Is Disciple a Verb
We were a young church plant, still struggling to map out our DNA, our essentials, the values upon which we wanted to build our arm of the body of Christ. We had our definitive statements on paper, but we were puzzled about how to make them live and breathe. We knew what we felt called to, but living out that calling in real time was proving to be another thing entirely. We felt called to discipleship. To bring together a group of people who intentionally lived life together, encouraging one another’s spiritual growth. We wanted to enjoy Christ together, love other people well, and engage the world around us in a meaningful, life-changing way. We envisioned this type of intentional discipleship happening in small groups of 3 or 4, little cells of people spurring one another on to live the life Jesus called us to live.
We thought it sounded simple enough, but problems arose which clouded this vision and made us all see a little blurry. How do we convince people to engage in this type of intimate discipleship when they have never seen it done? How do we ensure that what goes on within those relationships remains gospel-centered and Jesus-focused? How do we form the groups? How do we incorporate newcomers? How do we encourage these discipleship groups to reach the lost?
We certainly weren’t suffering from a lack of interest. “Disciple” had become a buzz-word in our little church family, especially among people in their 20s. We would often hear questions such as “Are you discipling anyone?” or “Do you know anyone who could disciple me?” floating around in conversations. We rejoiced in the interest in discipleship but continued to struggle with how to make it happen in reality.
Is "Disciple" a Verb?
One summer, we decided to utilize a sermon series to tackle these problems and wrestle them to the mat. After each message, one of our leaders would facilitate a discussion in which anyone could ask a question relating to the topic. We were hoping to provide clarity about our vision of discipleship and what that could look like in our church body. A lot of great questions were asked that summer and thoughtful answers given in response.
One morning, however, a question was asked that stumped the facilitator. The question-asker was actually a friend of ours visiting from out of town. He had been doing a lot of thinking about discipleship himself and was intrigued with our discussion. After listening to questions regarding “discipling” other people he raised his hand and asked the question, “Is ‘disciple’ a verb?”
Silence.
I don’t know whether our facilitator temporarily lost his grasp of English grammar or whether the question honestly didn’t make sense, but the question stumped him. “Is ‘disciple’ a verb?” It was a little cheeky of our friend to ask it that way, really. It might have been more helpful to our discussion if he went ahead and asked the questions behind the question. What he was really getting at was something more like, “How is the word 'disciple' used in the New Testament? As a noun, indicating a person, or as a verb, indicating an action? Are we using the term correctly? Or are we perhaps misusing it?”
Though our friend’s question wasn’t answered well that morning, it prompted me to do a little thinking and research. I knew what he was getting at. The word “disciple” or mathetes in Greek is a noun and is used in the New Testament as such. It refers to a person. A New Testament disciple is a person who is committed to learning from and following Jesus. But in contemporary church circles, it is popular to use the word as a verb: “So and so is ‘discipling’ me.”
So which is it? A noun or a verb? The question can be answered with grammatical ease. In the New Testament, mathetes is used as a noun: disciple, student, learner, follower. A closely related word, matheteuo, is a verb used several times in the New Testament, such as when Jesus instructs his disciples to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19).
The action of “making disciples” we have shortened to the term “discipling" - kind of a funny little word that spellcheck continually rejects, but it makes the point. Using “disciple” as a verb indicates the action Jesus commanded when he told us to “make disciples” of all nations. By “discipling” people, we are attempting to obey Jesus by “making disciples.”
The Real Question
But there is a deeper question underlying the issue of grammar. I’m not sure if our friend intended this question or not, but it’s a question I’ve been asking myself. Does the way we use the word “disciple” indicate something about our hearts? About our preferences? Do we prefer the noun of being a disciple or the verb of making disciples?
“Disciple” as a Noun
I can see dangers with an overemphasis either way. If people are more comfortable with “disciple” as a noun, then hopefully they are engaging their own discipleship well. They are seeking after Jesus in the Scriptures, determined to follow him and apply the gift of the gospel to their lives. But if there is no activity of discipleship directed toward others in their lives, I think they’re missing something. They may be taking responsibility for their own discipleship, but not the discipleship of others. They are not obeying Jesus’ command to “make disciples.”
I see evidence of this in our church body. We are a young congregation, both in the age of our church as a whole and in the age of the individuals. To be “old” in our church is to be over the age of 35! The people in this upper age bracket seem to engage their own discipleship well for the most part, but are often unaware that the droves of younger people around them need encouragement. They are more comfortable with being a disciple than making disciples.
“Disciple” as a Verb
But the danger can swing the other way as well. When people shift the use of “disciple” from a noun to a verb, a new set of issues arises. It is possible that this group of people is more comfortable with the activity of making disciples than with the state of being a disciple. They spend their lives investing in their relationships with others, but neglect the most important relationship of all, the one with Jesus himself.
Jonathan Dodson illustrates this distinction well in his recent book Gospel-Centered Discipleship. Dodson admits that at one point in his spiritual journey, “disciple became more of a verb than a noun, less of an identity and more of an activity.”[1]
He describes that when he was focused on “disciple” as an activity, it was as though he were standing at the top of the stairs of discipleship, looking down on the disciples in his living room. He was comfortable dispensing his knowledge to the eager disciples, but was not willing to come down the stairs and join them on eye-level. In other words, he was more comfortable making disciples than being a disciple.
I see this shift in our church family as well. We are all buzzing around talking about who is discipling who, focusing on the activity of discipleship. But are we as concerned with the importance of being disciples? Are we more interested in seeking a discipler than in seeking Jesus? Are we taking responsibility for our own spiritual growth? Have we forgotten that, regardless of who may or may not be discipling us, we are disciples of Jesus?
The Answer to the Question
So the answer our friend’s question is yes. “Disciple” is a verb. But “disciple” is also a noun. We must live out both senses of the word if we want to do discipleship well. We must take our personal discipleship seriously as well as the discipleship of the other people we’re connected to in the body of Christ. We need to be emphasizing the activity and the state of being of the word “disciple” if we’re to engage the process of discipleship the way Jesus intended.
We don’t have all our questions on discipleship answered in our church, but we’re growing. We’re encouraging the people in our church body both to “own their own spiritual growth” as well as engage in discipleship with other people. We’re trying to consistently model both how to be a disciple and how to make disciples. That much of our vision, at least, is clear. As for the other blurry problems, well, I guess we need another raised hand after a sermon. Hopefully that next difficult question won’t involve grammar.
[1] Jonathan Dodson, Gospel-Centered Discipleship (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 16.
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Lindsay Powell Fooshee is married to John, a pastor at Redeemer Community Church and church planter with Acts 29. They are raising 3 great kids in East Tennessee, soaking up the joys of toddlers and teenagers at the same time. Lindsay holds an M.A. in Christian Thought from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and enjoys teaching and writing about what’s she’s learning. She is passionate about discipleship and blogs regularly about it at Kitchen Stool.
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For more resources on being a disciple and disciple making, check out: Jonathan Dodson's Unbelievable Gospel.
Free articles on disciple-making: The Image Conscious Disciple by Jonathan Dodson, A Story of Gospel Community by Seth McBee, and Discipleship 101: How to Disciple a New Believer by Justin Buzzard.
What is a Missional Community?
This is the question that the Verge Network has been asking a number of leaders on their website, this is the question that many churches around the country and world are asking, and this is the question I deal with on a daily basis as someone who oversees community groups, which we view as gospel communities on mission.
