4 Ways to Sense God through Suffering

Sensing God Through Suffering

Has there ever been a time in your life when you felt that God was not there? Perhaps a love one died, or maybe you were just going through an extended season of loneliness. Maybe you had a serious illness that you were dealing with, or maybe you were dealing with constant relational issues. Perhaps, the various sufferings you were struggling with have caused you to question the existence of an all-loving God who cares for you deeply. Don’t worry, we’ve all be there. No one is exempt.

Whether you realize it or not, suffering can actually liberate you and help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. Let’s be honest with one another--nobody likes to suffer. There are so many times, because of our cognitive limitations, we just cannot understand why God would put us through such difficult times. However, if we submit ourselves before God and continue walking with him through our pain and suffering, we will begin to sense him more in all areas of life. God has a sovereign purpose in your suffering and he wants you to sense his presence throughout all the various trials you encounter. Do not turn away from him during this trial you are facing. Embrace him during this suffering and walk with him.

The reason that I believe this is because of the suffering that I experienced at the end of 2012. In November of that year, my grandmother passed away and I found out that my mom had cancer. It was one of the loneliest and darkest times of my life. However, it was through these trials that I began to sense God in a deeper and more profound way. It was almost like my “sense of the divine” was suddenly switched on. Ever since then, I have continued to focus on perceiving God within my own life and I hope that sensing God is something that you will put into practice in your own life as well.

As Christians, we must always be prepared and equipped to deal with the various hardships of life. In this post, I am going to discuss four ways that Christians can perceive that God is with them, even when the darkness is ever-present.

1. Sensing God Through the Gospel

When suffering is consistent, there is a need for a consistent message of hope. This message of hope is found in the resounding statement: “It is finished!” The good news of the gospel is the only message that will always be good no matter what season of life you are in. Though your trials may be many, the gospel is a message that can shine light even in the darkest of nights. The message that the Son of God came to seek and save the lost (Lk. 19:10) is a message available for you wherever you are at. Though the pit that you are in right now may be deep, God’s grace and love for you through the gospel of Christ is deeper. The gospel can help you perceive that God is with you during trials because God did not withhold his only Son from you, even when you were at your very worst (Rom. 5:8; Rom. 8:32). So go ahead and try preaching the gospel to yourself. The good news might help you sense the presence of your mighty Comforter right where you are.

2. Sensing God Through His Word

If you want to know what God is like, then you must read your Bible. It is just that plain and simple. However, all to often when pain is present we turn away from the living word of God. Why do we do this though when the Bible is in fact words given to us from the almighty God (2 Tim. 3:16-17)? Why do we find satisfaction in the pleasures of this world and not in the life-changing word of the God of the universe? When darkness closes in and despair is very near, you must plant your feet on God’s word. Just by reading the Scriptures aloud, you will begin to sense the joy and hope of your Father in Heaven through his all-comforting Word and the work of the Spirit.

3. Sensing God Through Prayer

When Jesus Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane, with the cross in his sight, he prayed (Matt. 26:36-46). None of us will ever be able to comprehend the anxiety and stress he was facing at that moment. However, we can learn from Jesus that communion with God through prayer is indispensable, especially in times of struggle. By praying to our Father, we are able to experience him in a more intimate way (look at how David openly prayed and lamented in the Psalms). Perceiving that God hears you when you pray is what will embolden you to interact with him more and more. When trials of many kinds are present, do not hesitate to pray and enter into God’s presence.

4. Sensing God Through Worship

Have you ever realized that worship can be used as a weapon when you are suffering? What did Paul and Silas do when they were in prison (Acts 16: 25)? They worshiped. They did  this because their hearts and minds were on things above. Even though their circumstances should have caused them to despair (imagine being in a prison in the first century), they instead chose to worship and sing praises to the one true God. Praising the name of the Lord even in the darkest moments of life will allow you to sense that God is in your midst.

Implications For Discipleship

There is no doubt--God uses our sufferings to make us mature in Christ Jesus. All believers are called to press on through the sufferings of life because it cultivates perseverance within us (Js. 1:2-4). Remember, there is no crown of glory without going the way of the cross. Another beautiful thing about suffering is it helps us empathize with those who suffer after us (Eph. 4:2). Realizing that God is faithful through our trials, helps us to share the unshakeable hope of Christ with others when they are suffering. Maturing as a believer in Christ Jesus requires us to recall the faithfulness of God and praise him even when life doesn’t make sense (Job 1:21). When we are in the furnace, we must keep our eyes on our Savior and try to perceive that his grace and love is near. We do that through the gospel, his Word, prayer, and worship.

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Matt Manry is the Director of Discipleship at Life Bible Church in Canton, Georgia. He is a student at Reformed Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary. He also works on the editorial team for Credo Magazine and Gospel-Centered Discipleship. He blogs regularly at gospelglory.net.

Love Actually

When blogging about the Christian worldview and framing apologetic arguments, there is typically (at least, there should be!) a heavy dose of truth involved. But what does Paul mean when he admonishes us to "speak the truth in love”? Paul makes an important point here, the subtlety of which can be easily missed. The obvious response to this verse would be: "Well, Paul is saying we shouldn't bash people over the head with the truth because that wouldn't be loving." This is true, but I think it goes deeper than that. I think it's worth exploring some further questions.

What does Paul mean by love?

It is useful to view Paul's statement in the context of Jesus' teaching: the first and greatest commandment is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt. 22:37) and the second is "‘Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Matt. 22:38). If we consider Paul's statement in light of these two commandments on which "all the Law and the Prophets hang" (Matt. 22:40), we can deduce that Paul is telling us to speak the truth as an outworking of our love of God and of people—not as a result of our love of the world, our love of popular approval, or our love of ourselves.

The Greek term for love Paul uses here is agape, a form of agapeis, which is also used by Jesus (agapaō) when he quotes the greatest commandments. The essence of agape is self-sacrifice. So then, speaking the truth should be done in self-sacrificial love as modeled by Jesus Christ. First, it should be to glorify God, and, second, to edify those who hear it. And speaking the truth may also be costly to us, costing us things like convenience, popularity, friendships, even our safety.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to love God and love others in a self-sacrificial way. Loving others without the Holy Spirit involves a self-serving, consumeristic form of love that actually takes away from God and other people more than it gives. This may not be immediately evident when we observe acts of love that are done in human strength such as generosity, kindness, or charity. Humans are created in the image of God, so in some ways we gravitate toward the notion of doing good unto others.

But, loving others in our own strength as well-intended as it may be, ultimately ends up being self-serving because of our fallen nature. Loving others certainly can provide us with a whole lot of earthly perks: a warm and fuzzy feeling, popularity and a good reputation, a wholesome family environment, a better marriage, or a safer community to live in. Loving others in our own strength, however, hardly ever leads us to speak the truth in love because it isn't God-honoring. Instead, it's more likely to make us smooth things over so things will be more comfortable for everybody. It can lead us to ignore inconvenient truths and live in denial. It can lead to double-mindedness, flattery, and people-pleasing. Living in the power of the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, gives us a supernatural ability to genuinely love others sacrificially. Christ-like love, however, is often rejected by the world and doesn't come with all the earthly perks we might desire.

What does Paul mean by truth?

We can see from the passage above, that the alternative to speaking the truth in love is spiritual immaturity (being like "infants") and susceptibility to being "tossed back and forth by the waves," to being deceived by every wind of teaching and the deceitful scheming of other people (Eph. 4:14-16). Paul, then, is urging us to teach others to obey God's commandments so that they will not be caught up in circumstances or be deceived by false teaching, but will instead be anchored in the truth so that they will mature and be built up in the Body of Christ.

This is the essence of discipling others, just as Jesus articulated before His ascension to heaven. He says, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19-20). Teaching the truth about God's commands as laid out in his Word is an integral part of discipling others and building up the Body of Christ.

Paul admonishes believers to handled the "Word of truth" accurately (2 Tim. 2:15). Paul makes it clear that the only way to do this is to understand that it’s in Christ alone in whom all truth is rooted. Speaking truth about the law like the Pharisees did is not what Paul means by handling the Word of truth accurately.

Paul resolved to "boast in nothing except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Gal. 6:14). While Paul stays with the Corinthian believers, he describes how,

"When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power." (1 Cor. 2:1-5).

Speaking the truth, then, must be Christ-centered—not relying on human wisdom, but on the power of God. Because speaking the truth in love rejects human wisdom, and centers on the stumbling block of Christ, it may be offensive others.

What does Paul mean by "in"?

The little word "in" carries a lot of weight here. Paul's admonishes us to speak the truth "in" love. He doesn't talk about speaking the truth "with" love or speaking the truth "about" love.  I think there is a subtle but significant distinction here.

First, loving actions and behavior towards others should provide the backdrop for speaking the truth. Young Life's founder, Jim Rayburn, talks about "earning the right to be heard" when ministering to young people and sharing the gospel with them. The gospel is best communicated within a context of friendship or service. I think Paul is saying something similar here: the truth is better received when it's delivered within the context of Christ-like love.

Interestingly, Paul didn't say speak love, he said speak truth. He isn't talking here about love as the content of what is being spoken. Have you ever heard the saying, "actions speak louder than words"? Simply saying nice things to someone without backing up our words with loving actions is disingenuous. Speaking words of love alone, can quickly turn into flattery and empty words. Love is more authentically demonstrated in the way we treat others. In other words, we need to aim at doing love, and speaking truth in a way that honors God first and foremost.

Second, our motive for speaking the truth should be rooted in our love of God and our love of people. The fact is, if we truly love someone, we will want to be honest with them. If you saw someone you loved self-destructing, you would do what you could to save them. In actuality, the only life-preserver that will save someone who's spiritually drowning is the gospel. This should be our motivation behind speaking the truth: to help others find the Way--Christ Jesus.

Keeping our motives pure can be costly. It can cost us friendships, popularity, and convenience. I am a people-pleaser by nature and as a result I am constantly struggling with the temptation to do and say things I think will make people happy or make people like me more. At times, it has been tempting for me to make a friend feel better about a problem they are having, rather than speaking the truth to them about their situation. The truth can make us uncomfortable. This can lead us to brush it under the rug, or tell ourselves a different, more palatable story. In doing this, however, we put our feelings before our obedience to God.

Finally, Paul shows that Christ-centered truth is inseparable from Christ-like love. As demonstrated above, love without truth is people-pleasing. But just as dangerous is truth without love, which can lead to hard-headed legalism, hatred, and division. Truth without love is like faith without deeds. And we know from James that faith without deeds is dead. "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder" (Jm. 2:18-19).

Head-knowledge alone doesn't save us, for even the demons know the truth. I have known people who have a keen grasp of theological concepts and can even articulate the atonement, for example, with amazing precision. However, their hearts have been unchanged by the gospel. Head-knowledge alone doesn't change the heart. We know from Scripture, "knowledge puffs up while love builds up" (1 Cor. 8:1). Head-knowledge can be a source of pride—an unhealthy form of self-love that turns us away from God. If we don't experience heart-change in response to the truth of the gospel, our faith is dead.

Essentially then, love and truth are interdependent. Truth is, by its very nature, completely submerged and saturated in love! God is love (1 Jn. 4:8), just as he is truth (Jn. 14:6). And the truth of the gospel of Christ is the purest expression of love. In other words, in Christ, love actually is truth. And love and truth are an integral part of discipleship.

As Paul shows us, speaking the truth in love is key to establishing unity in the Body of Christ. This is because what unifies us as believers is not brushing fundamental truths under the carpet to keep the peace, but rather upholding the Gospel of Christ in our churches and uniting together in the name of Jesus. Paul explains that with Christ as our Lord, believers will be united together, speaking the truth in love, as we "grow up in every way into Him who is the head," which allows the Body to "build itself up in love" (Eph 4:15-16).

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Anna-Maeve Martin has worked in international development, civil liberties, and church ministry (missions & outreach). She has two Master's degrees in History of Ideas (Leeds University, UK) and Government (University of Pennsylvania) and continues her studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is originally from England but now resides in Northern Virginia where she is a stay-at-home mom of three young daughters by day and a blogger by night at Faith Actually. Follow her on Twitter @FaithActually.

John Calvin and Assurance of God’s Love

Spiritual Dry Spells

Many times when we as Christians go through spiritual dry spells, we tend to think that God does not love us. In fact, I have met many people who have called their salvation into question when going through periods of doubt, sin, depression or all the above.

In his greatest work on theology, Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin writes:

When we stress that faith ought to be certain and secure, we do not have in mind a certainty without doubt or a security without any anxiety. Rather, we affirm that believers have a perpetual struggle with their own lack of faith, and are far from possessing a peaceful conscience, never interrupted by any disturbance. On the other hand, we want to deny that they may fall out of, or depart from their confidence in the divine mercy, no matter how much they may be troubled.

Calvin says that faith is not simply the removal of all doubt or disturbance. Faith is not certainty. Saving faith has very little to do with the strength of our faith or our ability to conjure up mental images to remove all worries. Calvin defines faith elsewhere in the Institutes as “a steady and certain knowledge of the divine benevolence towards us.”

Faith Rests in God’s Love

Faith is trusting that Christ will be faithful even in the times when we’re not faithful to him.

Faith is resting in the fact that God loves and enjoys us.

Far too often I put faith in faith instead of faith in Christ. This leads to a loss of peace and to my thinking that something is wrong with me or that I’m not even saved, just because I have doubts and worries.

But note Calvin’s comment: No matter how troubled we might be, that in no way changes Jesus’ love for us or our security in his salvation.

To say it another way, God’s love doesn’t waver even when our faith does.

Faith is trusting Christ instead of trusting in ourselves to trust Christ. There is a huge difference between the two. One looks upward; the other looks inward.

Look upward.

There’s No Condemnation

So what does this idea have to do with discipleship? The answer is everything. For discipleship to truly be gospel-centered there has to be a foundation of love, joy, peace, and justification. Without a foundation of knowing that you are accepted (even during the times you don't "feel" accepted) you never feel free of the guilt, shame, and condemnation that plagues you or your ministry.

In our discipleship, we far too often subtly try to earn what has already been given to us. There is a small voice in the back of our minds that wants to “do ministry well” so we can prove that we are not as bad as the voice in our head tells us we are.

The enemy cannot condemn the believer. Therefore, he will do the next best thing which is to make us feel condemned. This is almost just as good. Discipleship flows out of a loving relationship with Christ. If the enemy can get us to feel like Jesus hates us then we will be useless for his kingdom.

But the good news is that Jesus doesn't hate believers. He loves them enough to die for them, though he knows all the sins (and doubts, and feelings of condemnation, and feelings of self-hate) that they will ever experience.

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Zach Lee is Associate Home Groups Minister at The Village Church and is married to Katy.  Follow him on Twitter: @zacharytlee.

[© 2013 The Village Church, Flower Mound, Texas. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Adapted from “John Calvin on Faith and Assurance”.]

United: An Interview with Trillia Newbell

My friend Trillia Newbell has written a needed and helpful new book called United: Captured by God's Vision for Diversity. In United, Trillia explores the importance of pursuing diversity in the church by sharing her own unique experiences growing up in the South and attending a predominately white church. She champions the theology of diversity throughout the book through the Scriptures providing compelling reasons to pursue diversity. She was gracious enough to allow us to interview her today.

Brandon Smith: You write in United about your friendship with two girls of other ethnicities. How do you think the friendship, accountability, and discipleship helped you feel a part of your local church?

Trillia Newbell: There is something unique about really getting to know someone. We can walk into the doors of our churches and never build deep friendships. I was thankful to have met Amy (white) and Lillian (Chinese) early on. We decided to begin meeting together every other week to do accountability. The Lord used those girls in profound ways. First, it was so nice to have friends. When you are in a new place, as a new Christian, it can be scary to navigate your place in the church. But having friends like these helped ease that tension. Second, we had older women to bounce things off of and then we also had each other. We could ask pointed questions and pray for one another. It was a rich season of fellowship which taught me how to engage in fellowship with other members of the body.

B: You became a Christian in your 20's. Tell us about your conversion. How important is evangelism in the pursuit of diversity?

T: I was sitting in a hotel room with another gal when she popped open her Bible. I was there to lead a cheer camp and she was my assistant. We had never met each other before but the Lord had divinely appointed this meeting that would change the whole course of my life. I remember putting up a guard and asking her what she was doing. She said she was going to have a quiet time. By the end of that time I was sitting on her bed and we were both crying while she shared the gospel with me.

It took two years and two broken engagements before I finally submitted and committed my life to the Lord. He was faithful to draw me to himself and to save me. It was and remains amazing to me. But what if my friend, who is white, had decided not to share with me because I am black? What if she shrunk back in fear because of our ethnicities? The gospel transforms the way we think of ethnicity. The gospel empowers us to share cross-culturally because it is the Good News that all need to hear. Jesus charged the disciples to make other disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). This mindset is important to the pursuit of diversity because we could find ourselves otherwise reaching out to only those like us. God paints the beautiful picture of disciples of all nations, all tribes, and all tongues. He most often uses his people to accomplish this goal.

B: How important do you think discipleship is as churches seek to pursue diversity?

