A Great Idea, A Better Mission

“What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9). This is wisdom that rings true for much of life. But when it comes to race relations, particularly in my United States of America, I pray (and know confidently from Scripture) that one day those words will no longer describe the racial climate I find myself immersed in. For me to feel the intensity of it all is really something. I’m a white male, and I have the privilege of being able to put thinking about my skin color to bed most days, while those of another ethnicity are kept awake at night. I am never subjected to criticism, slander, threats, or violence on the basis of my whiteness. I don’t fear for my life when pulled over. There are no pictures of my ancestors being treated inhumanely.

RECONCILIATION: ESCHATALOGICAL IDEAL OR PRESENT DAY REALITY?

“Racial reconciliation” has for a long time seemed a nice thought that makes sense on paper. I read it implicitly in Scripture and wholeheartedly agree:

• David writes about the pleasantness of Christian unity (Ps. 133:1).
• Paul tells of Christ’s breaking down the dividing wall of hostility (Eph. 2:14), and
• John foretells the forthcoming multitude of nations and tribes and peoples and languages, present before the Lamb of God himself (Rev. 7:9).

These are common Scriptural principles, but they’ve always seemed like an ideal. Racial reconciliation has always been something I’ve had more of an eschatological hope for, an eager anticipation to see take place one thankfully glorious, but sorrowfully distant day.

Martin Luther King Jr., the prophetic leader of the Civil Rights Movement, did not see racial reconciliation in the same light. Of course, he looked forward to the day when the sins of racism, prejudice, and ethnocentrism would pass away forever, but Dr. King never viewed racial reconciliation as limited to the future—he saw it as a mission for the present day. Dr. King’s words, penned in the famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, highlight King’s focus on the need for current reform:

“In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churches stand on the sideline and merely mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard so many ministers say, ‘Those are social issues with which the Gospel has no real concern.’ . . . The judgment of God is upon the Church as never before. If the Church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early Church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.”

I am horrified to ponder what Dr. King would say of our churches today.

THE TIME IS NOW

In the wake of the hate and vitriol spread by White Supremacists in Charlottesville, the innocent people dying in the name of protest, and the hostility surrounding our administration’s action/inaction over that weekend, the burden for those unlike me in ethnicity is heavy. Yet, I can only imagine how heavy their shoulders must feel.

There is no more time to sit on our hands or pontificate. This is our moment: will we be people of the gospel, or will we become the “irrelevant social club” King lamented?

At a practical level, how do we foster gospel-driven racial reconciliation in our churches today? How do I, as a white pastor, move my thinking about such matters from an eschatological ideal to a present reality I am pursuing, in the flesh, in real time?

I don’t have a manual. There’s no silver bullet to right race relations. These matters are complex and built over time—but this shouldn’t discourage us from getting to work.

A ROMAN ROAD TO RECONCILIATION

Fortunately, Paul has given us a “manual” of sorts in Romans 12. Though it is not exhaustive, Paul’s words in Romans 12:9-21 offer plenty of places to start for how we should pursue racial reconciliation in our churches and beyond:

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” – Romans 12:9-21

Below are some reflections on this passage, as well as some shifts and ways in which pastors, elders, and church bodies can work to implement these principles real-time.

#1 – Be with, listen, and learn

We have a wealth of opportunities to be people of the gospel in racial reconciliation when we commit to simply being there. We are to “seek to show hospitality . . . [weeping] with those who weep” (12:13, 15). Notice there is no emphasis on providing answers or offering insight. Those of us who are not living the reality of racial discrimination are well-served to take a posture of humility, seeking to learn and understand, valuing our minority brothers and sisters enough to be taught by them. An easy way to do this? Invite them to preach, lead panel discussions, or conference sessions at your church.

#2 – Condemn racism from the pulpit

The pulpit is a primary avenue through which we should talk clearly and honestly about the sin of racism. Church leaders, we shouldn’t expect people to believe we are a church that cares about this issue if we make no attempt to formally and routinely address it.

#3 – Make racism a church discipline issue 

Practice what you preach. We are called to “abhor what is evil” and to “not be slothful in zeal” (Rom. 12:9, 11). When it comes to racism within the church, it is often sadly overlooked, shrugged off, or swept under the rug. This is pastorally lazy. People of the gospel cannot, and must not, stand for such adamant and explicit rejection of man’s dignity under the banner of the gospel. Churches must be willing to protect the flock enough to enact church discipline for overt, unapologetic racism. We should have nothing to do with such activity (Eph. 5:11).

#4 – Pray for the marginalized, and those who marginalize

Paul's petition to be “fervent in spirit” and “constant in prayer” (Rom. 12:11-12) cannot be overstated. One crucial way for churches to commit themselves to racial reconciliation is by tenacious, tireless prayer for change in the body, the city, and the nation.

We are compelled by the gospel to “love one another with brotherly affection” (Rom. 12:10), to take it upon ourselves to make their issues our issues and their prayers our own. Even in an area where there is little racial diversity, prayer for the nations is an easy way to practically address these issues. Not only should we commit to praying for those who are oppressed, but the oppressor as well, in hopes that he will repent and believe in the gospel of reconciliation by God’s grace.

#5 – Serve beyond your church walls

We “outdo one another in showing honor” (Rom. 12:10) to those unlike us, not out of pity or out of a desire to be seen, but out of a conviction that we have been made one in Christ. Partnering with churches that look ethnically different but share a common vision for gospel reconciliation is an easy way forward. Getting involved locally or globally with those of different ethnic backgrounds is another to work towards reconciliation.

#6 – Don’t limit activity to online engagement

One of the easiest ways Satan would love for people of the gospel to approach racial reconciliation is to think of it only in the realm of social commentary and never in terms of actionable steps. If all we do is lament the state of American race relations from behind a screen, we will never truly effect change in the real world. The lives and souls of image-bearers are too important to leave all of this to mere talking points. Paul, again and again in this passage, is pointing to physical and incarnational relationship.

Paul calls the gospel “the power of God,” good enough for Jew and Greek alike (Rom. 1:16). We have a significant gospel moment before us. This is the time for each of us to grab a chisel and hammer in the name of Christ and begin to chip away at the wall of hostility racism has built in this country—and one day the wall will break.

Inaction when it comes to racism and prejudice stinks before God.  It repulses him. Racial reconciliation is a great idea—and an even a better mission.

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Zach Barnhart currently serves as Student Pastor of Northlake Church in Lago Vista, TX. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Middle Tennessee State University, and is currently studying at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, seeking a Master of Theological Studies degree. He is married to his wife, Hannah. You can follow Zach on Twitter @zachbarnhart or check out his personal blog, Cultivated.

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The Art of Asking Questions

A few weeks ago I was sitting across the table from a friend who asked, “What is it about discipline that makes you feel steady?” Whoa. My head took a minute to catch up with my heart, which felt like it just took a tailspin in the rain. The intent of her question was obvious—I was losing my sense of self because of the lack of consistency in my life. I felt undone, and I really needed something about each day to be certain.

Her question pierced my heart, not because she knew the intricacy of my condition, but because she knew me. It was the ideal question to make me process what was happening in my heart.

Question Asking Is an Art

Question asking is an art. It’s perhaps the greatest art within networking, parenting, discipleship, and marriage. Questions make people look inside themselves, and whether that’s a frequent occurrence or a rare one, it’s an investment people are created to cherish.

The wonderful truth about God is that he often asks his people questions to lead them where they need to be. Sometimes he uses his authority to tell them, but time and time again in Scripture we see people venture into his purposes because of a question.

I have recently been taken back to Genesis, reading about the beginning of mankind and our fall in the garden. When Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord and hid from him in their shame, he called out to them. All the while, he knew they had run away and why they were hiding.

Still he asks, “Adam, where are you?” He gently calls to them and pursues their hearts in his concern. His tender prodding is not accusatory, shaming, or passive-aggressive. Rather, it penetrates their defenses with care and boldly invites them into introspection.

Adam immediately unfolds himself in honesty. I heard you, and I was scared because I knew I was naked, that you would surely see what I did. Again, God uses a question to prod at him, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Adam then shifts the blame to Eve, and God turns to ask her, “What have you done?” It’s not that God didn’t know; it’s not even that God needed a confession; what they needed was personal reflection.

Our remorse is greater when it comes from knowing ourselves, rather than a guilt-ridden accusation. God knew that if Adam and Eve could ask themselves these questions, they would discover so much more than how they wronged him. They wouldn’t answer out of fear, guilt, or even a desire to please. They would answer out of brokenness. We get to discover our dependence on God when we process the condition of our naked hearts.

Questions Lead Us into Awareness

The right questions lead us into the awareness that we aren’t self-sufficient. We are drawn to see just how broken we are, and just how compassionate God is. This is true today, and it was true so many centuries ago with Adam and Eve in the garden.

Questions give space for knowing in a way that telling never could. The great thing is that this doesn’t only apply to sin and brokenness, but also to joy and fulfillment. How much greater is a relationship when you pursue one another’s hearts in care and loving investment? Isn’t a gift sweeter when you know someone sought you out in their giving?

God has the ability to uncover himself in a situation simply by asking us to look closer. When we ask, “God, where are you?!” Often we ask in a frenzied, doubtful panic, but God doesn’t usually reply, “RIGHT HERE!”

Instead, he typically responds with grace and control: “Do you remember when I called Noah to build a ship, or Abraham to be a father, or even Peter to walk on water?” Our anxiety subsides and we’re able to say, “Ah, yes. You were with them, and you’re right here with me.”

I think about Jesus, and the way he used questions to lead the disciples. He used questions to reveal truth, reveal purpose, and reveal understanding. Like Jesus, we need to adopt the art of asking questions in discipleship.

The process of understanding can only be transformational when we take ownership of our faith. If we don’t take ownership, then we won’t ever test our belief, our trust, or our faith. We won’t ever ask questions to ourselves either.

I look at so many young girls, even myself, as they move out from under their parents’ wing and venture into “the real world.” They begin jobs where they rub shoulders with non-believers; they are confronted with the temptation to party, or date guys without boundaries. They are exposed to a world without protection and they wander into it. They never had the space to test their faith, and never had the mentor to help them. Jesus asked big questions:

• “Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
• "Why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31)
• "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?” (Luke 5:22)

The thing I love most about this is that Jesus wasn’t afraid of people’s doubt. He didn’t hold back from challenging his disciples’ questioning, fear, or disobedience. He didn’t demand they stop—he just lovingly looked at them and questioned why.

How would we change if our mentors simply helped us process what was happening in our hearts and lives? If the approach they took was to help us relate to what was happening inside instead of forcing us to abandon those feelings?

We are scared or ashamed to doubt. As if doubt ever scared Jesus. If he is the authority, then he can disqualify our doubt with one word. Instead, he uses our doubt like a tool to bring us back to him. The thing is, we can do that too. We can manipulate doubt in such a way that the people we’ve been given to shepherd actually get to know God in deeper, more intimate ways because of their questions. If we let them.

A Generation of Vulnerable

This generation is not scared to be vulnerable. We are known for putting all our junk on social media. Whether it’s a passive-aggressive post, or an emotional, unedited photo caption . We don’t hold back from letting our hearts be seen by all the world.

This can be dangerous if it’s not harnessed. If we aren’t careful, our vulnerability will be cheap. It will become an imitation of humility that doesn’t actually better anyone, except our perception that we’re known. I believe that if close friends and mentors learn to ask good questions, our bent towards vulnerability could actually become a tool for mass transformation.

God asked Adam and Eve where they were. We can start there, simply by assessing where our heart is and how to get there. When we survey the condition of our heart, it’s like a roadmap of what truths we need to cling to, what prayers we need to pray, and what lies we may be believing.

The gentle prodding that God models, whether with Adam or with the disciples, is the posture we should take as fellow disciple-makers. When we see the condition of another’s heart, what questions will lead them to the truth they need to receive?

How can you use a question instead of a Bible verse? How can you lead them to think for themselves, towards processing their emotions, and through confronting disbelief?

These questions become profound tools they will use for their entire life. These are the questions they will use to disciple others. They’re the start of a story they’ll tell of transformation.

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Chelsea Vaughn (@chelsea725) is currently living in Nashville but has spent time in Texas, Thailand, and Australia. Obviously travel is a passion, along with hours in the kitchen or across the table from good friends. She does freelance writing, editing, and speaking for various organizations and non-profits. She hopes to spend her life using her gift for communication to reach culture and communities with the love of Jesus.

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From Latter-Day Saint to Sola Scriptura

The Bible opens with a depiction of creation and relationship. With nothing but his words, God brilliantly crafted the universe, planets, seas, skies, and all the creatures found within. His breath gave life to Adam, the first human being and only creation bearing God’s image. Adam was charged with caring for the garden he lived in, and was warned to not eat the fruit of one specific tree among countless others. From there, the Father of all creation lovingly created a companion for his child, a woman named Eve. The first man and woman were free to enjoy deep relationship with one another, as well as with the God who created them. Then the serpent enters the picture. His first order of business is attacking the dependability of God’s word. He finds the first woman and poses a question that seems benign on the surface: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” With this question the serpent was able to sow a seed of doubt in Eve’s mind about God’s word and its truthfulness. With the reliability of God’s word in question, the temptation to disobey and eat the fruit was an easy sell. “You will not surely die,” the serpent promises Eve—“you will be like God.”

Swindled by the enemy, Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s instruction and ate from the forbidden tree. Sensing their disobedience, they hid from God in panic and shame, but were inevitably found. The Father curses both the man and the woman for their disobedience, and the once close relationship they enjoyed with God was now separated by a chasm called death.

The first recorded divergence from the word of God led to the deception of the first humans, as well as their spiritual separation from the Father. All of mankind experienced the effects of this transgression until generations later when Jesus, the Word made flesh, was crucified then raised to life.

Talking snakes and ancient stories can make it difficult to relate to the events described in Genesis, but Adam and Eve’s story is my story too.

My Experience With the Mormon Church and Sola Scriptura

Eight years ago, I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church. Mormons believe church authority was disrupted by a great apostasy, that the Old and New Testaments were not preserved from corruption, and that the book of Mormon (in addition to other LDS texts) are inspired scripture. As a Mormon, I considered the Bible to be insufficient and unreliable without the additional doctrine and history delivered by Mormon prophets.

Like Eve, I evaluated the trustworthiness of God’s word and found it to be lacking. And, like Eve, I experienced deception and separation from God. As a Mormon woman, I simply did not believe that God’s promises, instructions, exhortations, and prophecies were authoritative and complete within the Bible.

That is, until I read it.

What the Bible Says About Itself

When a concerned Christian invited me to address a handful of passages in the New Testament, I accepted the challenge with vigor. After all, Mormons do own Bibles and I wasn’t afraid of some misinformed Baptist boy. From there began a several-month excursion through the Bible to try and support my Mormon theology. Little did I know that this would be the undoing of my faith in Mormonism, and the beginning of my conversion to Christianity.

The more I attempted to refute his concerns by studying the Bible, the clearer the truth became to me. I discovered that the Bible declares itself to be God’s word (Heb. 4:12; 1 Thess 2:13), that all teaching can be tested against the Bible (Acts 17:11), and that there were grave warnings for those who sought to change or add to the Bible (Rev. 22:18; Gal. 1).