This is the question that the Verge Network has been asking a number of leaders on their website, this is the question that many churches around the country and world are asking, and this is the question I deal with on a daily basis as someone who oversees community groups, which we view as gospel communities on mission. It’s a vital question for the church, which is typically seen as a Sunday event and maybe a small group bible study or Sunday school. Somewhere along the way, the common understanding of church became a place to go instead of a people who are going. A place to attend, instead of a people with a message to extend. The gospel was never to be kept inside of a church building, but was meant to define all of a Christian’s life and then lived out in a community that seeks to love and care for others.
The origins of the missional community idea are found in Acts chapter 2 in the scriptures that show a community responding to the good news of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection by being devoted to God, devoted to one another, and devoted to including their friends and neighbors in the good news. Church history shows us St. Patrick who lived this out in a community that eventually evangelized all of Ireland this way.
So now the church is asking, what happened? How do we return to being a people that extend the message and mercy of Jesus Christ, the good news of a good Savior to the world around us? How does missions become normal and local instead of being seen as only an overseas endeavor?
In comes missional community. The name spells it out, a community of people that live on mission together. But as the Verge Network has proved with their question, every church and leader has their own way of living it out.
Ultimately, a missional community is about principles more than it is about exact practicals. The various definitions and forms that happen all over the country and world all carry the same principles but are practically lived out differently depending on leadership and context.
Those primary principles appear to be:
- Gospel Identity: Everyone in the world lives defined by a certain identity. For the church & those in missional communities, that identity is found as someone saved by Jesus Christ’s work, not our efforts, and then sent as missionaries into the world. We’re not just blessed by God in Christ, we are also meant to be a blessing to others. We are missionaries because God is a missionary and we get to represent what He is like.
- Community on Mission: Missional Communities is an acknowledgement that our salvation is not an individual, “me & my God” thing, but we are saved into a family or community that cares for one another and serves others together. When a community receives good news, it shares good news.
- Gather around Mission: The missional community gathers around a specific evangelistic mission. Whether that’s a specific affinity group that everyone cares for or a geographic area where they live, each community has a specific group of people they want to extend the love of Christ to & serve them with the deeds of Christ. I’ve recently seen a greater emphasis on proximity rather than affinity.
- Discipleship is the key to sustainability: In the past, churches relied on a singular dynamic leader & in some instances that is still the case, but missional communities focuses on enabling every person to be a missionary & minister (or leader) in serving other people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Missional communities will only be as missional as their discipleship. Are they creating & enabling more people to be leaders? Are they making it simple & transferable? If not, it won’t last.
- Multiplication: The goal of a missional community is not to grow large in numbers of people, but to create new expressions of community & compassionate mission. They see as their end, multiplying into many communities and spreading the gracious message of Jesus to as many people as possible.
As I mentioned earlier, various churches and leaders do it differently and summarize it in a variety of ways. It typically focuses on core values as they define their practice.
The Austin Stone has God, Gospel, Mission. Austin City Life, Soma Communities, Kaleo San Diego, and The Crowded House, from England, have formed the GCM Collective to share resources centered around Gospel, Community, and Mission.
3DM, originally from England, has Up, In, Out. Neil Cole says Divine Truth, Nurturing Relationships, Apostolic Mission. JR Woodward lists 5 things. Felicity Dale summarizes it as a multiplying family that shares life together on mission. Christian Community Church in Chicago, which puts on Exponential which is centered around the idea of missional communities this year uses the terms Grow, Connect, Expand.
If I understood what Alan Hirsch was saying half the time, I might be able to summarize it similarly, but his accent entrances me. I know he is saying profound and great things, I just have trouble summarizing it. His latest book, Right Here, Right Now, is fantastic and summarizes the movements of a missional community as Move Out, Move In, Move Alongside, Move From.
The practicals of all of these leaders in this idea vary, but the principles do not. Practicals range from size, house church or megachurch, content, location, discipleship methods, and on and on, but the principles are the necessary components for each individual church and leader to wrestle with and define in their context. The message and principles must be contextualized rather than merely adopting the practicals.
The non-negotiable is that to be a career missionary alongside a community and missional community, or whatever you call it, has become to most effective means for churches to live out this truth to our world.
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Cross-posted from Gentrified.
A Child's Gospel
(Editor’s Note: This is the third article of a three part series entitled Kids in the Family of God. Here is Part One and Part Two.) I don’t think it’s biased to say my 23-1/2 month-old daughter is the cutest child God ever created. (Though she may be rivaled in two weeks when our second kiddo is born.) But coupling that statement with biblical truth, I should rightly say, “She’s the cutest little ball of depravity ever created!” From as early as three months, we knew our daughter was selfish, self-serving, and self-focused. Honestly, how could she be anything else!?
As she’s grown, and as we lovingly discipline her, we’re learning to speak not of good or bad - of “trying hard” and succeeding and failing. Instead, we speak of obedience and authority and discipline. As parents, we try (though we often fail) to reflect the loving-parent-ness of God when we explain to her – whether she can understand or not – that we know what’s best for her, and even if it hurts her feelings, she needs to obey because God put us in her life to reflect him.
By engaging kids, we see brokenness restored, over and over and over.
When we see her move from disobedience to obedience, we see an echo of the gospel. Humanity was created to obey. Our fallen nature pulls us to disobey. Her obedience is common grace as God turns her heart to listen and act.
When we lovingly have those corrective conversations in our community, two things occur: first, we display gospel-focused discipline for other parents and for those who will be parents one day. We learn from other parents in their loving discipline as well. Second, no matter what someone’s family history is, or how they were raised and disciplined, our community experiences together what it means to address the heart in our own disobedience. While we encourage our community not to carry out discipline in front of others, we do have these corrective conversations, and doing so has led to great discussions on our own tendencies, and our need for God to change our own hearts.
Corrective discipline is just one example of seeing brokenness restored in our children. When one child hurts another (intentionally or otherwise), we see forgiveness asked and granted, and a relationship restored. Even thinking on physical restoration, kids seem to get sick, bloody, stubbed, and bonked far more and far easier than grown-ups. But they also seem to bounce back with far more ease than our aged bodies do!
In seeing health restored after sickness, in seeing black and blue toes return to normal, even in seeing teary eyes turn into joyful squeals, we see brokenness restored. In the same way that Jesus’ physical healing pointed toward his spiritual work, all of these little restorations are echoes of the objective reality of God’s restorative work in his creation. Paul explains this in his letter to the Colossians: “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20).
Raising kids in the family of God allows you to see these things often - in your own children and in others.
Kids’ Need for You - Your Need for God
Most of us are familiar with verses like “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Luke 18:17) and “Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4). But when we really stop to think of what these verses mean, we see the gospel echoed in the life of a child.
Think of what a baby is able to do. Nothing. Young children are completely reliant on something outside of themselves: to provide for them, to nourish them, to care for them, to teach them, to do everything for them. Think of an elementary child. They’ve figured out how to walk and feed themselves, but they’re full of questions. They don’t know “this” or “that,” and they turn to someone “greater than themselves” (to use overly-obvious language for the metaphor I’m getting at) for answers. Even the rebellious teenager still needs Mom and Dad far more than they let on, and if the relationship is healthy, even adult children ask their parents for advice.
“Receiving the kingdom… like a little child” speaks of our great need - our inability to receive the kingdom by attaining it, by self-reliance, by our own work, action, and volition. We need something outside ourselves and greater than ourselves to deliver the kingdom to us. The only position we’re able to take before our heavenly Father is “humble… like a child” – full of nothing but a desperate need for God the Spirit to convict us of sin, enact his salvation, and continually apply the truth of our inability to areas of sin, selfishness, and evil. In objective salvation and in ongoing discipleship, children remind us of our need for God. Because whatever it is, without his work in and through us, we can’t do it.