T: Perhaps you or your readers have experienced this…a person comes to your church for a little while but after a few Sunday’s they stop showing up. We might assume that they decided they didn’t like the teaching or worship. Maybe. But I wonder if they got to know anyone? I would wonder if anyone said hello and then invited them to lunch or showed some sort of hospitality and interest beyond a “Hello.” Discipleship typically starts with relationship and relationship begins with intentional care. In other words, we have to pursue one another first and then we have the opportunity to teach one another the Word. But there is almost no doubt that if we begin to pursue one another and teach one another then we will build churches that reflect the Last Days.

There isn’t a guarantee, of course. But I do think it’s worth the effort. God gives us a picture in Titus 2 of what it could look like for the whole church to be involved in discipleship. I think this model helps us to build into each other and build the church. I am confident that if I didn’t have people who genuinely cared for me during my early days attending my old church, I would not have stayed. I’m sure of it. But because there were people who showed love, care, and interest, I stayed and built relationships and was discipled.

B: You've shared often that United isn't so much about diversity as it is about love. Could you explain?

T: When people hear the word diversity there is a temptation to automatically put up a guard or to assume we are talking about quotas. It is a bad assumption but one that I completely understand. The word diversity has been politicized and causes many to cringe at its sound. But the Church is made up of people, made in the image of God, equal in fall and redemption. We aren’t talking about, as C.S. Lewis puts it, mere mortals. This is why the pursuit of diversity in the church is about love. Jesus came and died for the church, for His bride, for people. John 13: 6, God so loved the world that he gave his son, isn’t a cliché, it is the glorious truth of the gospel. Diversity is about building a church that reflects who Jesus died for: all nations, tribes, and tongues. And we pursue this because Christ first loved us. And we pursue others because he has called us to love our neighbor as ourselves.

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Trillia Newbell (@trillianewbell) is a wife, mom, and writer who loves Jesus. She is the author of United: Captured by God’s Vision for Diversity (Moody).

3 Essentials You Can’t Get Without the Church

In a recent book They like Jesus but Not the Church, Dan Kimball addresses some people’s negative view toward the church.  Sadly, the book is right about many people’s attitudes toward the church.  Before I was a Christian church was one of the last places on earth that I wanted to be.  Like many people, I thought church was boring, dry, stuffy, and irrelevant to my life. However, since I have become a Christian, I have grown to love the local church with all of my heart and have come to realize the church is essential to our discipleship. The truth is we need the church more than ever before. In an article “The Church Why Bother?” Tim Stafford says, “A living, breathing congregation is the only place to live in a healthy relationship to God. That is because it is the only place on earth where Jesus has chosen to dwell.”¹ The church is God’s plan for spiritual growth—there is no backup plan. Mark Dever says, “I’ve come to see that relationship with a local congregation is central to individual discipleship. The church isn’t an optional extra; it’s the shape of your following Jesus.”² Therefore, discipleship is one of the primary functions of the local church.

When we look to the Bible and church history, we see there are three things the church  alone can provide that are essential to discipleship and spiritual growth. The Reformation distinguished several unique marks of a healthy church including preaching and administration of the sacraments. The Thirty Nine Articles of the Church of England (1563) says, “The visible church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men in which the pure word of God is preached and the sacraments duly administered according to Christ’s ordinance in all those things that necessity are requisite to the same.” In The Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin says, “Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered according to Christ’s institution, there, it is not to be doubted, a church of God exists.”³  The Belgic Confession (1561) adds a third mark of church discipline:

The marks by which the true Christian church is known are these: if the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached therein; if she maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ; if church discipline is exercised in punishing of sin; in short, if all things are managed according to the pure Word of God, all things contrary thereto rejected, and Jesus Christ acknowledged as the only Head of the Church.

The Word: Biblical Preaching and Discipleship

The first mark that plays an important role in discipleship is Biblical preaching. Mark Dever devotes the first chapter of Nine Marks of a Healthy Church to preaching the Word.  He also includes preaching in his chapter on discipleship and says, “A church in which there is expositional preaching will be a church that is encouraging Christian growth.”⁴ One of the goals, then, of Biblical preaching is Christian growth and maturity in the gospel making it essential for discipleship of believers. Dever goes on to say, “We need God’s word to be saved, but we also need it to continually challenge and shape us. His word not only gives us life; it also gives us direction as it keeps molding and shaping us in the image of the God who is speaking to us.”⁵

John Stott says, “Preaching is indispensable to Christianity. Without preaching a necessary part of its authenticity has been lost. For Christianity is in its very essence, is a religion of the Word of God.”⁶ This is based on a conviction of the primacy of preaching in the local church.⁷ Preaching makes the Word of God central to the entire worship service.

The Water: Baptism and Discipleship

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's newness of life in Christ Jesus. In the Great Commission, Jesus says to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). The fact that baptism is included in the Great Commission demonstrates that it plays an important role in discipleship. Stephen Smallman says that baptism is the first phase of being a disciple.⁸ Baptism is the initiation into the Christian community and the first steps into the life of discipleship. A new believer should be baptized because Jesus did it and taught it (Matt. 3:13-17).

Baptism is a public display and confession of faith of the free gift of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord (Acts 2:38-39). The New Testament word for baptism is baptizo, which means to dip repeatedly.⁹ So, the biblical mode of baptism should be total immersion for believers who profess faith in Christ. Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears list the following support for this position:

• John the Baptist required that people repent of sin before being baptized.
• Every baptism in the New Testament is preceded by repentance of sin and faith in Jesus.
• Baptism is reserved solely for those people who have put on Christ.
• Baptism shows personal identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• The Bible does record occurrences where entire households were baptized.
• Both Jesus and His disciples gave the command for disciples to be baptized as an expression of that discipleship.¹⁰

Baptism is an amazing way for new Christians to feel accepted and loved by the Christian community. It can be an important celebratory event in believers’ lives, connecting them to the church family. Christians both old and new join together to celebrate the public declaration of faith of new believers. At Church of the Outer Banks, we make baptism a very special celebration. Several times a year we gather at the beach to perform ocean baptisms. After a new believer is baptized, we offer them an olive wood cross to commemorate their experience and entry into the community of faith.

The Wine: Lord’s Supper and Discipleship

In the midst of intimate community, early Christians shared the breaking of bread daily. We read in Acts 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The breaking of bread was a continual reminder of what Christ did for them. It was also a reminder of God’s continual presence and activity in the church: past, present, and future.

The Lord’s Supper is also commonly referred to as Communion or the Eucharist. The Lord's Supper is an act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate his second coming (Matt.26:26-27; Mk. 14:22-23; Lk. 22:17-19; 1 Cor. 11:20-24). While baptism is a one-time initiatory rite, the Lord’s Supper is a continuing rite that churches observe repeatedly.¹¹ Hammett says, “The Lord’s Supper is similar to an anniversary celebration in which wedding vows are renewed.”¹² John Wesley believed that the Lord’s Supper was one of the “chief” means of grace. He says:

“The chief of these means are prayer, whether in secret or with the great congregation; searching the scriptures; (which implies reading, hearing, and meditating thereon;) and receiving the Lord’s supper, eating bread and drinking wine in remembrance of Him: And these we believe to be ordained of God, as the ordinary channels of conveying his grace to the souls of men.”¹³

We are spiritually nourished as we share in the Lord’s Supper. Christ spiritually feeds us with His body and blood. John Wesley says, “Our bodies are strengthened by bread and wine, so are our souls by these tokens of the body and blood of Christ. This is the food of our souls: This gives strength to perform our duty and leads us on to perfection.” God’s grace is given through the presence of the Holy Spirit as believers share in the memorial meal.

Next time you take the Lord’s Supper, reflect on the spiritual reality of what Christ has done for you through His life, death, and resurrection. In a way, the Lord’s Supper is a picture of what heaven will be like when we are all one at Christ’s table. At the table of the Lord, our differences no longer matter. Young, old, black, white, rich, and poor are all welcome at the Supper.

God gave us the gift of the church, which is Christ’s body. The local church is designed to be the context for our discipleship and spiritual growth. The Word, the Water, and the Wine are three discipleship essentials that we cannot do without. Likewise, you cannot have them without the church. They were instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ to remind us of His love and to help us grow in faith.

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Dr. Winfield Bevins serves as lead pastor of Church of the Outer Banks, which he founded in 2005.  His life’s passion in ministry is discipleship and helping start new churches. He lives in the beautiful beach community of the Outer Banks with his wife Kay and two daughters where he loves to surf and spend time at the beach with his family and friends. Twitter: @winfieldbevins

^{1. Tim Stafford “The Church Why Bother?”Christianity Today, 49, no.1 (January 2005): 42-49.↩ 2. Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. 16.↩ 3. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion. 21:1025-6 (4.1.9).↩ 4. Dever, 205.↩ 5. Ibid, 51.↩ 6. John Stott, Between Two Worlds: The Art of Preaching in the Twentieth Century. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1982. 15.↩ 7. Ibid, 125.↩ 8. Stephen Smallman, The Walk, 186.↩ 9. Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1945.↩ 10. Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, Vintage Church. 115-116.↩ 11. John S. Hammett, Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: A Contemporary Ecclesiology. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2005. 278.↩ 12. Ibid, 278.↩ 13. John Wesley, Works, 5:222. ↩}

New GCD Book: everPresent: How the Gospel Relocates Us in the Present

Today, we release the newest eBook from GCD Books--Jeremy Writebol’s everPresent: How the Gospel Relocates Us in the Present. You can buy a digital copy from the GCD Bookstore for $4.99 or get a paperback from Amazon for $6.17. Here’s an excerpt:

Where are you right now? Take a moment and look around...

As I write, I am sitting in a café on Bitting Avenue. I can smell the aroma of roasted coffee. I can hear the patrons of the shop discuss their lives, what they will see on TV this evening, the rise and fall of the economy, and who will win the Super Bowl. I feel the warmth of a heater turn on as it is an unusually cold day. Light streams in from the front windows and illuminates the orange walls to bring a warm, homey ambiance to the room. Latin American guitars and beats fill my ears as the music from the café stereo plays. The apple-carrot coffee cake I am eating has a sweet, buttery flavor to it. The padded chair where I am sitting keeps me comfortable but awake. Right now, I am in a place. There are specific and unique events happening in this space that are not occurring simultaneously anywhere else in the universe. This place is special. This place is one of a kind. This place is the only place where I can be in the world right now.

This is not true of God. The Bible tells us that God fills heaven and earth (Jer. 23:24). It says that the highest heaven is not large enough to contain God (1 Kgs. 8:27). Nor is there a single place in the entire universe where a human can go and God not be present (Ps. 139:7–10). The word "omnipresent" sums up this spatial reality of God. He is present everywhere, all the time, in every way. He is not limited by anything and is fully present wherever he is, which is everywhere. Maybe we should venture down the path of comparison. We’ll start with God. He is immense and infinite. He alone can be spatially present everywhere all the time. You and I, on the other hand, can’t even exist in two places at once. This comparison can be helpful to put us in our place.

But we need more than just a reminder of how ant-like we are. We need to see the importance of our limitation and the uniqueness of our specific place. We need to see that we are inferior to God in our inability to be everywhere present. And yet the places we inhabit, and specifically our presence in those places, has deep importance. Maybe we do need to be put in our place. What if being "put in our place" isn’t about being humbled to insignificance but elevating our vision to see dignify the places we inhabit; to see that our presence is valuable and deeply important. We need to talk about God’s space and place.

The Creation of Place

As I sit here at the café, I am privy to some special things: color, taste, smell, feeling. I can see two musicians meeting with a local artist to discuss album cover designs. Various cars drive by in front of me. Occasionally, I see a biker, although the winter cold prevents this from happening too frequently. This is a very unique place. It is a very creative place.

Who made it? Why was it made? If we ignore the Biblical story, we don’t have great, cosmic answers for these questions. But if we look at the opening pages of Scripture, we have a fascinating drama unfolding before us. The first words of divinely inspired writing from the pen of Moses declare that in the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1). Location is created. All of a sudden there is the creation of "place." Place alone, however, is boring. We have heaven and earth. Two categories, two ideas, but not really specific realities. The story continues to unfold.

God doesn’t just make categories; he creates places. The earth is filled with vegetation, inhabitants, colors, creatures, textures, liquids, solids, atmospheres, environments—places. The specific place called the Garden of Eden is unique. There are places within the Garden. A river flows through the Garden. The middle of the Garden has specific and diverse vegetation. Four rivers diverge from the main river on the outskirts of the garden. They flow to places with specific names and specific features. Some of those places have gold, some have precious gems. Each distinct. Each unique. Each a special place.

God, who cannot be limited by place, creates multiple locations. He makes places. Each of them are as unique and varied as he is. All of them created good. All of them beautiful. All of them reflecting and imaging his creativity and his diversity. Why does he make these distinct places? He makes them for himself. He creates all the diversity of place and location, with all its varied colors and dimensions, to display his varied and multi-colored glories. The song at the end of the Scripture story sings praise to God because he has "created all things and by [his] will they existed and were created" (Revelation 4:11). The everywhere-present God makes places because he can’t help himself. Place is an overflow of his creative glory. Worship is our response.

Does Place Matter?

Why does all this matter? Since showing up at this specific café, I have noticed the flow of traffic in and out of the store. The aromas that exist in this room now are especially different than the ones that were here a few hours ago. The sounds are new, different, exciting. The musicians are playing their guitars and harmonicas now. It is a new and different place than the one that existed an hour ago. This place is unique and one-of-a-kind again.

Place or location is created by God for his glory. That means that everywhere we go, every location we inhabit, every neighborhood where we dwell is made for God. It shows us a multi-faceted and creative God, a God who is so unique and innovative that one specific location alone could not reflect his glory well. Each place sings the glories of God. Each location tells of his wonders. Each address displays his majesty. Does place matter? On every level, it inherently must.

The way the glory of God is seen at the Grand Canyon is different than the way his glory is seen on Bitting Avenue. The majesty of God takes on a different view in Mumbai, India than it does in London, England. The worship of God sounds different in the jungles of Ecuador than it does in the high rises of New York City. Yet each place is made by his will and for his glory. Each place has a specific role to play in declaring the glory of God, and no one place holds a monopoly on the display of that glory.

This isn’t to say, in some sort of pantheistic way, that God is in everything or that we each have to find our own way of expressing him wherever we are. Just as a diamond will refract light differently in different places, so God’s glory is seen differently in different places. Some places reveal it better than others. We cannot dismiss the broken and dark places of this world. They do not reflect the glory of God well. It is difficult to see the mercy and justice of God in the slums of Rio or the prisons of Iran. Not every place seems like it is God’s place. This is why there must be restoration. If every place is made by God, for God, then the broken places that do not reflect God’s glory must be restored. It’s for this reason that every place matters.

If all things are created for his glory and if all places should uniquely reflect the varied glories of God, then we are called to see our places (including our workplace) as places of worship. Our specific place becomes uniquely important to our lives because it is from this place, and this place alone, that we can magnify God and bring glory to him. I look at my friendly café and I wonder: “How is God’s presence displayed here? How is this place reflecting his glory? Where do I see his fingerprints of majesty? Does the coffee, the conversation, the art, and the atmosphere reflect anything of God’s nature and glory?”

Take a moment and look around (once again) at the place you are inhabiting as you read this sentence. How does this place glorify and magnify God? How does it reflect his multi-faceted nature? What do you see?

God has created this very place where I am writing. He has created the very place where you are reading. He has created it by his will. He has created it for his glory. Now, you might challenge that statement because you know some architect drew up the design for this building and a contractor came in and had carpenters, builders, electricians, and plumbers actually make this place. But under God’s authority, using the agency of humanity, he created and holds all things together (Col. 1:15). Place matters because God made it matter. You might feel indifferent to this place right now because it isn’t where you want to be or because it is somehow broken and in disrepair. This place might be a comfortable, quiet place for you right now. It might be a place that doesn’t belong to you; you are a visitor in it for only a season. Whatever the situation, because God has made it and made it for his glory, you are suddenly in God’s place.

--

Jeremy Writebol(@jwritebol) has been training leaders in the church for over thirteen years. He is the author of everPresent: How the Gospel Relocates Us in the Present (GCD Books, 2014) and writes at jwritebol.net. He lives and works in Plymouth, MI as the Campus Pastor of Woodside Bible Church.

Doubt Is Not a Disease

Should we focus on engaging those who are skeptical about the truths of Christianity? Should Christians who are struggling with their faith join a discipleship group? Should the Church spend more time and resources engaging the doubts that people have in regards to Jesus Christ? Well, yes.

Pastor Timothy Keller once said:

“A faith without some doubts is like a human body with no antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask the hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A person's faith can collapse almost overnight if she failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection.”

Keller makes it clear that in today’s world we must be willing to acknowledge the doubts that we have and to confront them. Sometimes evangelicals tend to overlook the doubts that people struggle with and just sweep them under the rug. This is not the solution. Church leaders must focus on discipling those who are struggling with doubt. Here is what Scripture reveals to us about faith and doubt.

Faith is a Gift

In Romans 12:3 the Apostle Paul says, “For by the grace given to me I say to every-one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has as-signed.” As we meditate on this verse, we are able to see that God gives out different amounts of faith to his people. The measure and amount of one’s faith depends totally on what God has assigned. Faith is a gracious gift from God. However, we are also able to see that doubt is a tool that our Father in Heaven uses for his purposes and plans. In God’s sovereignty, he sometimes uses doubt as a tool to drive us to Jesus Christ. All of this is done in his perfect timing. With that framework in mind, we can now turn our attention to examining why doubt should not be taboo.

