 16, 2007
285 Billion
by Tom Johnston
March 2007
285 Billion
That’s what the American Church spends on ministry each year, on average (Dr. David Barrett). That’s right – $285 BILLION, not thousand, or even million. Based on this, if the church in the America was a single corporation, it would be the THIRD LARGEST in the world, right behind ExxonMobil and General Electric and just ahead of Microsoft. And yet, Christians as a percentage of U.S. population continue to decline.
Living in New Hampshire, a state with the highest per capita household income (2005), and one of the lowest charitable giving rates (ranked 50 in 2005, 47 in 2006), we have 2.4% of the population attending an evangelical church in any given week (www.theamericanchurch.org). Not sure about where you live, but up here in New England, it looks like we are losing some serious ground. In fact, nationally, the Church is in serious decline as far as attendance goes. While Christianity seems to be holding it’s own in some regions of the country, the fact is, we aren’t even reaching the percentage of population equivalent to our own children.
So, what’s it all mean? Well first of all, what we are doing doesn’t seem to be bearing much fruit either in making more disciples or impacting culture. Secondly, it doesn’t seem like we need to spend more money on church stuff! (Granted, we may need to spend it differently.) If we keep on this track, we will continue to see the decline of the totality of Christian witness in the West. This is all hard to see from within the “belly of the beast” of ministry. But it is time for a wake-up call – and a revolution.
Christians in America by-and-large are not risk-takers. We are extremely conservative in behavior and often focused on trying to maintain a connection to a preferred past – an idealistic (and inaccurate) view of or nation’s religious history. What we need to do is focus on God’s preferred future for us, not the past. And we need some serious risk-takers (read: people of faith) who will step out of the normal Christian experience and do something truly profound – live a life of simple devotion to Jesus Christ – so that God’s hope for the people of our nation can be realized. We need people who will build their life and faith around the simple construct we often present – the “irreducible core” of our faith – namely, loving God, loving others, and making disciples everywhere we go. A simple Christian faith simply lived out in front of others, a way of life, not a life full of religious activities which costs $285B and seems to have little impact - on us or the society around us.
If we are spending all this money on programs, buildings, evangelistic events – and losing the battle – we need to do a serious re-think on our life and faith. Let’s talk about it.
March 2007
285 Billion
That’s what the American Church spends on ministry each year, on average (Dr. David Barrett). That’s right – $285 BILLION, not thousand, or even million. Based on this, if the church in the America was a single corporation, it would be the THIRD LARGEST in the world, right behind ExxonMobil and General Electric and just ahead of Microsoft. And yet, Christians as a percentage of U.S. population continue to decline.
Living in New Hampshire, a state with the highest per capita household income (2005), and one of the lowest charitable giving rates (ranked 50 in 2005, 47 in 2006), we have 2.4% of the population attending an evangelical church in any given week (www.theamericanchurch.org). Not sure about where you live, but up here in New England, it looks like we are losing some serious ground. In fact, nationally, the Church is in serious decline as far as attendance goes. While Christianity seems to be holding it’s own in some regions of the country, the fact is, we aren’t even reaching the percentage of population equivalent to our own children.
So, what’s it all mean? Well first of all, what we are doing doesn’t seem to be bearing much fruit either in making more disciples or impacting culture. Secondly, it doesn’t seem like we need to spend more money on church stuff! (Granted, we may need to spend it differently.) If we keep on this track, we will continue to see the decline of the totality of Christian witness in the West. This is all hard to see from within the “belly of the beast” of ministry. But it is time for a wake-up call – and a revolution.
Christians in America by-and-large are not risk-takers. We are extremely conservative in behavior and often focused on trying to maintain a connection to a preferred past – an idealistic (and inaccurate) view of or nation’s religious history. What we need to do is focus on God’s preferred future for us, not the past. And we need some serious risk-takers (read: people of faith) who will step out of the normal Christian experience and do something truly profound – live a life of simple devotion to Jesus Christ – so that God’s hope for the people of our nation can be realized. We need people who will build their life and faith around the simple construct we often present – the “irreducible core” of our faith – namely, loving God, loving others, and making disciples everywhere we go. A simple Christian faith simply lived out in front of others, a way of life, not a life full of religious activities which costs $285B and seems to have little impact - on us or the society around us.
If we are spending all this money on programs, buildings, evangelistic events – and losing the battle – we need to do a serious re-think on our life and faith. Let’s talk about it.
What Will It Cost?
by Mike Chong Perkinson
March 2007
Saving One’s Life Out of Fear – or – Losing One’s Life for Others
The Gospel of Mark paints a rather clear picture of two contrasting ways of life. Jesus sternly rebukes Peter at one point in the narrative for not thinking on the things of God but the things of men (8:33). Here we see the contrasting values set in opposition, two orientations of life: what God wills for people and what people want for themselves. I realize this is a rather blunt statement, but is no less the picture Mark paints.