Parents have the blessing of seeing this day in and day out. But as our entire church participates with our children, in communities and during gatherings, everyone can see reflections of our own position before God. Whether providing snacks, rocking to sleep, drying tears, opening a jar, cleaning up a spill, leading a song, saying a prayer, changing a diaper, picking up a toy, protecting against allergies, praying for, or otherwise serving our kids, we’re reminded of our great childlike need as we meet the needs of children.
Breaking idols
This has been alluded to already in this series of posts, but a third way we see the gospel is to realize that raising kids in the family of God reveals our hearts, and reveals our idols. Here are just a few examples:
- Embarrassment by a kid running, or making a noise, in a gathering of the church, might display a “fear of man” idol – you care more than you should, about what “they” think of you and your parenting.
- Annoyance with a child’s comment during a community meeting might display a lack of patience, which might be a control issue and/or selfishness over (in your mind) the “wasted time.”
- Stifling your child’s comments, for fear of what they might say, might be another control issue, as you distrust that God’s sovereign goodness extends even to your child – even if that means God uses your kid’s comment to humble you!
- Many parents don’t want other parents to speak into their family. While some advice-giving is ill-placed, self-sufficiency and pride is revealed in disregarding, or disallowing, godly counsel and wisdom from folks who are removed from your family’s daily patterns and rhythms. (One of the greatest parenting rebukes we’ve received was from a college guy – I despised him for a moment “what right do you have…” but he was removed enough to see objectively what I couldn’t!)
- Harsh words that slip out toward your child might reveal your lacking understanding of grace or at least your lack of displaying that grace.
What is revealed about how you treat your kids and the kids in your community?
I close this posts with wise words from Tim Chester:
"In You Can Change [Crossway, 2010] I identify four truths about God (the four Gs as some have characterized them):
- God is great – so we don’t have to be in control
- God is glorious – so we don’t have to fear others
- God is good – so we don’t have to look elsewhere
- God is gracious – so we don’t have to prove ourselves
“All our sinful behavioural and negative emotions stem from a failure at a functional level to believe one of these truths. So they’re a great diagnostic tool – both for ourselves and when pastoring others. But more importantly, they offer hope. Learning to have faith in these areas offers the real prospect of change through faith. It means we are speaking good news to people and that’s what we’re after – gospel-centred change. Legalism says, ‘You must not . . .’ The gospel says, ‘You need not . . . because God is bigger and better than sin.’"
Beyond biblical principles to follow and beyond experiential practice, the heart of raising kids in the family of God is that – in parents, in community members, in attendees of the church gathering, and in anyone else who participates in the corporate life – God uses children as one very-easy-to-see-way to reveal our idols. Through children, he shines a light on our selfishness. Through children, he shows our need for grace when we fail our children and other parents. And through children, he consistently points us toward the unquenchable need to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).
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Ben Connelly lives in Fort Worth, TX, with his wife and daughter (with another on the way this fall). He started The City Church in 2010 and lives on mission by teaching public speaking at TCU. Ben sits on the board of a few city-focused organizations, trains occasionally across the country, and writes at benconnelly.net. Twitter: @connellyben
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Parents, for more resources on discipling your children at home, check out Winfield Bevin's Beginner's Guide to Family Worship.
Managing Social Media (before it manages you)
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of social media. I’m convinced it’s an incredible tool to expand your reach, advance gospel causes, sharpen your communication skills, and on top of all that, it’s fun. However, social media also has the potential to consume your time, kill actual relationships with real people and divert your attention from things that matter. So, from the perspective of a pastor, how can we redeem social media? How can we manage it well, so that it doesn’t manage us? While this is by no means an exhaustive list, here are a four principles that I’ve thought through recently and have found to be helpful.
1. Get rid of notifications. One of the benefits of social media is the immediacy of it. News travels faster, and sooner, via Twitter than other method ever known. With that said, immediacy can often translate into an unnecessary sense of urgency. If you are not careful you will find yourself thinking that you have to always be available, and always be ready with a reply. The truth is, most of what you see/reply to can wait. To make this happen, I eliminated the notification options from Facebook and Twitter. I still have both of them on my phone, I just don’t get emails or notifications anymore. This helps me to respond when I have time, not when everyone else responds to me.
2. Get away, while not getting away. I have found that having occasional periods where I get away from social media is good for my soul. Rest is always helpful, and resting from social media is no different. I want to be certain that I control my social media habits, not vice versa. Now, those who know me might be surprised to hear that because it often seems like I’m always online. This is where good social media tools come in handy. Through the benefit of software like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite I am able to schedule updates, and I regularly use this feature. I will take a day’s break from social media, and schedule a number of updates to post to Twitter &/or Facebook while I’m gone. This allows me to consistently update gospel coaching information, which I think is one of the great values of social media, while personally getting away from it all. So get away, while not getting away.
3. Real people come first. By this I don’t mean that people online are not real people. I do, however, think that face to face interaction with people will always trump every other method of communication. So, when face to face, dump the social media. No checking up on your status, looking for replies or “likes”, no updating the latest bit of news, while you are conversing with others. I’ll admit, I often fail at this. Social media should always be a means to enhancing and/or fostering relationships with people that are physically present around you. Don’t sacrifice that, then, for the sake of your online presence.
4. Embrace the dichotomy. Classic media sources were all about “the news”. They were professional, precise and rarely revealed anyone’s personal lives, unless that is, the personal life was newsworthy. Social media, however, is seen by many people as exactly the opposite. They view it as narcissism run amok. It is the pinnacle of arrogance, they might say, to assume that others are interested, or should be interested, in the mundane realities of your everyday life. The truth is, however, that social media stands somewhere between the two maintaining a unique dichotomy. It is personal, no doubt, but it’s also more effective as a news vehicle than any sort of classic model. With that said, embrace both realities. I love social media because it allows me to engage people in my church on a much more consistent basis than I ever would apart from it. I also love it because I am able to extend the pulpit throughout the week as I attempt to provide gospel coaching to the people God has given me to shepherd. However, it’s also a blast because I get to share with people how amazing my wife is, how incredible my daughters are and how much fun my favorite sports teams are to root for. The truth is, this side of me might often be one that many in my church would never see. If not for this helpful medium the pastor would continue to be viewed as this unapproachable, truth teller, that exists in a different world than the average guy. Social media helps them to learn otherwise. It shows that I’m a bit of a mess, relying on grace like they are. That is a huge benefit in the corner of social media. So, embrace the dichotomy. Recognize it for what it is, and use it as much as possible, within that tension. You and the people you lead will be better for it.
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Cross-posted from Micah's personal blog.
On the Trinity, Gospel, Local Church, and More
What is the value of church history? I attempt to answer this very important question here in a video interview with Christianity.com conducted at the 2011 national conference of The Gospel Coalition.
What is the value of church history? I attempt to answer this very important question here in a video interview with Christianity.com conducted at the 2011 national conference of The Gospel Coalition. I reference the doctrine of the Trinity–currently a hot-button issue due to the matter of modalism raised in light of the Elephant Room video series–to show that while historical theology does not create truth, it certainly allows Christians to put together biblical insights, to systematize doctrine for the flourishing of God’s people and the defense of God’s name. (That’s Athanasius, Trinitarian theologian par excellence, to the root, by the way.)
You can watch the featured Christianity.com video here. Here is a list of other videos that I did for this organization, which is committed to putting out rich doctrinal content to aid Christians in their walk with Christ. I’m thankful for the chance to have made a small contribution and hope that these videos stimulate thought and learning. They were very fun to do. Most are between 2-3 minutes.