Scripture reveals many doubters to us. The disciple, Thomas, is probably most widely known for struggling with doubt (Jn. 20:24-29). However, there are plenty of others who are worth mentioning. Abraham struggled with believing that God could make him a father in his old age (Gen. 17:17). Moses did not believe God could use him to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt (Ex. 3:10-15). Peter struggled with belief, when he almost drowned at sea (Matt. 14:28-32). So if you struggle with doubt, know you are not alone. The Bible is full of doubters who were used by God for his sovereign purposes, and there is no question he can use those who struggle with doubt today.

There are plenty of men and women you probably know who struggle with doubt within your church. These people should not be treated as inferior Christians. They should not be treated as people who have an infectious disease. When we understand that faith is a gift and that the measure of one’s faith does not determine the level of one’s spiritual maturity, we will finally be a people who do not drive doubters away from the church. The church should always be a place for skeptics and saints alike.

If all of us were honest with ourselves we would admit that doubting as a Christian is not abnormal. When Christians go through intense trials or have been praying for God to answer a specific prayer over a prolonged period of time with no answer, doubts arise. Does this suggest they are not trusting God enough? Perhaps not. I have found myself more than once in my life exclaiming in prayer the same words uttered by the father of a demon possessed child (Mk. 9: 21-24). The simple prayer: “I believe; help my unbelief,” is indeed a prayer that should be included in almost every Christian’s life.

The reason this prayer should be included in our prayer life is because of the ever-present reality that Christians struggle with doubt. This should not make us feel ashamed. We must always remember that Jesus Christ still heals the child in Mark 9 despite his father’s doubt. This should encourage us because it serves as a constant reminder that God still works with us and in us through our doubts.

Picture yourself in a home group filled with both skeptics and mature believers. Imagine the diversity of this group. Skeptics are able to voice their concerns and ask questions about the faith. Mature believers are able to evangelize and present the gospel message in a practical way. This benefits both parties and there is no question that a community like this would encourage skeptics and believers.

The Gospel for Doubt

There is good news for those who are struggling with doubt, and that is the message of the gospel. The good news proclaims to both skeptics and saints that God has done everything for us through Christ Jesus. His faith excels where our faith falters. Unbelievers and believers should acknowledge their doubts and always be willing to confront them head on. The church can help in this area. The gospel is the message that the church should always proclaim because it is the only message that has enough power to provide confidence for both the unbeliever and the believer.

An unbeliever might be struggling with doubting certain tenets of Christianity, and he might need to be confronted with an apologetic defense of the faith, but that should never take complete place over the gospel message. Hearing the gospel proclaimed is what leads to faith (Rom. 10:17). For a believer, the gospel is what encourages the Christian to look to Jesus Christ and his finished work even in the midst of doubts. Christians must preach the gospel to themselves because it serves as an antidote for the doubtful heart and mind.

The Church should always do everything it can do to help those who are struggling with doubt. There are various ways that this could be done, but I believe that the most effective way is by explicitly and constantly proclaiming the good news of what Christ Jesus has done for sinners. And we must always remember that faith is a gift, and doubt is not a disease.

_

Matt Manry is the Director of Discipleship at Life Bible Church in Canton, Georgia. He is a student at Reformed Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary. He also works on the editorial team for Credo Magazine and Gospel-Centered Discipleship. He blogs regularly at gospelglory.net.

The Danger of Not Doubting

“Who is Jesus?” I asked my students on the first day of class.

“The son of God”

“God”

“The Savior”

They concluded drearily between secretly checking their smart phones and staring vacantly at me, as if I were speaking Portuguese. So I ask again, “Really, who is Jesus?”

If you had walked into the classroom, you would’ve assumed we were practicing our awkward silences.

I teach Bible classes at a nice little Christian high school with about sixty students and a fairly conservative culture. They’re good kids. Most of them are remarkably bright and incredible at Bible trivia. But something is missing.

The students, like most students, have been taught to memorize and regurgitate information. They are actually pretty good at it. And my students have had the added blessing of memorizing and regurgitating incredible Biblical truths on a daily basis for most of their lives. But there is, for the most part, a lack of any realization that the Biblical truths they are memorizing are actually true!

I believe their apathy (and all apathy) is rooted in deep doubts about the goodness, practicality, and truth of the information they’re being taught. In high school, I hated math because I doubted its usefulness and I didn’t trust Old Man Marley for the first half of Home Alone because I thought he was secretly a bad guy.

I believe a lot of these students have doubts about who God is, why they have to read the Bible, and what the “good news of Jesus Christ” has to do with anything. Not because they weren’t raised in godly Christian homes, or because they are rebels—but because they are human. Humans doubt truth. We always have.

Doubt

When we approach the profound truths of God or anything, really, sometimes we just see a black hole—something that seems impossible to comprehend, enjoy, or believe. We doubt every day. Every time we fear the unknown, we practice doubt. We cannot just ignore or write off doubt. We must wrestle with it.

Belief is essential in the Christian life. John wrote his account of the life, death, and resurrection “so that [we] may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:31). Paul says that grace comes to us “through faith” (Eph. 2:8). And Jesus says that the work of God is to believe in Jesus!

But belief isn’t easy. Belief is not simply scoring high marks on a Bible quiz. It’s the pursuit of truth—an investigation into the depths of reality. As Jonathan Dodson says in Raised?,

“Anything worth believing has to be worth questioning, but don’t let your questions slip away unanswered. Don’t reduce your doubts to a state of unsettled cynicism. Wrestle with your doubts. Find answers. If you call yourself a believer don’t settle for pat proofs, emotional experiences, or duty-driven religion. Keep asking questions.”

My students had been catechized well, but they had never wrestled with their doubts, and in turn most have never interacted with the living Jesus. They assume that expressing doubts will get them in trouble —but really, they will be in much deeper trouble if they never ask “what does this mean?” Despite what they may think, their doubts may, in fact, be from God.

Just as God came down from heaven to wrestle with (not to catechize!) Jacob (Gen. 32), doubts may at first seem to be an enemy, but prove to be dear friends. As George MacDonald observed,

Doubts are the messengers of the Living One to the honest. They are the first knock at our door of things that are not yet, but have to be, understood…Doubt must precede every deeper assurance; for uncertainties are what we first see when we look into a region hitherto unknown, unexplored, unannexed”

Our doubts can take us deeper into the knowledge of God—not further away, as many fear. When we wrestle with God, we come away changed.

So this semester, I have decided to encourage doubt in my classroom. While I will be teaching my students the fundamentals of Missiology (the topic of my course), I also want to teach them to wrestle with God. I want them to ask the hard questions—to really ask themselves (and me) “what does this mean?” I foresee a long semester ahead, but as a student wrote on a worksheet last week, “if you don’t ask questions, you won’t get answers.”

Using Doubt in Discipleship

How can we steward doubt—“messengers of the Living One to the honest”—in the already messy process of disciple making? I don’t know exactly, but here are five general thoughts on disicpling amidst doubt.

1. Don’t Ignore Doubt Have the courage to look for doubt. When someone gives a “Sunday School” answer, don’t be afraid to search for the heart behind the answer. Maybe there is a true, orthodox love for God behind that “right answer,” but that isn’t always the case. Jesus didn’t ignore Thomas’ doubt, instead he directly engaged it. Jesus didn’t condemn him for his doubt, but told him,

“Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” (Jn. 20:28)

2. Be Humble Just because you may not wrestle with nagging doubts about the resurrection right now doesn’t mean the doubts of others are not legitimate. Pride is particularly deadly, when you are instructing others. Humbly encourage doubters to draw from the same well of truth you have.  This will foster a safe environment for others, as they wrestle with their doubts.

3. See Doubt as an Opportunity Doubt can certainly lead to sin, but doubt can be an opportunity to trust and seek God. Encourage yourself and others to “see doubt as the door to that which is unknown, but must be known.” Faith is not the absence of doubt, but the “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).  God can, and historically has, used honest doubts as an opportunity to lead believers to rest, repent, and believe. Doubt is an opportunity to encounter the living truth, and, as Sir Francis Bacon observed, “no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth.”

4. Remember the Gospel The absolutely certain, imputed, and active righteousness of Christ shows us our doubt is not our demise. Doubts do not stop God from saving, loving, and pursuing his people! This means, when a brother or sister in Christ is wrestling through doubts—intellectual or otherwise—God still loves them, and still views them as perfectly hidden in Christ. The cross is doubt-proof—as much as we doubt, we cannot change the glorious, historical truth that Jesus died once for sin. This means that every question is safe to ask and no doubt is too big for the cross to overcome! Jesus’ perfect lack of doubt has overcome our doubt.

5. Remember that God Transforms Doubt Thankfully, God does not leave doubters in their doubt. God has a long record of intervening in human history and radically transforming even the strongest doubters. From Moses (Exod. 3) to Job to Jonah to Thomas, God works through those who have deep doubts about God and their call. Consider Sarah,

The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” (Gen. 18:9-12)

God promised things that seemed impossible. Our humanness wants to doubt God because, honestly, some of the things God promises are insane. But God delivers. Sarah laughed at the thought that God could ever fulfill His promises, but God answered Sarah’s doubts and through it, glorifies Himself,

“The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” (Gen. 21:1-7)

Sarah’s laughter was transformed from doubt to joy. God answered Sarah and God answers our doubts. God replaces our doubt with worship. The burden of proof is on God, and God comes though.  This is the only hope I have that my high school students will encounter God in the foolishness of what I teach.

Conclusion

We never “arrive” and we will never know everything. As long as sin wages war against the Spirit, we will struggle with doubts. But thankfully, we are not alone in this struggle. Our perfect righteousness, hidden in Christ, is secure despite our doubts. And God has promised to be with us in our fight with doubt. My students may not “get the gospel” this semester, they may play Flappy Bird in class instead of wrestling with truth, but as Jonathan Dodson rightfully notes in Raised?,

“Those who are skeptical and struggling with belief, Jesus remains ready to receive your questions. He will listen to your doubts”

_ Nick Rynerson lives in Normal, Illinois (no, seriously) with his groovy wife, Jenna. He received his B.A. from Illinois State University and currently serves as a deacon and pastoral intern at Charis Community Church in Normal. He writes regularly for Christ and Pop Culture, and is passionate about Americana music, (lower case) orthodoxy, and whatever he’s been reading lately. Connect with him on twitter @nick_rynerson or via email.

Family Sojourning and the Bible

My wife and I met in college, started dating, and never looked back. We were engaged my senior year and got married immediately after college. The biggest struggle in our marriage was discipleship. You begin asking, what does family discipleship look like practically? How can this be accomplished within the framework of two sinners living together in covenant?

Add kids into the mix and the question seems more complicated, right?

Family Discipleship Nine Years Later

My own story was one of gradual change through the constant and loving work of the Spirit. He frequently used basic, overlooked things to change my life. It took me a long time to put my arms around this truth.

During my senior year of college, I experienced a renewed passion for God. I was reading the Bible and couldn’t get enough of Jesus. I was asking questions and hearing God speak through his word and also enjoying intimate times of prayer. I was also introduced to some great books, which completely shifted the way I thought about the gospel and how it applied to me. In short, I experienced a complete paradigm shift in my Christian life. I wanted my wife to experience the same and my big question was how?

Before getting married, I read a dozen or more books on marriage. I felt ready, but old habits die hard. For much of my early Christian life I was legalistic. That sucked the joy right out of fellowship with God in his word and in prayer.

So how did I disciple my new wife? With a spoonful of gospel to help the legalism go down. I tried to force her to enjoy the same things I did. I would move beyond encouraging her and would make her feel guilty if she didn’t cross her t’s and dot her i’s.

This was disastrous not only for her but for me. The Spirit doesn’t work through coercion but by the power of the gospel (Romans 1:16-17). I felt discouraged. She felt badgered.

Fast forward almost seven years and one almost ruined marriage. It finally hit me. The Spirit works through ordinary means.

I had a grasp on a half-truth earlier in my marriage. The word and prayer are means of change through the power of the Spirit, but they are used as balm for the hurting soul not weapons to torture the weary soul.

A Family Feast

Now, I not only have my wife to disciple, I have three beautiful daughters. I keep asking myself, How can I share the love, joy, and intimacy I experience with God with my family? The answer may seem too simple, but for me, it was revolutionary.

I had been having my own personal feast with God through his word. I kept inviting my family, “Come join me. There’s food without price!” But I had rarely nourished my family. After I recently finished my yearly Scripture reading program, I decided to focus on a passage to meditate on what God had taught me. I read through Ephesians multiple times over the next two weeks.

As I was finishing Ephesians, Paul’s admonition to husbands struck me. He commends husbands to love their wives as Christ loves his bride “that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:26-27).

I asked myself, How does Christ nurture, care for, and cleanse his bride? The answer was simple - the Word. Next I had a conversation with myself that went something like this: You idiot. You’ve been feasting with God and telling your family how great this food tastes and how wonderful the fellowship was but you have never committed to nourish them.

Husbands, it’s not enough to model a loving relationship with Jesus and a consistent gospel piety. You have to share the fruit of the Spirit’s labor with your family.

You must read the Scripture with your family. Demonstrate the passion you have for the gospel in the pages of Scripture as you read. Pray that the Spirit would make the gospel stick to their bones.

The Spirit will work in our families by the same power, which he raised Christ from the dead. It’s that power which is evident in Scripture, because the words are God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Christ's word equips our families to live on mission within our communities, churches, and families.

A Gospel Foundation

Now how do we accomplish family discipleship in the real world of work, children, marriage, and church?

Paul’s gospel-saturated admonition in Philippians 2:3-9 has transformed the way I lead and has helped create a gospel culture in our home. Read it through slowly.

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

First, Paul contrasts self-ambition with gospel sacrifice (vv. 2-3). Before he hears the groans about the impossibility of living out the truth of the gospel, Paul cuts the legs out from underneath that argument. The same gospel power which compelled Christ to die on the cross is now ours (“which is yours in Christ” [v. 5]). He matter of factly states, “This mindset is yours in Christ.” We are a new creation.

The Spirit taught me two principles in this passage. First, as a father and husband, I must model humility, and as a sinner, that model is most aptly seen in the way I humbly repent of my sins in front of my family. Do I bristle if my wife or even kids tell me how my unkind words hurt them? Am I too proud to admit my parenting failures to my daughters?

Second, (and this goes hand in hand) how will I respond when people graciously ask for my forgiveness? Will I make them pay? Or will I graciously forgive even as Christ graciously forgave me?

It’s easy when interacting with other sinners in such close quarters to make someone wait a few hours before you forgive them, but is that the mind that’s ours in Christ? Is that his example demonstrated in the gospel? Thankfully, the answer is no.

From One Weary Sojourner to Another

With that gospel foundation in place, here are some practical suggestions on family discipleship from one weary sojourner to another.

My daughters are growing up. First and foremost, we keep it fun and try to engage them. We use My 1st Book of Questions and Answers as a launching pad for teaching our children basic gospel truths (Also check out The Westminster Shorter Catechism Songs: The Complete CD Set and Starr Meade’s Training Hearts, Teaching Minds.)

Catechisms are like a skeleton. They hold the grand narrative in place.

We ask a couple questions. We don’t sweat it when things get busy and we miss a couple nights. With just over a hundred questions you can easily complete it multiple times throughout the year even missing multiple days. We also use The Jesus Storybook Bible to flesh out the skeleton. Sally Lloyd-Jones has done an excellent job making Jesus the hero of the grand narrative.

But the heartbeat of all of these helps is the gospel as told in Scripture. We don’t sit down and read through half the Bible. May just be a few verses. We ask basic questions about the story and try to place it within the big picture of the gospel.

Not every night, and sometimes not scheduled, we sing with our kids. Make it fun. My daughters love Sovereign Grace’s Walking with the Wise. We pump up the volume. We sing. We dance. We praise God. Nothing fancy. Remember Moses’s command was to talk about the greatness of God during the course of everyday life.

My normal pattern is to read through the Bible once in the year, and I now share the journey with my wife. I intentionally disciple my wife by washing her with the Word. Discussion naturally occurs because of the difficulty of many texts. Our general rule is to read together at least five days a week. That flexibility leaves room for disaster to strike (and it normally does). She reads a chapter. I read one. We read together around 20 minutes. That’s the length of one sitcom.

We also spend time together praying. We pray from Valley of Vision and then incorporate personal prayer out of these. These prayers are fertile gospel soil and will encourage you to pray to God honestly in the name of Jesus.

The Bible also provides a natural and comfortable setting for families to talk about a variety of topics. If you have emerging youngsters who have questions about anything from sex to homosexuality to bad stuff happening in the world and you don’t know how to breach these topics with them, just sit down and start reading the Bible together. It's the best conversation starter and ender.

In Genesis alone you might get questions like, Why does Jacob have more than one wife? What does sex mean? And what is the proper context for it? Why are these men trying to break down Lot’s doors? The grand narrative with its Hero is the only context where these discussions will be meaningful.

I have shared a lot of information from nine years worth of my own failures and success. Our family is changing through the steady work of the gospel in our hearts. Do not walk away from this discouraged. The gospel frees us from shame, guilt, and accusations.

Live in light of the gospel, which has so transformed your life. Understand life happens, and in your home everything won’t always be tidy. Sometimes both kids will be cranky, the washer will flood, and you will be so exhausted you can barely move. Take heart. “A bruised reed he will not break” (Is. 42:3).