At the beginning of the journey to Jerusalem (8:22-10:52), Jesus teaches these standards to His disciples. The disciples resist the teachings at every point, but eventually come to submit to them. The journey can then be pictured as a clash of values between Jesus who teaches what God wills for people and the disciples who exemplify what people want for themselves. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus prophecies three times to the disciples about his impending persecution and death (8:31-9:1; 9:30-50; 10:32-45). After each prophecy, the disciples demonstrate that they do not understand the nature and depth of the prophetic word or accept his teaching. After each of these prophetic moments, Jesus takes some time to teach the disciples the values of the rule of God that underlie his words and actions.
Kingdom Values
After the first prophecy, Jesus says: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (8:35). After the second prophecy, Jesus says: “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all” (9:35). After the third prophecy, Jesus says: “And whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:44-45).
Let me break them down for you:
· In order to save your life you must lose it
· The pursuit of status is not the standard for God’s people
· To have power one must be a servant and relinquish the pursuit of power for oneself
There is a sharp line of demarcation that Jesus is drawing between acquisition (saving) and relinquishing (losing). People who follow the world’s standards seek to acquire status and power for themselves. This way of life is motivated by fear resulting in self-protection and self-promotion. One wonders just how much of our current ministry practices are motivated by such.
In contrast, people who follow Jesus’ standards receive the blessings of the Kingdom and are willing to relinquish life, status, and power in order to bring the good news of the Kingdom to others. This way of life is only made possible by faith. It is through the empowering of the Holy Spirit that we find such a life possible.
Mark portrays in rather dramatic fashion that only two ways of life are possible: “saving one’s life out of fear” or “losing one’s life for others.” The characteristics for these two opposing modes of life are highlighted in one word - love. God’s way then involves risk – risking for others.
Let me illustrate, in the late 1980’s a volunteer approached a leader of the Sanctuary Movement in the United States serving refugees from Central America, and she asked to join in the work of the movement. The leader said to her, “Before you say whether you really wish to join us, let me pose some questions: Are you ready to have your telephone tapped by the government? Are you prepared to have your neighbors shun you? Are you strong enough to have your children ridiculed and harassed at school? Are you ready to be arrested and tried, with full media coverage? If you are not prepared for these things, you may not be ready to join the movement. For when push comes to shove, if you fear these things, you will not be ready to do what needs to be done for the refugees.” The woman decided to think it over.
In the same vein, if the followers of Jesus are not ready to abandon or relinquish their status and power over others, then they will not be ready to proclaim the good news to others and the potential of a revolution will pass us by.
Maybe this is precisely why the power of the Gospel has been rendered relatively powerless in the West. We have become more consumed with our kingdoms, our reputations, our success than serving the King Himself with our very lives. The revolution is not about power, status or position. It is about Jesus and how the Christ in me is incarnated to a hungry and searching world.
May we all abandon our egos, our ways, our rights, and our agendas so that the reign of the Kingdom might manifest in our daily lives! May pastors, churches, denominational leaders, and denominations gather around the Irreducible Core with one set agenda of seeing the Kingdom of God lived out in word and deed!
Tell me what you think. Let’s talk about it.
March 2007
Saving One’s Life Out of Fear – or – Losing One’s Life for Others
The Gospel of Mark paints a rather clear picture of two contrasting ways of life. Jesus sternly rebukes Peter at one point in the narrative for not thinking on the things of God but the things of men (8:33). Here we see the contrasting values set in opposition, two orientations of life: what God wills for people and what people want for themselves. I realize this is a rather blunt statement, but is no less the picture Mark paints.
At the beginning of the journey to Jerusalem (8:22-10:52), Jesus teaches these standards to His disciples. The disciples resist the teachings at every point, but eventually come to submit to them. The journey can then be pictured as a clash of values between Jesus who teaches what God wills for people and the disciples who exemplify what people want for themselves. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus prophecies three times to the disciples about his impending persecution and death (8:31-9:1; 9:30-50; 10:32-45). After each prophecy, the disciples demonstrate that they do not understand the nature and depth of the prophetic word or accept his teaching. After each of these prophetic moments, Jesus takes some time to teach the disciples the values of the rule of God that underlie his words and actions.
Kingdom Values
After the first prophecy, Jesus says: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (8:35). After the second prophecy, Jesus says: “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all” (9:35). After the third prophecy, Jesus says: “And whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:44-45).
Let me break them down for you:
· In order to save your life you must lose it
· The pursuit of status is not the standard for God’s people
· To have power one must be a servant and relinquish the pursuit of power for oneself
There is a sharp line of demarcation that Jesus is drawing between acquisition (saving) and relinquishing (losing). People who follow the world’s standards seek to acquire status and power for themselves. This way of life is motivated by fear resulting in self-protection and self-promotion. One wonders just how much of our current ministry practices are motivated by such.