Here are the topics I talked about in bite-size pieces:
- How should we interpret 1 Timothy 2:12?
- What was God doing before He created the world? (fun question!)
- What is the gospel?
- What church history books should every Christian read? (Marsden!)
- Why should every Christian belong to a local church?
- Who are the Puritans and what can we learn from them? (bunch of kill-joys)
- Why should a busy pastor study theology?
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Cross-posted from Owen's personal blog.
The Neighborhood Mission Start Up
People in our age often want to be told what to do so they can follow the directions. The dangerous thing is that if we just tell people what to do, then we not only become their functional savior for mission, we also avoid training them as leaders. This enables followers to stay followers and keeps leaders as their idols. We become the Holy Spirit for them, and when something in their life isn’t working, they don’t go the King. They come to another finite servant for direction. They become our disciple, not a disciple of Jesus. I’ll actually be speaking more on this understanding of leadership development at the GCM National Conference in September. So, what do I tell these people that inquire about how to live Christ's mission in their neighborhood (without making them feel stupid for asking a question that was prodded by the Spirit)?
Jesus tells us to love your neighbor as you love yourself.
He also tells us in Acts 1:8 that he’ll send us power by way of the Spirit to empower us for mission… to be his witnesses. (Notice witness is a noun, not a verb. You are the witness. It’s not something you do, but someone you are by His power.)
If we take these two principles to the neighborhood, what might that look like?
What would you attend if you were invited by a neighbor?
This seems very simple, but most don’t do this easy task. There is a great list given over at Verge by Josh Reeves - good dude by the way - called 25 Simple Ways to Missional to Your Neighborhood. Over at the GCM Collective there is a great document by Jeff Vanderstelt called Contextualization Assessment Starter. These are two great tools to start your mind thinking, but I have a very simple way to start. Simply ask yourself and your family, what would you attend if a neighbor invited you?
Would you attend a church service?
Would you attend a picket line?
Would you attend a “school” during the summer at another place in the city?
Some event where someone is trying to sell you trinkets?
Maybe some of you are thinking…"Yes I would!"
If so, try it out. See if it works. If not, think through other things that you might attend.
A front yard BBQ? A Saturday morning breakfast? An ice cream party? A UFC fight party?
What you will find through this process is the demographics of your neighborhood. When I started, one of the things I tried was inviting over people for a UFC fight. Literally no one showed up. Most of the folks I talked to afterwards said that they just weren’t interested in the UFC. That was the pits for me, because I dig me some ultimate fighting, but that gave me a better understanding of the neighborhood. Also, I got a chance to ask the next question to my neighbor:
What do you enjoy doing?
Now I get ideas, plus some ways to engage my neighbor for their story.
Neighbor: I really enjoy things I can do with my whole family.
Me: Oh, you have kids? How old are they? What are their names, etc.? What do you guys enjoy as a family?
Just with that small question, you're already beginning your contextualized understanding of your neighborhood.
You’ll also notice you'll start to engage your neighbors, whether they are in your “demographic” or not. This doesn’t simply “work” if you are in a neighborhood surrounded by people like you. It will also work in those neighborhoods where you are not like your neighbors. You can try some things you like. They might fail. But that just gives you a chance to engage neighbors to see what they enjoy and what would draw them out to engage the community as a whole.
How would you like to be invited to engage community?
The next question people ask me is this:
I have an idea to engage neighbors. How should I invite them?
I just turn the question back on them:
How would you like to be invited to something from someone you don’t know? What kind of invitation would you ignore? What kind of invitation would cause you to engage?
I don’t know about you, but I would ignore most things sent to me in the mail or something just left on my doorstep. For me, I would respond positively from a face-to-face interaction, with something left behind with the information.
This is exactly what I decided to do three years ago in our neighborhood. I took flyers around to our neighbors, knocked on their doors and introduced myself to them and invited them to our 4th of July party. This created many opportunities for conversation and many have come to our community events because of a simple introduction.
For others, email might work, Facebook (I have a community Facebook group now that we’ve built relationships), evite, etc. Think through different ways to communicate to people, to engage them in the ways that your neighborhood is comfortable with.
Sent by His Power
This is the greatest part. You have the power of the eternal God, the embodiment of wisdom, inside you for his glory.
After thinking through the first two questions of how we can love our neighbors like we love ourselves, we must not forget the first part. The commandment to love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
We need to go to our God to simply ask him what he’d like us to do next with his power. When we go through what things we are going to do to engage our neighbors, or any other group, we must first ask our Dad. "Dad, what’s next with this neighborhood to show off your glory?"
Then listen…
Then do what he tells you.
It might be huge, or it might be small. The important thing is to be obedient to him after he tells you what he desires. This doesn’t mean it will “work” in your eyes (such as the UFC thing above), but it means you're allowing your eternal Dad to determine what you NEED to do to make you more like Jesus and for others around you to see his glory and fame.
I fully believe if we think through these three easy steps, we’ll engage our neighborhoods and other groups around us much more often with more power and positive response from those around us.
Yes, you’ll end up sacrificing your time, your money and your possessions, but in the end isn’t this what we are called to do as followers of Jesus?
Love others as you love yourself by the power of the Spirit, and watch the work God will do.
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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 as well as a missional community leader, preaching elder with Soma Communities in Renton, Washington, and executive team member of the GCM Collective. In his down time, he likes to do CrossFit, cook BBQ, and host pancake ebelskiver breakfasts at his home. Twitter @sdmcbee
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For more information on taking the gospel to the streets, check out Jonathan Dodson's Unbelievable Gospel.
For more free articles on missional living read: Invite & Invest to Make Disciples by Greg Gibson, Theology is for Everyone by David Fairchild, and The Gospel & Our Neighbors by Alvin Reid.
Christians and Internet Presence: A Roundtable
About a year ago, I sat down with some friends of mine in a virtual roundtable to speak on the benefits and downfalls of social media and blogging for Christians. What a great way to introduce Project TGM! These men who have experience with popularity in the blogging and social media world (with 4-to-5-digit Twitter followers and top 200 Christian blogs) joined me to discuss. It is my aim that this discussion would help you personally and the Church as a whole consider the Kingdom implications of blogging and social media.
The Panel:
Trevin Wax
BLOG: Kingdom People
TWITTER: trevinwax -
Steve McCoy
BLOG: Reformissionary
TWITTER: stevekmccoy -
Jared Wilson
BLOG: Gospel-Driven Church
TWITTER: jaredcwilson
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In an age when everyone has a presence on the internet, should Christians consider blogging? And if so, what should they aim for?
What should we aim for? Generally speaking, the glory of God and the good of the church. That’s general, you say, so not so helpful. But to get more specific would require me to make rules that might not apply to all blogs. Some blogs are intended to be challenging for church leaders. Other blogs try to provide helpful book reviews to people who want to read more. Some blogs are personal commentaries sprinkled with insights into the Christian life. Other blogs link to good content on the web. I think a Justin Taylor has a specific aim quite different than say, Tim Challies. Justin is more a curator of content, whereas Tim is a creator of content. The specific aims are different, but I think both guys are trying to serve the church in their own way.
*BRANDON SMITH: The ultimate aim, as Trevin so perfectly stated is “the glory of God and the good of the church.” To me, this even includes the Christian who isn’t necessarily blogging about Christianity. If a Christian wants to start a sports blog, family blog, or random photos blog then they should do so with clear Biblical ethics and practice.