Suddenly I was confronted with the idea that the Bible alone was the final authority on all things; that it was more reliable than personal revelation, and more dependable than any instruction I had received from a Mormon Prophet or Bishop.

This was a distressing realization for me, to say the least. I was coming to conclusions that were contradictory to everything I had believed as a Mormon. In fact, Mormon scripture specifically teaches its readers that a belief in Sola Scriptura is for “fools” (2 Nephi 29). But the more I read the Bible, the more I felt like a fool myself.

I can relate to Eve hiding behind fig leaves upon realizing her error. Not only did I feel ashamed of my folly in an intellectual sense, but I was also suddenly aware of the profound distance between myself and God. I had no trust that he was who he said he was. I had no confidence in his promises, and I only paid lip service to his commands. And because I had no trust in his word, I had no relationship with him. This was a shocking revelation for me.

Accepting God’s word as trustworthy was the catalyst that led to my rejection of Mormonism and the beginning of my new life in Christ. This single realization has continued to shape and reform my theology and practice as a Christian today, and so it should for all Christians.

Every Believer’s Struggle

Mormons aren’t the only ones who distrust the authority of the Bible. In a larger sense, all humans wrestle with the authenticity and importance of God’s word, and all of us have heard (or spoken) the same inquiry Eve heard in the Garden of Eden:

• “Did God really say that there is only one way to eternal life?”
• “Did God really say that sin sends people to Hell?”
• “Did God really say that lust is as bad as adultery?”
• “Did God really say that we must love our enemies?”
• “Did God really say?”

For those who are separated from God by disbelief and heresy, it is difficult to arrive at a solid answer to these questions. But for Bible-believing Christians, we can answer the question, “Did God really say?” directly with God’s own word in the Old and New Testaments. Christians are uniquely equipped by their creator to answer tough questions about God’s work, plans, and character because we’ve been given the answers in the Bible. The Father did not leave his children empty-handed, unable to provide a rebuttal to temptation and confusion.

Understanding the trustworthiness of of the Bible allows me to continually cultivate a deeper relationship with God like Adam and Eve experienced before the fall. After all, if the Bible’s history and instruction is authoritative, then so are God’s promises to me. If the Bible is trustworthy, then so is the comfort and encouragement I that I can find there. If the Bible is complete, then there is no waiting for further instruction on how I am to conduct myself as a Christian. God’s word not only saves sinners and equips the saints, but it reconciles men and women, drawing them near to their creator once again.

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Rachelle Cox converted from Mormonism six years ago and is now passionate about helping women understand God’s good word and good theology. She is a women’s ministry intern at Karis Church, and is beginning her theological education at Boyce College. She loves serving her husband and two children, and writes at http://eachpassingphase.com 

Welcoming Singles In Your Church

The church has to engage and connect with singles. We’ve found this new resource from Gina Dalfonzo to be very helpful for showing the church a way to love, care, and serve singles within the church.

— The Team at GCD

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If you're interested in helping single Christians to integrate more fully into your church — or simply in connecting with your single brother or sister in Christ in ways that will bless and build up both of you — here are some practical steps you can take.

Look.

Train yourself to see—really see—the single people in your church. Don’t ignore them as you make a beeline to talk to others who are just like you; don’t glance past them at the family walking or sitting just behind them. Make it a point to look for them and look at them. Practice this at every church service, every Bible study, every worship team or choir practice, every congregational meeting. Pay attention. The more you train your eyes to notice and your mind to recognize that they’re among you and they matter, the more they will matter to you.

Listen.

Don’t just stop at looking, of course—that would be pointless and a little creepy. When you notice a single person at church, make the effort to go over and talk. And to listen. You’d think the two—talking and listening—would automatically go together, but the truth is they don’t always. Ask questions, and really listen to and consider the answers. Remember that people can tell whether you’re talking just to hear yourself talk or you really want to also hear what they’re saying. Bob and Nancy were friends and mentors to me at my former church. I remember one time when Bob simply said to me, “How are you?” and I froze, lost for words, because I honestly could not remember the last time someone had said that to me in that way—a way that indicated they actually cared how I was. Be that person. Be the person who asks, and cares, and listens.

Learn.

This is, of course, very closely related to listening, but it goes deeper. To learn, you have to listen with your defenses down, or at least a little lowered. You have to be willing to acknowledge that there are people in your church who are different from you, who have experiences and memories and points of view that may be very different from yours—and that this is okay. We may pay lip service to that idea, but few of us are really comfortable with it when confronted with it head-on. You may feel an overwhelming urge to correct, to override, to corral the conversation and bring it back to where you feel safe. Don’t do it. Resist the urge to react. Even if you feel that you’re hearing something wrong or unfair or naive—and perhaps you are—practice the art of restraint. You can make your points or your arguments another time, perhaps after you’ve gotten to know the person better and established an actual relationship. And bear in mind that, on issues of singleness and marriage, yours is most likely the mainstream point of view in your church. The single person has already heard your point of view from the pulpit and from the congregation and from all over the church, but has anyone heard his or hers? Maybe you’ll be the first. Don’t squander the opportunity.

Love.

This is where you take what you’ve learned and put it into practice, both by reaching out in friendship to the single Christians around you and by helping the church incorporate their ideas and meet their needs. This is how you demonstrate the love of Christ for your single brothers and sisters in the church.

I’m not saying it’s easy; it’s not. It takes time and effort and genuine concern for their welfare. Why make that effort? Because of the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:40: “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

Single people in church too often have been relegated to the role of “the least of these.” You can start to change that. In doing so, you can paint a truer picture of Christ, not just for single people but for the church and the world.

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Gina Dalfonzo is the editor of BreakPoint.org (website of The Colson Center), as well as an occasional writer for BreakPoint Radio. She is also editor of Dickensblog and a columnist at Christ & Pop Culture. Her writing has been published in The Atlantic, Christianity Today, First Things, National Review, The Weekly Standard, Guideposts, Aleteia, The Stream and OnFaith, among others. She earned her BA in English from Messiah College and her MA, also in English, from George Mason University. Dalfonzo lives in Springfield, Virginia.

Content taken from One by One by Gina Dalfonzo, ©2017. Used by permission of Baker Books, bakerpublishinggroup.com/bakerbooks

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An Invitation to Swim in a Different Current

Caught in a current. It happens so suddenly. You are swimming along just fine. Body wrapped in the coolness of the sea. Rolling with some waves and diving under others.

Floating, swimming, surfing. Enjoying the light flavor of saltwater on the lips. Just you and the vast ocean. Adventure. Peace. Place. It hits you.

The towels, umbrellas, kids running around on the shore all look small, too small. The shore is a ways off. Much further than what you feel comfortable with.

Your eyes scan the shore to find your lifeguard tower, chair or something familiar and realize you have not just drifted far out but far away from where you started.

You drop under the water to touch your toes to the ground and gauge the depth.

Your feet reach and flail desperately as you sink but they are nowhere near touching the ground.

It’s deep.

Too deep.

You start to swim in.

Try to ride the next wave and get some momentum towards the shore.

In the back of your mind you know it is too late.

All the warning signs start flashing through your mind.

The flags on shore cautioning of a strong current that you brushed off.

The way the waves were crashing against each other at angles instead of rolling in on smooth lines.

You feel stupid for ignoring all the warnings but hold on to denial for a bit longer as you dive under and swim a bit harder and faster to shore.

The waves are rougher now.

Your body senses your weakness; you feel your fatigue. How long have I been out here?

The salt on the lips reminds you of your thirst. When did I last drink fresh water?

The harder you swim to shore the more violently the current sucks you out to sea.

Rip tide. You are caught in a current.

You feel helpless, scared, small and can’t help but fear the worst.

Why did I go out this far? Why didn’t I pay more attention to the warnings?

I was just going for a short swim. I was having so much fun.

What was I thinking? What am I going to do now?

Caught in the Current

American Christianity is caught in a current. And pastors are leading the charge. This current seems harmless and the drift happens in small doses, but it is deadly nonetheless.

It is a current that commodifies Christianity. A current that packages, markets, and sells discipleship. A current that finds its way through the lure of performance, approval and comparison. A rip tide of celebrity pastors, conferences, twitter, blogs, promotion, numbers, always numbers.

It starts with a warped view of success. A plundering of other whys. Why do we do what we do? This view of success gets hijacked to be the same why of Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and Wall Street. The same strategies used to make it in a dog-eat-dog world are the same strategies used to make it in the church world.

Performance. Approval. Comparison. Numbers.

Churches don’t have meaningful partnerships or friendships and certainly would never sacrifice for the other church in their neighborhood. It is never stated, but we are both swimming along in the same current and looking out for number one. Striving for the same view of success to be bigger, better, and more known and the truth is there isn’t room for both of us.

Western Christianity is caught in the current. We are drowning. Some are swimming to shore, some are loving it, but more should cry out for help.

Help us God. We are drowning!

Pastor, are you caught in the current? Is your church?

We didn’t start out this way. We fell in love with Jesus. We fell in love with his Word. We felt his presence. We hungered for others to taste and see the goodness of this true, life-giving, world shattering reality of the gospel. We wanted more time with Jesus and for others to meet and know and follow Jesus!

We never thought it would go this far. We just wanted to dip a toe in the water. We saw the warnings, but thought it couldn’t happen to us. We couldn’t get caught in this current. We saw the danger from afar but up close it didn’t look so dangerous.

Surely, this small compromise is worth the growth. Certainly, the lead pastor needs to be shielded a bit from the people to focus on “vision.” It’s ok to build my platform, it’s for Jesus, right?

I need to be known, so I can make him known. If we got bigger, we could have more influence. If we could just get to that church size, or get that band, or that building then we could really do God’s work.

You’re swimming along and everything seems fine until you realize how far you are from shore. Your relationship with Jesus is strained. Your prayer life is dry. You are only available to your celebrity Christian posse on social media. You feel lonely in the church, lonely in your home. Old addictions that you thought were long gone are starting to creep back in. You try to swim to shore, you try to manage it for awhile, hide it, change it. But it is too late.

Rip tide.

Heed the Warning Signs

This pull away from shore in churches happens all around us and inside of us all of the time. Pastors, the warning signs are everywhere. Pastor wakes up and can’t get out of bed. Pastor has moral failure. Pastor can’t sleep with or without sleeping pills. Pastor blows up on his staff. Performance. Approval. Comparison. Numbers, always numbers. Burnout, moral failure, blow up. Rinse and repeat.

And it is not just pastors. Church members, deacons, volunteers, leaders. All following us pastors onto the same treadmill of performance until we have to get off and the only way it seems to get off is to leave the church, the ministry, and often the faith all together.

Pastors, what should we do?

An emergency sabbatical. Pay a bunch of money to celebrity Christian counselors. Schedule in some hobbies, change our diets, get better work rhythms, get a masseuse, hire an extra assistant, etc. We figure out how to solve it, manage it, and get back to it so our performance, approval, comparison, and numbers are not too damaged. Hobbies, vacations, sabbaticals, counselors are all great ideas and helpful. I am not hating on any of those things. My problem is what we do next!

We get right back in the exact same current.

Maybe this time we have a nice boogie board or a quality wetsuit to help us float a little longer, but it is the same current. Pastors, church, Christians, have we ever thought that maybe, just maybe we should avoid this current and swim somewhere else?

An Invitation to Swim in Another Current

That is why I am writing. I have been caught in the current and seen other pastors, Christians, and churches caught in the same current and I want to invite us all to swim somewhere else.

To recognize and heed the warning signs and choppy waters that are all around us proclaiming the danger of performance, approval, comparison, and numbers.

• What if ministry is not about us?
• What if we have everything backwards?
• What if the least are the greatest in his Kingdom?
• What if the greatest commandment was to love God and love others more than our platforms?
• What if NO one could come after Jesus without denying himself?
• What if we had to become a no name unrecognized servant to become great in his Kingdom?
• What if we are supposed to avoid the crowds and seek his presence?
• What if we are swimming in the wrong current all together?

I know that after calling out to God for help he is rescuing me and showing me a new path. It is a narrower path and it doesn’t make much of me, yet each step is so life-giving even if it often feels like I am learning the same step over and over.

It is not about me.

Step.

Nearly everything I do naturally is the opposite of what Jesus proposes and models in his Kingdom.

Step.

I can do things with Jesus and for Jesus in secret and with no need to broadcast it.

Step.

His ways are often secret, hidden, and small (Matthew 13).

Step.

If I am going to swim in this current it is going to have to be prayerfully and patiently.

Step.

There is no room for ego here.

Step.

He must increase, I must decrease.

Step.

Follow me. Follow me. Follow me.

Step.

He cares more about me being a follower who makes followers than being a leader who makes leaders.

Step. 

Pray. No really, pray.

Step.

He has me right where he wants me.

Step.

The time, place, and size of my ministry is beautiful.

Step.

Contentment. Formation. Presence.

Step.

---

Jake Chambers is the husband to his beautiful bride Lindsey, and a daddy to Ezra, Roseanna, and Jaya. Jake is passionate about seeing the gospel both transform lives and create communities that love Jesus, the city, and the lost. He currently serves Red Door Church in San Diego through leading, preaching, equipping, and pastoring.

All You Have to Offer

The weight of disappointment was so heavy my knees almost collapsed. My feet wearily stumbled down the steps on the side of the stage. My eyes burned with tears, and I couldn’t shake the image of the young blonde girl in the front row, just looking up at me with confusion. Her confusion communicated more to me than words could. Confusion. That’s what I offered her. I had heard of people blowing opportunities, being embarrassed by what they said on stage, or fumbling over their words. It wasn’t just that I was embarrassed, it was that I had one chance to authentically lead these students towards worship, and instead I used it as a platform. On the way up that stage, each step was a question of what I could offer them.

“Will I be relatable?”

“What’s a captivating story?”

“How can I add humor to this piece?”

Marketing Me

I needed to manipulate my stories enough to make them fit. If only I could manufacture some laughter, then maybe they’d like me enough to listen. My attention was on my heart, my stories, and my wisdom. I bought the lie that if I marketed myself just right, then I would make an impact. I was tricked into believing that I had more to offer than Jesus. Instead of him, my audience got confusion. That’s what I left them with.

“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.” – John 15: 4

We don’t reject God, but we do forget him. We forget that he can use us in supernaturally powerful ways, so we settle. We settle for what we’ve always done, or what we have always seen. I don’t know what it looks like for you to abide, but crazy awesome things happen in ministry when we do. It’s easier for people to abide during their quiet time, then during ministry. For some reason, we feel like it’s too risky to offer all that God gives us. When we prepare, we think of the message we need to give and withhold the one we need to receive. We don’t let God speak into the moment. That’s what I did, and it’s what I’ll never do again.

Offer Them Your Own Intimacy with God

I looked up from my feet just high enough to see my friends gathered around a table at the back of the dark auditorium. My heart grieved as it sent shameful pulses throughout my body. My thoughts considered the circumstances, as I longed to walk past them, through the auditorium, and out the back doors of the church. The mere thought of looking into their faces after what I just did sent a shiver of fear down my spine.

Could I walk home?

Would that make things worse?