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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!

How to Proclaim Jesus and Make Disciples

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (Col, 1:28-29)

Recently our elders and a few of our interns made a trip to Boston in order to explore the possibility of helping plant churches in New England. While there, we visited some historical sites. One of them was in Quincy, MA, the birthplace of John Adams. Before going to see his home, we were told that in order to see where he was laid to rest, we needed to walk down to the Unitarian Universalist church (formerly a Puritan Congregationalist church). So we went inside and walked around. On the way out, some of our interns took a few pamphlets describing the beliefs of the UU. As we sat down for lunch, we began reading them to each other. The UU doesn’t have a creed, so the statements are more personal opinions of its followers. Here are a few of them:

• [The] best of today’s scholarship – which I identify with the work of the Jesus Seminar – reveals a man who is believable but problematic…. He was best known as what we would today call a faith healer. His “Golden Rule” – turn the other cheek, repay injustice with forgiveness – was youthful idealism not seasoned with wisdom. (Rev. Davidson, Loehr)
• As a literal story the tale of Jesus’ resurrection is hard to sustain, but as a metaphor that illustrates that there is life beyond death of addiction, despair, and total loss, it’s hard to beat. (Rev. Lisa Schwartz)
• All contributors [in the pamphlet] agree that the Bible is riddled with errors but nonetheless can serve as an important repository of human truth. (Tom Goldsmith, editor)
• ‘If indeed revelation is not sealed,’ then we must remain open to the possibility of new and higher truths that may come to us from diverse sources … including the Bible. (Mark Christian)
• At sixty-nine, I now find myself almost never referring to the Bible for guidance or inspiration. (Jack Conyers)
• I claim the Bible as one more chapter, among several religious texts, in the Unitarian Universalist guide to living. (Laura Spencer)
• Yet the Bible remains for me but one rich source among many records that speak to us of the joys and challenges of being alive. (Rev. Donna Morrison-Reed)

What saddens me about these views isn’t that people in the UU believe these things. I don’t expect them to believe in the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, and a closed cannon. I don’t expect them to believe in the deity and exclusivity of Christ, and his bodily resurrection. I don’t expect them to read the Bible everyday for guidance and inspiration. What saddens me is that many today seem to be functional Unitarians. I think the UU is a good representation for what a lot of people – inside and outside the church – actually believe. It’s a religion based on one’s feelings; one in which there’s no absolute truth; a religion in which there are many ways to God; a religion in which you are free to live how you want, even if that lifestyle is contrary to the Bible. It’s speculative, mystical, ambiguous, and ultimately Christless, making it useless. Why do I raise this problem? I raise it because this is exactly why we need Christ-centered exposition today.

We are called to make disciples of all nations. As we go to the nations, we’re sure to find “religious people,” but we will rarely find a people who understand Scripture and the person and work of Christ sufficiently. Their beliefs will be similar to these mentioned above. We must take the truth of God’s word to them, just as Paul was taking the truth to the mixed up people in Colossae. Paul mentions four ways in which we do the work of Christ-centered exposition in order to make mature followers of Jesus in a diverse, confused, mixed up world.

Proclaim Like an Evangelist

Paul uses the term “proclaim” (kataggellomen) meaning “to announce throughout,” or “to proclaim far and wide.” Paul is speaking of announcing the facts. Proclamation involves declaring the good news. This word is used in Acts 13 when Paul and Barnabas go out on their first mission. They go to Salamis and “proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues” (5). They heralded the facts in the synagogue. As faithful expositors, we get to say what God has said and announce what God has done in Christ. We are not giving advice. We are declaring the news.

We must proclaim the facts about Jesus because we believe that there is “salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Believe that the gospel contains converting power when you announce it (Rom. 1:16). I believe that exposition can be a life changing on the spot experience when the gospel of Christ is proclaimed. Don’t merely preach about the gospel. Preach the gospel.

We also need to declare the facts about Jesus to correct popular ideas about him. There are numerous ideas about Jesus, displayed in world religions and pop culture. It’s therefore imperative that the expositor understands the doctrine of Christ and salvation. The expository evangelist recognizes that there’s no separation from theology and evangelism. Every evangelist does theology. The only question is whether or not they’re doing good theology. Present the real Jesus to people.

Further, the evangelist must keep proclaiming Christ because this is the ultimate question for the skeptic. I remember talking to a guy in my office for about two hours one day. He asked me a bunch of questions, and then I finally said to my friend that the questions he must answer are questions related to Jesus (not whether or not Adam had a belly button or the historicity of dinosaurs). I told him these are the fundamental questions: “Who is Jesus?” “Did he rise from the dead?” Other questions aren’t unimportant, but they aren’t ultimate. Don’t stop declaring the powerful truth of the cross and resurrection.

Tim Keller shares how a skeptic once told a pastor that he would be happy to believe in Christianity if the pastor could give him a “watertight argument.” The pastor asked, “What if God hasn’t given us a watertight argument, but rather a watertight person?” (Keller, The Reason for God, 232, my emphasis). Paul says that the Greeks look for wisdom, the Jews for miracles, but we preach Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:22). I think the best way a skeptic to find Christianity compelling is by simply considering Jesus from his word. Don’t underestimate the power of plainly proclaiming Jesus weekly, and pray for the Spirit to open eyes for people to believe. Tell them to look to Jesus, to come to Jesus, to find their rest in Jesus.

Are you holding up the gospel for people to see and believe? I’ve always been challenged by Paul’s words to the Galatians when he said, “It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified” (3:1b). He didn’t mean that the Galatians were there at Golgotha, but rather that his preaching was so cross-centered that it was as if they were there! Take them there and urge them to repent and believe.

Warn Like a Prophet

The next action word Paul uses is to “warn” or “admonish” or “counsel” (noutheteo). This word is often used of warning against wrong conduct (cf., Acts 20:31; 1 Cor. 4:14; 1 Thess. 5:12, 14; 2 Thess. 3:15). A primary role of the prophet-expositor is to warn people about false teaching and ungodly living. Paul uses this word for “warn” to the Ephesians elders saying, “Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears (Acts 20:31). I love that Paul says that he did the work of warning with “tears.” Prophetic instruction should come from a deep, broke-hearted love for people. Jeremiah was the “weeping prophet.” Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Be a broken-hearted prophet. Paul says, “I admonish you as my beloved children” (1 Cor. 4:14). Love your people deeply as you warn them about false gospels, the dangers of sin, God’s judgment, and living in futility. As expositors, we can’t be afraid to warn. Don’t be naive or simplistic. Be aware of the dangers and threats and help people stay on the path of truth. A good expositor is like a forest ranger, aware of the landscape, alerting people to dangerous wildlife in the area. To put it simply, if you aren’t warning people of heresy and ungodliness, then you aren’t doing your job. Paul was often viewed a troublemaker because he wasn’t afraid to sound the alarm. He warned of wolves and snakes in the area. Of course, to warn people is to confront people. This flies in the face of culture that loves its “autonomy” and “privacy.” But that doesn’t matter. We have to confront people with the truth of Scripture. A good shepherd will love his sheep enough to tell them the truth.

Teach Like a Theologian

The next way the expositor exalts Christ is through “teaching” (didasko). This refers to the skill of the teacher in imparting knowledge to the pupil. In proclamation we’re announcing the facts, and in teaching we’re explaining the facts.  Paul’s evangelistic outreach wasn’t devoid of doctrinal instruction. He regularly taught, building up believers. Both are critical for the church’s mission. We must reach the unreached people groups, proclaiming Christ where he has not been named, and we must teach and build up the church.

We need a generation of Christ-centered teachers. I love how Ezra “set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach his statutes to Israel” (7:10). We need a generation like that! Paul tells Timothy “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” (4:13). Be devoted to exhortation and teaching. Be immersed in it. Paul told Timothy, in his famous charge to “preach the word” to also “teach with complete patience” (2 Tim. 4:3). Notice how he adds “with complete patience.” It takes time for people to understand gospel truths. The shepherd will feed the sheep bite by bite, over time, understanding the sanctification is a slow process.

I long for our people to have an “Emmaus Road experience” when they hear the gospel expounded from the text. The Emmaus disciples asked, “Did not our hearts burn within us on the road, while he opened the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32). May hearts burn as we explain the Holy Scriptures and point people to Jesus! After all, that’s what we want from our teaching. The goal isn’t merely to transfer information, but to have hearts filled with adoration. Exposition is for exaltation. Theology should lead to doxology. In good exposition, there are moments when people put their pen down, and stop taking notes, in order to behold Christ in worship. Theologian James Hamilton says, “The transformation the church needs is the kind that results from beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (God’s Glory in Salvation, 39). That kind of transformation will happen as we expound the Christ-centered Scriptures to people through careful theological teaching.

Make disciples of Jesus by proclaiming him like an evangelist, warning like a prophet, teaching like a theologian, and applying wisdom like a sage. Preach Christ until you die! Then worship him forever. Preach him on earth, until you see him in glory. I promise you on that day, you won’t regret having done the hard work of Christ-centered exposition.

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Tony Merida serves as the Lead Pastor of Imago Dei Church, Raleigh, NC and as the Professor of Preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to Kimberly, with whom he has five children. Tony is the co-author of Orphanology and author of Faithful Preaching. He travels and speaks all over the world at various events, especially pastor’s conferences, orphan care events, and youth/college conferences. Twitter: @tonymerida

*This is an excerpt of Tony Merida's book, Proclaiming Jesus, published by GCD Books.

Fighting Against Mission Fatigue

Over the last month, in communities and organizations across the spectrum of the gospel-centered missional movement, I have come across a growing number of people on the cusp of burnout. Many were close friends, few were acquaintances, and at least one of them was me. Tired, worn out souls exhausted from community and mission. They are faithful people; well trained, well supported, and well resourced. What’s worse, their exhaustion with the mission usually coincides with financial, marital, and familial stress.

Causes of Mission Fatigue

So, what is going on? As a child of this movement, I have often been at a loss. I thought we had it covered? We are supposed to center our lives on the gospel and then live intentional and communal lives empowered by the Spirit, making disciples of Jesus. If this was the plan, why does it keep spitting out exhausted and discouraged people? It wasn’t until I personally stared this burnout in the face and searched my soul that I discovered why the gospel mission has become the exhausted mission.

1. Looking for the Wrong Fruit

We are looking for fruit. We desire fruitful lives. In my own journey, as the months and years continued to pass by without a rapid multiplication of communities with baptisms and new churches formed, I grew exhausted and discouraged. We must be doing something wrong! I must be doing something wrong! Eventually, I simply thought that I had wasted years of my life. I was fruitless. Many of the people I talk to experiencing missional exhaustion have the same experience. Interestingly, the fruit that is expected from us in the Scriptures, not in our heads, is not new churches, converts, or communities. Rather, God wants to produce love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control in us (Gal 5:22-25).

God wants to produce love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control in us.

On the other side, this is what the Spirit does through us: performs miracles, brings people to repentance and faith, produces new life, gives gifts, baptizes, and appoints elders, among other things. Leaders experience discouragement when we measure the wrong things. When you strive to produce things that the Spirit is in charge of, you work harder than you ought and place responsibility on yourself that you could never carry. This is a sure recipe for exhaustion.

However, when we pause and reflect on the fruit of the Spirit born in us, we are encouraged because we see things the way we are. When I stopped to see the things the Spirit had done in me, I realized my life wasn’t fruitless. In fact, it had been very fruitful. Over the years God had given me love for people I didn’t even know at the beginning. God had given me peace in my heart and marriage. God had created, seemingly out of nothing, a contentment with small budgets and his presence. The reality was, God had been working in me. Ironically, it was that fruit in me that God used to produce fruit in others.

2. Living with an Urgency of Ego

Leaders who are striving for success and ‘great stories’ expect them to happen immediately. This is one of the oldest tricks the enemy uses to destroy mission: get them to think we can make a name for themselves. The urgency to have a thriving missional community or life that produces results that are celebrated is exhausting. It is tiring trying to be an expert and gain the affections of ‘missional’ peers. Self-serving mission leads to burnout 100% of the time. If the urgency of ego isn’t for self-gain, it is for another’s. I have also witnessed people crushed by the burden of proving themselves to their leaders’ apparent expectations, which many cases, didn’t exist.

3. Living with an Urgency of Ideal

This is a slightly different urgency. This is where the goal is to do exactly what we read in the ‘book’ or saw at the conference. We expect and strive to do things by the book. The books are helpful and so are the conference speakers. What becomes exhausting is a newfound legalism—modelism. When you have a problem or get stuck, you are turning to the expert’s blog, book, twitter feed, and videos. These can be helpful, no doubt. But in the end, the mission is too difficult to look for strength and endurance in a model that can’t offer either.

The mission is too difficult to look for strength and endurance in a model that can’t offer either.

4. Agenda-filled Relationships

When every relationship you have comes with an ‘intentional’ and strategic plan to make them a disciples of Jesus, you run out of steam quickly—because you don’t have any relationships. Every holiday, season, sporting event, and errand has become ‘intentional’ in all the wrong ways. Agenda-driven intentionality is: “What can I do for God in these things?” Or worse: “How can I move this person one step closer to buying into my belief system?”   To be clear, I am all for intentionality and I completely agree that God is using us and can use us all the time. However, I would add God also wants to do something in us at all times. Gospel intentionality, the opposite of agenda-driven intentionality, asks regularly: “What is God doing, where is he, what is he saying?” Or, better yet: “What can I do to see him clearly in all of life?” The gospel means we are reconciled with Christ. Our redemption is to life with him. Our commission is with him.

We often forget this in our rush to live intentional and missional lives. We aren’t trying to figure out how to make disciples all the time. Rather, we are trying experience Jesus in every part of life. Discipleship is inviting people to experience the reconciliation and redemption of Jesus in their lives, too. In this way, be a normal person who experiences the supernatural presence of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

5. Lack of Patience

We often expect to see fully-formed disciples after a few months or even a few years. When we don’t, we throw our hands up and say, “This doesn’t work, what else can I try?” Imagine you move into a street where your house is the only one that believes Jesus is King and Savior of the world, and even you struggle to believe it in almost every area of life. However, you buckle down and go for it. After a few years, you have made great relationships with neighbors and have spoken the gospel in several ways and at several moments. You have wrestled with some of your idols, too. Your marriage went through a very difficult time, but you are starting to see restoration. You praise God for all your new friends, opportunities, and growth. But you feel that you have failed. You haven’t baptized anyone. You should stop what you are doing.

6. Bad Math

If you attempt to do more than you are called or asked of by Jesus, you will be tired. There is a simple equation found in the book Margin by Richard Swenson: Your Load (or what you are called to do) - Your Power = Margin.

Your load is what you are called to do, what is being asked of you, what you have taken on as your responsibility.  Your power is your capacity, gifts, time, strength, and finance at your disposal to do it. Margin is either sanity or chaos, under- or over-utilization. It is a simple equation: if you are committed beyond your power, you will be exhausted. If you do far less than you have power to do, you will be bored. Too often, we assume the role of saving the planet or at the least our community. We accept great and worthwhile roles and responsibilities followed by a belief that we are omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. If you don’t believe you are those things, you have believed the laws of time, finances, and energy don’t apply to you. You press on with a packed schedule and slim bank account. The Spirit is powerful and works in remarkable ways. The Spirit does not call you to more than he will supply the power. Jesus calls us to more than we can do on our own, but he doesn’t call us to more than he will empower.

Simple prayers and questions: What is Jesus giving me power for? What is Jesus asking me to do?

7. Mission-Centered

Finally, at the end of the day, we are not gospel-centered, we are mission-centered. The noblest idol in all of Christianity is mission. We approve when people worship it, celebrate it, and lay their life down for it. The idol of converts is as powerful as it is subtle. It is easy to drift. Here lies the problem: mission doesn’t give power, energy, grace, or redemption. Reconciliation of the gospel makes us ambassadors for the Reconciler, not mini-reconcilers. This is the end result of all the things mentioned above.

We have drifted from gospel-centered life to a mission-centered life. When this happens, we make disciples of the mission instead of disciples of Jesus.

Fighting Fatigue

We are susceptible to mission fatigue. The question is, what are we supposed to do about it?

1. Repent

If you are believing and living any of the things above, you are worshiping false gods, telling God you are a better missionary than the Spirit and a better savior than Jesus. You’ve made the mission of God your god. Turn from those things and toward the true God:

• The God who is great, so do you don’t have to be in control of the mission.

• The God who is good, so you don’t have to look to the mission for personal satisfaction.

• The God who is glorious, so you don’t have to look for significance in the mission.

• The God who is gracious, so you don’t have to prove yourself in the mission.*

This is the God who invites you to join him on his mission. The God who is infinitely careful of you. What practices remind you of that truth?

2. Live in the Urgency of Spirit

God is patient. Somehow we think that the Spirit is frantic and urgent, but he is actually patient and powerful. Consider the lame man healed by the Spirit in Acts 3. This man had to have been passed by Jesus multiple times in his life. Somehow God waited to heal the man much later. Or consider the decades of patience as the gospel slowly moved into Europe and only after a dream appeared to Paul after days of being denied by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a yes man. The Holy Spirit waits, says no, prepares, and works over time as much as he works in an instance.