There is a cultural myth that states that God is separate from our work, hobbies, etc. There is nothing further from the truth because God is the God of our ENTIRE lives, not just our “spiritual” life. With that in mind, whatever we do on a blog or social network should still reflect Christ and not place you below reproach. Are you perfect? No, and that isn’t my point. But, it goes without saying that blogging in a way that is sinful or causes your brothers/sisters to stumble is not wise.
*JARED WILSON: I agree, and I really like Trevin’s emphasis on how the blog world is not a big deal. I encourage bloggers, especially those who are well-known to somewhat well-known, to have close friends who simply don’t care. They don’t read, aren’t interested, don’t care. I would encourage this extra especially to well-known Christian bloggers who pastor churches or have book deals or what-have-you. Surround yourself with people who are unimpressed by anything that happens online. Maybe find some who don’t even own a computer!
*STEVE MCCOY: Blogging can be kind of whatever you want it to be. A Christian may want to start a blog in the hope of generating revenue for their kids’ college education by putting up good online deals for pots and pans. Whatever, have fun, make some cash. But I’m guessing you mean a “Christian blog” in which someone says God-stuff. Fair enough.
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In an article from Fast Company, the assertion was made that social media (and Twitter in particular) is not an effective tool for influence due mainly to the short shelf life of status’ and massive amount of users. Can social media truly have a positive influence on Christianity, both locally and worldwide?
*JARED WILSON: I may be a terrible person to ask this question, because I don’t spend much time thinking about how much influence social media has. I suppose if I were trying to be a professional blogger (or tweeter) or made a daily connection between my blogging/tweeting and promoting my writing, I would. But my basic reaction to the Fast Company appraisal of social media’s lack of influence is: okay.
*STEVE MCCOY: Yes, no question. It’s just a tool for communication and relationships. Tweets pass away, but Twitterers remain. Each tweet I read impacts me, develops some aspect of my relationship with the author, etc. Couldn’t we be answering this same question about phone calls? For me social media isn’t about permanence of what is said but the permanence of those saying it.
In the debate over “Christian Hollywood,” there are two sides: Those who believe that any sort of fame for a Christian is idolatrous or prideful and those who believe that fame is good if used as a platform for Jesus. Is fame something that Christians should avoid or embrace?
*BRANDON SMITH: “Christian Hollywood” in and of itself is nothing new to the church. Men like Charles Spurgeon donned billboards in England and the duo of George Whitefield and John Wesley preached to packed churches and pastures. Today, however, it is definitely at its height. With media the way it is, Christians can become famous through books, podcasts, blogs, megachurches, and getting on CNN like John MacArthur, Rick Warren, and Al Mohler. We also see role models such as Tim Tebow rise up in pop culture representing Jesus, and representing Him well. In all of these examples, there has been an extremely positive impression left on Christianity as a whole, in my opinion. Of course, the flip side is watching the painful fall of pastors’ public ministries which no doubt fuels the detractors of Christians in the limelight.
The question really comes down to motive. Joining “Christian Hollywood,” wherever you define that line to be, is something that should absolutely not be aimed for. Some of the most idolatrous people that I have met are those trying to get famous. It’s dangerous to even think of it as “fame;” I prefer the operative word “influence.” There is certainly nothing wrong with influence if your motives are to see the lost saved and the church edified. We are all sinners with the tendency to think we “deserve” something and we want to be recognized. This part of our insecure pride is probably unavoidable, but the temptation is manageable if you rely and lean on the grace of God alone. We could all go the Kirk Cameron Fireproof route and smash our computers or avoid technology like the Amish, but I think it’s much more helpful to pray and beg the Spirit to break our egos.
In relation to blogging, Twitter, Facebook, etc., I think Jared made a great admission in an earlier question when he stated, “Obviously I am interested in some level of influence, or else I wouldn’t post my thoughts in public forums for others to read.” If you own a blog or frequently post on social networking sites, then the chances are that you desire to be heard. I don’t think that this desire should be demonized, but you should be sensitive to what is driving this desire. Is it to be the next John Piper and see your name on books, or is it to use your God-given writing talents or theological insights to see the Kingdom advanced? I always remind myself of this: God has given me X number of blog readers, Twitter followers, Facebook friends, and other contacts in order to glorify Him and fulfill the Great Commission in whatever small or large way He has granted me to do so. I would be remiss to prostitute His gifts for my own gain.
*TREVIN WAX: Brandon, I agree that there is nothing inherently evil in thinking you have something valuable to say. Everyone who ever preaches or teaches could be accused of pride if that were the case. Dave Harvey’s Rescuing Ambition has been helpful to me in thinking through the ways that ambition can be harnessed for the glory of God. Yet, I must admit that however much we try, even our best motives are tainted by sin. If we think they aren’t, we deceive ourselves. So blogging (like teaching, preaching, writing, etc.) must take place within a context of continual repentance, with the added hope of stewarding wisely whatever amount of influence God gives us.
*STEVE MCCOY: I think it’s complicated. Some famous Christians are shaming Christ and others are making Him known. Some are getting rich off books for selfish reasons and others are providing resources that are changing lives. Fame seems to be associated with pride, yet some of the famous Christians who have influenced me most are known because they are generous and humble and speak with a sense of God and eternity.
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What are some practical ways that social media and blogging can benefit churches, church leaders, and their audience?
*JARED WILSON: My experience mirrors Steve’s fairly closely except for his last statement on receiving visitors based on web-based information. I live in an area where very few adults are on social media. Many are on Facebook, particularly teenagers, but virtually no one’s on Twitter. There is a sizable minority here in rural Vermont who aren’t on the Internet or don’t even have a computer. And then among those over 30 who access the web, they are rarely on any kind of social media.
Cross-posted from Modern March.
Church Discipline Wasn't Just a New Testament Thing
Oddly enough, I've been doing a lot of research and reading on church discipline lately. Don't worry though, I was researching a blog post for one of my bosses, and there was also a new B&H release on the subject—Those Who Must Give an Account. That was all last week. Then this morning's Bible reading (using the 4+1 plan from Read the Bible for Life) dropped me into Numbers 5.
The Lord instructed Moses: “Command the Israelites to send away anyone from the camp who is afflicted with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, or anyone who is defiled because of a corpse. You must send away both male or female; send them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps where I dwell among them.” The Israelites did this, sending them outside the camp. The Israelites did as the Lord instructed Moses.
Sure does look familiar. Those who were members of God's family were put out of the flock when they were found to be unclean.
Leprosy, now specifically known as Hansen's disease, was akin to death in Biblical times. There was no way back into fellowship with God's people unless you had been cleansed by God and inspected by the priest (see Leviticus 13). If one had leprosy, one was basically living as though dead.
While interesting to study and debate at times, Church discipline is never enjoyable in its application. For if one takes joy in exercising discipline over unrepentant sin, there are greater issues at hand.
The same could be said for those cast out due to leprosy. Family members and friends would no doubt be devastated by the news. They would likely cry out in desperation for healing.
Our response to Church discipline should be similar. It should be marked with brokenness for those who are unrepentant. We should cry out for their spiritual healing. And if/when they return, we should welcome them with open arms, ecstatic that they are once again in fellowship with the community.
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Jonathan Howe serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives at LifeWay Christian Resources, the host and producer of Rainer on Leadership and SBC This Week. Jonathan writes weekly at ThomRainer.com on topics ranging from social media to websites and church communications.