The darkness around me helped, it comforted me like a blanket in my shame and disappointment. The bright fluorescent church lights were too much, as long as I stayed away from them I’d be okay. Maybe if I really did kneel down I could forget her confused face, surely that would help. My boyfriend speaks at things like this far more often that I do, and he knew me well enough to recognize my shame. His hand touched my head as he pulled me into an embrace. I couldn’t look at him, but he took me outside and onto a big couch in the foyer. As he told me a story about the first time he bombed an opportunity like this, he explained the same regret that I was feeling. The piece that was more than just embarrassment, but an authentic aching for what I failed to give. He explained this quote, passed down from generations of pastors far wiser than us, and said “All you have to offer them is your own intimacy with God.”

That’s it. That’s what I failed to give, and it’s what I failed to prepare with. I didn’t prepare my heart for intimacy with God. My attention was on the stories that would connect with these students, not with the Spirit that could connect with these students. I didn’t consider the God closest to my heart, but settled for the words I wanted to sell. When I tried to manufacture impact, I gave and received confusion. I can’t settle to offer to other people anything less than the intimacy that God has offered to me.

The good news is that God doesn’t see me as a failure. He isn’t disappointed or ashamed of me. He is patient and gracious in my shortcoming, which reminds me that Jesus is the only One who carries the mantle of perfection. He gently reminds me that faithfulness is enough. This faithfulness is a raw, unfiltered, unrelenting belief that Jesus is worthy.

The Church is Not the Marketplace

There is a biblical story that resonates in my own. A story of people who believed they had the right to sell offerings in God’s Church. People who wanted to market their craft for many people, and manufacture offerings acceptable to God.

In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. – John 2:14

He said to them, "The Scriptures declare, 'My Temple will be called a house of prayer,' but you have turned it into a den of thieves!" – Matthew 21:13

His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” – John 2:17

We are deceived when we believe we can do anything without the power of the Holy Spirit. We have to stop believing we can pull anything across the line, because Jesus can and will flip some tables if we begin to manufacture stuff in the house of God.

The temple is a place of offering, not bartering. A place of worship, not a place of market. How would our ministry change if we were consumed with zeal for the Lord? How would the way that we disciple, communicate, teach, write, and counsel be transformed? Manipulative stories, lofty knowledge, judgemental bias, and counterfeit emotion are not acceptable.

These offerings will be thrown out, overturned, and confused. God only wants our heart, and if we can genuinely offer him that, then I think people notice a difference in us. People are more likely to follow a leader who is authentically surrendered, then a leader who is perfect. We settle for ourselves when we barter for good stories and catchy phrases. We transform lives when we offer God’s intimate Word.

I won’t forget the palpable look of confusion on the young girl's face. I think about it often before I speak, not because I need to feel shame, but because it reminds me of what I have to offer. By myself, I leave people confused. If I offer the intimacy of God’s powerful Spirit, then I have the grace to transform people’s paradigms, beliefs, and lives.

I believe that Jesus is raising an authentic generation who desire authentic intimacy with God. I believe that if we’re faithful to disciple people with the authentic intimacy of God, we will see a growth of healthy disciple makers. Ask yourself these questions,

• Are you leading your family, your church, your ministry in this way?
• What kind of leverage do you have to share your intimacy with God?
• How can you let your heart be what you offer in discipleship?
• How can your intimacy lead others to greater intimacy with the Lord?

—

Chelsea Vaughn (@chelsea725) has served a ministry she helped start in the DFW Metroplex since she graduated from college. She received her undergraduate degree at Dallas Baptist University in Communication Theory. She does freelance writing, editing, and speaking for various organizations and non-profits. She hopes to spend her life using her gift for communication to reach culture and communities with the love of Jesus.

God Is Holding Out On Me

Right now I’m tempted to believe that God is holding out on me. There. I said it.

I planned to postpone writing this until I could speak about my unbelief in the past tense. Like most of you I’m more comfortable sharing my struggles when I can see them in the rearview mirror (with a lesson in my back pocket of course!). It feels godlier to say, “Six months ago I was tempted to look at porn or binge shop or cheat on that exam. But now I’m trusting in Christ’s work.”

I can’t help but think that this subtly undermines the gospel. Christ isn’t only sufficient for us when we’re past our temptations. He’s more than sufficient in the midst of them. Thus, Christians are free to share present tense struggles that elevate a high view of Christ even as we walk through real doubt and unbelief.

Present Tense Kind of Doubts

Lately, it seems like nothing falls into place. Nothing comes easily to me. I wrestle. I strive. I fight. And . . . nothing. There’s a little voice within that enjoys pointing out that if God were really in control of the whole universe, then it would be easy for him to change my circumstances. It would take him no effort whatsoever to make a tweak here and there and poof! my life would be fixed. That voice takes my good theology—a high view of God’s meticulous rule—and comes to poor conclusions that God is withholding something good from me.

You understand this feeling, don’t you? Even as you read about my doubts, you’re internalizing your own. Perhaps it looks like one of the following equations:

• God is the Creator of life + You are barren = He is withholding good from you
• God is the Author of marriage + You are single = He is withholding good from you
• God is Owner of universe + You are broke = He is withholding good from you

Scenarios such as these tempt us to disbelieve and distort God’s character. We feel that God’s holding out on us—that he's stingy. We conclude that we’ll just have to make things happen for ourselves. Like Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11), we’re presented with an opportunity to believe the lies and to try and secure our desires apart from God’s provision and perfect timing.

For the most part, we know that these thoughts aren’t rational. God is sovereign, and God is good. There’s nothing in our experience that can change that. Then again, doubt and unbelief are rarely rational. But they sure are powerful! The more we focus on the lies and feed the doubts the more powerful that unbelief becomes. And the more powerful the unbelief becomes, the more convinced we get that we need to go out and make something happen for ourselves.

Choosing to Form Habits of Belief

It’s at this very moment, the present moment when unbelief rears its ugly head, that you and I have a choice to make. We can preach God’s truth to ourselves and allow it to strengthen our belief or listen to the lies and allow it to strengthen our unbelief. Either way, something will grow stronger. There’s no neutral ground. It’s not like we can just wait it out and see what happens. The path of passivity (“maybe tomorrow I will feel like God is good and gracious”) will only deepen unbelief. If we wait until tomorrow to believe God is good, upon waking up, we’ll discover that the unbelief has spread throughout our soul like terminal cancer.

But, if you are in Christ, the temptation to unbelief is not the final word. We can choose a different path! We have One who walked before us and was tempted as we are yet remained sinless (Heb. 4:15), so that he might offer himself as a sinless substitute in the place of unrighteous sinners (2 Cor. 5:21). Through our union with Jesus we can “receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need” (Heb. 4:16). Moreover, Christ serves as an example of what it looks like to perfectly trust the Father in the face of temptation by speaking out truth and resisting the Devil in the power of the Spirit (Matt. 4:4,7,10).

As we’re progressively conformed to Jesus’ image, we can choose the path he chose. We’ve been set free from sin so we can pursue righteousness. We are not enslaved to unbelief anymore. You don’t have to keep doing what you’ve always done.

You can form new habits of belief that builds your confidence in God on a daily basis:

You can verbally refute lies (whether personal, demonic, or worldly) the minute they pop into your head.

You can cry out to the Spirit to help you when you feel weak and overwhelmed with unbelief.

You can read, meditate on, and memorize Scripture to renew your mind.

You can confess your doubts to a friend and ask them to pray for you.

You can meet with God’s people on a Sunday or mid-week gathering to hear the truth and worship God.

The point is we have a choice. Jesus’ work on our behalf breaks the fatalistic patterns of sin in our lives and gives us supernatural power to battle unbelief. We don’t have to be resigned to our unbelief. We can be different. We can be like Jesus!

An Exercise In Trust

Today, in my present struggle, I’m going to choose to follow Jesus by refuting the enemy’s lies and speaking God’s truth out loud. Sure, nothing’s coming easily to me. Life feels hard. But I refuse to believe God’s being stingy. I know he’s not stingy because of the gospel:

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things. – Romans 8:32

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 1:3

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. – James 1:16-17

When I meditate on these truths, my doubts are obliterated. Our God is a good God who gives us good gifts. There’s no way he could be stingy towards me—he’s given me his very own Son! Any feelings regarding my current circumstances simply cannot hold up in the face of the cross. I’m choosing to exercise trust in God because he is 100 percent trustworthy.

What about you? As you stand at the intersection of belief or doubt, what choice are you going to make to feed your faith in God? What Scriptures are you going to use to refute the lies of the enemy? Who are you doing life with that can help you fight the fight of faith? How will you exercise trust in God during moments of unbelief?

—

Whitney Woollard is passionate about equipping others to read and study God’s Word well resulting maturing affection for Christ and his glorious gospel message. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute and a Masters of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies from Western Seminary. Whitney and her husband Neal currently live in Portland, OR where they call Hinson Baptist Church home. Visit her writing homepage whitneywoollard.com.

6 Ways to Influence a Culture of Evangelism

Everyone follows the people they look up to. Just recently I had a handful of families over for lunch. It was joyful chaos with crowded rooms and team-work food preparation. If you watched, you could see the tiniest two-year-old mimicking and following room-to-room the biggest kid present, who was a respectable four-and-a-half. Every push of his toy truck and every wave of his hand was emulated with pizazz.

We orchestrate our lives around a big story that we trust in. The habits and decisions of our daily life are expressions of living that story

That’s how it is in the church. If you’re serving and leading, people are watching you. You likely have more influence on how others think about their lives than you may be comfortable with. Some might study your marriage. They might copy your spiritual disciplines. They might model your use of language. Or they might emulate your evangelism. Whether we recognize it or not, people follow their leaders.

We must depend on Jesus for help to lead well, but we must also be intentional. So how do we lead well in evangelism? The tone we set in our community changes the way those around us see the value of proclaiming the gospel. Here are six ideas to consider as others watch you.

1. Help Others Know the Message

Can those you are leading articulate what the saving message of the gospel is? I’ve found we often assume others can—when they cannot. She may love Jesus and want to serve him, but when you ask her what someone must know to be saved, a blank stare greets you.

When you are teaching, from any passage in the Bible, clearly define the gospel. We believe the Bible is centered on Jesus and the gospel, so each time you teach show you believe this focal point by talking about humans’ value and sin along with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as our saving hope.

As you engage with the men and women, train them how to talk about the gospel. We are constrained by orthodoxy but are free in creativity to express the message in a variety of ways.

2. Speak of the Mission

To influence the culture of evangelism around us, we are compelled to talk about the mission of God into which he has invited us. We have been given a mission and a message with God as the great Actor. Our place is to love, serve, and speak of the good news—because we have the best news of a loving, forgiving God! People desperately need him, so we take the initiative to do those things and trust God to work.

We have been given a mission and a message with God as the great Actor

Speak about the mission when you’re on a walk when you’re at a lunch appointment, and when you’re praying with others. Talk about the ways you are taking the initiative to bring a meal to your neighbors, to invite your hairstylist to coffee, and to speak to the students in your classes.

I’m not talking about boasting in how well you’re doing—that’s not helpful—rather, sharing your steps of faith in humility, including your fears and failures. This sharing helps others have ideas for their next steps of faith. Talk about the mission like this is truly something we are on because we are.

3. Share Your Faith in God’s Power

Our view of the call to evangelism can be strange. At times, we treat it like the stain on the rug we scoot the couch over. If no one acknowledges it, maybe we can pretend it’s not there. Other times, we face it fully-focused, yet we slip into pragmatism, promotionalism, or moralism.

We get focused on what we are accomplishing, rather than trusting the God, who saves. Guilt or pride grow, depending on how your stats are going. Fear and changes in tactics seem like easy answers. As a result, we wrongly decide certain people are not “in the market” for what we’re offering.

Pragmatists, promotionalists, and moralists can be good evangelists, yet be doing nothing for the glory of Jesus. Their work is not done in dependence upon him.

Rather, share your faith in the power of God for salvation. We speak about Jesus because we believe that God actually does raise the spiritually dead. We believe our greatest need and greatest joy are found in God himself. Speak of this truth and protect those you serve from any “-ism” that will make evangelism about themselves.

4. Share the Gospel Yourself—and Take Others with You

This step is basic, but nonetheless important: Follow through. Ask God to open doors for the message of Jesus. Then pursue the people around you with love, kindness, and truth because you expect him to answer! Make coffee dates. Invite people over for dinner. And when you do and when it’s appropriate, bring others you lead with you to observe you talk about Jesus. They’ll learn a lot from watching and joining you in loving others this way.

I try to take a friend on coffee dates with me when I believe we’ll be talking about the gospel. Sometimes when I’m going to visit someone in their home, it’s easy to bring a gal with me. When we share the gospel with someone, we often do it multiple times. Your partner can share his or her story with your help. Be a leader who lives this out in view of those you love.

5. Pray Fervently and Celebrate Wildly Together

Remind your people of the mission by praying for open doors to walk through by faith. Ask for prayer for yourself and pray for them. Be honest about what success looks like. It should resemble faithful loving and an offer of the gospel—an offer that sometimes isn’t accepted. We take the steps. The results are in the hands of God.

As the Lord works among you, celebrate wildly! Know that he is the God, who blesses, loves, reveals himself, and pursues people. Enjoy watching what he’s doing and party like they are in heaven as God draws people to himself. Help others know that you’re in this together—a community who is on mission for Jesus.

6. Acknowledge the Challenge

Talking about Jesus can be hard. It has always been risky. Remember the threats, jailings, and beatings in the book of Acts? Some have always rejected the message, but that does not mean we have done anything wrong. Rejecting the message is not the same as rejecting you, though they may be sequential.

Bodily injury may not be the main challenge of evangelism for those we serve. Often it’s just plain awkwardness. The truth is we’re awkward when we talk about things that important to us. We get nervous; our hearts race. We forget to make eye contact; we overanalyze everything the other person may be thinking. We get sweaty. You get the idea.

The only way I know how to deal with this is what I’ve said a hundred times to those I care about, “Embrace the awkward.” This message is much greater than the fear of awkward. But as leaders, it’s good for us to acknowledge this and remind them that we’re all awkward humans on mission with a mighty God.

You may be reading this post, and guilt or fear are already creeping over you. Maybe you’ve just realized that you haven’t been leading in evangelism at all. Perhaps you haven’t loved the mission of Jesus.

The good news we proclaim also tells us there is grace for us. Grace to forgive our sin. Grace to calm fears with the truth. Gracious provision of the Holy Spirit to empower us to speak the message and trust in Jesus. Ask someone to help you take the first steps in each of these ideas, and remember the gospel for yourself.

As you do, know that people are watching you. You have the opportunity to influence those around you to see evangelism as worth any risk, any cost, and any fear. For the Kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus has brought the best gift, and our lives are conduits for the best news. He is working to bring people to himself. May he send more laborers into the harvest fields.

Reflections

• Who is watching you as you follow Jesus and live on mission?
• How does the good news inform how we view our failures?
• Where can you take a young believer where they can watch you take about Jesus and the gospel?

—

Taylor Turkington has worked for a church in the Portland area for the last six years, teaching, discipling, and training. She loves being involved in the equipping and encouraging of people for the work God has given them. Before her church life, Taylor worked as a missionary in Eastern Europe and graduated from Western Seminary with an M.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies. Currently, Taylor is a student at Western in the D.Min. program. She loves teaching the Bible and speaks at seminars, retreats, and conferences. Taylor is a co-founder and co-director of the Verity Fellowship.