In contrast, people who follow Jesus’ standards receive the blessings of the Kingdom and are willing to relinquish life, status, and power in order to bring the good news of the Kingdom to others. This way of life is only made possible by faith. It is through the empowering of the Holy Spirit that we find such a life possible.
Mark portrays in rather dramatic fashion that only two ways of life are possible: “saving one’s life out of fear” or “losing one’s life for others.” The characteristics for these two opposing modes of life are highlighted in one word - love. God’s way then involves risk – risking for others.
Let me illustrate, in the late 1980’s a volunteer approached a leader of the Sanctuary Movement in the United States serving refugees from Central America, and she asked to join in the work of the movement. The leader said to her, “Before you say whether you really wish to join us, let me pose some questions: Are you ready to have your telephone tapped by the government? Are you prepared to have your neighbors shun you? Are you strong enough to have your children ridiculed and harassed at school? Are you ready to be arrested and tried, with full media coverage? If you are not prepared for these things, you may not be ready to join the movement. For when push comes to shove, if you fear these things, you will not be ready to do what needs to be done for the refugees.” The woman decided to think it over.
In the same vein, if the followers of Jesus are not ready to abandon or relinquish their status and power over others, then they will not be ready to proclaim the good news to others and the potential of a revolution will pass us by.
Maybe this is precisely why the power of the Gospel has been rendered relatively powerless in the West. We have become more consumed with our kingdoms, our reputations, our success than serving the King Himself with our very lives. The revolution is not about power, status or position. It is about Jesus and how the Christ in me is incarnated to a hungry and searching world.
May we all abandon our egos, our ways, our rights, and our agendas so that the reign of the Kingdom might manifest in our daily lives! May pastors, churches, denominational leaders, and denominations gather around the Irreducible Core with one set agenda of seeing the Kingdom of God lived out in word and deed!
Tell me what you think. Let’s talk about it.
Friday, February 16, 2007
The Fellowship of the Cross
by Mike Chong Perkinson
February 2007
The biblical idea of koinonia is wonderfully illustrated in the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, “The Fellowship of the Ring.” In one scene the Council of Elrond gathers to discuss their plight with the ring, they come to the conclusion that they must take the ring back to Mount Doom where the ring can be unmade and its power broken. Heated debate quickly breaks out (where mission lacks, confusion reigns) on the danger of the mission and its impossibility when Frodo steps up and says “I’ll take the ring, although I do not know the way.” At this point real koinonia takes place as various members step up and partner in the mission as they offer their lives, talent and skill (ax, bow, sword). True koinonia is a partnership “in” the mission. It is here that the “Fellowship of the Ring” is formed – nine companions on a quest.
In the much the same way, we are the “Fellowship of the Cross”. A fellowship that has come together around the mission of Jesus centered in the grace and power of the Cross that has released us to a mission that continues to break the power of darkness in our world. We are committed to each other because of the mission. We have a “relationship with a reason” and that reason is the mission of loving God, loving others, and making disciples.
The Bible makes it quite clear that the early church was together (at least at Pentecost), living out the reality of the “Fellowship of the Cross.” Acts 1:14 tells us that “They all met continually for prayer.” Luke tells us that the early church shared all things in common (Acts 2:43-47). Even Peter’s inaugural sermon that gave birth to the church was not a solitary act. Luke adds a rather stunning fact that “Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles” (Acts 2:14). It would appear the early church understood “relationship with a reason.”
What we at times have forgotten is that the Church is in a war. Frodo knew he was in a battle. “Fate has chosen him. A Fellowship will protect him. Evil will hunt him.” (from the Lord of the Rings trailer). The Church in the West often finds itself in a war that is more with each other than the forces of darkness. Scripture makes it clear that we are in a war.
Then there was war in heaven. Michael and the angels under his command fought the dragon and his angels…But terror will come on the earth and the sea. For the Devil has come down to you in great anger, and he knows that he has little time. (Revelation 12:7, 12, NLT)
What Hell seeks to do is to weaken and destroy the fellowship by dividing it. The fellowship is meant to stand in such a way that it can be on mission while taking care of its members. This division is best accomplished when Hell takes the fellowship and moves them from standing together for the mission to turning from the mission to tear each other down. The fellowship is meant to be like a group of people that stand in a circle and holding hands – while facing outwards. We are to cover the backs of our brothers and sisters as we fight our spiritual battle, staying connected, always looking to receive the next person into our community. In this way whatever is coming to attack us will be picked up and stopped by our faithful brother who defends us with his life (a great picture of koinonia), while our eyes are facing outward to the mission. What Hell loves to do and can only do is turn the soldiers on each other. Since Satan has no power against the Church, all he can do is play on our insecurities, fears, and suspicions of one another, lying to each believer about the motives and intentions of the others. What takes place then is the soldier turns inward, no longer covering the other soldiers, and begins to make war with his own brothers and sisters. Each does the same and the army is incapacitated. Hell does all it can to move us away from the mission and being the “Fellowship of the Cross.”