Street Grace
Do you know any sign flippers? You know the dudes that stand on busy street corners with giant signs advertising the local cellphone or subway sandwich shop? They usually dance, yell, and flip the sign in order bring in customers. I know the sign flipper on El Cajon and College Ave. His name is Joe. He is new to the job and new to our community. He has a girlfriend from the Ukraine named Arena. He flips a good sign. Not so flashy and flamboyant that you feel awkward at the stop light but also not sleeping on the job. Joe is one of the most encouraging dudes I have met. He loves a good sermon and always lets his pastor know it. The other day at a community baby shower Joe won the, “who can chug root beer out of a baby bottle the fastest contest.” He is a legend around these parts now.
Street Signs
How did I meet Joe? Well the first time was at basketball game at the park right - after he'd drunk a 40. Lately, Joe has been hanging with Doug. Doug is almost 50 and has a big heart for our whole community. Doug is well known for having a pretty sweet ride. He owns a used but fashionable baby stroller that has a bungee corded garbage can connected to it - Big time! The garbage can is filled with empty cans and bottles he recycles. Sometimes it is also loaded with not so empty beer cans too. One week he parked his ride in front of our Sunday gathering, and it was packed.
Welcome to church. Would you like a cold one?
I have spent most of my life believing the lie that the Doug’s and Joe’s of the world aren’t worth my time. And I have been missing out on following my God into an abundant life of service and new friendships.
As a Christian I worship a God that went out of his way to serve those that society had deemed outcast. His band of followers were hated tax collectors, lowly fishermen and prostitutes. He didn’t avoid outcasts. He sought them out and washed their feet. This is the life of Jesus, this is our radical God.
Consider the weight of grace in our everyday life. Jesus says that the last on earth will be the first in the Kingdom of heaven. He even goes as far to say that how we treat the least of these is how we are treating him. Jesus went out of his way to love, cherish, heal and transform the lives of the very least in his city. Grace defines the life Christ lived on earth and the life he calls his disciples to follow him into.
Christ sees beyond our cultural stigmas and stereotypes and instead sees the people he has created to love and be loved, a people that he created to image him. Where the world sees losers and outcast our God sees Kingdom celebrities! Jesus didn’t just start programs for the outcast in his city (not that these are bad) but instead he shared life with them. Today, he invites all of his followers to share life with some of His Kingdom’s most famous people. I don’t want to miss out on this!
Scared by Grace?
From the outside, taking grace to the streets looks scary and lame, but Christ promises that he came to give life abundant. Jesus is not just talking about having a free meal or a program. Instead, Christ invites us to share his grace with even the most disenfranchised. To share grace with some of His Kingdom’s most famous people!
Our church doesn’t have any programs for feeding the homeless and/or impoverished. We have grown in knowing the Kingdom celebrities in our community by sharing our lives with them. We simply hang out where they hang out and invite them to hang out with us. We play basketball, board games, laugh, share meals, watch movies and help each other out. That’s right, we help each other out!
Even the most downtrodden folks have some mad skills, and if you get to know them you will find many are often eager to help and serve. My deck was just re-stained while I was on vacation by a good friend who without Christ I would have missed out on even knowing.
Keeping it Real
I don’t want to paint an unrealistic picture, loving and living out grace to Kingdom celebrities can be messy, heartbreaking, exhausting and expensive. But last I checked, Christ endured much more to love me and he did it for the joy set before him. Loving and following Jesus into the nooks and crannies of your city will cost you everything, but it will gain you much more.
Jesus says that how we treat the least of these is how we are treating him. He identifies with the hurting and broken to the point of dying a torturous death on a filthy Roman cross. He died the death that was created to publicly humiliate the very worst people in all of society. And he chose this death for the joy set before him. The joy of seeing lives be restored and stories be redeemed.
The gospel reminds us that we are the least of these. Identifying with the messy and broken should be easy for a group of people that believe they are so messy and broken God had to shed his blood to restore them.
The first step to loving the poor and disenfranchised in your city is realizing you are the least of these. From the CEO of the multi-million dollar company to the cashier at the taco stand, we all are equally poor and broken without Christ. And we all have the potential to be eternally rich with Christ!
We serve the broken because we are broken and he serves us. We love the unlovable because we are unlovable and he loves us.
These truths take the pressure off. We can love those different than us by living normal life together. Learn each others stories, hang out, share a meal, play a game and help each other out. That’s right, help each other out! You will be surprised who can serve, help and encourage you when you realize you are just another broken human in need of Jesus.
So who do you name drop? Do you know the people in your neighborhood that Jesus considers famous? Do you treat the CEO differently than the sign-flipper? Are you more patient with the rich and famous than the down and out?
I know the sign flipper on El Cajon and College Ave. His name is Joe.
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Jake Chambers: A member of Jesus’ bride - the church, husband to his beautiful bride Lindsey, and a daddy to his boy Ezra. Jake is passionate about seeing the gospel both transform lives and create communities that love Jesus, the city, and the lost. He currently serves Red Door Church through leading, preaching, equipping, and pastoring. You can read more of his writing at reddoorlife.tv.
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For a more in-depth discussion of authentically living out the mission of the gospel, check out Jonathan Dodson's Unbelievable Gospel.
For free articles on blending gospel-centered mission and community in the your everyday life, read: Lindsay Fooshee's The Unqualified Disciple, Winfield Bevins' How Jesus Made Disciples, and Jeff Vanderstelt's Gospel Hospitality.
Gospel Love & Arranged Marriage
Before we moved to Dubai four years ago to plant a church the only information I had about arranged marriages was what I saw in movies. As I’ve come to minister alongside and disciple some wonderful, Spirit-filled women in arranged marriages, the gospel has shaped my ministry in this context.
Obstacles & Opportunities
While marriages that are arranged present some unique obstacles, unique opportunities have also surfaced. Said another way, the gospel is for everyone, and followers of Christ are called to set aside cultural presuppositions as we make disciples. Examples of this abound in the Book of Acts and in Paul's letters. Our calling is no different now.
It is my hope that in sharing the lessons I've learned about discipleship and arranged marriages that some principles and examples of grace will speak to the ability of the gospel to transcend geo-political and cultural boundaries with the message of hope and renewal and salvation found only in Christ Jesus.
Gospel Hope for Arranged Marriages
I know we may be tempted to think that perhaps some relationships are outside the realm of gospel application. Some issues and situations are just too different, we reason. But the gospel is thoroughly relevant to any and all relationships. God, in his all-powerful sovereignty, governs our relationships—even the relationships that seem from the outset to be entirely orchestrated by us.
The gospel even informs and shapes arranged marriages.
There are many varieties of arranged marriages, but not a single one of them is planned outside of the providential will of our sovereign God.
Some arranged marriages are brilliant testimonies to God’s manifold wisdom as thoughtful parents and young adults are guided by the Holy Spirit. Some arranged marriages speak of God’s common grace and his merciful redemption in spite of our faithlessness and reckless planning. And sadly, some arranged marriages are cause for mourning as families and couples’ lives intersect with each other in the midst unrighteous deeds that will bring God’s judgment if they don’t escape through trusting the Son. One such example of this would be the arranged marriages of “child brides,” in which case legal authorities ought to intervene to protect the rights of children to not be given in marriage.
It goes to follow that some “love marriages” (as they are commonly called) are testimonies to God’s manifold wisdom. Some are beautiful pictures of his redeeming love despite our failures. And some desperately need to be introduced to Christ Jesus, the one who epitomizes, initiates, and sustains love.
In our consideration of how the gospel is thoroughly relevant to arranged marriages, it is evident that arranged marriages are not dissimilar to love marriages in their dependence on Jesus Christ for all things pertaining to life and godliness.
The Opportunities of Differences - Vested Interest
As similar as arranged marriages and love marriages are in their dependence on the gospel, there are some practical differences to note. I’ll mention two of these unique qualities of arranged marriages and their relationship to gospel-centered discipleship.