Originally appeared at The Verity Fellowship, “3 Ways to Influence a Culture of Evangelism.” Used with permission.

Jesus Welcomed REAL Sinners. Do We?

In a very real sense, the work of Jesus is complete. When it comes to our standing as beloved, forgiven, delighted-in sons and daughters of God, “It is finished,” just as he said. His sinless life secured for us a new and irrevocable status—holy and blameless in God’s sight. His death fulfilled the requirements of God’s justice toward our sins. We are summoned by Scripture to make much of Jesus. It is stunning that Jesus makes much of us, too. Jesus lived the life we should have lived, and he died the death we should have died. Because of this, we are free. What a wonderful and humbling reality—God does not treat us as our sins deserve, because he has already treated Jesus as our sins deserve.

The work of Jesus continues in the world through Christians.

All this being true, there is still much work that Jesus intends to get done…through us.

Luke writes in Acts 1:1, “In the first book [the Gospel of Luke], O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.” Began to do and teach? How could there be more for Jesus to do than he what has already done?

That’s where we as Christ’s “ambassadors” come into the picture. We are now the chosen ones, sent into the world on his behalf, filled with his Spirit to represent him in the places where we live, work and play. The work of Jesus continues in the world through Christians.

Our calling is to labor in every way possible to model our ministry and message after his. We are to live as those who are “full of grace and truth” until our churches and ministries attract the types of people who were attracted to Jesus, and, by unfortunate necessity, draw criticism from the types of people who criticized him.

What does it mean to have a ministry atmosphere that is “full of grace” (John 1:14)?

Gandhi famously said:

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.

Gandhi admired Jesus but found it difficult to reconcile how the Christians in his life seemed to represent Jesus so poorly. In his mind, this is what kept him from becoming a follower of Jesus.

As Jesus’ ambassadors, we need to listen very carefully to statements like this one. We must carefully and lovingly examine the common barriers that stand between the real Jesus and people’s false impressions of him—impressions which, unfortunately, have been projected to a watching world by sincere yet misguided Christians. Let’s consider some of these barriers, shall we?

BARRIER #1: CONDEMNATION

Writer Philip Yancey often asks people he meets what they think about Christians. Sadly, the answer he hears most often from people is that Christians are judgmental, intolerant, and holier-than-thou.

When the September 11 terrorist attacks took place on the World Trade Center, one very well-known (and deeply misguided) Christian leader confirmed this stance by saying on national television:

If you are a homosexual, a member of the ACLU, in favor of abortion, or part of the People of the American Way, then I point my finger in your face and say you did this. You made this happen.

A Christian friend of mine who is an actor once invited a gay friend over to have dinner with him and his wife. Their guest soon realized (from the Bible on the coffee table) that they were Christians. He then said to my friend, “You are a Christian, and you actually like me?” This kind of story causes my heart to sink. Does it yours?

Are we serious about being Christ’s ambassadors in the world? Then we must humbly wrestle with, and fight with love to reverse, the idea that Christians are against people who don’t believe like we do.

Whether this impression is true or merely perceived, it is still our starting point in the minds of many non-Christian people. If we are not guilty ourselves, then we are at least guilty by association with believers who have misrepresented the biblical Jesus with harsh, abrasive, condemning or withdrawn attitudes. We must take personal responsibility, as far as it depends on us, to replace pictures of a false Jesus with pictures of the real Jesus—the Jesus who came full of grace and truth, and who even welcomed “sinners” and ate with them (Luke 15:1-2).

BARRIER #2: SEPARATION

I believe that Christians who want to separate themselves and their children from secular people, secular things, and secular ideas make a big mistake. Christ’s ambassadors must resist this “us against them” and often fear-based mindset. We must do everything in our power to become friends with as many non-Christians as we can—no conditions attached. This must be a central, core value of our lives and also our Christian communities.

Consider Jesus. It was only the religious proud who withdrew from Jesus, criticized him, took offense at him, and wished to rid the world of him. But what about the prostitutes, crooks, drunks, gluttons and sinners? These all wanted to be near to Jesus, and they wanted to hear what he had to say. And Jesus obliged gladly—so much so that he became guilty by association, and was accused of being a glutton and a drunk and a “friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34).

We know that these accusations of drunkenness and gluttony were false—Jesus was tempted in every way but without sin. But Jesus was unapologetically a friend to the least and the lost—to all who felt ostracized and belittled by the religious communities of his day.

Jesus was willing to offend strict religious people if that’s what it took to convince broken sinners that he loved them and had hope for them.

Are we?

Jesus was repulsive to religious insiders and a breath of fresh air to religious outsiders.

Are we?

BARRIER #3: SMUGNESS

There is a price to pay if we get serious about cultivating atmospheres that are full of grace. The more we begin to befriend the kinds of people that Jesus did, we will experience resistance and even rejection from “the faithful.” They may even be our fellow church members. It’s a simple fact. When we do the kinds of things that Jesus did and love in some of the ways that Jesus did, some will take offense at us. And they will tell themselves that their being offended is because of their love for God. But anytime someone is offended by kindness that resembles Jesus, our Lord says that this person, rather than acting out of love for God, is acting as a child of the devil (John 8:39-47). It is Satan, not God, who is the hater of kindness. It is Satan, not God, who is the accuser of the people that Jesus loves.

Consider Luke 7, where a woman described as “sinful” enters the home of Simon the religious Pharisee. In the name of love, and in the spirit of radical grace, Jesus receives with delight her very un-orthodox display of affection toward him. Jesus breaks with religious customs, allowing this ceremonially and morally unclean prostitute to touch his feet. He breaks with social customs also, receiving her as his disciple—putting a woman on equal footing with men in a very paternalistic, misogynistic society where women were seen as second class.

Most scandalous, however, is the way that Jesus even breaks with moral customs to demonstrate to this woman how dear she is to him. She lets down her hair, which was grounds for divorce in those days—a woman could do this only in the presence of her immediate family. She also touches him with the tools of her prostitute’s trade. He lets her anoint him with a prostitute’s perfume and kiss him with a prostitute’s lips!

Of course, we know the rest of the story—Jesus was shunned as a man of ill repute by the religious people at the sinner party. To these smug Pharisees, showing positive attention to this woman—whom they judged as a sinner not a child of God, as a thing not a person—was evidence of moral compromise.

This story has serious ramifications for those who wish to represent Jesus well in a modern context. We must come to terms with the fact that if Jesus were a 21^st century American, he would not associate godliness with membership in a political party. He would not tell a lesbian she was “in sin” without also offering her a personal, no-strings-attached friendship. He would not talk about how smoking destroys God’s temple while simultaneously devouring his third piece of fried chicken at the church potluck. Jesus would not condemn adultery as being any worse than studying the Bible for the wrong reasons.

BARRIER #4: PRIDE

Becoming a friend of sinners begins with the understanding that we are much more like the “chief of sinners” than we are like Jesus Christ. Our approach with all people, no matter who they are or what their history, must assume the posture of “fellow beggars humbly telling others where to find the bread” (I got this magnificent quote from Steve Brown).

If we really want people to be impacted by the gospel and to enjoy the riches of God’s grace, they must first see in us the humility of those who have been, and continue to be, genuinely impacted by grace ourselves. Our humility must be authentic and not just an act. If we have never been brought low by God, we will approach other people from a high horse. And that is never any good for anybody.

Consider the Apostle Paul. He was not above humbling himself. In Romans 7 he gives us a window into his personal struggle with the sin of coveting—a sin nobody would see unless he told them—and the way that the gospel gave him hope in the face of his coveting. In 1 Timothy Paul identifies himself as the chief of all sinners. If we intend to reflect Jesus in our ministries and our messages, we need to get over our love for reputation and image. As the late Jack Miller once said, “Grace runs downhill.” We can only be drenched by grace toward the bottom of the hill.

And yet, how easy it can be to build our identities on how good we look—on being “model Christians” that people are supposed to admire because of how put-together we appear to be.But we must not do this. It is a trap and it will rob us of gospel power and effectiveness. If people around us are going to be changed by the grace of Jesus, they must witness the gospel working effectively in our lives—healing us of our sins and deepest wounds and fears. Changing us.

—

Scott Sauls is senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee and author of Jesus Outside the Lines and Befriend (releases Oct, 2016).

Used with permission from ScottSauls.com, “Jesus Welcomed REAL Sinners. Do We?”

9 Reasons to Prioritize One-on-One Discipleship

Few people in our local church shout “Amen!” when I preach which may be a testimony to the quality of the sermons. Yet every once in a while, I preach something decent. I know this because some of our members will grunt and nod their heads aggressively. This has become the telltale sign that I’ve said something helpful or convicting. The easiest sermons to preach are sermons on discipleship, particularly the necessity of fulfilling the Great Commission. The grunt per person ratio is off the charts on those Sundays. One Sunday, the general tone of agreement led me to believe those to who heard me preach were particularly ready and willing to take personal ownership for the mission of disciple-making. My assumptions led me to seek out disciple-makers for young believers in our church actively—either those who came to faith through our church’s ministry or those who had only been walking with Jesus for a short time. It made sense to target those who had known Jesus for years and pair them with a younger believer so they could fulfill Jesus’ call to teach one another to do all things that Christ commands (Matt 28:18–20).

But the more I attempted to engage the church in discipleship, the more I found that far too many of the seasoned saints had no idea where to begin or what to do. They acknowledged their responsibility to make disciples and had a relationship with someone who needed investment of time and training, but the mature believers were unsure what disciple-making should look like. Though they had attended church for years, many had passively learned that disciple-making was something that the staff or structure of the church was supposed to accomplish. If someone needed to be taught the basics of the Christian life, they assumed that Sunday school, small groups, or sermons would do the trick—what those structures could not accomplish would be the work of the professional pastors or ministry leaders.

Over the years, the gap between the mission of disciple-making and the actual practice of most Christians grew wider and wider. Many knew they should be making disciples and wanted to do so, but they simply didn’t know how.

I’m convinced that a return to the practice of one-on-one, life-on-life discipleship is one of the most critical needs for today’s church.

Here’s why:

One-on-One Discipleship Allow Every Member of the Church to Carry Weight

We laughingly jest at the “80/20 rule” (20% of the people in the church do 80% of the work) and wonder why our churches lack the every-member ministry we know God desires. Many attendees, much less members, sit as bystanders to the life of the church. They show up, sing the songs, listen to the sermons, give an offering, and leave through the back door. Often those without meaningful investment in the work of the church are the first to complain when their needs are not met or the leaders do something they don’t like. So, how do we call these people out of passivity and into action? Giving out bulletins before a service is unlikely to do the trick. We need more. A culture of one-on-one discipleship among the members of the church would communicate that everyone has a vital role to play in the spiritual health of the body. Passive consummation and petty squabbles would likely be minimized if it was assumed that every member of a local church was going to meet with at least one other Christian on a regular basis for the sake of their spiritual growth and transformation.

One-on-One Discipleship Allows for Honest Conversation

We’d love to assume that believers are ruthlessly honest with each other at all times—be it the 5-minute conversation in the hallway of the church or sitting around in a living room during a weekly small group gathering. But we know this is not true. Nor is it reasonable. Most settings simply do not allow for the level of honesty we need to fight sin and pursue holiness. It would be unwise and unhelpful for a man to confess an ongoing battle with pornography in a mixed-gendered small group. Even if this man were bold enough to share with the men in the group, he will likely struggle to mine the depths of his sin in this setting. The men in the group may be able to listen, pray, and encourage him with the Scriptures, but he’ll need one or two men who are willing to meet with him and walk with him through what is likely to be a long process of repentance and change.

One-on-One Discipleship Allows for Personalized Application 

Consider the difficulty when a college student raises her hand during the typical Sunday morning sermon or even in a Sunday school class and saying, “Yeah, I understand that, but this just doesn’t make sense to me yet,” or “That may be true, but I’m not sure how it applies to my life.” These settings aren’t designed for personalized care. Most sermons and classes operate at the 30,000-foot level—trusting that God, by his Spirit and through his church, can apply the truth of his word to the needs of each person in attendance. This move from broad teaching to personalized application happens best in one-on-one discipleship settings.

One-on-One Discipleship Allows for Evangelism and Discipleship to Unite

Churches with a culture of one-on-one discipleship have no question with what to do with someone who comes to faith in their church. First, the person who was most instrumental in sharing the gospel with the new believer should be the go-to source for ongoing discipleship. Following baptism, these two can continue to fan into flame the good work that God has started. If the person came to faith apart from a relationship with a church member, such as through a Sunday sermon or big event, then the church has a farm system of ready, willing, and capable disciple-makers. Imagine the long-term fruit that could result if every church could say to new believers, “We have someone who would love to walk with you for the next year as you grow in your faith.”

One-on-One Discipleship Allows for Ongoing Accountability

Genuine change happens when someone brings sin out of the dark and into the light—both to God and to fellow brothers and sisters. Then the fight begins. Hard work must be done to put protective measures in place to aid in one’s pursuit of holiness. A man who finds his identity in his job and neglects his family needs to confess this sin to another brother and have this man hold him accountable to being home for dinner, putting his phone down at night, and playing with his children. These actions cannot change the human heart, but they are a means by which we can spur one another on to love and good deeds (Heb 10:24).

One-On-One Discipleship Allows for Burden Bearing Relationships

In an age of incessant social media chatter, we assume that every believer is surrounded by people who will pray when they hurt, and love and support them when they suffer. A simple glance at your Facebook feed will almost certainly find another person asking for prayer. Yet, in an age of constant connectivity, people are as lonely as ever. While Facebook “friends” may like your post or offer prayers of support, it is impossible to bear another’s burdens in a meaningful way via technology. We need someone to sit with us, listen to our muddled conversation, make us something to eat, and pray while we cry. We need burden-bearing relationships. Those that know us know where we hurt, know where we are weak, and are willing to drop everything to be by our side (Gal 6:1–10).

One-on-One Discipleship Allows Other Ministries to Thrive

Discipleship relationships are not an alternative to small groups or Sunday school. In fact, they enhance the work that happens in these groups. One-on-one discipleship frees small groups from the pressure of assuming that they must accomplish all the heavy lifting of disciple-making. Most groups know that they can’t teach the Bible, apply the word to each group member, care for the wounded, make new guests feel welcome, live on mission to their neighborhood, promote passionate prayer, and practice biblical hospitality. The thought that all of these laudable goals must happen between 6–8 p.m. on a Tuesday night or 9–9:50 a.m. on a Sunday morning is a crushing burden. A church filled with a culture of disciple-making can trust that their groups don’t have to do it all, freeing these groups to do the very things they do best.

One-on-One Discipleship Allows for Mutual Growth

One-on-one discipleship is often explained as if it is only for the benefit of the younger Christian who is being discipled. Yet, ask one of the older women in our church who has engaged in this work and she will insist that the process of discipleship was as transformative for her as for the new believer she served. Do you want to grow in your hunger for God’s word? Meet with a younger Christian and have them ask you questions about the Bible. Do you want to see change in your prayer life? Meet with someone who doesn’t have it all together and is looking to you for help. Do you want to see change in your personal sin struggles? Invite someone into your life and say, like Paul, “follow me as I follow Christ” (1 Cor 11:1).