We are most like beasts when we kill. We are most like men when we judge. We are most like God when we forgive. - Anonymous
I’d like to leave you with a few questions that might move us all to live out the reality of being the Fellowship of the Cross. Like the Council of Elrond, may we each offer our lives, our gifts, our talents for this incredible mission – companions who are the Fellowship of the Cross.
Who Is Willing? Who Will Go?
February 2007
The biblical idea of koinonia is wonderfully illustrated in the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, “The Fellowship of the Ring.” In one scene the Council of Elrond gathers to discuss their plight with the ring, they come to the conclusion that they must take the ring back to Mount Doom where the ring can be unmade and its power broken. Heated debate quickly breaks out (where mission lacks, confusion reigns) on the danger of the mission and its impossibility when Frodo steps up and says “I’ll take the ring, although I do not know the way.” At this point real koinonia takes place as various members step up and partner in the mission as they offer their lives, talent and skill (ax, bow, sword). True koinonia is a partnership “in” the mission. It is here that the “Fellowship of the Ring” is formed – nine companions on a quest.
In the much the same way, we are the “Fellowship of the Cross”. A fellowship that has come together around the mission of Jesus centered in the grace and power of the Cross that has released us to a mission that continues to break the power of darkness in our world. We are committed to each other because of the mission. We have a “relationship with a reason” and that reason is the mission of loving God, loving others, and making disciples.
The Bible makes it quite clear that the early church was together (at least at Pentecost), living out the reality of the “Fellowship of the Cross.” Acts 1:14 tells us that “They all met continually for prayer.” Luke tells us that the early church shared all things in common (Acts 2:43-47). Even Peter’s inaugural sermon that gave birth to the church was not a solitary act. Luke adds a rather stunning fact that “Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles” (Acts 2:14). It would appear the early church understood “relationship with a reason.”
What we at times have forgotten is that the Church is in a war. Frodo knew he was in a battle. “Fate has chosen him. A Fellowship will protect him. Evil will hunt him.” (from the Lord of the Rings trailer). The Church in the West often finds itself in a war that is more with each other than the forces of darkness. Scripture makes it clear that we are in a war.
Then there was war in heaven. Michael and the angels under his command fought the dragon and his angels…But terror will come on the earth and the sea. For the Devil has come down to you in great anger, and he knows that he has little time. (Revelation 12:7, 12, NLT)
What Hell seeks to do is to weaken and destroy the fellowship by dividing it. The fellowship is meant to stand in such a way that it can be on mission while taking care of its members. This division is best accomplished when Hell takes the fellowship and moves them from standing together for the mission to turning from the mission to tear each other down. The fellowship is meant to be like a group of people that stand in a circle and holding hands – while facing outwards. We are to cover the backs of our brothers and sisters as we fight our spiritual battle, staying connected, always looking to receive the next person into our community. In this way whatever is coming to attack us will be picked up and stopped by our faithful brother who defends us with his life (a great picture of koinonia), while our eyes are facing outward to the mission. What Hell loves to do and can only do is turn the soldiers on each other. Since Satan has no power against the Church, all he can do is play on our insecurities, fears, and suspicions of one another, lying to each believer about the motives and intentions of the others. What takes place then is the soldier turns inward, no longer covering the other soldiers, and begins to make war with his own brothers and sisters. Each does the same and the army is incapacitated. Hell does all it can to move us away from the mission and being the “Fellowship of the Cross.”
We are most like beasts when we kill. We are most like men when we judge. We are most like God when we forgive. - Anonymous
I’d like to leave you with a few questions that might move us all to live out the reality of being the Fellowship of the Cross. Like the Council of Elrond, may we each offer our lives, our gifts, our talents for this incredible mission – companions who are the Fellowship of the Cross.
Who Is Willing? Who Will Go?
- Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to my people? Who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8, NLT)
How Do I Start?
- Share the Jesus that you know (Revelation 12:11), tell people about the Jesus that saved you and continues to save you
- You may not know the answers of life but you know the answer to life. Share the answer you know.
Where Do I Start?
- Jerusalem: Start at home and with the people closest to you
- Judea/Samaria: People near but different from me
- Ends of the earth: Everybody else!
How Do We Do this?