3. Seek Rhythms of Rest

Finally, learn to rest regularly. First, learn what rest means. Rest does not mean doing nothing. Rest also doesn’t mean doing chores around the house. Rest also doesn’t mean ‘family time.’ All of those things may be components of rest for you. However, rest truly means to marvel at all the God has done and is doing. The first day in the life of a human was not building, organizing, it was resting in the goodness God had created. It was only after that day of resting in God and what he had done did we go to work doing the things he commanded them to do. We live on mission from a starting point of rest. We don’t rest from the mission, we get on mission because we rest.

We don’t rest from the mission, we get on mission because we rest.

This means that you learn how to remember and worship the goodness of God. Make space within your life to focus on resting in God’s work. You will do this daily. You will do this weekly. You will do this monthly, seasonally, and annually. These are patterns throughout the Old Testament with sabbaths, festivals, and jubilees. In each of these, people stopped trying to make things happen. They left their fields, their military posts, their labor, etc. The point was always to remember and celebrate the things that God had done to redeem them and form them into a people. It is good wisdom for us to do the same. What does this look like? My example:

• Daily, I take a 15-minute walk through my neighborhood praying and reflecting on what God had done the day before. Asking him on that day, “Help me see you and step into the things you call me into.”

• Weekly, I take a day where I intentionally focus on what God is doing and has done. I remember the gift of him. For me, I journal, write, read, and spend time with my family. We remind me of grace. We also spend time with friends and neighbors on this day. However, the point of this day is to celebrate and worship who God is and what he has done.

• Monthly, I get out of town or at the minimum my neighborhood. I read, write, and mostly pray. I’ve found a monastery an hour and a half away and the drive alone is worth it. Also, at different times in our marriage, my wife and I have been able to spend a night out of our context once a month. This is an amazing practice everyone should try. As we leave, we pray and ask God to bless our time. While we are away we reflect on the past month.

• Annually, I take a real vacation, even if it is a stay-cation. During this week or so, do what is relaxing and enjoyable to you. Hike, ski, swim, sun bath, read, whatever is enjoyable. Eat good food and listen to good music. Reflect and worship God for what he has done and pray for the things you hope God will do in the next year.

As you do all of these enjoyable things of rest, take time to reflect on these questions:

• What were the low-lights and hard things last year?

• What were the high-lights and clear blessings last year? (Oddly, these answers end up being the same as the hard things.)

• What did we see God doing last year?

• What do we hope to see happen this next year?

• What fruit do we pray to see this next year?

• What are our fears with this next year?

• How is God good, great, glorious, and gracious?

The Best Way to Spend Your Life

I want to leave you with an appeal. Do not leave a life on mission because you have made it your life. There is a way to be on mission and for your life to be about Jesus. In fact, this is the only sustainable way. As you press into seeing Jesus present, involved, and relevant at your dinner table, at work, in the garden, and with your friends, you will be on mission. The gospel is the only agent of perseverance. This is one thrilling life of repentance, faith, and fruit.

Jesus is worth it! You will find Jesus on the mission, but don’t substitute the mission for Jesus.

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Brad Watson serves as a pastor of Bread&Wine Communities in Portland, Oregon and is the co-author of Raised? Doubting the Resurrection. His greatest passion is to encourage and equip leaders for the mission of making disciples. He is Mirela’s husband and Norah’s dad. Check out his website and follow him on Twitter: @BradAWatson.

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*Adapted from Tim Chester's 4G's.

Leading the Misfits and the Moles

Let’s face it, leading is very difficult. Why? Because you are effectively trying to herd cats. It can get crazy. You have to deal with different maturity levels, different backgrounds, different demographics, and even different motives and aspirations. When I first started leading, I figured that everyone desired to be a leader someday, and that they had the same goals as the one that they were following. Wow, after years of extensive study (by that I mean, after years of tearing my hair out and cussing people out under my breath), I have found that when we look at Jesus and how he led and who he led, we find some very interesting groups of people, and he definitely interacted very differently with each group. Now, anytime you write something like this, you have to generalize and you have to characterize. Don’t take this article as the end all or as a way to then characterize automatically everyone you are leading. This is meant as simply a summation of what I read in the Scriptures and what I have found in leading others on God’s mission.

So, who do we find as we look at the life and ministry of Jesus? We find these types of people:

1. Masses
2. Misfits
3. Managers
4. Moles
5. Apprentices (yeah, I know, it’s not an M word…)

The Masses

When we see Jesus leading, we see that many followed him. Crowds upon crowds of people would follow him around to see what they could get out of him. Jesus would say some pretty rough things to them, whether it was to eat his flesh or drink his blood to the harsh words he spoke to rich young ruler and the Canaanite woman seeking to have her daughter healed. He would teach them the ways of his Father and he definitely showed them what it looked like to be one of his disciples, but you’ll notice that none of them were in his close realm of friendship or discipleship. These people didn’t help make the plans for the next journey or “get a vote” on what or where to go next. These people are curious, and Jesus allowed them to be.

Many times we want to please the masses, thinking that is the way to draw more people in. Jesus didn’t do this. Jesus would teach and be on his way, and then out of the masses those that took him serious would then follow him or come to him in private and Jesus would then engage even further with them. Think of Zacchaeus. You know, the wee little man? He was part of the masses, but Jesus saw something in his faith of climbing the tree to just get a glimpse of Jesus that caused Jesus to go deeper with him in relationship (Luke 19:1-10). Know that in the masses, there may be many who will go deeper, but do not try and conform your vision or message to convert all of them to the ways of Jesus… not even Jesus did that.

Many times we want to please the masses, thinking that is the way to draw more people in. Jesus didn’t do this.

The Misfits

The misfits are people who don’t fit into the mold as others do. In many ways, you are not sure what to do with them, but they keep showing up and they keep following in the ways of Jesus. Jesus had many of these in his time. He had the demon possessed man that he sent the Legion of demons into the pigs and told him to go back to his town to tell them what happened (Mark 5:1-20). He had the blind man in John 9 that had enough faith to go and tell what happened to the religious leaders. And of course, Zacchaeus would also fit into this category.

Know that you will run into these types all the time. They don’t fit the normal mold that you are used to leading. It could be their personality type, or it could be their beliefs. We’ve had many people in our missional communities over the years that didn’t fully believe in all the “tenants of Christianity,” but followed in the ways of Jesus more closely than any Christian I had come across. Don’t discourage these people, but foster them and help them grow in that understanding of who God is and what he’s done. The misfits were ones that Jesus took great care of and desired them to know his Father. For too long, we’ve been uncomfortable with leading these types of people, but know that God desires them among his flock, even if they believe that karma is legit and unicorns are real.

The misfits were ones that Jesus took great care of and desired them to know his Father.

The Managers

I believe that Jesus had at least nine managers among him. They did what they were told, followed Jesus where he was going and loved Jesus until the end (besides one). These were the nine apostles apart from Peter, James and John. Now, I can’t tell you exactly why these nine were different than the three.  But, we definitely see that Jesus’ relationship with the three - Peter, James and John - was quite different than the nine (which will be explained further in the article). Jesus entrusted the nine with a ton, but probably knew that their leadership capabilities were more than likely going to be in a smaller setting and done with very little vision or initiative. He needed to do a lot of hand-holding with their leadership, but he knew that if he laid out the plans and purpose, they would be very good with following through. Whether it was feeding the crowds or coming alongside him even after some tough conversations and teachings. They weren’t going anywhere, they loved him deeply.

We all lead these types of people. They are great at running tasks, small groups, or missional communities. But, to try and get them to take that next step of visionary leadership and leading leaders is just too much for them. For too long, we’ve been trying to make managers a leader among leaders. We then get frustrated when they don’t come through, or things become stagnant in their growth or in their groups. But, this is how God has made them and where their capacity lies. This is a huge step for you as a leader, to know the difference between a manager and an apprentice. Who is going to merely carry out an assignment and who is going to catalyze an assignment? Big difference. This will not only help managers function in the ways that God has made them, which will in turn be freeing for them, but it will stop your frustration with why they can’t get to that next level.

The Moles

Some moles are wolves, but not all of them, so I won’t use that term to classify a whole “class” of people. The moles seem to be going along just fine for the most part. But, they usually don’t speak up, or they don’t buy into the vision and end up being like rocks in your shoe. Jesus had moles all around him. He had some that were wolves and some that were merely going to slow down his mission to show off his Father. Think of it:

Jesus had the rich young ruler that didn’t want to fully follow him, so Jesus let him go instead of trying to convince him to stay (Mark 10:17-27).

Jesus had one who asked to go and bury his father and yet another that asked to go say goodbye to his family (Luke 9:57-62).

Not only this, but Jesus also had moles that were wolves. Of course, there was Judas. There were also the Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes who were asking questions to try and throw him and his disciples off their plan to make disciples.

The point is that moles will never follow you where you are going. They always have excuses or bring up questions that sound legit if you took each one by themselves, but when added up, only equal a stagnant self-focused individual that will never actually follow your leadership.

They need to be let go. You have to prune these branches. Too many allow these types of people hang around and call it “grace,” when in reality it’s bad leadership and is holding back the misfits, the masses, and the managers from actually following you as you follow Jesus and his mission. Jesus only allowed Judas to stick around because he had a specific plan in place for him, but with all other moles, he sharply addresses and moves on without them.

Now, don’t automatically label someone as a mole, but when someone’s actions have a pattern of this type of behavior, the worst thing you can do is keep them around as they only hinder you and everyone else from fulfilling the mission.

Just look at Jesus. He knew men’s hearts, so he could make this judgment far quicker than we can. But he wouldn’t even allow these types of people to be close to him or his disciples. That says a lot.

The Apprentices

The apprentices are a little different than the rest. They not only get the mission and vision, but they can see and lead five steps down the line. Jesus had three of these: Peter, James and John. These three were the ones that were going to lead the charge when Jesus was gone. They were virtually taking the place of Jesus. You’ll notice that they aren’t perfect; Peter says many things we cringe at, and James and John desire to destroy people with fire from heaven (Luke 9:54). Jesus doesn’t use this against them, but finds them to be men of zeal and passion for him and his mission. He sees them, not as merely managers, but as ones that will take his place. He spends extra time with them to teach them and guide them in his ways, even taking them up to see his transfiguration. These were men who he was training in all of his ways, allowing them to speak into situations and aid the people so that they could understand what he was about.

We have the same in our communities. They are humble and want to learn and want to lead without titles. They have great ideas and seem to always see down the road and how things will affect people in ways we haven’t thought about. These are the people we need to spend the most time with. These are the future leaders that will continue to lead, not in a way a manager will, but will lead with big vision and lead the charge, instead of just taking orders. Dig deep with these people as much as possible. Spend time with them that others won’t get to with you, not because you are picking favorites, but because you know that they are going to be a leader or leaders and need that extra time to understand what it looks like.

Under your wing, these leaders will be the ones who continue to properly handle the masses, the misfits, the managers, the moles, and the new apprentices long after you’re gone. In my opinion, this is the best way to multiply leaders and, ultimately, to multiply disciples. And that’s what we’re here for, right?

Conclusion

What you’ll see about Jesus is that he allowed every one of these types of people to hear and observe his message and life. He didn’t leave people out, but he also didn’t treat them all the same. He used wisdom to understand who to let “in” and who to let go, who to dig deeper with and who to keep at a distance. It wasn’t because Jesus was a jerk, it was because Jesus had a mission.

What you’ll see about Jesus is that he allowed every one of these types of people to hear and observe his message and life.

The same is said for us. Jesus left us with his mission to make disciples. Knowing where people are on their journey will help you identify how to lead them and who to offer more of your time. This doesn’t mean that if someone is a misfit or a manager that someday they won’t be an apprentice; treat it as though it could happen and pray for the Spirit’s leading. It also doesn’t mean that God won’t change the heart of the mole. Saul became Paul.

I hope here to offer my experience, and to aid your understanding in who you are leading and how Jesus led. Let this be just a taster of your study and understanding of leading others in their journey of following Jesus.

_

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.

When People Can't Listen

Frustration was brewing toward the Coleman family. Again and again and again Pastor Seth and the elders of the church had met with the family to encourage, counsel, and challenge them. Being the good "gospel-centered" church that they were, they demonstrated the glory of God and his goodness to them. They opened the Word of truth to them and called them to faith and obedience. They did everything "right" and by the book. Law, gospel, grace, and glory were all there in parts of their counseling. But the response of the Coleman's hearts hadn't changed. There might have been some momentary transitions in behavior, but they were really just momentary. For Pastor Seth, it was really aggravating. As the high-energy pastor/planter that he was, seeing movement in people's lives was his gift. It drove him batty to see lives stalled out and not listening. Often he would be tempted to dismiss these kinds of slow-moving sheep as unspiritual or immature or even un-saved. He found their lack of faith in his gospel disturbing. It gnawed at his mind that week after week, he would counsel the good news to them and yet they never moved forward in it. His theological system even told him that if they don't respond to the gospel it's because they were blind and dead to it. So he had to pray for their salvation. His conclusion was they were spiritually dead unbelievers that thought they were the people of God.

Unfortunately, for a guy who sees everything in black and white, he was missing something between the lines. The degrees and hues of trouble within their hearts and minds were invisible to a counselor who only saw in two variations - right and wrong. Spiritual temperatures were only gauged on the grounds of "hot" or "cold," and lukewarm people made him want to vomit. The unbelief of the Coleman's was so obvious that doing anything other than serving them notice seemed to be, in Seth's mind, a cop-out and passive failure to lead them. He couldn't see why they didn't get it.

Why Won't They Listen?

I'm often like my fictional friend, Pastor Seth. Often in Christian leadership and discipleship, I am stuck with the challenge of people who just don't get it. I spend time counseling and encouraging them. I point them again and again to the Word of God and the good news of Jesus, but they just won't respond. The answers and responses are as obvious to me as 2 + 2 = 4. I see their sin, I see the right response in the Word of God. I call them to repentance and faith and acceptance in Christ. I encourage them to move forward in him. And yet these people look up at me with dejected eyes agreeing that there is a rightness in what I'm saying, but a depression falls over them that indicates they just can't do what I'm challenging them towards. I'm quick to write them off as just not listening carefully enough, not believing well enough, not trusting deep enough, or worst of all, just being insolent, rebellious scum.

But I don't think that's always the case, at least not any more. Recently, I stumbled upon a verse in my personal Bible reading that shocked me. As I was plodding along in Exodus, I noticed that God was about to do something great. The people of Israel were slaves in Egypt. Because of their numbers and growing influence, the Pharaoh had enslaved and brought the Israelites into forced labor. He had murdered their infant boys. He had stripped all their wealth, prosperity, and laughter. Day by day, their lives were crushed by blow after blow.

And yet God had spared a son. He had raised him up as a leader and had given him a calling to take the captives out of their slavery. God had promised everything: deliverance, restoration, even his presence. He had confirmed it with signs and wonders. God was at work and doing powerful things. Who wouldn't believe? Who wouldn't be ready to charge the hill with God at the front and overcome the wicked Egyptians and their powerful slavery? The right leader seeing the right things would motivate this crowd the right way and they would respond in faith and obedience. Right?!

Exodus 6:9 tells us a different story:

“Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.”

Moses told them all of the great promises of God. He spoke to them about the power and glory of God. He told them of the love of God and his grace and kindness toward them. Yet in a poignant word about their hearts, we find that they didn't listen. More to the point, it seems that they couldn't listen. Their bodies, minds, hearts and souls had been so beat and trodden upon that any sort of good news was impossible to them. Their spirits were broken and their slavery was harsh.

The Seed of Pastoral Frustration

The old adage says, "Don't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes." Maybe for pastoral counseling, that wisdom should be applied as well. It's probable that Moses felt deeply frustrated with Israel at this point. Instead of rallying an army to move forward and lay hold of the promises of God, he was faced with a bruised and beaten crowd of despairing people. His frustration caused him to question his gifting and call. "If these people won't listen to me God, what makes you think Pharaoh will?" (Ex. 6:12). I'm willing to bet that one of the first seeds of frustration between Moses and Israel was planted here.

In discipleship, we're frustrated too. Our words aren't heard. Our counsel not headed. Our sermons not considered and acted upon. The build up of frustration can form a mountain of bitterness and disappointment with the people of God we're trying to serve. Instead of gentle and compassionate shepherds, we become ranchers with sticks to beat our people out of anger. "These people just won't listen."

Could this verse be a rebuke and a challenge to us in leadership to see God's faltering people differently? Instead of letting frustration grow towards God's people because they won't listen, this verse needs to be a reminder to us of the deep hurt within their lives. It's quite possible that they won't listen because they can't listen. They can't listen because their burdens are too great.

Leading Sheep That Won't Listen

How do we lead these sorts of people? How do we rightly recognize their broken spirit and great burdens and love them well? Three pastoral clues are found in the rest of this story in Exodus that help me understand how to lead these broken sheep.

1. Be patient with them. This is, in a large sense, where the people fade into the background of the story. There are no thunderbolts hurled at them. Moses doesn't set up a platform and start a three-day preaching marathon against them and their unbelief. The movement of the story leaves the people here and focuses on God and his activity. It's as if God takes them off the stage, leads them them to the front row of the theater, gives them seats to rest in, and then he powerfully steps up again and goes to work against their oppressors. The action is a great measure of rescue and relief to them. If anything, it is a display of God's patience and kindness towards Israel.