One-on-One Discipleship Allows for Healthy Relationships

Biblical community is a buzzword in the church; however, like a mythical unicorn, biblical community can be easy to define, yet hard to find. Sunday services alone are unlikely to create the deep love we long to see among the people of God. But one-on-one discipleship can. Imagine what happens if, over the course of five years, a member of your church has met with five to seven people (one or two a year) for the purpose of intentional discipleship. In these relationships, they have cried and laughed, talked and prayed. They’ve seen God transform them both and they are better for it. Though they may no longer meet, the deep love they have for one another will be unmistakable. Now, assume that those with whom they’ve met are also meeting with others and doing the same thing. Multiply this process by the number of members of your church and imagine the love that would permeate your local church (Jn 13:35).

Discipleship relationships are not one of a host of options on the buffet line of spiritual formation alongside Sunday sermons, small groups, Sunday School, men’s or women’s ministry or a host of other good activities of the church. Certainly, people can’t do everything, and expecting a person to take part in every ministry the church has to offer is unreasonable and unhealthy. Yet, one-on-one discipleship relationships are not optional extras once the other ministry obligations have been fulfilled. Like the Sunday gathering of the entire church and some form of community group (either Sunday school or small group), those seeking to participate in the life of the church in a meaningful way should regularly be engaged in one-on-one discipleship—for the good of others, the good of the church, and their own good as well.

—

Matt Rogers is the pastor of The Church at Cherrydale in Greenville, South Carolina. He and his wife, Sarah, have three daughters, Corrie, Avery, and Willa and a son, Hudson. Matt holds a Master of Arts in counseling from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary as well as a Master of Divinity and a PhD  from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Matt writes and speaks for throughout the United States on discipleship, church planting, and missions. Find Matt online at www.mattrogers.bio or follow him on Twitter @mattrogers_

4 Considerations for Making Friends

God has given me the gift of being friends with outsiders. I am not sure why, but when I move to a new place or visit a new place it seems as though God sends people to me so that I can enter into relationship with them. I am not talking about merely having acquaintances, but entering into a real relationship with people. It’s weird how often this happens. A quick example. I was going to golf with a couple of friends at a really nice course, so I went for a warm up round at another local course. I went out by myself and didn’t want to be bothered. Even when I went to check in the guy at the front desk at the golf course asked if I wanted to play with others I said “no . . . please put me by myself.”

God had other plans.

After the first hole, we were backed up on the second and two golfers in front of me asked if I wanted to join them, I quickly said no, I’m good. But they persisted, so I joined them. For the next four hours I listened to their stories, said very few things, but asked some questions and continued to listen to their stories . . . it was a good time. After the first few holes I found out that one of the golfers was a retired baseball player, and a good one at that. He bragged about the course we were playing on and then bragged about his local pub that he owned and asked if I wanted to join him afterwards. I, of course, accepted.

We went to his pub and he ordered a ton of food and drinks and just wanted me to try a bunch of food and in exchange it seemed like he only wanted one thing: someone to listen to his stories. I did. I barely said a whole paragraph in our 6 hours of time together, but by the end, he was my new best friend and we exchanged telephone numbers and we now are going to be playing golf together regularly. What I found very interesting is his simple statement at the end of our day. He said: “This was such a great time, I am so glad that you joined us today, it was a pleasure to meet you and I can’t wait to introduce you to all my friends.”

Funny to think that I had this much impact on him in merely 6 hours and I hardly said anything. Instead, I did what many Christians, or should I even say evangelists, do rarely: listen.

In keeping with this example, here are four consideration for making friends today:

1. Be Available

The church has done a really good job of many things in the last 100 years, but one thing that really sticks out to me—We’re busy. It seems like we are either coming from something or going to something. Rarely do we have time for the Spirit to engage us in our schedule when and where and with whom he wants. We are simply too busy for the Spirit to sovereignly interrupt us.

Start clearing up your schedule so that you can be ready for the Spirit to send you people to engage with. Not only that, but start doing more things in public where people actually are. If we do these two things and we add to this a simple prayer of asking the Spirit to send us people he wants us to engage in, then we’ll be ready when he does and more open to engaging the world around us with purpose, intention, and excitement.

My wife has said over and over the best way to start meeting people is by simply going to the same public space weekly. Find a place where people are and keep visiting that place over and over again at the same day and time week after week. Not only that, but invite friends alongside you and see the fruit of being available yet intentional.

2. Be a Listener

Some people assume that one of the essential qualities of a good evangelist is the art of not shutting up. It’s as if the wittier the person is with their rhetoric, the more we hold them high on the pedestal of a good evangelist. I believe the most effective method of engaging the culture is the opposite approach. Your average person simply wants someone to actually listen to what he or she has to say.

The importance of evangelistic listening actually should be pretty freeing for most people.  Many think that they must have some great answer to the most pressing problem in today’s world, but they don’t have the first idea on how to go about discussing that concern. In other words, I believe the abundance of social media avenues in our generation gives rise to a unique concern; many people spend very little time conversing face-to-face with people who will listen to them. So, just by you listening, you are giving them an answer to a problem that faces them—even if they don’t know it yet.

Don’t just be a listener, but think about a few of these things as you listen:

• What is a common thread in this person’s story?What seems to hurt them most?
• What do they celebrate most?
• Where do they need redemption?
• What do they see as their functional savior for their problems?
• How could Jesus and the good news be the answer to their hurt and their issues?

Be careful that as you think of these things you aren’t merely listening so you can be ready to speak next...that isn’t good listening. Listen so much that you desire the Spirit to tell you when to speak, if you are supposed to speak at all. I’ve found myself listening so intently to people that at the end of their rant, story, or whatever that I have nothing to say. But I am ready to listen and ask more questions for deeper understanding.

3. Be Curious

The worst thing you can do as you listen to people’s stories is to jump to conclusions and try to answer questions that they never asked. Be very curious and ask questions until they tell you they don’t want to answer. But I’ll be honest I’ve never had someone say that they don’t want to answer a question that I ask...and I ask very personal questions. But remember...if you are a listener and not merely someone who seems to think they have all the answers, people actually want to talk to you and go deeper with you.

The posture of a listener opens people up to talk about and come to you about very deep issues and they’ll give you permission to ask the deepest questions about identity, idols, sin that you desire to ask.

The easiest way to be curious is when you hear details of someone’s story, never come to your own conclusions on the “why” in someone’s story and keep prodding them and asking them so you can uncover the “why” as they would tell it.

I’m always curious when people tell me their stories. I don’t hold back asking questions. And they aren’t bashful in giving me answers to my questions and going even deeper than I expected.

I believe the deeper the story goes, the longer the friendship will last.

4. Be Transparent

When you hear brokenness in their story that you can relate to, don’t hold back in telling them so. When they are vulnerable, make yourself vulnerable. This is where the church has, for the large part, disappointed many people. We haven’t been willing to open up about our own sins and hurt, but merely desire to point out other’s. As you open up about your story and your hurt, it opens up an actual relationship. An actual relationship is a vulnerable, two way street, not merely a one way relationship.

Do not hesitate to go as deep as they are going or press further into your sins and hurt to allow them the freedom to go deeper as well.

At this point many in the world have been better than some in the church. They know they’re broken, but some in the church act as though they are whole, without sin. Because my wife and I are transparent with who we are, we’ve found that it helps us develop deep friendships with the world, while it hurts us with the church where we receive constant pushback. The church would rather the scars and hurt stay deep within, so that she can look as though she is without stain. The problem is that when you do this, you hold in contempt those you are trying to reach and they can feel it. They can see it. And, they disdain it...and you...then Jesus.

We must know that we are not Jesus, but we represent Jesus. We actually get to show people Jesus the more transparent we are, showing our brokenness. When we show our brokenness, yet have joy in Christ, it gives hope that maybe our friends can also be loved by our Dad through Jesus as well.

Jesus Calls Us Friends

Jesus was called a “friend of tax collectors and sinners” then uses that same term as he speaks to those who were merely curious about who he was, to his very own disciples, and even to the one who betrayed him. I believe this is very purposeful, as everything Jesus did was, to make sure we identify, not just a few of God’s image bearers, but with all of God’s image bearers. Just think of this. The King of Creation, who could be friends with anyone, sent his son down so that we could be called his friends, that we could make friends, and that we could do exactly what Jesus has done for us: show us who the Father is.

This is the whole point. Jesus continually tells us that the reason he was sent was to show the Father. So, as he makes friends, that’s why he is doing it—to show off the Father.

The one who created time, makes himself available for us so we could be available to others knowing he holds time in his hands

The one who knows all things, is a listener to what we need and desire, so he can give it to us for the sake of making disciples. “Ask and it will be given” (Matt. 7:7).

The one who created us and is the center of the ultimate story is curious about us and our story. Jesus shows this with all his questions to his disciples and especially to the woman at the well.

Jesus…the one who Created the heavens and earth and was completely free of sin and was transparent with his creations. He pleaded with God to see if there was another way in the garden, because he was genuinely troubled with what was about to happen and to show us what it looked like to have an actual relationship with our Dad.

If the church, which is us, would just listen and start practicing these four simple truths, I would bet we would see how easy it is to not only make friends but share the hope that is within us (1 Pt. 3:15). You see Peter tells us to always be prepared to give a defense of the hope that is within us when people ask. But, my question is this: Are people in such a deep relationship with us that they would come to us and ask us about our hope? Or, do we see evangelism as something we have to go out and “do” with those outside of relationship because we don’t have any friends who are different than us in both appearance or beliefs?

Relationships take time and patience, judgment and condemnation takes seconds. May we pursue relationships the same way that Jesus has pursued us.

—

Seth McBee is the adopted son of God, husband of one wife, and father of three. He’s a graduate of Seattle Pacific University with a finance degree. By trade. Seth is an investment portfolio manager, serving as President of McBee Advisors, Inc. He is also a MC leader/trainer/coach and executive team member of the GCM Collective. Seth currently lives in Phoenix, AZ with his wife Stacy and their three children: Caleb, Coleman, and Madelynn. He is also the artist and co-author of the wildly popular (and free!) eBook, Be The Church: Discipleship & Mission Made Simple. Twitter: @sdmcbee.

Open-Handed Apologetics

OS Guinness believes that having truth is not good enough. He believes that simply “sharing the gospel” or presenting airtight arguments for God will not convince people to have faith in Jesus. He says there needs to be a creative element to presentations of truth that appeal to beauty and creativity as well as logic and science. He says we need to add a convincing element to our presentation of the truths of scripture and I, for one, have been persuaded. Guiness starts Fool’s Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion by giving a story of an interaction he had with Norman Mailer. He witnessed how a man that was degrading to women was still able to capture the attention of a mostly feminist crowd by kicking it off with a joke. In a situation in which an entire group did not want to listen to his speech he was able to disarm them and cause them to be more open to hear his claims.[1] This is just one example of what Guiness defines as creative persuasion.

Guinness contrasts what is termed closed hand apologetics (the approach most people are familiar with) with that of open handed apologetics. Closed hand means utilizing the best of our knowledge in the areas of logic, science, reason, philosophy, ethics, and history to make the case for God’s existence that are as convincing as possible. This approach refutes objections and makes cases for what one believes.

On the other side an open-handed approach uses different tools to convince. This approach uses “all the highest strengths of human creativity in the defense of the truth” as Guinness says. This includes creating good art, writing beautiful stories, creating intriguing videos, or using the common philosophers of our day (like comedians and musicians) to display the ridiculousness of false viewpoints.

Not Secular Knockoffs

Now some will hear this and immediately think that means we create art with an agenda. Or that there should be a higher volume of art that has some over-arching and explicit message. Christian creativity is oft sacrificed at the altar of the salvation narrative that seems to be necessary for most content creation. Hank Hill summarized it best in an episode of King of the Hill when he told his son Bobby, who had been exploring the hype version of pop Christianity, "Can't you see you're not making Christianity any better, you're just making rock 'n roll worse."

This is not a call for pigeon-holing Christian artists into making their art explicitly apologetic but rather for these apologetic messages to be more creative. This approach calls for those who craft presentations and defenses of the gospel to not recite facts as if they alone convince the human heart to change.

When art is created only to push a message or just to make it relevant than much is sacrificed. This can be “Christian” art or overly content driven messages. For example this is what makes some people appreciate an older album by Lupe Fiasco but think that his newer content (which is clearly more message driven) is not as artful.

However, a sweet spot exists where art and message blend beautifully to create a persuasive message that stirs the heart and moves people into action. From Bob Dylan to Public Enemy to hearing “We Gon Be Alright” being chanted by #BlackLivesMatter protesters  it’s clear that art can influence cultures when created excellently.

These songs as well as visual artists have been able to speak to culture and have a persuasive presence. Now if they were simply aiming at a strictly fact driven message set to simplistic music this would not have had the same effect. If people did not enjoy the visuals aesthetics then no one would care what Banksy says. If Marvin Gaye had a bad singing voice and a terribly written song then people would not care “What’s Going On.” The quality of work matters when viewing the trajectory of its popularity. If it’s not good then people just won’t care.

Heart and Head

The problem in much of modern apologetics is not primarily a matter of scholarship. In the fields of philosophy and apologetics the Christian worldview has made a strong impact. By the presence of such apologists such as Alvin Plantinga, William Lane Craig, JP Moreland, Ravi Zacharias, to name a few.

If this is the case, then what’s the disconnect? If strong, rational cases are being made then shouldn’t a wave of belief in God be on the rise?

This brings us back to where we started. Many of us who interact in the world of apologetics need to understand that appealing to the imagination is just as important as appealing to the intellect.There are many who are apathetic about truth until it is creatively brought to their attention.

When I use the word imagination I do not mean things made up in our mind or daydreaming. Rather I mean the underlying conscious part of our selves that forms all of our ideas, desires, and longings. James K.A. Smith referred to this as the way in which we navigate the world primarily through aesthetic forms.[2] The imagination being better described as the central portion of our hearts which guides all others.

For example William Wilberforce labored tirelessly against the evils of the slave trade in Great Britain. People could hear his words all day long but they weren’t moved until he forced the politicians of his day to see a ship that was being used for the trade. They now could smell the death and see the conditions that others were put under. He also enlisted others who had been on those ships to speak out at congressional hearings.

Wilberforce was not satisfied with merely a transfer of information. He wanted them to feel the full weight of what they were voting for. He wanted them to see, taste, and feel the evils of the choices they were making. He recognized that a factual argument alone would not convince their hearts (which loved money) but their head (which can believe one thing and love another). An appeal to the imagination was needed.

Our Messages

Antoine de Saint-Exupery is credited with saying, "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."

Whether we are trying to craft messages that persuade in a pastoral sense, through the written word, or perhaps in a particular art form, we must appeal to people’s hearts and imaginations as well as their minds. There is no “Solus Intellectus” that demands we appeal only to head but not the heart.

Jesus used various methods to communicate timeless truths to people who were indifferent to him. If we want to persuade others of the attractiveness of our gospel we should use our entire God given creativity hand in hand with our logic and rationality to aid us in being a public witness for Christ.

[1] Guinness, Os. Fool's Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2015. 1.

[2] Smith, James K. A. Imagining the Kingdom: How Worship Works. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013. 36.