- Together
- Be a light (Matthew 5:14-16), simply let your light shine
- Your light shines best when you live right and your life will testify to Christ (I Peter 2:12; Micah 6:8)
- Live a life of love (John 13:34-35; I Timothy 1:5; I Corinthians 13:4-8)
When Do We Do this?
- NOW! TODAY!
- “Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.” (Hosea 10:12, NLT)
Tell me what you think. Let’s talk about it.
The Unity of the Cup
by Tom Johnston
February 2007
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1- 6, ESV)
Communion. The Eucharist. The Lord’s Supper. By whatever name you call it, this celebration of remembrance is built around the symbols of the body and blood of our Lord and Christ, pointing to His atoning death for our sins. Whatever you call this holy moment of realization and reflection, however you practice it, this “cup of Christ,” this meal of sacrifice binds all Christians together. We are not so different after all. We are all in need of grace and forgiveness, and we all find it in the same place – the person of Christ.
So, why then schism and factions, sects and denominations? Are the simply different tribes and clans within one holy nation? Yes, and no. Are they different expressions of the Church, the multifaceted wisdom of God displayed in different forms to a diverse human global community? Yes, and no. Could it be that the diversity of movements and groups within the Christian faith are just sociological incarnations based on the point of time in history and culture when they emerged; or the personality or doctrinal beliefs of a particular church leader? Yes, and no.
On the positive side, when we look at the global Body of Christ, the Church with a capital “C,” (whether it is Roman, Byzantine, Melkite, one of the ethnic Orthodox varieties, Coptic, or one of the hundreds of Protest-tant flavors) we see the diversity in the Church as a wonderful, cultural, historical, ethnic revelation of Christ in His kingdom community. This is the “yes” aspect to the questions posed. But there is a “no,” too. And the “no” is killing us.
Late in the ministry of Jesus two of His twelve sought out prominence (Mark 10:35-45, Matthew 20:20-28). Expecting an earthly dominion in which they would participate, James and John were looking for significant positions in the new world order. Their mother got in on the act, too. Already part of His inner circle along with Peter, these two make their power play, looking to secure their influence in the kingdom to come. Jesus indicates they have no clue what they are asking, and asks if they can “drink the cup” He will drink. In other words, He was asking them if they could walk the path He would walk. Indicating yes, the brothers think that Jesus is testing their commitment to Him, their loyalty to the cause, which they immediately affirm. But they didn’t get it. With the wonderful gift of hindsight, we see from our vantage point what James and John missed. Jesus wasn’t questioning their loyalty. He was questioning their heart. Knowing the Cross was before Him – His ultimate service to humankind, Jesus calls them on their heart attitude: you want power so you can rule as lords, but I came to minister as a servant. The text goes on to point out how the attempt at political posturing hurt the community of the twelve, causing the others to become indignant.
This is the true cup of Christ which we must all drink: the cup of sacrificial servanthood. And this is where the “no” response to the questions above comes in. Much of the division in the body of Christ is not God-authored, but based in the same human need for power and position expressed by James and John. We let our desire for self outstrip our mandate to lovingly serve one another. We think we are right/have the fullest revelation/are the original item or the church as it was meant to be. Such posturing breaks our unity, and therefore, our effectiveness. Yet, we have the same Lord, are endued with the same Spirit, and called with the same calling by the same Father.
We must choose to drink the cup of Christ, the cup of sacrifice and service, if we are to truly be His Church. Putting politics and posturing aside we must choose to embrace those who also drink this same cup, setting aside the non-essential differences, and modeling to the world what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
So, the next time you participate in that holy moment of Communion/The Eucharist/The Lord’s Supper – whatever your tribe calls it – remember this: when you drink the cup of the New Covenant, you’re committing to be a living sacrifice – one who serves others sacrificially, walking in love and humility towards others, living in harmony and unity in the Spirit. What a model of Christ-likeness we would be!
Go ahead, drink the “cup of Christ,” and embrace His sacrificial life – not just in remembrance, but in action. If we all did, Jesus would change the world through us.
What are your thoughts?
February 2007
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1- 6, ESV)
Communion. The Eucharist. The Lord’s Supper. By whatever name you call it, this celebration of remembrance is built around the symbols of the body and blood of our Lord and Christ, pointing to His atoning death for our sins. Whatever you call this holy moment of realization and reflection, however you practice it, this “cup of Christ,” this meal of sacrifice binds all Christians together. We are not so different after all. We are all in need of grace and forgiveness, and we all find it in the same place – the person of Christ.
So, why then schism and factions, sects and denominations? Are the simply different tribes and clans within one holy nation? Yes, and no. Are they different expressions of the Church, the multifaceted wisdom of God displayed in different forms to a diverse human global community? Yes, and no. Could it be that the diversity of movements and groups within the Christian faith are just sociological incarnations based on the point of time in history and culture when they emerged; or the personality or doctrinal beliefs of a particular church leader? Yes, and no.