People with broken spirits and heavy burdens don't need to hear "steps to take" or "just obey more" or "be faithful." They need rest. The burdened and weary need to hear Jesus's words from Matthew 11:28 about rest. They need patience. Remember, it's the kindness of God that leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). As Scotty W. Smith once tweeted, "If God uses kindness to lead US to repentance, why do we use harshness, shame, guilt, threat, anger and fear on one another?"¹ Why aren't we patient with those who are crushed?

Give them rest. Don't badger them about their weights. Let them come and be. Love them, encourage them, bless them. Let them have a front row seat to God's power and activity. Let them sit and watch the gospel unfold. Don't require works or action. Let them see and hear and experience a powerful Savior who rescues us from all our oppressors.

2. Be present with them. People with broken spirit's and heavy burdens don't merely want to be told they have those things and then left alone to figure it out. They need encouragement, help, and friendship that only comes from being with them. Often we don't understand the lives of the people we are trying to lead because we haven't lived with them in it. The nuances of why they do this or that isn't understood because the day-to-day experience of where those nuances dwell aren't understood or even known. Yes, I am saying that not everything is as black and white as you want to make it. Their failure to respond in faith to the good news might not be because they are hardened sinners, reprobate, and rebellious towards God. It might be because they have been abused, oppressed, and bullied around and as a result their spirit is broken. Their sins might come from the reality of the sins committed against them. It doesn't make it right, but your approach seems just like the approach the bullies and abusers have already afflicted them with.

Do you know that about your people? If we are going to lead them well, especially these sheep that don't listen we have to know their lives. We must live with the pained compassion of Christ that saw the sheep scattered and felt sorry and pity for them (Matt. 9:36).

As God powerfully acted to liberate and redeem Israel, he never failed to demonstrate his presence with them. In the midst of his work, he kept his promise to them, even at the most terrifying of times. Israel saw a powerfully present God who was for them. Shepherding people calls us to be present in the lives of those who don't listen. Do you know your people?

3. Be petitioning for them. Moses's role in this liberation wasn't as great as we like to think it was. He went and told Pharaoh what God had told him, raised his staff, and God everything else. In fact Moses's predominate activity in the unfolding of the plagues on Egypt didn't look like activity at all. He was God's messenger to Pharaoh and the people. Welcome to pastoral ministry.

As we lead people, our primary responsibility is to tell them what God says. Our primary responsibility for them is to be leaders who pray. Moses's leadership was bound up in his prayer for Israel. In fact, it's when Moses started acting, instead of praying, that he got in trouble.

If we find ourselves frustrated by people who won't listen, could it be because we've failed to petition our Father for them? Instead of telling them what to do, judging them for failure to do it, and then running them off to find some more "responsive people," we ought to consider long, engaged seasons of prayer. Does our Heavenly Father not possess all authority in heaven and earth? Does he not have the ability to raise up and lower powers and authorities. Can he not shatter the bounds of sin and death? Did he not send the Son of God and the Spirit of God to be our constant and faithful advocate and intercessor? Yes, yes, and yes!

Perhaps our people's failure to listen is because the leaders have been trying to do God's work instead of doing the work God gave them to do. Maybe our people won't listen because we haven't cared by praying for them. Maybe we've altered the life of ministry to be a drive for personal platform and greatness instead of the humble work of praying passionately for our people. We, as leaders, are all about the "preach!" and little about the "prayer."

Broken in Spirit

Jesus reminds us that the blessed ones are those who are broken in spirit (Matt. 5:2). They are the people who have trouble listening because the weight of the world, their sin, and their struggles in upon them. They mourn because they can't change their ways. They hunger and thirst for what is righteous and good, and yet it seems just out of their grasp because they aren't consistent enough, aren't powerful enough, aren't free enough. They are the meek that won't make a church or ministry impressive or relevant or powerful. They won't have anything to build you a larger platform.

Will you extend mercy to them? Will you care for them? Will you shepherd the people who won't listen because of their broken spirit and heavy burdens?

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Jeremy Writebol(@jwritebol) has been training leaders in the church for over thirteen years. He is the author of everPresent: How the Gospel Relocates Us in the Present (GCD Books, 2014) and writes at jwritebol.net. He lives and works in Plymouth, MI as the Campus Pastor of Woodside Bible Church.

Gospel Amnesia in the Local Church

A few years ago, I watched one of my dear friends start maturing and growing spiritually. There seemed to be a tangible difference in the way she served her family and in the way she related to her husband. This was not an act; the Lord was working in my friend's life. Instead of rejoicing with her and seeking to learn from her, I became envious. I told myself that it was okay, that we are allowed as Christians to “covet” someone else's sanctification because it would drive us to try hard and do better and become more spiritually mature ourselves. This was at the height of my gospel amnesia years, and I had “moved on” from the gospel and was busy growing and becoming “more sanctified” with all those “right things” I was doing. Except that I wasn't growing, my heart was becoming darkened with envy. I actually envied my friend's spiritual growth; I wanted it for myself, and not in addition to her, but instead of her! Is that not sick with sin? How very Cain-like of me. If that's not gospel amnesia, I'm not sure what is. It grieves me deeply when I think about how sick my heart was that I would resent the work of the Holy Spirit in my friend's life. This went on for almost an entire year until one day I couldn't take the conviction from the Sprit any longer. This sin was crushing me. I called my friend and admitted everything. Of course she forgave me. It's not like my poor friend hadn't noticed that I had been irritable with her for almost a year, but she waited patiently for me to come talk to her. She was very longsuffering, way more than I had ever been with her, to my shame.

This type of sin is real in the local church and it needs to be brought into the light. As long as we keep our “little” sins hidden in the dark we have no hope of overcoming and standing victorious over them. The entire time I was being eaten by envy over my friend's spiritual growth, my longsuffering friend had been praying for me. She saw that I was in bondage. I will dare to say that gospel amnesia is that—bondage.

SPIRITUAL COVETEOUSNESS & SPIRITUAL PRIDE

Have you ever felt ashamed or guilty because you can't seem to keep up with someone else's sanctification? On the other side: have you ever let words slip from your lips (e.g. how many times a week you do family worship, what books you are reading, which parenting and education method you are using, etc.) to show how far along your family is on the sanctification spectrum? In other words, have you ever “preached Christ” out of envy, rivalry, or selfish ambition (Philippians 1:15–17)? I certainly have.

Spiritual covetousness and spiritual pride are real, and can do damage to relationships and to a church body. These are subtle sins. Nourished by the fertile soil of a gospel amnesic church culture, they creep into hearts under the guise of the call to “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24). They manifest themselves in a myriad of ways across countless personalities. How does this type of thing happen? How do we get to a point in the local body where we resent the work of the Holy Spirit in someone else's life, or sling around our spiritual pride provoking our brethren? How do we forget that it was he who said, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion?”

The answer is: gospel amnesia. We forget the gospel and the cross at the heart of the gospel. We forget the work of Christ.

The local church is a messy place; a place full of sinners in need of their savior every day. You and I are part of this organism. Hence, if we personally have gospel amnesia, we can imagine how that could exponentiate within the local body. Here too we have to ask ourselves: What has become the center of our local church? What excites those in the pews around us?

SINS IN THE LOCAL CHURCH

There is sin in every church, because every church, no matter how small or how selective, is made up of fallen humans.

Gospel amnesia flourishes in a local church where there is a disconnect between doctrine and culture. An obvious case would be a church where there is no gospel preaching. Another would be a church that is obligation-heavy and gospel-light. Yet another is where there is a fair amount of gospel doctrine with little or no gospel action.

Ray Ortlund, Jr. asks in his sermon Justification versus Self–Justification, “What kind of dark church culture can a mentality of self-justification (gospel amnesia) create?” (I am substituting 'gospel amnesia' knowing that the gospel is more than just the doctrine of justification.) Here are some of his answers: Selfish ambition, manipulative power of exclusion, a sense of grievance toward some, a redefining of what it takes to be an acceptable Christian (a “Jesus + Something” mentality), biting, devouring, insecurity, anxiety, fear and anger. I would add suspicion, warring over secondary matters, verbal or non-verbal pressure to adhere to unstated rules, a culture of affectation, preoccupation with outward behavior, and a lack of humility and transparency. A church rife with gospel amnesia can trumpet all day long that they hold to the gospel, but if the fruit of church culture shows otherwise, they have effectively de-gospeled the gospel. (My deep gratitude to Pastor Ray Ortlund, Jr. whose sermon helped me to crystalize some of these thoughts. His phrase “de-gospel the gospel” had me taking notes feverishly while driving and listening.)

When members of a church are blinded by gospel amnesia, dealing with sin in the congregation is hampered by a lack of grace and a gospel-centered rebuke and restoration process. How can a people tackle difficulties in their relationships and in their body life when they have forgotten the gospel, Jesus has been marginalized, and the center has become many things, none of which is the gospel and cross work of Christ!?

The friend I mentioned has long since forgiven me. Although we went through more hard times, the Lord has always brought us back together. I will say this: The only reason our relationship survived such heavy sinning was due purely to the cross of Jesus. When the two of us grabbed hold of the gospel again, when we started understanding the grace of God and when we became more comfortable with our identities being in Christ, that is when our friendship truly deepened, and love—Jesus' love—covered a multitude of sins.

What has become the center of your life in your local church?

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Luma Simms (@lumasimms) is a wife and mother of five delightful children. She studied physics and law before Christ led her to become a writer, blogger, and Bible study teacher. She blogs regularly at Gospel Grace.

[This is an excerpt from Gospel Amnesia, Luma's book that is updated and now available in paperback. Buy it HERE.]

Bringing Young and Old Together

It appears to me that there is a growing chasm between generations in local churches. Churches are becoming more and more generationally homogenous. If you entered a church on Sunday, you might easily label the church as either a baby boomer, generation X, or millennial church. Obviously, this is a broad observation. There are churches that do well at being generationally varied. But I don't think enough attention has been drawn to how uniform many churches are and how dangerous this is to discipleship and spiritual growth. Let me first share my own experience.

Generational Gaps

I’ve attended four churches in my Christian journey. Each of them had a generational makeup that defined them. Likewise, I’ve interacted with a handful of other churches from which I’ve built this experience.

Two churches that I attended had a strong constituency of young families. One was a baby boomer church; the other was a generation X church. In both, the singles and college ministry was a ghost town. In one of them, there was not a grey hair in the crowd, merely families with children through teens.

I attended the first as a college and single. I was the anomaly of the church. In order to find gospel community with people from my generation, I traveled through several college ministries or singles ministries for four years. I did what I could to build community within the church, but there were many barriers that prevented this. One of which was the lack of urgency that the older generations felt to remedy the situation.

In the second, my wife and I were married with children and I served the church as a pastor. I shepherded the teen generation and was at max capacity. I didn’t have time to pour into my own generation and build community. This generation remained fragmented with no voice or leadership; it had a tough time finding a place in the church.

The third church was a dying church with an aged congregation. Then it relaunched. After relaunch it was mostly constituted of college and single students. As I have watched this church progress, I have seen it turn the corner and develop more heterogeneity. But I can tell that this church has been intentional. My wife and I attended this church between the two churches I shared about above. We felt very connected to our own generation, but were hungry to have more mature saints to pour into our lives.

Then there are the churches I hear whispered about. “Did you hear that such and such church closed their doors?” These churches after decades of loyal saints serving could not afford to maintain their facilities. They atrophied. They lacked younger families, singles, and college-aged adults to sustain gospel ministry momentum. These church facilities become community centers, pubs, or small businesses. As I’ve traveled the Chicagoland area during the past few months, I have encountered the truth of this. What were once beautiful bastions of Christianity have been converted into businesses.

Thankfully, there are churches that have a healthy cross-section of generations present. The fourth church, which I attend now, represents this healthy cross-section. In this church, not one generation sticks out from another.

Why the Divide?

One reason that a church is generationally uniform is because it started that way and stayed that way.

For example, if the plaid, bearded, hipster, millennial church planting conferences that I’ve gone to during the last year is any indication of the uniformity within past generations, I might be onto something. These bearded, plaid-bearing men are a type that I am a part; I’m pointing the finger at myself here. We love to gather together with others just like us to learn how to minister those who are - shocker - just like us.

If churches strive to be generationally mixed, it is important to start that way. They cannot be started with young people who are reacting to the stagnancy of older generational churches. It is not outlandish to claim that younger generations of the church become frustrated with how older generational churches function. The reasons for frustration vary. It could involve theological, philosophical, or cultural generational preferences.

But these preferences have planted certain kinds of generational churches. Some may question if a generation can have theological preferences. But I guarantee there is a young, restless, and Reformed millennial generation that has “left behind” the generations before it.

Likewise, generation X made a pivotal shift philosophically. This generation became seeker sensitive. This generation valued church growth that emphasized programs. The generation before it resisted this shift. The one coming after has seen its foibles and is running away from it as well.

Finally, the baby boomer generation withstood all of these changes. They maintained the culture that it had before generation X. It resisted the philosophical shift. A segment of this generation is delighted with the Reformed part of the young, restless and Reformed millennials. Another segment feels more threatened than ever by how this generation embraces certain aspects of culture. They dress more relaxed, have tattoos, imbibe in alcohol, and smoke pipes and cigars. This generation navigates media in a redemptive mode. All of this frightens the older generations.

Unfortunately, these fears build gospel blockades rather than bridges. From one generation’s frustration, another generation of church dies; the younger generation abandons ship and starts a younger-aged church. This has been going on for decades now. Thus, we can recognize when a church began in the mid 20th-century, the 70's and 80's, or the 90's and 2000's. You can see the predominant life-stage represented within the church as easily as you can date the architecture of the building.

Here is a major caveat. Do not read this article and think that this guy is against church planting. On the contrary, I am a church-planting intern. I wholeheartedly believe that church planting is biblical. Paul traveled the Mediterranean region starting local churches and installing men that he mentored into elder roles in those churches.

In America, there is a great need of new churches because of gospel poverty. This is not a slam against church planting. It is a caution against a certain kind of church planting; the kind of church planting that does not possess a healthy cross-section of generations. New church plants should intentionally be generationally varied. We should be alarmed when visiting a church plant and the assembly is nearly all college students - regardless of how well-meaning, doctrinally sound, and genuine the community is. Likewise, be concerned if a church plant only has young families.

Listen church planters. Develop a core group that is generationally diversified and you have hope.

Building Gospel Bridges

So how does a church plant or established church build generational bridges and develop a healthy cross-section of generations? How do they take down the gospel blockades? The only way to bridge this growing chasm between these generations is through the gospel. Here are three gospel-bridges a church can build towards having an inter-generational church.

1. Construct Inter-Generational Gospel Communities

If Colossians 3:18-4.1 and Ephesians 5:25-6.9 are examples of household codes, Titus 2:1-10 is a church code. It is a code of how multiple generations and people from varied life situations relate with one another within the church in light of the gospel. Older men, younger men, older women, and younger women should all be present in the body.

Verse 11 explicitly mentions that the gospel is “for all people.” This is not incidental. The gospel saves and unites all people in gospel community. Is this what your gospel communities look like? Have you considered creating Sunday school classes or community groups that are intentionally generationally varied?

I know this is a risky task. How can these generations with such divergent views and lifestyles function in harmonious gospel communities? They do so by the gospel. The gospel has to be the number one undergirding principle in which the community submits. We have to submit to our theology first and then build our philosophy and culture around it. That philosophy and culture should value diversity and respect authority.

Inter-generational gospel communities will add a deeper dimension to your communities. Older men and women will provide wisdom and biblical guidance in the study of Scripture. Younger men and women will infuse the gospel community with vigor and zeal to be intentional to serve both the church and the surrounding community.

2. Promote Inter-Generational Gospel Discipleship

Titus 2:3-4 indicates how older women train younger women. Does your church offer discipleship groups for younger women to learn from older women?

Likewise, similar discipleship groups could be offered for men. The book of Proverbs sets this standard. Proverbs 1:8 indicates that this book is written from the standpoint of a father to a son on living skillfully. Obviously this is the ideal. A mother should instruct her daughter and a father should instruct his son in the ways of each gender.

But guess what? Your church has first generation Christians in it. Those Christians need spiritual fathers and mothers to mentor and lead them through Scripture. My wife and I are an example of this. We are grateful for the men and women who have come alongside us during our eight years of marriage to mentor us towards the gospel and godliness.

Does your church offer inter-generational gospel discipleship? Is this a bridge your church employs to help men and women grow in the gospel and godliness?

3. Make Disciples of Multiple Generations

The gospel is for every generation. In 1 John 2, there is a gospel refreshment course for fathers, young men, and children. John says that he writes to remind them of the sin they’ve been rescued from, the enemy they’ve overcome, and the God whom they know. The gospel refreshes these generations that exist harmoniously within the church.

This is the same gospel that should be preached to multiple generations. Is your church taking intentional steps to preach this gospel to multiple generations?

There are intentional steps that a church may take to make disciples of multiple generations. Serving these people in their natural environment is an excellent way to build a gospel bridge.

To reach mature generations, do outreach to an assisted living community. Maybe there is a person there with gospel interest that needs a ride to church on Sunday. To reach young families, college-aged, and singles with the gospel, look for outreach opportunities at elementary schools, colleges, or local businesses. Help paint a school. Adopt a fraternity or sorority. Offer to do landscaping for a local business.