—

Kevin Garcia is married to a beautiful woman, Miriam Garcia, and is a senior at SAGU. He will be continuing his studies in seminary afterwards particularly to study in the areas of philosophy, theology, social issues, and apologetics. He is passionate about seeing God work in urban contexts and examining the worldviews that influence people. He serves in a variety of areas at his church including teaching and preaching at LifePoint Church in the OakCliff neighborhood of Dallas, TX. Follow him on Twitter at: @kevingarcia__

Fight or Flight? Engaging Opposition in Social Media

In 2006, Jack Dorsey and his peers put their heads together to create what we now know as Twitter. Dorsey, years later, shared why the name made perfect sense for their product:

[W]e came across the word ‘twitter’, and it was just perfect. The definition was ‘a short burst of inconsequential [read: insignificant] information,’ and ‘chirps from birds’. And that’s exactly what the product was.¹

When I saw the company’s CEO refer to Twitter’s original intentions with this kind of nonchalance, I was floored. I certainly don’t think Dorsey expected Twitter to become what it is today, not only in terms of size and popularity. I think even the purpose of Twitter has done an about-face. Everyone is on Twitter with a mission to be affirmed for what they’re saying or selling. Everyone has significant information for the masses to hear. Even the “Follow” and “Retweet” actions are often viewed/used as a vote of support or endorsement, which only furthers users into the mindset that what they have to say is of extreme importance.

Facebook follows a similar line. The etymology stems from its simple purpose: connecting people. It was designed primarily as a connecting tool, helping university students see who is in their class, who shares mutual friends, and so forth. Though they have become the most widely visited social networking site in the world, I would argue that our purpose for Facebook has shifted. Oftentimes the goal of Facebook is no longer to connect, but to exhibit the disconnect between people, groups, sects, and parties. Long gone are the days when family pictures and literal “status updates” were the majority of Facebook feeds. “Status Updates” are now “Opinion Updates,” where we clue in our friends how we feel about a current event. Most of the pictures shared on the site are shared precisely because of their divisive message in nature. Oftentimes satirical or sarcastic, oftentimes offensive, oftentimes not the kind of pictures Facebook was designed to share.

What is the end result of these two streams of thinking? “Listen to me. I am against this.” This causes a fault-sized divide day in and day out. Pick your topic: Syrian refugees, #BlackLivesMatter, Planned Parenthood, child vaccinations.

Fight

In today’s culture, social media is a Coliseum of sorts.Like the famous Rome amphitheater, social media sites have become architecturally designed to create gladiator-like battles between opponents, all while the masses cheer on from the stands. Not only do we want to wage war with our enemies and slaughter them in the public square, but we want the crowd to roar in approval all the while.

Comments have turned into pre-meditated, bloodthirsty diatribes, where we nearly max out the 8000-character limit, or we start a chain of 140-character tweets to get our full message across. Hashtags have been implemented as a way of raising what flag you represent and waving it for everyone to see. These are even further provoked when the “Trends” section features controversial talking points, inviting the crowds to pick up their weapons and wage war. What was once deemed “chirps from birds” have become sharp talons we use to sink into our opponent, sometimes passive-aggressively, sometimes outright.

Flight

But not everyone is out for digital blood. Some, in fact, have gone to the opposite end of the spectrum. They disengage and want no part of it by avoiding the Coliseum altogether. They “take the high road” and leave social media, when in reality they may be taking the high horse. Or (perhaps worse), they want to sit in the stands, watch everyone else fight, and spend their entire time being critical of those fighting in the arena. These people love to tell others that it’s so beneath them to be involved in the current online Coliseum. They’re the good guys. They’re staying out of it. When in reality, they’re just being “holier than thou.”

The constant flood of metrics around every status update, every tweet, every post beckons us to “be entertained.” Even a popular meme floats around social media that expresses this idea. It’s a picture of Michael Jackson, famously eating popcorn in his Thriller music video, with a remark that says, “I’m just here for the comments.” This is flight at its finest: A kicked-back, popcorn-eating attitude while watching the melee.

Neither extreme works. A fight-heavy approach leaves folks battered with deep wounds. A flight-heavy approach leaves folks disengaged and careless. Neither can be the answer, and neither are what God has called us to in Scripture. So, how do we respond? What is the right approach to engagement with opposition on social media?

We must use wisdom, which means it isn’t cut and dry. There is a give and take and the pendulum swings constantly. We must navigate these obstacles when addressing how we engage with others in social media. We must evaluate ourselves. Below are some introspective diagnostic questions we can ask ourselves in our own social media habits. I do not have the silver bullet for this dilemma. Many times I have wrongfully abandoned these self-checks, but I hope to launch the dialogue and save some of you from making the kinds of mistakes online that I have made. This list isn’t exhaustive, but it is an on-ramp to better, clearer thinking about how we handle being in the Coliseum of social media.

1. Do I know where I stand, and why I stand there?

The most fundamental problem with evangelicals is our lack of familiarity with Scripture. Christians are called to “always be prepared” (1 Pt. 3:15), but many of us lack proactiveness in this regard. J. Vernon McGee comments:

The tragedy of the hour is that there are so many folk who say they are Christians, but the skeptic is able to tie them up into fourteen different knots like a little kitty caught up in a ball of yarn — they cannot extricate themselves at all. Why? Because of the fact that they do not know the Word of God.²

That was written over thirty years ago, but still rings true today. The reason culture equates the skeptic with reason as opposed to the Christian is because oftentimes it’s the Christian who cannot formulate a seemingly reasonable argument for his position. We oftentimes look like Peter online. We draw our sword to bring harm (Jn. 18:10) or we just want to withdraw completely (Jn. 18:25). We act out of fear or emotion instead of reason and wisdom. If we cut their ear off, they won’t hear.

In order to engage opposition correctly, we must first know what kind of weapon we have in the Word, and more so, how to handle it. This means before turning to Facebook to share our opinion on a current event, we must turn to the Scriptures to discover how God’s Word may advise us. As I’ve said before, your words will always be fruitful if they are founded in Scripture and prayer. We wouldn’t trust our military to defend our country if they had absolutely no training with guns and weaponry. Why should the Christian be different? Preparation is vital to our message (1 Pet. 3:15). As John Newton notes, when God's Word is at the forefront of our attention, “We seldom make great mistakes.”

2. Do I know where he stands, and why he stands there?

A common mistake we make in engaging others online is that we don’t take enough time to reason with others from their perspective/worldview. We’re so infatuated with getting our point across that we’re susceptible to missing the undertones of what is actually being advocated for. Doing the extra work to understand other’s presuppositions will save us much trouble. This takes a lot of patience, listening, and not talking.

Proverbs tells us, “A prudent man conceals knowledge” (12:23) and “even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise” (17:28). This does not mean flight or avoiding the confrontation. It means shutting up. It means letting the opponent have the floor and respecting his voice. It means being wise and discerning.

It’s baffling why we Christians struggle with this, especially with unbelievers. For one, we know the truth, and it’s rooted in an omnipotent God. Nothing can stand superior to the truth of God and the Scriptures. We should believe, then, that the longer we let a skeptic talk, the more he will expose the flaws in his own logic, for it’s not truth! More than this, if we expect to be given a chance to share our beliefs or viewpoints, we must offer the same to our brothers and sisters online. Football teams study the opponent’s game film because they want to know how to capitalize on their weaknesses. We can only learn from our opponents when we practice careful listening with patience.

3. How am I loving people with the gospel?

That was terribly painful to type. I think back to many of my snide, off-center remarks made online. Harsh, bruising words leave a permanent online wound that no post editing or deleting can fix. Absence and silence is deafening when we don’t love unbelievers enough to share the good news we know. Any time we engage in discussion or debate online, especially when someone opposes our stance, this question should be burning in our hearts. It’s in these moments that we have a chance to demonstrate the offense and the love of the gospel all at once. The Holy Spirit will remove scales from eyes and soften hearts, so let’s be more concerned with loving our neighbor as ourselves. Sometimes, that means appropriate confrontation. Sometimes, it means private conversation. But it should always mean grace, humility, clarity, patience, more grace, and love.

The truth is, we do have significant message to share. We have the opportunity to connect authentically with real people. Fight won’t fix the dynamic of social media. Flight won’t fix it, either. Only the good news of Jesus Christ can bring true restoration, even to our communication! Until then, let us labor to be grounded in truth, patient to listen, and willing to love.

1. Sano, David (February 18, 2009). "Twitter Creator Jack Dorsey Illuminates the Site's Founding Document". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 18, 2009

2. McGee, J. Vernon. Thru The Bible Commentary. Accessed November 18, 2015 at http://preceptaustin.org/1peter_verse_by_verse__313-22.htm

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Zach Barnhart (@zachbarnhart) currently serves as a church planting intern with Fellowship Church in Knoxville, Tennessee and is pursuing pastoral ministry. He is a college graduate from Middle Tennessee State University and lives in Knoxville with his wife, Hannah. He is a blogger, contributor to For The Church and Servants of Grace, and manages a devotional/podcast at Cultivated.

3 Reasons to Love Halloween

I love Halloween. It’s true. Usually, I still dress up. My children love to put on costumes and collect candy from our neighbors. Often times we have people over, or are invited to someone’s house where we just enjoy good times. Halloween puts a smile on my face. It reflects the joy and frivolous generosity of my Heavenly Father—which is one of the many reasons I love it. Consider a few more reasons.

1. My Children Smile, Laugh, and Play

On Halloween my kids can’t stop laughing and giggling. They’ve found the best costume they can and wear it all day long. They go door to door and ask the neighbors for candy. The other children smile, laugh, and play as well. They have more sugar coursing through their veins than should be legally allowed. They simply have a lot of fun.

I love seeing my children happy—as a father their joy is my joy. I love to hear their little laughs and screams of delight as they run back to me as we walk and show me what they got from the next door neighbor. This reminds me of the Father’s joy over his children. He really loves us and delights in giving us infinite joy. He celebrates our joys and delights. He works for our good and his glory in all things. Halloween reminds me of Heavenly Father’s joy in his children’s joy in Christ.

2. My Neighbors Are Known

Think about this—what other day of the year can you walk through your neighborhood, knock on your neighbors door, and not have them shut off the lights and hide? On that day, it’s permissible and even expected that you take your children to your neighbor’s home and ask for candy. It would be very strange in our culture except on Halloween.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. I ask myself: Would he go to the home of the “worst” person on the block? Would he “trick-or-treat” the grumpiest, most miserly person on the street? I think he would. He would find the person with no joy or hope and would knock on their door and bless them.

Halloween reminds me that Christ came to my home. He knocked on my door, not to receive anything, but to give me a blessing. He came and rescued me from my outright rebellion and pride. He came to my house to love me and know me.

I love Halloween and the opportunity to go to my neighbor’s homes merely because it reminds me of the pursuit of Christ for the lost. I get to put my costume on, bundle up the kids, and visit those who I wouldn’t normally hang out with. Halloween reminds me that I am a missionary (and so are you) in our neighborhoods.

3. The Generous Are Known

Guess who my children talked about after Halloween last year? The home that gave out the King-Sized Snicker Bars. He wasn’t skimpy and didn’t just give one little “fun sized” bag of M&M’s. He went all out and bought the good stuff, the best candy. And all the kids talked about the extravagantly generous home at the end of the street. They love that house!

Jesus was the generous one with all he did for us. I want to be like him. He came and gave everything for us and it cost him everything. He gave the best! He gave the most!

On Halloween, I’m challenged to display the love of Christ by my generosity. Just as my family goes around the neighborhood, the neighborhood comes to my home too! I can either display a judgmental, self-righteous, Pharisaical attitude and condemn every kid that comes by my house for dressing like a ghost or vampire or something silly like that. Or, I can display the prodigal love of God (which means “wastefully extravagant”) and give the best candy and have the most fun and be the house that the neighborhood kids are talking about. I can display the generous love of God by the generous way I live towards those who are far from God.

I want to encourage you this year to display the love of God on Halloween. Have fun! Go visit your neighbors. Be wastefully extravagant and generous. Live in such a way that your neighbors might just begin to ask, “What’s the reason for their joy and hope?” You may just win an opportunity to tell them about the love of God! I’m praying for that already.

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Jeremy Writebol (@jwritebol) has been training leaders in the church for over fourteen years. He is the author of everPresent: How the Gospel Relocates Us in the Present (GCD Books, 2014) and writes at jwritebol.net. He is the pastor of Woodside Bible Church’s Plymouth, MI campus. 

Jesus Loves the (Unborn) Children

Within the past couple of months, the conversation over abortion in America has changed forever with the scandal surrounding Planned Parenthood and their use of fetal tissue and handling of aborted babies. Through several scathing videos, both sides of the political aisle and much of the culture was left stunned by what they saw and hear. Several state and federal agencies investigated Planned Parenthood resulting in several states removing  funding. Most recently, the House of Representatives has attempted to defund Planned Parenthood which the Senate chose to block. Many companies—such as Coke, Xerox, and Ford—instructed Planned Parenthood to remove their names from the list of company donors, while other major companies—such as Avon, March of Dimes, Macy’s, and the American Cancer Society—have made it clear that they have no direct involvement in giving financial support to Planned Parenthood. Even StemExpress, the company featured on these videos, has chosen to cut ties with the company. Regardless of the national outcome, we can now say along with William Wilberforce, “You may choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know.” Margaret Sanger in Woman and the New Race writes,

[We should] apply a stern and rigid policy of sterilization and segregation to that grade of population whose progeny is tainted, or whose inheritance is such that objectionable traits may be transmitted to offspring.[1]

Furthermore, in the Birth Control Review in 1932, she wrote “Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race.”[2] In Woman, Morality, and Birth Control, Sanger absurdly writes,

We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.[3]

This is sad, evil, and heartbreaking. It is certainly evidence of a Western cultural narrative that has no place for God, only radical individualism, a incurvatus in se, a life oriented towards the self rather than towards God or in service to others. It’s a revelation of how American consumerism funnels into our view of life, where lives are expendable and meaningless if they don’t somehow benefit us. This is the world we live in. So how can churches respond to this culture of death? How can we faithful live out the gospel in our communities?

1. Know the Science

For example, Dr. Micheline Matthews-Roth, associate professor of medicine at Harvard University Medical School says, “[It] is scientifically correct to say that an individual life begins at conception.”[4] Furthmore, Dr. Alfred M. Bongiovanni, professor of obstetrics at the University of Pennsylvania says, “I have learned from my earliest medical education that human life begins at the time of conception. . . . [H]uman life is present throughout this entire sequence from conception to adulthood. . . . [Any] interruption at any point throughout this time constitutes a termination of human life.”[5] Lastly, Randy Alcorn writes,

At eighteen days after conception the heart is forming and eyes start to develop. By twenty-one days the heart pumps blood throughout the body. By twenty-eight days the unborn has budding arms and legs. By thirty days [the baby] has a brain and has multiplied in size ten thousand times.