On the positive side, when we look at the global Body of Christ, the Church with a capital “C,” (whether it is Roman, Byzantine, Melkite, one of the ethnic Orthodox varieties, Coptic, or one of the hundreds of Protest-tant flavors) we see the diversity in the Church as a wonderful, cultural, historical, ethnic revelation of Christ in His kingdom community. This is the “yes” aspect to the questions posed. But there is a “no,” too. And the “no” is killing us.
Late in the ministry of Jesus two of His twelve sought out prominence (Mark 10:35-45, Matthew 20:20-28). Expecting an earthly dominion in which they would participate, James and John were looking for significant positions in the new world order. Their mother got in on the act, too. Already part of His inner circle along with Peter, these two make their power play, looking to secure their influence in the kingdom to come. Jesus indicates they have no clue what they are asking, and asks if they can “drink the cup” He will drink. In other words, He was asking them if they could walk the path He would walk. Indicating yes, the brothers think that Jesus is testing their commitment to Him, their loyalty to the cause, which they immediately affirm. But they didn’t get it. With the wonderful gift of hindsight, we see from our vantage point what James and John missed. Jesus wasn’t questioning their loyalty. He was questioning their heart. Knowing the Cross was before Him – His ultimate service to humankind, Jesus calls them on their heart attitude: you want power so you can rule as lords, but I came to minister as a servant. The text goes on to point out how the attempt at political posturing hurt the community of the twelve, causing the others to become indignant.
This is the true cup of Christ which we must all drink: the cup of sacrificial servanthood. And this is where the “no” response to the questions above comes in. Much of the division in the body of Christ is not God-authored, but based in the same human need for power and position expressed by James and John. We let our desire for self outstrip our mandate to lovingly serve one another. We think we are right/have the fullest revelation/are the original item or the church as it was meant to be. Such posturing breaks our unity, and therefore, our effectiveness. Yet, we have the same Lord, are endued with the same Spirit, and called with the same calling by the same Father.
We must choose to drink the cup of Christ, the cup of sacrifice and service, if we are to truly be His Church. Putting politics and posturing aside we must choose to embrace those who also drink this same cup, setting aside the non-essential differences, and modeling to the world what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
So, the next time you participate in that holy moment of Communion/The Eucharist/The Lord’s Supper – whatever your tribe calls it – remember this: when you drink the cup of the New Covenant, you’re committing to be a living sacrifice – one who serves others sacrificially, walking in love and humility towards others, living in harmony and unity in the Spirit. What a model of Christ-likeness we would be!
Go ahead, drink the “cup of Christ,” and embrace His sacrificial life – not just in remembrance, but in action. If we all did, Jesus would change the world through us.
What are your thoughts?
Monday, January 15, 2007
The Sacred Trust - The "Knee-High" Battle
by Mike Chong Perkinson
January 2007
"This is a sacred trust - never treat it as common." This resounding thought was deeply engraved into my heart by the Spirit of God in 1997. This incredible moment of conviction began to pave the way for who I am today.
I have come to believe over the years that our over emphasis on the “wineskin” (model, technique, program, etc.) at the expense of the “wine” (content of Christ in our lives) or at least diluting it, has been costly for the Church in North America. Mind you, I am not suggesting that models, techniques, programs, etc. are bad. They are not.
I am reminded of Uzzah who attempted to steady the Ark of the Covenant from falling off the cart (2 Samuel 6:4-7) just after the oxen had stumbled. He did what any one of us would have done. I believe Uzzah like many of us are well intentioned when we seek to help God out in this enterprise called Church. Particularly when it would appear the Church is stumbling and needs a creative touch from us to stabilize it. It was Dr. Jack Hayford who said that we have church down so well that the Holy Spirit could depart from our services and we would not know it for three years.
The problem I face in ministry is not that I don't know what to do. My problem like so many leaders is that I do know what to do and like Uzzah can find myself touching the holy thing, helping God out when I don't need to. This article won’t resolve the issue of what we touch and what we do not, but will help facilitate an on going dialogue with each other and hopefully an ongoing dialogue with God.
Jesus told us “God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them” (Matthew 5:3, NLT). Wow, what a verse and what a promise. If I live a lifestyle of need, then the Kingdom of Heaven is given to me.
Our progressive inability to reach our culture has thousands of pastors back to a place of recognizing our need for Him - an absolute desperation is beginning to arise motivated by many factors but the need is rising. Because of this need, pastors and leaders are returning to a dialogue with God (prayer) and His Word for what to do next. We are, in effect, not touching the Ark and letting it be, as we trust that God might stabilize it Himself. Now, if I read my Bible right it says that good things tend to happen when people seek God, look to His Word and lean on the Holy Spirit. These are the ingredients of revolution.