A first note of difference is that in an arranged marriage the community and family have a greater degree of collective input in match-making and the perseverance of the marriage. This vested interest in a marriage often results in a greater degree of accountability for the new couple. The new couple is expected to fall in line with the expectations of the community and family in almost every arena of married life. This vested interest on the part of the community can mean increased support for the new couple. For the sake of the community, families and neighbors are more likely to come alongside new couples with practical helps and counsel.
The gospel sustains arranged marriages in communities that are reborn through imperishable seed. The gospel is also thoroughly relevant to arranged marriages in non-Christian contexts as well. In these cases, the couples must remain intentionally and deeply committed to fellowship in their local church where gospel-centered discipleship can happen. As the couple receives encouragement and edification from the gospel-centered community, they shine as lights in a dark world.
The Opportunities of Differences - Working Knowledge
A second note of difference is that in many arranged marriages the new couple does not enter marriage with a “working knowledge” of their spouse. Their families may have been friends since they were children, but often in cultures that practice arranged marriages the young men and young women do not socially intermix. In these cases, the practical discussions that occur in premarital counseling are territory that is likely covered after the covenant of marriage has already been made.
In this instance the foundation of the gospel is even more obvious. When encouraging a friend to stay faithful to their arranged marriage you do not have the surface-level motive of “Remember why you got married” as a motivator from which to draw. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19) becomes manifestly important! We must choose to love one another with the strength that Christ provides to the praise of God the Father. This strength comes from being rooted and grounded in the love of Christ as it is displayed in the gospel of grace.
Don’t be reluctant to counsel your friend in an arranged marriage toward their dependence on Jesus Christ as the author of their faith. The trunk of their family tree may look different, but the roots of the gospel are the same and the fruits of the Spirit are universally sweet.
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Gloria Furman is a member of Redeemer Church of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates where her husband Dave is the pastor. They have three children - Aliza, Norah, and Judson. Gloria blogs regularly at Domestic Kingdom.
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For more on living the mission of Christ, check-out Winfield's book Grow: Reproducing Through Organic Discipleship.
For more free mission resources, see: A Gospel for the Muslim by JD Greear, Raising Gospel Centered Children by Luma Simms, and Discipleship 101: How to Disciple a New Believer by Justin Buzzard.
Spiritual Strength Training - Part One
(Editor's note: Here's Spiritual Strength Training - Part Two.)
Most pastoral problems, such as burnout, backsliding, depression, begin with neglect of the body.
Let me say that again in a different way. From what I’ve seen and experienced, most pastoral soul-care problems begin with neglect of the body, a lack of strength training. Soul-care problems do not usually begin with channel-surfing or with a click of the mouse, nor with wandering eyes or hands, nor with shortening or missing private devotions. They begin by neglecting the body, by denying or ignoring its many varied needs. The other problems inevitably and inexorably follow.
Theological Problem
This question of spiritual strength training is not merely a practical problem or a physical issue. This is also theological problem, a problem that’s associated with a wrong view of God. And it’s not just a slightly wrong view. Its error is fundamental and foundational because it concerns the fundamental and foundational truth that God is our Creator.
That’s the very first truth that’s revealed to us in Scripture. And it’s first for a reason. It’s because if we go wrong there, we run a great risk of going wrong everywhere else. Now some of you are thinking, “Don’t insult me, man. I believe in God as Creator. I defend God as Creator. I fight those who deny God as Creator. I can even prove God is Creator. How can you say that my soul-care problems arise from denying God as Creator?" Well, maybe we are not denying God as Creator with our lips, but some of us are with our lives.
Creationists living like Evolutionists
There are lots of people who call God “Lord” but don’t live as His servants. And there are lots of people – yes, even pastors - who call God Creator and preach God as Creator, but who live like evolutionists. Some pastors give the impression that the ministry is about the survival of the fittest! (OR THE FATTEST!)
God’s Creatorhood has massive implications for the way we live and the way we do ministry. Although we usually skim over that chapter in our Systematic Theologies and rush on to more “gospel-centered” material, I’ve become increasingly convinced that we cannot be gospel-centered unless we are also Creator-centered. We cannot live as zealous saints unless we first of all live as dependent creatures. The soul and body are so intertwined and inter-connected that we will make no progress in soul-care unless we start with, and go on with body-care.
Our Maker’s Instructions
How would you feel if you built a remote control model car for your children, only to come back home a few days later to hear that they had broken it by trying to use it as a plane? You’d say, “I gave you instructions, why didn’t you follow them?” Similarly, God has given us instructions about how to live as creatures. To some of us God may be saying, “Why are you trying to live as angels or as disembodied spirits? Why aren’t you following my instructions?”
God publishes his instruction in various places in His Word, but also, especially in this subject area, in his World. Increasingly he is allowing scientists and researchers to discover how the body functions best. For example, yesterday I saw research that was headlined, “The more you sit, the sooner you will die!” That made me sit up! In fact it made me stand up!! That’s my loving Creator’s instructions coming to me via reliable research, which I read through the spectacles of Scripture. We ignore such gracious instruction at our peril.
The body is a complicated mix of physical material and physical forces: electricity, chemistry, physics, biology, plumbing, gasses, pumps, siphons, lubrication, buttons, switches, receptors, etc. Then there’s the soul, way more complex than the body and completely inaccessible to empirical research methods. Although we have some Biblical data to mine and research, yielding us some basics about the soul’s capacities and abilities, so much about the soul remains a mystery. Then you put complex body and complex soul together and what do you get – multiple complexities! How do they relate, how do they interact? How do problems in the body affect the soul and vice versa?
Biblical Link
The Bible confirms a link between distorted thoughts or emotions and many of our bodily ailments: “A merry heart does good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones” (Prov. 17:22). Guilt also damages the body (Psalm 32:3–4).
And what about feelings and thoughts? Where do they originate? What do they influence and impact? What do they link with and overlap with? How come when our body is sick, even with a common cold or allergy, that our thoughts, feelings, and even our spiritual life are impacted? Does that go the other way as well? It seems to. When our spiritual life is damaged, it often seems to impact our bodies as well. When our emotions are depressed, so many things go wrong with our bodies as well. Doctors call this psychosomatic (mind/body) illness.
Layers of Complexity
Then throw on top of all that the conscience and the will? Do they operate independently or are they simply part of the soul? Are they affected by the body and/or just the soul? Analysis of the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual contributions to each situation is so difficult. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote:
Christians don’t understand how physical, psychological, and spiritual realms interrelate because Satan muddies the boundaries. Many of our troubles are caused because we think a problem is spiritual when it is physical or we think a problem is physical when it is emotional or spiritual.
The complexity and interconnectivity of human nature, means that the health of the body effects the health of the soul and vice versa. And it also means that it’s not easy to figure out the contribution of each to our problems! One thing is for sure, we cannot neglect one realm and expect the other not to suffer the consequences.
Creatures, by definition, are less than their Creator. He is infinite; we are finite. He is unlimited; we are limited. Hopefully none of us really think that we are unlimited. However most of us think we are less limited than we actually are. We certainly vastly over-estimate our physical strength, emotional stamina, moral courage, spiritual maturity, volitional muscle, and conscience steel.
Crashing and Burning
Underestimating our limitations and over-estimating our abilities can only have one outcome – weakness, fraying, and eventually breaking. Try it with anything – your car engine, a towrope, your computer, etc. Underestimate the limitations and over-estimate the abilities and you will eventually blow the engine, break the rope, and crash the computer.