Allow these service bridges to become gospel bridges. As you serve these people, you are earning the opportunity to share the gospel with them. You welcome them to cross the bridge from their natural environment into your church environment. Through these relationships you make disciples of multiple generations.

Together in the Gospel

The Church has a long way to go to reconcile the generational divide within her. When generations fail to interact with one another and listen to one another, it only widens the divide. When younger generations act as exiles or evacuate from one church to start new, younger, and hipster churches, it only aggravates the situation. Young and old have to come together to build gospel bridges because the gospel reconciles all people..

Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We could apply that to young and old, as well. Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17 anticipates this. These two Scriptures give a snapshot of the Church in the last days. It will constitute of sons and daughters and young and old. All of these generations will function together to bring attention to the gospel.

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Joey Cochran served as an Associate Pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma for four years before transitioning to be the Church Planting Intern at Redeemer Fellowship in St. Charles, Illinois under the supervision of Pastor Joe Thorn. Joey is a graduate of Dallas Seminary. Joey blogs at jtcochran.com and you can follow him on Twitter at @joeycochran.

How to Balance Developing Leaders & Equipping Believers

  Sometimes the maturing process in Scripture refers to preparing people for church leadership roles. Paul seemed to have this in mind when he admonished Timothy to entrust the  “pattern of sound teaching” to faithful men who could transfer this truth to another generation of believers (2 Tim. 1:11-2:2). In other places, the Scriptures refer to church leaders as elders, spiritual shepherds, or overseers entrusted with the care and nurture of others (2 Pet. 5:1-3; Eph. 4:11-16). But growth to maturity is for every believer, not just the appointed leaders of the church. Our zeal to equip should extend to all believers (Col. 1:28-29).

In fact, growth to maturity should include both equipping leaders and assisting believers not yet ready for leadership roles. Leadership in the church differs from leadership in other settings. Of course, some important gifts and skills (charisma, initiative, communication, commanding presence, etc.) carry over into the church. God uses these abilities along with other gifts when He calls people into leadership. But the defining qualities for leaders in the church are character-driven, and godly character comes from equipping as a mature disciple (2 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9).

Regardless of their leadership ability, younger believers should not be appointed to leadership roles until they are spiritually mature enough for the challenge (1 Tim. 3:6, 10). On the other hand, mature Christians who may not possess natural leadership ability can function effectively in some leadership roles.

Part of Jesus’ approach to help believers mature was the gradual development of leaders. At the right time, a leadership role can serve as a critical part of spiritual development. Growth occurs when believers trust and obey God and assume responsibility for others whether through an official church office or not. In fact, a leadership role may be as simple as the casual but definite task of a friend who works hard to encourage others.

A Proper Perspective

Three men digging a ditch on a scorching summer afternoon were approached by a passerby, who asked, “What are you guys doing?”

The first, already weary from exertion, responded impatiently, “What does it look like? We’re digging a hole!”

The second added some information: “We’re building a foundation pad. This hole’s going to be filled with concrete.”

The third man, who had been whistling happily while he labored, laid his shovel aside and wiped his forehead. He then explained how this particular hole would help them place one of the massive flying buttresses needed to support an entire wall of stained glass windows for a new cathedral. After describing in great detail the planned building process, he added, “See that rubbish pile? If things go according to plan, on Christmas Eve five years from now, my family and I will worship together at the altar in that same spot.”

All three men were working hard at the same task. But their attitudes varied markedly with their perspectives. The man who could see the unseen had the best attitude and the most energy. Proper perspective enables us to survey a situation and see beyond what’s happening to its significance and to develop strategies for what should happen next. Perspective provides hope when times are tough.  And tough times are when hope emerges in mature people.

The root causes of our current crisis of maturity are complex, but as Christians, we must shoulder some of the responsibility. Though individual believers and some faith communities have found ways to grow and develop, the Church at large has lost much of the capacity to live in the world as salt and light. We haven’t made growth toward spiritual maturity a primary goal the way Scripture commands (Matt. 28:18-20; Col. 1:27-29).

In essence, the maturation processes in the Church have either collapsed or been neglected. When maturation processes collapse, mature leaders fail to emerge. Without mature leaders, families suffer, churches neglect priorities, businesses fail, and in time, cultures crumble.

We’re again at a pivot-point. Will this be our greatest catastrophe or our finest hour? It depends on our perspective of God and His Kingdom. Without a vision for maturity, it might be easy to lose hope and become weary. Are we digging ditches, or are we building something wonderful to the glory of God?

A Reason to Hope

There’s growing evidence of an emerging movement that will help us recapture a much-needed emphasis on maturity. Younger  believers are searching for a more robust, biblical understanding of the gospel. A new generation of church leaders insists that the good news involves more than justification. It also includes growth to maturity. These leaders urge us to appreciate and apply the grace that forgives at every stage of the maturation process. This  gospel-centered discipleship embraces a grace-driven process that encourages humility, produces relational honesty, and leads to maturity. Stressing the need for authentic community, spiritual growth, and good works, this process encourages believers to grow up.

John Burke sums up the need for an authentic maturity by saying:

Our generation longs for something authentic. They are searching for “the real thing,” though they don’t really know what “the real thing” is. Because this generation has endured so much “me-ism” and letdown from those they were supposed to follow and trust, they want to see a genuine faith that works for less-than-perfect people before they are willing to trust. They want to know this God-thing is more than talk, talk, talk. They desperately want permission to be who they are with the hope of becoming more. They aren’t willing to pretend, because hypocrisy repulses them. But most have yet to realize that every person is a hypocrite to some degree – the only question is whether we realize it and are honest about it.[1]

Jonathan Dodson says,

The disciples of Jesus were always attached to other disciples. They lived in authentic community. They confessed their sins and struggles alongside their successes – questioning their Savior and casting out demons. They continually came back to Jesus as their Master and eventually as their Redeemer. As the disciples grew in maturity, they did not grow beyond the need for their Redeemer. They returned to Him for forgiveness. As they began to multiply, the communities they formed did not graduate from the gospel that forgave and saved them. Instead, churches formed around their common need for Jesus. The gospel of Jesus became the unifying center of the church. As a result, the communities that formed preached Jesus, not only to those outside the church but also to one another inside the church.[2]

These men are right. The gospel Christ offers both justifies and sanctifies. May God strengthen their hands and increase their influence, and do the same of others like them. May He use them to drive back Satan and usher into the church a new season of Christ-like maturity.

God is not unaware of or indifferent to the current crisis. In the past, He’s sometimes hidden His prophets in caves, keeping them safe until a day of restoration dawns. He’s sovereign over the nations (Psalm 2), Lord of His church, and ready to defend the honor of His name and renew His people. Throughout history, whenever it seemed as if the people of God were defeated, the troubles they faced became the catalyst for fresh hope, renewal, and victory.

Sometimes refocusing perspective and building character requires hardship and defeat. Romans 8:28-29 affirms this as it reminds us, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.”

Helping people mature is not easy. Growing disciples face many obstacles, including the enemy, who hates the idea of mature believers. But satanic opposition, though real, is only one of the problems. As this chapter has shown, we seem to have lost our way or developed corporate amnesia regarding the process and priority of helping people mature. Lacking a clear strategy about how to help people grow, we opt for hit-or-miss tactics or repeat traditional approaches only because they’re familiar.

The way is difficult and at times hard to understand. Discovering and implementing a process that produces maturity requires humility, courage, and faith. But the outcome is worth it, both now and for eternity.

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[1] John Burke, “No Perfect People Allowed”  (Grand Rapids, MI:

Zondervan, 2005), p. 69-70.

[2] Jonathan Dodson, “Gospel Centered Discipleship” (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), p. 17.

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Robert D. (Bob) Dukes is the President and Executive Director of Worldwide Discipleship Association (WDA), headquartered in Fayetteville, Georgia.

[This is an excerpt from Bob's forthcoming book from WDA, Maturity Matters: A Biblical Framework for Disciple Building.]

When We Intentionally Invest

  The phone call between my future church employer and my former college campus director (and character reference) went like this:

“We’re looking to hire Jason for a position in our church. Have you ever known him to be interested in working with seniors?” “Seniors in college?” “No, senior adults.” “I gotta be honest: I’ve never known Jason to be interested in working with senior adults.”  

My campus director spoke the truth. He was a horrible job reference, but he spoke the truth. I still inexplicably landed the job. I had zero experience working with senior adults and even less of a desire to pursue a position that would require me to do so for 40 hours a week. The impetus for me was ignorance; not ignorance of what I was getting myself into—though that was certainly a reality—but an acknowledgement of my ignorance about the Church.

You see, I became a Christian just before college and had no healthy understanding of church for the first 18 years of my life. Then, in college, my college campus ministry was my de facto “church.” Post-college, I lived overseas for two years where I, for all intents and purposes, didn’t even have a church that I could attend.

Fast forward to the conversation mentioned above. I was entering seminary with a future in pastoral ministry looming on the horizon. I knew that I had to work at a church while walking through my post-graduate years. My ignorance forced my hand. I had no idea how a church operated, I had no clue why it was important, I had no picture of what it looked like to be a healthy church member, and I didn’t have an inkling of what it would be like for me to exercise my spiritual gifts in a local gathering of Christians.

So when the only position open at my church was “Associate Pastor to Senior Adults” I, as a 25-year old, applied. And it was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. In fact, my one caveat to taking the job was that I would work with the ministry to seniors for two years and then excuse myself to work with a college campus ministry for my final two seminary years. Sure enough, after two years there was an opening in college ministry, but I didn’t even think about applying.

Loving & Fighting for the Church

A funny thing happened during seminary: the more I got to know the church, the more I loved her. I had no ecclesiological background except for bashing the church and arguing against those who defended the church. I arrogantly elevated parachurch organizations above local fellowships and couldn’t be convinced otherwise, despite loving encouragement from a couple close friends.

But things changed once I committed to the relationship. Influenced by a number of theologians and authors, I stopped dating the church (Harris), committed to being a healthy church member (Anyabwile), came to understand God’s plan to display His glory through the church (Dever), saw the importance of the church in the mission of God (Keller), and developed my doctrinal understanding of the ecclesia (Clowney; Horrell). I realized that contra my individualism, Jesus was saying, “I haven’t come for only you // But for My people to pursue // And you cannot care for Me with no regard for her // If you love Me you will love the church” (Webb).

A breakthrough moment for me came when a number of my peers and younger men I was discipling started leaving the church where my wife and I were members. Some were leaving for good reasons (e.g., geography) but others for not so good reasons (e.g., music preferences). I found myself not only loving the church but also defending her. I never thought I’d be an apologist for local church membership and commitment.

Through this whole process, I felt the need for how we gather together on Sunday to be a part of the discipleship process. It was really a spur-of-the-moment epiphany for me.

A close friend of mine was sitting in my living room, complaining about various aspects of church. I was getting more and more fed up since I had been in this conversation on an average of 28.6 times a week. He elaborated: “There’s no community; you just can’t get to know people in a big church.”

“You’re wrong,” I blurted out. I’m not sure why I offered up that unsolicited evaluation for my friend, but I did so nonetheless and figured I’d just roll with it.

“Can I challenge that statement? Let’s do this: on Sunday, let’s go to church together. You can pick the service [there were three from which to choose], we’ll walk in with each other, and between the car and the sanctuary, I promise you that I’ll introduce you to 20 people by name.”

I just picked the number 20 out of the air. It was never a goal of mine to be able to complete such a feat; I wasn’t building towards knowing 20 names between my Jeep and my seat, but I felt confident in my ability to deliver. In reality, I probably could have introduced my friend to closer to 40 people.

He got the point. And the point wasn’t to impress him; the point was to instruct him. “Do you know how I came to know all of these people?” I asked. He stared back at me. “It wasn’t by coming to church late, leaving early, and refusing to get in a small group.”

Invested & Intentional in the Church

I learned a great truth through this church challenge: we desperately need to disciple people through how to go to church. In the vast catalogue of areas of life and truth transference that are needed in discipleship is simply helping someone think through what it looks like to gather together with other believers in a helpful and mature manner. I fear this is too often neglected in our relationships with younger men and younger women.

Thus, when I’m asked about the topic of discipleship in the church, I’ve found it helpful to speak of (1) Investing in Your Local Church and (2) Intentionality in Your Local Church.

First, we need to be invested in a local church. The local gathering of believers is very important. I need to be a part of a community where I can know and be known. I need to be a part of a family that will shepherd me back to health if I wander and de-fellowship me if I go off the rails.

There is a sense in which the church is a global entity (e.g., Eph 5:25), but we see it more commonly in the NT as a local gathering (e.g., 1 Cor 1:2)—the church scattered and the church gathered, as some have phrased it.

If we don’t have a healthy view of church in this local, gathered sense, how can we obey Hebrews 13:17 where we are told to obey and submit to our leaders? How will our leaders know the people for whom they will one day have to give an account? Who are the elders we are to respect in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13? Who are the specific men considered worthy of double honor in 1 Timothy 5:17?

If we don’t have a healthy view of church in this local, gathered sense, how can we live out the model of restoration that we see in Matthew 18:15-17 where we see the church disciplining its members?

If we don’t have a healthy view of church in this local, gathered sense, how can we make sense of a passage like 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 where someone is put “out of the church?” How can someone be put out of a nebulous, global, invisible entity? They can’t.

If we don’t have a healthy view of church in this local, gathered sense, who are “those among us” that we are to go after in James 5:19-20?

Second, we need to be intentional in a local church. Three things that have been a helpful reminder for me are to do what your church does, build relationships, and create an atmosphere.

Do what your church does. I often have conversations with guys who lament, “My church just doesn’t get it! I’m the only one who wants to do _______” (fill in the blank with small groups, community groups, cell groups, missional communities, Sunday school, etc). They go to a conference, complete a training program, or read a blog post and now want to clean shop and crack some skulls at their church. Bad idea. Exist within your church’s system for spiritual growth. Even if it’s not perfect, be the most faithful and transformative person in that system. If structural, systemic changes do need to be made (as they often do), you need to be the change first.

Build relationships at your church. Get to know people above, below, and beside you. Those “above” are older, more mature Christians who can pour into your life. Make sure you find some sages to live out Titus 2 with you and invest in your growth. Those “below” you are folks that are a life-stage or two behind you. You need to be the sage in their life and live out Titus 2 with them. Those “beside” you are peers with whom you also need to be living out the “one anothers” of Scripture. Do each other good spiritually as you walk side-by-side in this mutual season of life.

Create an atmosphere at your church. You might also call this an expectation at your church. The churches I’ve encountered that seem to “do the best” (whatever that means) at discipleship are the churches for whom discipleship is a culture, atmosphere, or expectation and not the churches where it is merely a program, class, or sermon series. It should be the normal thing for Christians to gather in homes to study the Bible together. It should be normal to inquire how someone came to know Jesus or what God is doing in their life recently or what they’re praying about and/or struggling with these days.

You don’t have to get permission to start loving other church members this way and you don’t need a formalized program to see it take root. Create an atmosphere of healthy discipleship at your church and watch Jesus do some amazing things as He grows, matures, and shapes his Bride.

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Jason Seville is the Director of Emerging Leaders for Downline Ministries, Chief Editor of "Downline Builder: Customizable Curriculum for Biblical Discipleship," and a church-planting resident with Fellowship Associates.

[This originally appeared at Downline Ministries.]

When a Comma Puts Us in a Coma

  Punctuation marks are important. Moreover, correct punctuation is essential. In the wrong place, such simple marks can be devastating.

Take these two sentences for example:

“Let’s eat Grandpa!” and “Let’s eat, Grandpa!”

The comma makes a big difference—especially for Grandpa!

Here is another example from the animal lovers magazine, Tails. The front cover story about Rachel Ray reads:

“Rachel Ray finds inspiration in cooking her family and her dog.”

I believe what they wanted to say was:

“Rachel Ray finds inspiration in cooking, her family, and her dog.”

Finally, Goodwill posted this sign outside their building:

“Thank you! Your donation just helped someone. Get a job.”

The insertion of the first period makes all the difference. What they meant to communicate was:

“Thank you! Your donation just helped someone get a job.”

One punctuation mark, by either its insertion or exclusion, has the potential to change the meaning of a sentence.

The Discipleship Resurgence

Books and conferences under the banner of “disciple-making” are available now more than ever before. “Discipleship” is a popular new buzz word, a catch phrase that is thrown around with varying meanings. Defining the term is outside the scope of this article, however, I want you to consider something.

In the process of obtaining endorsements for my new discipleship book, Growing Up: How To Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples, I talked with pastors who admitted to a minimization of making disciples. “For years,” according to one pastor, “the goal was to get them to church and get them saved.” Another said to me, “Success in ministry was determined by how many parents drug, I mean ‘brought,’ their children to Sunday school.” Discipleship was not the bull’s-eye on their ministerial target. For some, it had no place on the target whatsoever!

Why are we only recently talking about discipleship?

I think I may have an answer.

One comma has paralyzed believers for around three hundred years. The chasm between the clergy and the laity has widened since the completion of the 1611 King James version of the Bible. Before you think that I am being overly critical of the translation, check out my article entitled, “A Discovery that Changes Everything,” where I elaborated on my Bible leaf collection.

If you examine the KJV translation of Ephesians 4:11-13, you will find two commas in verse 12.

¹¹ And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; ¹² For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: ¹³ Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Based on this rendering, what is the job of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers? It is three-fold:

1. to perfect the saints;
2. to do the work of the ministry;
3. to edify the body of Christ.