I am encouraged by our spiritual landscape in North America. There are pastors by the thousands asking questions about effectiveness, why we are not reaching our culture, and what is the Church (maybe this is the question).
A revolution, like the revolution that sparked Pentecost in the Book of Acts, can only begin when people are broken enough to obey and pray. Maybe this is the beginning of the revolution that we return to being sons and daughters of God before we are pastors and leaders.
May we, like the followers of Christ in the Book of Acts, wait on Jesus as we look to see what the Father is doing in our neighborhoods, cities, states, etc. May we find the revolution so captivating that our lives are lived around the reality of this Kingdom where we love God with all of our heart, love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and make disciples as we live life.
We have been given a sacred trust and no matter how relevant or cool our ministries might be we have one thing the world can never give. We have Jesus. May you live Jesus, and from this life may the revolution grow.
Here are some questions for you to ponder in your dialogue with God.
January 2007
"This is a sacred trust - never treat it as common." This resounding thought was deeply engraved into my heart by the Spirit of God in 1997. This incredible moment of conviction began to pave the way for who I am today.
I have come to believe over the years that our over emphasis on the “wineskin” (model, technique, program, etc.) at the expense of the “wine” (content of Christ in our lives) or at least diluting it, has been costly for the Church in North America. Mind you, I am not suggesting that models, techniques, programs, etc. are bad. They are not.
I am reminded of Uzzah who attempted to steady the Ark of the Covenant from falling off the cart (2 Samuel 6:4-7) just after the oxen had stumbled. He did what any one of us would have done. I believe Uzzah like many of us are well intentioned when we seek to help God out in this enterprise called Church. Particularly when it would appear the Church is stumbling and needs a creative touch from us to stabilize it. It was Dr. Jack Hayford who said that we have church down so well that the Holy Spirit could depart from our services and we would not know it for three years.
The problem I face in ministry is not that I don't know what to do. My problem like so many leaders is that I do know what to do and like Uzzah can find myself touching the holy thing, helping God out when I don't need to. This article won’t resolve the issue of what we touch and what we do not, but will help facilitate an on going dialogue with each other and hopefully an ongoing dialogue with God.
Jesus told us “God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them” (Matthew 5:3, NLT). Wow, what a verse and what a promise. If I live a lifestyle of need, then the Kingdom of Heaven is given to me.
Our progressive inability to reach our culture has thousands of pastors back to a place of recognizing our need for Him - an absolute desperation is beginning to arise motivated by many factors but the need is rising. Because of this need, pastors and leaders are returning to a dialogue with God (prayer) and His Word for what to do next. We are, in effect, not touching the Ark and letting it be, as we trust that God might stabilize it Himself. Now, if I read my Bible right it says that good things tend to happen when people seek God, look to His Word and lean on the Holy Spirit. These are the ingredients of revolution.
I am encouraged by our spiritual landscape in North America. There are pastors by the thousands asking questions about effectiveness, why we are not reaching our culture, and what is the Church (maybe this is the question).
A revolution, like the revolution that sparked Pentecost in the Book of Acts, can only begin when people are broken enough to obey and pray. Maybe this is the beginning of the revolution that we return to being sons and daughters of God before we are pastors and leaders.
May we, like the followers of Christ in the Book of Acts, wait on Jesus as we look to see what the Father is doing in our neighborhoods, cities, states, etc. May we find the revolution so captivating that our lives are lived around the reality of this Kingdom where we love God with all of our heart, love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and make disciples as we live life.
We have been given a sacred trust and no matter how relevant or cool our ministries might be we have one thing the world can never give. We have Jesus. May you live Jesus, and from this life may the revolution grow.
Here are some questions for you to ponder in your dialogue with God.
- In what ways do you struggle with helping God out? Helping stabilize the Ark if you will?
- How has God facilitated a sense of need and desperation in you this past year?
- How has dialogue with others and God increased this past year?
- What do you see the Father doing in your home? Church? City? State? Nation?
- What are you willing to endure to see this revolution come to pass?
Reformation Redux
by Tom Johnston
January 2007
When Martin Luther started a dialog in October of 1517 around his 95 talking points, he didn’t intend to start a revolution. But he did. The Protest-tant Reformation was arguably the most significant event in Christianity’s second millennium. And boy, did it change things – and not all for the good. With the battle cry of sola gratia, sola fida, sola Christos and sola scriptura the forces of revolution swept Western Europe. And everything changed. Looking back from our vantage point, many today think the spiritual revolutionaries of the 1500’s went too far, some think not far enough, while others consider the Reformation one step in a longer journey. To be sure, the impact has had an irreversible, lasting effect on the Church universal. It all started with one man who wanted to talk about the issues.