By thirty-five days her mouth, ears, and nose are taking shape. At forty days the preborn child’s brain waves can be recorded, and her heartbeat, which began three weeks earlier, can be detected by an ultrasonic stethoscope. By forty-two days [the baby’s] skeleton is formed and [their] brain is controlling the movement of muscles and organs.[6]

Science is clear—abortion ends a human life, created in the image of God. Alcorn again is helpful, arguing that as you look through Scripture, what you see is that personhood was never predicated upon “age, stage of development, or mental, physical, or social skills. Personhood is endowed by God…at the moment of conception.”[7] In Scripture, such as Lev. 18:21, Deut. 19:10, 2 Kgs. 24:3-4, Ps. 72:12-14, and Prov. 6: 16-17, we learn that God hates the shedding of innocent blood. Also, the grand narrative of Scripture shows us how God loves children and that his people should care for the orphans (Lk. 18:16, Ex 22:22; Ps 146:9; Isa 1:17; Jam 1:27). We cannot ignore or be silent about abortion.

2. Encourage Adoption

As John Piper writes, “The deepest and strongest foundation of adoption is located not in the act of humans adopting humans, but in God adopting humans. . . . It is at the heart of the gospel.” He goes on to say,

There are huge costs in adopting children. Some are financial; some are emotional. There are costs in time and stress for the rest of your life. You never stop being a parent till you die. And the stresses of caring about adult children can be as great, or greater, than the stresses of caring for young children. There is something very deep and right about the embrace of this cost for the life of a child!

Few things bring me more satisfaction than seeing a culture of adoption flourish [as a church]. It means that our people are looking to their heavenly Father for their joy rather than rejecting the stress and cost of children in order to maximize their freedom and comforts. When people embrace the pain and joy of children rather than using abortion or birth control simply to keep children away, the worth of Christ shines more visibly. Adoption is as far as possible from the mindset that rejects children as an intrusion. Praise God for people ready to embrace the suffering—known and unknown. God’s cost to adopt us was infinitely greater than any cost we will endure in adopting and raising children.

Aside from marriage, what better way to live out the gospel story? Foster a culture where adopting children is encouraged, whether orphans, from broken homes, or unexpected pregnancies. Welcome these children into a new family, with a new name, and give them unconditional love and full acceptance. Adoption is a way to display the better story of life, one under the reign of Jesus, one in which there’s no “unwanted” children. Ask God to raise up men and women who would adopt children and raise them in families who love the Lord.

3. Drive Home Hope

As children of God, we have the undeserved privilege of calling God “Father” and this God who adopted us, to paraphrase John Piper, hasn’t just brought us into his family, but has brought us into his arms. Abortion can cause shame that has lasting effects on the women. It can also cause guilt for men who stood idly by instead of taking responsibility for the life they helped create. Listen to their stories. Be slow to speak and slow to spout off stock answers. As rapper Trip Lee says, “Keep all your anecdotes and cute quotes / I’ll pass on clichés for true hopes.” When men and women who are reeling from the effects of abortion feel like they have no place to go, the church should be a place where they are welcomed with open arms.

The gospel should be a reality that changes the culture of our churches. People won’t see the gospel as good news if we don’t actually live like it really is. If Christ welcomed all sorts of sinners into his midst and welcomed prodigals and Pharisees into his family, what does that say about how our church should welcome those who are considering an abortion, have had abortions, or have performed abortions? No one is beyond the grace of God and the gospel can set people free from even the strongest bondage to sin. Lavish grace and mercy upon them and show them how, in Christ, they are not their sin. We point them to the Savior who gives rest and takes their burdens on himself (Matt. 11:28-30). To be pro-life means being pro-resurrection life as well, an eschatological life that proclaims the reign of King Jesus, a good king who will “will wipe away every tear from their eyes” and where, in his kingdom, “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore.” Abortion does not have the last word. Shout hope from the rooftops.

Through God’s work of creation, the church champions being made in the image of God and the value of human life. Through the gospel, we not only maintain the value of human life, but seek to proclaim the restoration of it, even if you ended someone else’s. Let the gospel bring the healing it can, showing and proclaiming to families affected by abortions and to abortion clinic doctors and staff members that “if the Son sets free you will be free indeed” (Jn. 8:36). And no amount of shame or guilt is too powerful for that kind of love and grace.

[1] Margaret Sanger, Woman and the New Race (Kessinger Publishing, Whitefish, MT, 2010).

[2] Margaret Sanger, “A Plan for Peace” in Birth Control Review, April 1932, 108.

[3] Margaret Sanger, Woman, Morality, and Birth Control (New York: New York Publishing Company, 1922), 12.

[4] Quoted in Randy Alcorn, Why Pro-Life?: Revised and Updated (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishing, 2012), 14.

[5] Ibid., 13.

[6] Ibid., 17.

[7] Ibid., 132.

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Chris Crane is a Th.M. student in Historical and Systematic Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary. He previously served in various church ministries around Dallas, TX and in campus ministries with Dallas Baptist University. He is a freelance writer and occasional blogger at chriscrane.net. You can follow him on Twitter @cmcrane87.

Buying Into Our Own Marginalization

Recently Q Ideas, the conference and TED-like Christian event, posted talks given by Rod Dreher, a conservative journalist for The American Conservative, and Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. The two talks are titled, “The Benedict Option” and “The Prophetic Minority.” These two titles represent a wave of Evangelical rhetoric flooding social media timelines and trending topics. Moore and Dreher are proponents of framing the current American Evangelical experience as an “exile.” In an op-ed publishing by The Washington Post, Moore closes his piece by saying, “We see that we are strangers and exiles in American culture. We are on the wrong side of history, just like we started. We should have been all along.”

That same day, Dreher published a piece in Time and on his blog hosted by The American Conservative saying Christians “are going to have to learn how to live as exiles in our own country. Voting Republican is not going to save us, nor will falling back on exhausted, impotent culture war strategies. It is time for the Benedict Option: learning how to resist, in community, in a culture that sees us orthodox Christians as enemies.”

Language that hints at marginalization or exile from a white male is tough to stomach in the 21^st century. I recently heard the novelist Nick Hornby say he stopped writing white male protagonists in his latest book, Funny Girl, because, “I can’t figure out what their problems are anymore.” With a history of privilege, we lack humility and self-awareness when we buy into our own marginalization.We actually have no idea what that even means.

What is an Exile?

But perhaps on a deeper level, there is something sadly untrue about the marginalization rhetoric surfacing amidst the evangelical church. Maybe even deeper lies a misunderstanding of what the “exile” and the “sojourner” meant Biblically. Yes, Scripture (particularly in 1 Peter) identifies Christians as “sojourners” and “not of this world” with “citizenship in heaven.” But are events like the Supreme Court decision and losing culture wars what the Biblical authors had in mind when they used these terms?

My guess would be that if Paul were reading our history, he would not chalk up these moments as our identity as “exiles.” He would probably tell us this is life as a Christian. Jesus, Peter, Paul, and the early church never had anything go their way, nor did they have any hope in the political system to begin with because their beliefs were not predicated and assisted by a political system. It was based on an eternal kingdom that you could not see.

The exile language is Jewish language, belonging to the people of Israel first as a key identity piece that actually reminded them of their sin and disobedience to God (2 Kgs 17:7-23, Jer. 29:4). The word is used, depending on your translation, nearly 100 times in the Old Testament; it is used six times in the New Testament—only four of those times are they referring to Christians, half of which are found in Peter’s first letter.

Where Peter calls the Christians, “exiles” and “sojourners,” it is important to remember he was writing to the church in the Diaspora, or “the Dispersion,” which “originally described Jews or Jewish communities scattered throughout the world (see Isa 49:6; Psa 147:2; 2 Macc 1:27; John 7:35 and note).” This term—again, only used four times in the NT for Christians—is vague but refers to all believers everywhere who await the New Jerusalem as their final home. This is simply a spiritual term used for the broader family of God, which are those who claim Jesus as Lord and fall under the New Covenant. They are, like Israel, exiles in the spiritual sense, not the political.

We Were Always Exiles and Sojourners

Politically and nationally, I do not see evidence of how the culture wars have had an affect on the lives of most Christians everywhere. Yes, we are exiles who await the New Jerusalem, a time where Jesus returns to “make all things new.” Until then, we do, yes, wander the earth as people who are not fully home.

But as Americans we are quite well-off. Furthermore, as a white male pastor, I do not understand how we can apply this heavy word during a time of fantastic freedom and religious liberty. Every day of my life is—despite common suffering and troubles of life as a human being on earth—remarkably good and easy.

For the Christian in America, it seems absurd to claim marginalization politically or culturally. These arenas are still dominated by white men and offer a lot of freedom for Christians to practice worship and preach the gospel. Even though the political and cultural landscape is changing little has changed that will affect our ultimate and eternal mission as we await our new home.

We were wanderers and exiles 10 years ago, and 25 years ago, and 1,500 years ago. That is our spiritual identity and it always has been. As we see the waves of culture and politics go back and forth, we continue to serve the unseen kingdom—serving the poor, widow, and orphan, preaching the gospel, and remaining unstained by the world. That is what we have always done and that is what Christians will always do. Nothing has changed.

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Chris Nye (@chrisnye) is a pastor and a writer living in Portland, Oregon with his wife, Ali. His first book will be published by Moody next year.

An Interview with Justin and Lindsey Holcomb, Authors of God Made All of Me

  It’s perhaps a parent’s greatest fear – that at some point his or her child will become a victim of sexual abuse. The statistics are alarming: Approximately one in five children will become victims by his or her 18th birthday. Authors Justin and Lindsey Holcomb have responded to parents’ concerns by writing God Made All of Me, a resource for moms, dads, and caregivers who want to protect and educate their children.

GCD: What prompted you to write God Made All of Me? What age range was it written for?

JUSTIN & LINDSEY: The book is for 2-8 year olds. We wrote it because we have two young children and know that parents need tools to help talk with their kids about their bodies and to help them understand the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touch. It allows families to build a first line of defense against sexual abuse in the safety of their own homes. Our goal is to help parents and caregivers in protecting their children from sexual abuse. Because private parts are private, there can be lots of questions, curiosity, or shame regarding them. For their protection, children need to know about private parts and understand that God made their body and made it special.

GCD: You were intentional about using the terms “appropriate” and “inappropriate,” when referring to kinds of touch, instead of the words “good” or “bad.” Why?

JUSTIN & LINDSEY: It is important to be clear with adults and children about the difference between touch that is appropriate and touch that is inappropriate. Experts discourage any use of the phrases “good touch” and “bad touch” for two main reasons. First, some sexual touch feels good and then children get confused wondering if it was good or bad. Second, children who have been taught “good touch” or  “bad touch” would be less likely to tell a trusted adult as they perceive they have done something bad.

To your child say something like: “Most of the time you like to be hugged, snuggled, tickled, and kissed, but sometimes you don’t and that’s OK. Let me know if anyone—family member, friend, or anyone else—touches you or talks to you in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable.”

GCD: How did you approach talking about this issue with your own children?

JUSTIN & LINDSEY: We started by teaching them the proper names of their private parts at an early age and telling them that their bodies are strong, beautiful, and made by God. We read books to them from an early age on this topic and would talk about who can help them in the bathroom or bath and that it was OK for the doctor to check their private parts at appointments when mom or dad is present.

We would also roll play different scenarios to get them thinking what they would do if someone approached them and wanted to touch their private parts, show theirs, take pictures, etc. Play the “what if” game with them at the dinner table with different scenarios to see their thinking and problem solving skills. “If someone asked you to show them your private parts and promised to give you candy if you didn’t tell anyone what would you do?” Remind them that they can tell you anything and anytime without fear of getting into trouble.

We’ve also tried to instill a sense of control our kids have over their own bodies. We would tell them to say “no” or “stop” when they were all done being hugged, tickled, or wrestled. We encourage them to practice this with us so they feel confident saying it to others if the need arises. We also tell them they don’t have to hug or kiss a family member if they don’t want to and teach them how to express this without being rude. It is important to empower children to be in charge of their bodies instead of at the mercy of adults.

GCD: What are some practical things parents can do to protect their children from sexual abuse?

JUSTIN & LINDSEY: In our book, the last page is to parents and called, “9 Ways to Protect Your Children from Sexual Abuse.” Some of the key practical things parents can do are: teach proper names of private body parts, talk about touches, throw out the word “secret,” and identify whom to trust. You can read about all 9 here.

GCD: It’s every parent’s worst nightmare, but what should a mom or dad do if they suspect their child might have been the victim of sexual abuse?

JUSTIN & LINDSEY: You can call your local sexual assault crisis center and talk with a child advocate or hotline volunteer about your concerns. They will be able to point you to the proper authorities. Some areas would have you speak with a detective where other areas would have you talk to a victim witness advocate. Don’t ask probing questions that could instill fear in your child. Just assure them that you are so proud of them for telling you what happened and that you believe them and that your job is to keep them safe.

GCD: Tell us about GRACE. What does it offer to the church and families?

JUSTIN & LINDSEY: GRACE stands for “Godly Response to Abuse in Christian Environments” and the mission is to empower the Christian community through education and training to recognize, prevent, and respond to child abuse. We help educate churches and other faith based organizations how to protect vulnerable individuals from abuse and we help churches love and serve survivors of abuse who are in their midst.  Check out GRACE at www.netgrace.org.

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To keep up with Justin and Lindsey Holcomb, visit www.godmadeallofme.com. You can also follow Justin’s page on Facebook or follow them on Twitter (@justinholcomb and @lindseyholcomb).

Pondering Past Hurts and Current Controversies

We have all been burned. We have all been subjected to situations where wish things had been different. Different words, different tones, different lines of reasoning, and different levels of respect. We have all been subjected to other people’s sin issues and weaknesses. This is just part of being human. Maybe it was a boss at work. Maybe it was a friend. Maybe it was a parent. This creates hurt in our lives. In addition to hurt from our past, we are constantly processing and assessing different situations, personalities, and controversies. He said, she said. That leader did what? Did you hear about so and so? We live with the front page news staring us in the face.

As I attempt to diagnose my own heart, these two scenarios form one of the great battlegrounds of pride. As I consider those who have hurt me in the past or situations today where someone “just doesn’t seem to get it,” my assessment can quickly default into the Pharisaical position of smug superiority. I have practically memorized the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, and yet I still find myself, over and over again, in the position of the Pharisee.

I default into a man who smugly stands afar with his arms crossed and internally says, “This idiot over here doesn’t have it together like me.” Usually this is in the name of “what I am learning” or “standing up for the truth,” but often I glean a keen sense of subtle superiority from gossipy conversations with others about others.

There is certainly a time to stand up for the truth, to dissect sin issues of others, to assault heresy, talk about a foolish public figure, and/or process a painful past. In a fallen world, it has to be this way and always will be until the coming day when Jesus makes all things right. But the greater question concerns our posture. What emotions do we carry? What conversations do we have with others? What is the tone and content of those conversations? Do we have a “I sure am glad I’m not like that idiot” attitude? Or, “How in the world could he screw that one up so badly?!?!?” As if people have never wondered those same questions about me.

Controversy is always going to swirl around us, especially in the information age. Jesus’ teaching about the plank and the speck remains timelessly simple yet painfully difficult to apply in daily living. Having a plank in your own eye doesn’t dismiss the speck, which must be dealt with. But having a gaping plank of sin in your own eye will probably alter the manner and measure with which you remove your brother/sister’s speck.

So as you process the mistakes people made in the past that have deeply affected you, or you look around today and assess different issues, controversies, or personalities, does your default setting lean towards smug superiority or repentance?