The ministers, pastors, and trained professionals, according to this rendering, are expected to carry out all the ministerial duties.

For those who learned Greek in school, you know that the original documents were devoid of punctuation marks, particularly commas. The insertion of punctuation is based on the judgment of the translator. I would submit to you that this comma is part of the reason the church has been in a sustained discipleship coma for three hundred years.

The manner of thinking reflected in the KJV translators’ choice of punctuation, prominent in many churches today, is what Larry Osborne labeled “the Holy Man Myth.” “The Holy Man Myth,” observed Osborne, “is the idea that pastors and clergy somehow have a more direct line to God. It cripples a church because it overburdens pastors and underutilizes the gifts and anointing of everyone else. It mistakenly equates leadership gifts with superior spirituality.”[1] Left uncorrected, this myth will paralyze the laypeople and rob the congregation of blessings.

I experienced this “Holy Man Myth” first hand during my first pastoral post. When Mr. Jimmy, a friend and elderly church member, was admitted into the hospital for a back procedure, I prayed with him at the hospital before his surgery. Two weeks later, someone stopped me after the Sunday service with these words: “Mr. Jimmy is upset with you because no one visited him since his procedure.” Surprised, I replied, “That’s just not true. Three people visited him over the past two weeks.” The day after the surgery, my associate pastor spent time at the hospital with him. Later that week, a deacon visited him, and the following week, another deacon spent the afternoon with him.

I stopped by his house after church to get to the bottom of the misunderstanding. As I walked in the door, I asked, “Mr. Jimmy, how are you doing?” “Not good,” answered Mr. Jimmy, “Not good, preacher.” Puzzled, I asked, “Why is that?” He proceeded to explain the source of his discouragement: he had not been visited since his surgery. I lovingly corrected him by highlighting that church members had visited him. But he replied, “No, pastor, you didn't visit me.” He only wanted me to visit him because he had the false perception that I was closer to God than any other Christian in our congregation.

Discipleship and Maturity

So how does the Greek text of Ephesians 4:11-13 read? The majority of modern translations remove the comma. Here’s how the New King James Version reads:

 ¹¹ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ...

The job of pastors, mentors, and leaders is to equip believers to carry out their God-given ministry. Their effectiveness is not gauged by their performance of ministerial duties alone, but by their development of other disciples, preachers, pastors, godly fathers, and Christ-honoring students. Harold Hoehner summarizes the meaning of this passage aptly:

“In brief, the point is that the gifted persons listed in verse 11 serve as the foundational gifts that are used for the immediate purpose of preparing all the saints to minister. Thus, every believer must do the work of ministry.”[2]

Ministry is the pathway to maturity, not the other way around.

Pastors, maybe the reason you are not seeing discipleship take place in your church is because you or your staff are executing all the ministry yourself and not empowering your members to participate in ministry.

Although George Martin challenged pastors, his comments are applicable to every believer:

“Perhaps today’s pastors should imagine that they are going to have three more years in their parish (church) as pastor—that there will be no replacement for them when they leave. If they acted as if this were going to happen, they would put the highest priority on selecting, motivating, and training lay leaders that could carry on as much as possible the mission of the parish after they left. The results of three sustained years of such an approach would be significant. Even revolutionary.”[3]

If you knew that the time-clock of your life was to expire three years from today, how would you live? Would you change anything? What steps would you take to leave a lasting legacy, an eternal impact? You would not neglect discipling your children, family, and friends if you only had three years left with them.

Of all the avenues for spreading the greatest message in the world—the redemption of humankind through His sacrifice—Jesus chose to spread it through twelve men and their future followers. Ultimately, through the passing of the centuries, the gospel has been entrusted to us. We are the current link in the chain of discipleship described in 2 Timothy 2:2. Should we not live with the same urgency with which Jesus and the Twelve lived?

Every believer should be able to answer two questions: “Whom am I discipling?” and “Who is discipling me?” Every church should be able to answer two questions: “Do we have a plan for making disciples?” and “Is our plan for disciple-making working?”

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[1] Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002), 549.

[2] Larry Osborne, Sticky Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 49.

[3] David Watson, Called and Committed (Wheaton, IL: Harold Shaw, 1982), 53.

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Robby Gallaty is the Senior Pastor of Brainerd Baptist Church and author of the new book, Growing UP: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples. He was radically saved out of a life of drug addiction on November 12, 2002. He is also the author of Unashamed: Taking a Radical Stand for Christ and Creating an Atmosphere to HEAR God Speak. Follow him on Twitter: @Rgallaty.

4 Ways to Avoid Health and Wealth Parenting

Right now my daughter Maddy doesn’t see the beauty of the storm. She is afraid of thunder and lightning. She could be dead asleep and, within minutes of the first crash of thunder, she’s awake, alert, and calling for mommy or daddy. Her fear has come into focus this summer because in South Carolina, we’ve had a flood of rain this year. When these quick storms first began, I found myself comforting my daughter by saying something like, “Don’t worry. God created the thunder and you don’t have anything to worry about.”

It’s true that she doesn’t have much to worry about in our home when it’s thundering and lightning outside, but the more I thought about the way I approached this situation, the more I realized that I was comforting my children in this way a lot of the time. I was taking the easy way out, promising comfort in exchange for tears.

Then it hit me. The gospel I was rehearsing to them was a health and wealth gospel, a skewed view of God’s sovereignty in pain and suffering.

“God loves you, so nothing bad will happen.”

“You don’t need to worry about living in a fallen world if you just have enough faith.”

“The reality of suffering will never touch you.”

If we preach this kind of gospel to our children now, how will they respond when sin touches their life? How will they respond when they see death ravage a loved one? How will they respond when they are ridiculed by their peers?

We do serve the God who created all things with the power of his word. He does providentially control all of creation. He does sovereignly work things for our good in Christ. But sometimes that means we will suffer. My children need to know this.

As I talked to friends with children and also recalled interactions, I’ve heard between parents and kids, I don’t think this approach is uncommon. As I said, it’s easy. It doesn’t require us to engage in hard conversations. But I want to offer a gospel-motivated, gospel-driven alternative for us as parents. Here are four ways that we can avoid health and wealth parenting.

1. Teach Our Children to Rest in the Love and Sovereignty of God

First, we must urge our children to trust the God who loves us and is sovereign over everything. We must not downplay these truths. They are not in opposition; rather they fit together like a puzzle. The sovereignty of God is not a hammer. It’s a pillow and blanket. The most fearful thing I can think of is living in a world where God is not in control, where he is taken by surprise, where he loves us but is powerless over our suffering.

The love of God is not squishy like a jellyfish. He doesn’t love us in a way that’s not tangible. He loves us in the form of Jesus Christ. God sent his own Son to die for us while we were yet sinners. If God uses “the hands of lawless men” who would crucify Jesus, for his “definite plan” (Acts 2:23), he will use our suffering in his plan as well. These two truths are bound together eternally. You will not find God’s love expressed outside of his sovereign control. Our kids must see that God’s sovereignty is never expressed outside of his love.

2. Teach our Children to Pursue Jesus

Second, we must urge our children to steadfastly pursue Jesus. Jesus is their only hope. They have no other. If they pursue health, it will fail. If they pursue wealth, it will destroy them. If they pursue relationships, they will be let down. If they pursue fame, it bring them low. These are all things that when sought lead to destruction. But Jesus does not fail. He does not destroy. He does not let down. He does not bring low. He exalts.

If you teach your children to pursue to Jesus, they will lack nothing. He is pleasures forevermore. The loss of everything compared to gaining Jesus will in the end seem light and momentary. That can be hard to fathom now, but it will not be hard when our King returns.

Not only does he provide joy and hope in the midst of suffering, he also suffers alongside of us. He obeyed the law perfectly. He loved well. He lived life to its fullest. And he also suffered. Because of that, he knows what suffering feels like (Heb. 2:18). That’s important. You can also see how Jesus cares for others who suffer when he comforts Mary and Martha when Lazarus dies (John 11:1-45). He is genuinely sorrowful. He mourns with them. He is moved to tears by the suffering of his friends. We can expect Christ to have the same compassion with us. When pursued, Jesus provides joy and hope and he does so experientially.

3. Rehearse the Gospel through Tough Conversations

Third, we must rehearse the gospel through tough conversations. My oldest daughter Claire has often asked me, “Will you get old and die?” It’s odd that a child would think about death, but it is a reality in our world. Everyone dies. It would be easy to brush off her question and respond with something like, “Dad will never leave you. Don’t worry about that.” It’s a lot more beneficial to speak age appropriately and candidly. Something like, “Daddy will die someday. Death isn’t the way it should be. But you know something? We belong to God in life and death. He has promised to be faithful all the way until the end. Just like he’s faithful to me, he’ll be faithful to you. No matter what.”

Tough conversations are an opportunity to rehearse the gospel with our children. These are practice runs. These truths aren’t dusty. Everyone will meet circumstances where only the gospel makes sense of life. Rehearsing the gospel by having tough conversation prepares our children to respond well when those times come.

Athletes practice and practice and practice more to create muscle memory. They want to repeat their route, the play, or the motion so many times that when game time comes their bodies react instinctively. That’s gospel rehearsal. It’s spiritual muscle memory. We repeat the promises of God. We point them to Jesus Christ. We sear Scripture into their hearts. We teach them how to pray. These kinds of conversations may raise more questions. That’s okay. Without being candid with them, when “the sea billows roll,” our children may falter. With tough conversations rooted in gospel rehearsal, they will see the other side.

4. Respond Well When Suffering Comes

Finally, we must respond well when suffering comes. It will arise in some form or another. Some of us may fight cancer. Some of us might grieve over the death of a loved one. Some of us might fight against abuse. Some of us might feel the weight of injustice. Some of us might be killed. We shouldn’t downplay suffering. It’s a result of the Fall. But God will wipe away all tears and make all things new when he returns. We must stomp our feet, mourn, and be righteously angry over the sin and suffering that we experience in this world. But we must do this with Jesus Christ in view. We must suffer well.

We respond well because we are in Christ. He is our Head and we are his body. He is our trailblazer. The cross is beautiful because it absorbs our sin and suffering. When we sin against others, we can boldly repent, because Jesus bears the weight of our sins. We can also forgive others for the same reason. The same goes for suffering. It is not escapism. Or cheap grace. It is weighty grace. It is grace anchored in the bloody wounds of Jesus. We must respond well when we suffer so that our children know we take God at His word and the gospel is deadly serious to us. Our kids will see this, and through it they will see Jesus.

So let’s not promise our kids health and wealth. Let’s promise them Jesus Christ in life and death. Let’s promise them a God who is faithful through anything they may experience in this fallen world.

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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!

Like Father, Like Sons

  I attended three schools a year for a while. My dad was managing in professional baseball and decided early on that the family being together was worth the sacrifice, struggle, and difficulty of constantly having to travel and change schools, and the security of a “normal” home life.

Of course, I loved it. It was normal for me. Home was the clubhouse and the smell of pine tar, or the luggage rack on the bus where I would sleep as the team went from town to town. Home was watching my dad play cards on a cooler set in the aisle, covered with a towel to keep the cards from sliding off, holding a beer can in his lap. His there-ness far exceeded any inconvenience. How could anything else be an option?

After watching Bob Ross paint a "happy squirrel" and my sister and I trying to paint along—a kind of "paint by Ross" version of paint by numbers—I would take a quick afternoon nap and then head to the park with dad in time for batting practice. The nap was necessary because I would be at the park until about 11 o'clock at night.

I would hang out in his office, shag fly balls during batting practice, be the batboy for the game; occasionally I would see him get thrown out of a game for arguing with the umpire, or light up one of his players for some particular reason (usually disrespect of some kind, "This is a monologue, not a dialogue!").

Child psychologists would probably sniff their noses at my childhood, like dogs smelling meat, ready to pounce: “Children need stability!” Yes, they do, and the father is to be the anchor.

Secure as Sojourners

The Father’s children aren’t at home either (1 Pet. 2:11). Furthermore, our well-being doesn’t necessitate wealth, possessions, the best schools, or people who approve of us. What anchors us, why we are secure, why we are commanded countless times, “Do not fear!” is that the Father is with us.

See, it is easy to excuse your lack of there-ness with your desire to “give your children a better life” or “make sure they can get the best education.” Those are well-meaning desires, and a father should work hard to leave a good legacy to his children. We should plan well, save well, and block for our family like a bull-headed fullback paves the way for the tailback to get up field. That approach only works, however, if you are playing the same game, and if the goal is the end zone of our children knowing the Father—for that to happen, you have to be there.

I have never met someone who hated their father because he didn’t buy them a nice car; I have, however, met plenty of people with jacked up lives and relationships—with a degree from a reputable university hanging on the wall—because their dad was not ever home.

Paul Tripp tells a similar story:

“When I speak in churches, I often single out the men and challenge, ‘Some of you are so busy in your careers that you’re seldom home, and when you are, you are so physically exhausted that you have nothing to offer your children. You don’t even know your own kids. I offer a radical challenge to you. Go to your boss and ask for a demotion. Take less pay. Move out of that dream house and into a smaller one. Sell your brand new car and drive an older one. Be willing to do what God has called you to do in the life of your children.’

In a culture with two-income families, increasingly that challenge must also be made to women who also sacrifice family for career.

I made that appeal at one home-school conference and it angered a man in the crowd, although I didn’t know it at the time. Two years later he came over to me during a conference break. As he got closer, he began to weep. He said, ‘Two years ago I heard you give the challenge you just gave tonight and I got angry. I thought, What right do you have to say that? But I was haunted by your words. I thought, He’s speaking about me. My whole life is away from the home and I don’t know my own kids. I finally went to my boss one morning and said, ‘I want to talk to you about my position.’ My boss said, ‘Look, we’ve advanced you as much and as fast as we can.’ And I said, ‘No, no, just hear me, I want a demotion.’ The boss looked startled. He asked, ‘What are you talking about?’ I said, ‘The most important thing in my life is not this job. The most important thing is that God has given me five children. I‘m His instrument in forming their souls. But right now, I don’t even know my own kids.’

The boss said, ‘I’ve never heard this kind of conversation before and I’ll probably never hear it again. I’m very moved. We’ll find you a position where you can work forty hours a week. You can punch in and punch out and have less responsibility. But I’m not going to be able to pay you enough.’ I said, ‘That’s fine.’

We sold the house of our dreams, got rid of two luxury cars and bought a mini-van. It’s been two years now, and not one of my kids has come to me and said ‘Dad, I wish we lived in a big house,’ or ‘Dad, I wish we had new cars.’ But over and over again they have come and said, ‘Dad, we’ve been having so much fun with you. It’s great to have you around.’ Now, for the first time, I can say I know exactly where my children are. I know their hearts. I know what I need to be doing in their lives. I’m actually being a father.”

The Gospel is not a call to comfort. It is news that the Father wants to be with us and will sacrifice even His Son to do so. However, it is also a call to join the Father in what He is doing—saving sinners for His glory. He is not so concerned with our comfort, or our safety; He is not always concerned we are at the perfect church (His “school” for us); He is not losing sleep over how much He could provide us (for some, He gives great wealth, for others, just what they need to get by). He does, however, promise His presence is with us. Look at the shear tonnage of verses explicitly stating God’s there-ness and the context of the promise:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you . . . do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:5,9)

“Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:15)

“Then David said to Solomon his son, ‘Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.’” (1 Chronicles 28:20)

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5)

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18-20)

The call is never to comfort. In fact, quite the opposite. The demands are great: Leading people into the Promised Land, building a great temple that foreshadows Christ, obeying a radical call to contentment with money, and making disciples of all nations. The anchor in these great calls of sacrifice, discomfort, and lack of security is the presence of God. We could have all the money in the world, the best education, the safest (and nicest) cars, and still drift out to sea, the weight of all that “stuff” drowning us—we need the Anchor.

Quantity Time with Your Children

Quality time is a myth; your children need quantity time. You are their anchor. Your there-ness makes them feel safe, loved, and cared for. Furthermore, your calling is to disciple them. This means they are to go with you as you do life. Your children are not some slice of a pie that can be compartmentalized from the other pieces. Your children should help you around the house and go with you to do chores, and you should let them watch you in life—how else will they learn? Certainly there are times of sitting down and reading with them or playing with them, but it cannot just be that. Whenever you can, bring them along. This is how we are instructed to teach them all that God has commanded us:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

This is the foundational text for discipleship in parenting. The Christian life is not compartmentalized from “everyday” life; it saturates and permeates all of life—and your parenting does as well. How can we be faithful to this if we aren’t there?

The Father sacrificed much for you to be in His presence. As fathers imaging the Father, we must sacrifice time with the guys, hunting trips, late hours at work, and time at the golf course so that our children would be anchored—not adrift at sea, being “tossed to and fro by every wave of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14) or every swell the ideas and philosophies of this world ask them to surf in. It is our time, our there-ness, that they need.

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Jim Essian planted The Paradox Church in 2011 and serves as Lead Pastor. The Paradox is an Acts 29 Network church in Downtown Fort Worth, TX. Jim played eight years of professional baseball in the Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Detroit Tigers organizations prior to planting a church. Jim and his wife, Heather, have two girls, Harper and Hollis.

[This is an excerpt from Jim's book, Like Father, Like Sons: Meditations on God as Our Father.]