A thousand years earlier Patricius (St. Patrick), a Roman Briton, took the church beyond the culturally-Roman world, to the Celts who were considered to be barbaric pagans. The standard practice was to Romanize/civilize before you tried to Christianize. By going to the Celts, Patrick went beyond that practice. What Patrick did in going to the uncivilized was truly revolutionary in his day. Many consider Patrick and those who followed after him to be the first true missionaries in the West since biblical times, crossing the boundaries of culture and language with the Gospel of the Kingdom. The Celts were reached for Christ, and incredible spiritual communities were formed, both as an outcome and as a means of mission. It all started with one man who wanted to share the life he had found in Christ with other people.
Spiritual revolutions in the Church are often started without the intent to do so, like Luther. Sometime they are started by the intentional action of someone, like Patrick. Always there is a passion instilled in the revolutionary (whether they come to the revolution by accident or intention) by the Holy Spirit for something beyond the current reality. They have a vision for a better country (Hebrews 11:16), and hope to realize at least some of it in the Church of their generation.
When such spiritual revolutions emerge, they will not be ignored. They have a way of demanding attention, and they are dismissed only at one’s own peril. When confronted by such radical shifts like those brought on by Luther and Patrick, church leaders are required to respond. Try to stop it, you might be crushed by its momentum. Try to ignore it, it might pass you by, leaving you in the dust of history. Try to control it, you might find yourself loosing everything. Try to nurture it and mature it, you might find yourself partnering with God.
There is a revolution coming in the Western Church. In fact, it is here now. You can’t stop it – don’t even try. You can ignore it – and lose out big-time. And don’t fool yourself – you can’t control it. Find out how to partner with God in it, bringing this emerging move of God to maturity. Maybe like Luther you have found yourself in the revolution by accident. Maybe you are like Patrick, and you are called to foster the revolution intentionally. Whatever you do, find a way to surf this wave of the Spirit, giving your heart fully to the work of the Lord, because like Luther and Patrick, you want to play your part. The revolution starts with you – let Jesus refresh the wineskin of your heart.
“But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.”
January 2007
When Martin Luther started a dialog in October of 1517 around his 95 talking points, he didn’t intend to start a revolution. But he did. The Protest-tant Reformation was arguably the most significant event in Christianity’s second millennium. And boy, did it change things – and not all for the good. With the battle cry of sola gratia, sola fida, sola Christos and sola scriptura the forces of revolution swept Western Europe. And everything changed. Looking back from our vantage point, many today think the spiritual revolutionaries of the 1500’s went too far, some think not far enough, while others consider the Reformation one step in a longer journey. To be sure, the impact has had an irreversible, lasting effect on the Church universal. It all started with one man who wanted to talk about the issues.
A thousand years earlier Patricius (St. Patrick), a Roman Briton, took the church beyond the culturally-Roman world, to the Celts who were considered to be barbaric pagans. The standard practice was to Romanize/civilize before you tried to Christianize. By going to the Celts, Patrick went beyond that practice. What Patrick did in going to the uncivilized was truly revolutionary in his day. Many consider Patrick and those who followed after him to be the first true missionaries in the West since biblical times, crossing the boundaries of culture and language with the Gospel of the Kingdom. The Celts were reached for Christ, and incredible spiritual communities were formed, both as an outcome and as a means of mission. It all started with one man who wanted to share the life he had found in Christ with other people.
Spiritual revolutions in the Church are often started without the intent to do so, like Luther. Sometime they are started by the intentional action of someone, like Patrick. Always there is a passion instilled in the revolutionary (whether they come to the revolution by accident or intention) by the Holy Spirit for something beyond the current reality. They have a vision for a better country (Hebrews 11:16), and hope to realize at least some of it in the Church of their generation.
When such spiritual revolutions emerge, they will not be ignored. They have a way of demanding attention, and they are dismissed only at one’s own peril. When confronted by such radical shifts like those brought on by Luther and Patrick, church leaders are required to respond. Try to stop it, you might be crushed by its momentum. Try to ignore it, it might pass you by, leaving you in the dust of history. Try to control it, you might find yourself loosing everything. Try to nurture it and mature it, you might find yourself partnering with God.
There is a revolution coming in the Western Church. In fact, it is here now. You can’t stop it – don’t even try. You can ignore it – and lose out big-time. And don’t fool yourself – you can’t control it. Find out how to partner with God in it, bringing this emerging move of God to maturity. Maybe like Luther you have found yourself in the revolution by accident. Maybe you are like Patrick, and you are called to foster the revolution intentionally. Whatever you do, find a way to surf this wave of the Spirit, giving your heart fully to the work of the Lord, because like Luther and Patrick, you want to play your part. The revolution starts with you – let Jesus refresh the wineskin of your heart.
“But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.”
- Jesus, Luke 5:38
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