Sadly, I know that I am too often the Pharisee. Pharisees need Jesus. Pharisees can be forgiven, too.

God chooses to use us in spite of our weaknesses. It’s hard to read the Bible and not see that as a theme through almost every narrative. Moses was a murderer, Noah was a drunk, Abraham was a liar, David was a murderer and an adulterer, and Peter was a loud-mouthed racist. I am so thankful that God chose to use those men in spite of their glaring weaknesses. I pray he uses me too.

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Zach Nielsen (@znielsen) is one of the pastors at The Vine Church in Madison, Wisconsin, where he serves in the areas of preaching, leadership development and music. He is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and Covenant Theological Seminary and blogs at Take Your Vitamin Z.

Originally post at TGC. Used with permission of the author.

The Forgotten Essential of the Kingdom

We are starting a series that will explore the intersection between beauty, discipleship, mission, and the Kingdom of God. We will answers questions like: Why is beauty important for Christian living? Can we get by without it? What does the gospel teach us about beauty? How does the beauty of God inform lesser beauties? What is beauty in the Kingdom of God? This is part one. —

We hiked through the tangled woods searching for something beautiful. The trees had changed. We started on an open path with towering trees and far reaching boughs. As the path made its way closer to the water, the trees changed becoming smaller and reaching over the path which narrowed. These branches were bent and gnarled like the hands of my grandmother.

As the path descended, the air become cooler. We also heard the gurgling of water which grew into a growl as we approached our destination—a magnificent waterfall with a devastating 420-foot drop. This natural wonder is not the kind you walk by without awe at its beauty and danger. It demands you stop. We found a rock at the edge of the river looking over the waterfall and sat. We admired the beauty and danger of this tour de force of water.

Christians above all should be the kind of people who stop in awe of beauty.“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Ps. 19:1). The earth below and heaven above teach us how to declare the glory of God. They are beautiful for him. Yet some Christians think very little of beauty. Or maybe it’s not that they think little of it, but they don’t see where beauty intersects with their ordinary life. Our world is full of beauty. We have just lost the eyes to see it all around us. We are like a man who can only see the world in muted colors. We cannot live without beauty. We shouldn’t live without it.

Experiencing Beauty

In a recent article “Why Do We Experience Awe?” in The New York Times, Paul Piff and Dacher Keltner get at just this,

Why do humans experience awe? Years ago, one of us, Professor Keltner, argued (along with the psychologist Jonathan Haidt) that awe is the ultimate “collective” emotion, for it motivates people to do things that enhance the greater good. Through many activities that give us goose bumps — collective rituals, celebration, music and dance, religious gatherings and worship — awe might help shift our focus from our narrow self-interest to the interests of the group to which we belong.

They go on to introduce new research that may backup this initial thesis. In the research, people who regularly experienced awe in their life were more willing to help others. And it didn’t have to be ridiculously hard to reach Mount Everest type beauty. One group in the study spent time “on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, which has a spectacular grove of Tasmanian blue gum eucalyptus trees, some with heights exceeding 200 feet — a potent source of everyday awe for anyone who walks by.” This research tells us what Christians have been teaching for millennia, but many have forgotten: Beauty empowers love of neighbor. Let’s smooth the wrinkles even more: Beauty energizes love of God and, therefore, love of neighbor—because God is beauty and all beauty ultimately has its origins in his divine perfections. In the third century, St. Basil wrote, “Let us recognize the One Who transcends in His beauty all things."[1] And in the sixth century, St. Maximus the Confessor states,

Nothing so much as love brings together those who have been sundered and produces in them an effective union of will and purpose. Love is distinguished by the beauty of recognizing the equal value of all men. Love is born in a man when his soul's powers—that is, his intelligence, incensive power and desire—are concentrated and unified around the divine. Those who by grace have come to recognized the equal value of all men in God's sight and who engrave His beauty on their memory, possess an ineradicable longing for divine love, for such love is always imprinting this beauty on their intellect. (Philokalia, II)

Seeing the beauty all around us opens our eyes to seeing the beauty of the imago dei in all humans. In The Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis plucks this same string:

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.

Beauty Must Not be Ignored

Some Christians today might consider spending a day hiking through the woods a waste. Some might be too busy to stop to gaze at 200-foot-tall trees. They might finding reading great fiction boring or might say, “I just don’t have time.” They might scoff at spending money at a museum. Or laugh off traveling to the Grand Canyon to sit and wonder at its terrible beauty. Others may want to do these things, but not have the means. Others might not see the importance. Beauty, however, is all around us and must not be ignored. It is essential for making, maturing, and multiplying disciples of Jesus Christ.

The same New York Times article ends:

We believe that awe deprivation has had a hand in a broad societal shift that has been widely observed over the past 50 years: People have become more individualistic, more self-focused, more materialistic and less connected to others. To reverse this trend, we suggest that people insist on experiencing more everyday awe, to actively seek out what gives them goose bumps, be it in looking at trees, night skies, patterns of wind on water or the quotidian nobility of others — the teenage punk who gives up his seat on public transportation, the young child who explores the world in a state of wonder, the person who presses on against all odds.

Christians, we must insist on experiencing more beauty—even in the smallest ways like sharing acts of kindness or admiring that “mundane” summer lightening storm. Find beauty wherever you can and stand in awe.

Beauty and Sadness

But what do we do when the most beautiful things in our world are littered with sadness? What happens when a mother dies giving birth to a child? What happens when a terrorists group destroys an ancient and awe inspiring cultural artifact? What happens when war breaks out and priceless art is destroyed? What happens when a loved one dies and you cannot see the beauty in that thing you once shared with them? Because truth and beauty cannot be divorced for now, Christians must acknowledge this uneasy union between beauty and brokenness. Sometimes we need permission to experience beauty in the midst of our sadness and suffering. When sadness intersects with beauty, gaze at the cross of Christ for permission. It embodies beauty and brokenness. J. R. R. Tolkien called the cross the ultimate eucatastrophe (eu = good and catastrophe you know). There we have the brutal, de-humanizing Roman cross and the Savior of the world sacrificing himself for our sins. The truth is we live in that kind of world and our Savior came to show us how to find joy in its midst. The writer of Hebrews says,

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. –Hebrews 12:1-2 (italics mine)

This tension then between beauty and brokenness creates more longing for a true and lasting beauty, for the kingdom of Jesus Christ to come fully to this earth. Until that day, we cry out “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is heaven.” When the Kingdom is fully realized, all sadness will be undone and all things beautiful will be eternal. We will gaze at the beautiful unfiltered by sadness. We will truly see beauty because in the new heaven and new earth the King will return in all his beauty and majesty and his presence on earth will change everything forever.

Until that day we pursue the beauty we have. Not just for its own sake, but because God himself is beautiful, because beauty moves us with compassion for our neighbors, and because it creates longing for true and lasting beauty. Do not treat beauty as a luxury or something far off. Find beauty where you are and take the time to stand in awe of it. Consider how much more work we have to do in the world as we strive for the Kingdom coming.

It is meet and right to hymn Thee, to bless Thee, to praise Thee, to give thanks unto Thee, and to worship Thee in every place of Thy dominion: for Thou art God ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever existing and eternally the same, Thou and Thine Only-begotten Son and the Holy Spirit. — St. John Chrysostom

[1] All quotations from the Church Fathers come from http://www.antiochian.org/node/23896

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Mathew B. Sims is the Editor-in-Chief at Exercise.com and has authored, edited, and contributed to several books including A Household Gospel, We Believe: Creeds, Confessions, & Catechisms for Worship, A Guide for Advent, Make, Mature, Multiply, and A Guide for Holy Week. Mathew, LeAnn (his wife), and his daughters Claire, Maddy, and Adele live in Taylors, SC at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains with their Airdale Terrier. They attend Downtown Presbyterian Church (PCA). Visit MathewBryanSims.com!

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The Local Church: Love It or Leave It?

There is a trend, especially among younger generations, of people who are saying goodbye to the local church. We’ve heard statistics of those who leave because they no longer believe. But, surprisingly, others leave because they say they want more of God in their lives and the church just isn’t doing it for them.

Looking for God Elsewhere

Several influential Christians are among this group, including Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz and other books that speak meaningfully to younger believers. In 2014, Miller shared candidly on his blog that he did not attend church very often because he connected more with God in other ways, like through nature and through his work.

In a follow-up blog post, he added:

I’d say half of the most impactful people I know, who love Jesus and tear up at the mention of His name, who reach out to the poor and lonely and are fundamentally sound in their theology, who create institutions that feed hundreds of thousands, do not attend a traditional church service. Many of them even speak at churches, but they have no home church and don’t long for one.[1]

Why are so many believers dissatisfied with the church?

Often, their disenchantment with the church is justified. Instead of going to church, they are eager to be the church. Instead of being a face in the crowd, they are eager to be a known and needed member of a community. Instead of being passive observers of an event, they are eager to be active contributors to a shared mission. Instead of listening to a preacher pontificate and tell stories, they are eager to be welcomed into a Story that is bigger than the preacher. Instead of being around people who “accept” Jesus but who seem bored with him, they want to be around people who come alive at the mention of his name.

Where the local church is not fulfilling this vision, the temptation to “look for God elsewhere” is understandable. But is it the best solution? Most importantly, would Jesus, the Bridegroom and Head of the church, favor a churchless Christianity?

Romanticizing the Early Church

Many who are disillusioned with the church today romanticize the early church, not realizing how broken things were then as well. Take Corinth, for example. As the most prominently represented church in Paul’s letters, Corinth was also a dysfunctional mess. Factions, harshness, divisions, adultery, lawsuits, divorce, elitism, classism, and neglect of the poor were just some of their issues. The famous “love chapter” in 1 Corinthians 13 was written less as inspiration and more as a rebuke, because each love attribute was something that the Corinthians were not. They had trampled on the ideal of what Jesus’ church should be—an infectious community of prayer, truth, love, justice, and mission (Acts 2:42-47).

But Paul never gave up on Corinth. Instead of walking away, he pressed in. As he sharply corrected them, he also encouraged, affirmed, loved, prayed for, and thanked God for them. Like Jesus, he saw a broken church and envisioned beauty. He saw a sinful church and envisioned sainthood. He saw a band of misfits but envisioned a radiant, perfected bride. And he knew that God wanted him to participate in loving this church to life.

Whose Wisdom . . . Ours or God’s?

At her best and at her worst, Jesus loves his church. He will build his church and nothing will prevail against her (Matthew 16:18). He laid down his life for her (John 10:11). He will never leave or forsake her (Hebrews 13:5). He will complete the work he started in her (Philippians 1:6). In other words, Jesus knows nothing about having more of God by having less of the church. To the contrary, Jesus is married to the church. The church is his chosen, beloved Wife.

What does it say about us if the church is good enough for the Father to adopt, for the Spirit to inhabit, and for Jesus to marry…but not good enough for us to join?

In Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that those who love their dream of Christian community more than the Christian community itself become destroyers of Christian community. He also said that the church, which may at times seem weak and trifling to us, is great and magnificent to God. Do we believe this? When tempted to hit eject on the local church, will we trust the infinite, perfect wisdom of God or our own finite, fallen instincts?

The wisdom of God says that we need the local church. This is both declared and assumed throughout the Scriptures, which don’t define the church as a free-flowing, self-directed spiritual experience, but as an organized, rooted, local expression of the body of Christ. Within this structure, things like oversight and care from ordained officers (pastors, elders, deacons), participation in the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s supper, weekly Lord’s Day gatherings with Scripture, preaching, singing and prayers, one-anothering and generosity practices, spiritual gift deployment empowering members to serve the body, evangelism, and neighbor love through deeds of mercy and justice, are assumed.

Jesus’ Bride . . . Also Our Mother

Tony Campolo said, “…you dare not decide that you don’t need the church. Christ’s church is his bride…and his love for her makes him faithful to her even when she is not faithful to him.”[2]

The church was God’s idea, God’s plan for His Kingdom on earth. As St. Cyprian said, “One cannot have God as his Father who does not have the church as his Mother,” and as Saint Augustine once said, “The church may be a whore, but she is still my mother.”

A Family, Not a Club

Family is the chief metaphor the Bible uses when it talks about the church. The church isn’t an exclusive, monolithic club. It’s a gathering of wonderfully and sometimes irritatingly diverse, divinely-selected brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, grandmas and grandpas. A dysfunctional family at times indeed, but a family nonetheless.

Family stays together. When one member is weak, the others lift her up. When another is difficult, the others confront him. When another is leading on mission, the others join, support, pray, and cheer her on.

Strength in Diversity

By design, God chose the church to be as diverse as possible. At Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, we have described our community this way:

We are builders and baby boomers, gen-xers and millennials, locals and internationals, conservatives and progressives, educators and athletes, struggling doubters and committed believers, engineers and artists, introverts and extroverts, healers and addicts, CEO’s and homemakers, affluent and bankrupt, single and married, happy and hurting, lonely and connected, stressed-out and carefree, private and public schoolers, PhD’s and people with special needs, experts and students, saints and sinners.

This isn’t merely a written description. It is an actual representation of our local church body. It is sometimes messy. In its messiness, it is always awesome.

We want to celebrate and learn from differences instead of dividing over them. We believe the best expressions of community happen when people come together with varying perspectives, personalities, cultures, and experiences.

A School for Learning to Love

Part of the Christian experience is learning to love people who are not like us. In the church, we are given a community of complicated, beloved-by-God, always in process, fearfully and wonderfully made, sometimes faltering and inefficient people we are called to love.

Including ourselves.

Reconciliation, peacemaking, relational perseverance, and loving the unlovely are difficult but necessary steps of discipleship. Without these things, we remain stunted in our spiritual growth. Our goal in Christian community is not just tolerance of others, but authentic love and relationship. In order to learn to truly love, we must stay in the Christian community and do the hard work of resolving conflict, redeeming differences, and building unity.

The Church Needs You . . . and You Need Her

As it is a family, the church is also a body. Without you, the church is missing an eye or an ear or a hand. Without you, the church is not whole.

Each of us is made in the image of God. As we live in community with one another, we grow in knowledge and experience of God by being with others who bear his image. As we learn from and rub off on one another we become better, more whole, more Christ-like, and ultimately better-for-the-world versions of ourselves.

If you are dissatisfied or disillusioned with the local church, don’t leave it. If the church stinks to you, then change its diapers. Make it better. Pray for it. Bless it. Serve it. Love it to life.

In the process, you may discover that it’s not only that the local church needs you. You may also discover that you need the local church as well.

[1] Donald Miller, “Why I Don’t Go to Church Very Often, a Follow Up Blog” Storyline, Feb 5, 2014 – http://storylineblog.com/2014/02/05/why-i-dont-go-to-church-very-often-a-follow-up-blog/

[2] Tony Campolo, Letters to a Young Evangelical (New York, NY: Basic Books, 2008).

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Scott Sauls is senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and author of Jesus Outside the Lines: A Way Forward for Those Who are Tired of Taking Sides. You can connect with Scott at scottsauls.com or on Twitter at @scottsauls.

Originally published at scottsauls.com. Adapted from Jesus Outside the Lines: A Way Forward for Those Who Are Tired of Taking Sides copyright ©2015 by Scott Sauls. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.