Why do we think it’s any different with ourselves? Some people may break after two weeks or two years. Others may take much longer. It’s these people who especially need to be careful because their habits have become so engrained that they no longer pay attention to any warning signs. It’s like the elastic band. Better it snap before you pull it too tight, because the stronger the band - the further you can stretch it - the more forceful and damaging the eventual snap.
Changing and Challenging Limits
Our limitations also change through the years and seasons of life. Hormones and brain chemistry change, our responsibilities increase as marriage and children come along, “events” come along, stressful and painful providences that stretch and strain us.
Some initially do very well under huge stress. I’ve seen people pass through multiple horrendous troubles, and everyone’s amazed at their fortitude and perseverance. Then, maybe something smaller comes along years later, and they fall apart. They break down. Everyone looks on in amazement, “How can they not cope with this?” But the stress on our bodies and minds is cumulative. The straw that broke the camels back came after years of beating with a very heavy club! Everyone has limits.
Isn’t it strange that we very rarely take health advice for ourselves until we lose our health!? Health advice is for others isn’t it? We must find out our limits – physical, spiritual, emotional, moral, etc. – and we may need someone objective to help us with this. And when we find them, we must accept and work within them.
Men and women with very high limits must not impose them on those with lower limits. And those with lower limits must not impose that on those with higher limits. Let not the lower limit people be jealous of the higher limit people. Let not the higher limit people despise the lower. Let those that think they stand, take heed lest they fall. God has his way of humbling us and showing us our limitations.
We are Dependent Creatures
Even before the Fall, Adam and Eve were dependent upon their Creator. That’s how they were made. They leaned upon him, sought help from him, and sought to live in a way that pleased him. Independence did not cross their minds…until they heard, “You shall be as gods…You won’t need God. You can do without God. You can be god yourself. You can depend on yourself, on your own wisdom and strength.” And what a disaster ensued!
Many of us are theologically dependent but experientially independent. We depend on God with our lips but not with our lives. We say we lean on him for everything, but he rarely feels our weight. And disaster is often the result.
Imagine you’re in New York City with your family. Your two-year-old is just learning to walk and decides to experiment when you get to Times Square. He hops out the pushchair and starts walking away from you. You call out, “Come back, stay with me!” No answer. You run after him and try to grab his hand. He pulls away and keeps going toward the crowds and the cars. And all the while he’s saying, “Daddy, I love you!”
Some of us are living like this. Our Creator’s name is on our lips, but we are not living in dependence upon him. We say we love him but we never lean on him. And that puts us in far greater danger – physical, moral, and spiritual danger – than the two-year-old in Times Square!
Two-way Protection
God has not just made our souls to protect our bodies, but our bodies to protect our souls. If we are sleeping well, resting well, exercising well, eating well, our minds are clearer, our wills are stronger, and our defenses are higher. It’s easier to pray, to discipline ourselves, to read the Bible, to serve. A good conscience is greatly helped by a sharp mind and strong will.
Remember: most pastoral problems - burnout, backsliding, depression - begin with a neglect of the body. The most basic Christian experience is dependence. If we don’t live as dependent creatures we are not worshipping our Creator. By our independence, we are worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator.
We are not just creatures, not just complex creatures, not just limited creatures, and not just dependent creatures, but we are also fallen creatures! As part of the curse upon us for our first parent’s first sin, death entered the creation and even the greatest creature – humanity. Death entered into our bodies, our souls, our minds, our wills, and our emotions. Death is at work in the youngest baby. As soon as conception occurs and life begins, so does dying and death. If you thought we were complex before, we are even more complex now.
A Complex Mess
Like all anglers, I’m fatally attracted by the latest “guaranteed” fish-catching reel. And of course, as we all know, the more complicated (and expensive) a reel is, the more likely it is to catch fish. Right?! Now complicated reels are great when they are working well, but when they break down, they make a much bigger mess than standard reels.
That’s why humanity is in a much worse state than any other creature; the more complex the creature the more mess when they break. And that’s why nature films focus on animals rather than humanity. Who wants to look at ugly human creatures in all their brokenness when you can see much more residual beauty in the animal kingdom!
Welcome to humanity! What a mess – our bodies, our minds, our organs, our members, our chemistry, our physics, our plumbing, everything is in such a mess – each part of our humanity on its own and especially each part as it interacts with other parts.
Spiritual Strength Training
But the best news is that our gracious and powerful Creator is in the business of re-creating. Our Creator has come down into our fallen world and lived as a creature to save His creatures and begin the process of making all things new.
However, that renewing requires our cooperation. We will hinder the process of re-creation as creative creatures if we do not live within our creaturely limits and if we do not respect how God created us. And that includes regular rest – healthy daily sleep patterns and a weekly Sabbath – recreation, relaxation, routine.
Let me encourage you further along the road to spiritual strength training with this fact: Creativity research has shown that the most creative people find most of their creativity insights and breakthroughs in down-time. Eureka moments - breakthroughs in thought, design, engineering - usually come when the mind and body are resting.
Creative Creatures (and Preachers)
To put it bluntly, tired pastors produce tired sermons. If we want fresh sermons we need to refresh and be fresh ourselves. If we don’t live as creatures, we will not be creative! As the 19th century pastor, William Blaikie wrote:
But even where there is no positive disease, there may be a physical languor that reflects itself in feebleness of voice, dullness of tone, stiffness of manner, and a general want of lively and attractive power. It may be difficult to persuade some preachers that physical causes have to do with this, but the connection is beyond all reasonable doubt. And the fact that such symptoms are the effect of some transgression of the laws of health makes it incumbent upon the student to attend to the condition of his outer man.
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David Murray was a pastor in Scotland for 13 years before accepting a call in 2007 to be Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology in Puritan Reformed Seminary. He continues to preach most Sundays in Grand Rapids and the surrounding area. He is the author of Christians Get Depressed Too and How Sermons Work. He is also President of HeadHeartHand Media, a small Christian film company. David is married to Shona and they have four children ranging from 8 to 16. You can read his blog at HeadHeartHand.org/blog or follow him on Twitter @davidpmurray.
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For more in-depth resources for pastors, check out Tony Merida's Proclaiming Jesus.
For more free articles for pastors, read: Winfield Bevins' What is Gospel-Centered Ministry, JR Vassar's Domain of Influence, Jared Wilson's Five Ways to Keep Church Discipline from Seeming Weird.
The Harmony of Community
And if you listen closely over the roar of the single chord, you can hear the vibration of other piano strings. As sound waves from the original strings move out into space, other strings respond in kind. The original vibrating strings encourage the previously silent strings. Notes that weren't originally played are now joining in with the beginnings of their own sounds.
There exists no chord that sounds alone‚ every chord sounds together. The original strings, a chord, needed to respond together in order for other strings to join in. In fact, the strings responding together had no other option. Individual notes come together to create a unique voice out of their union.
There is also no chord that only sounds to itself. A chord by its very nature resounds outward and can't help but reverberate sound to the outside. It has to respond to itself, and must move into the silence of the outside world.
Harmony
This musical analogy is instructive for our view of the church. Are we called to equip the saints or preach to the lost? Are we supposed to love Christians or love those who are not yet Christians? Should we primarily be focused on community or on mission? The harmonic vibration of a single chord can instruct for our ear for the community mission of discipleship. That's where these larger theological ideas hit the noise and silence of real life.
At the end of Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17, the seemingly polar aims of mission and community are brought together. It's really an amazing chapter in the Bible. Christ is praying to the Father on our behalf, and we can listen in. Let's look closely at John 17:20-24. It is here Jesus teaches that we are individually sought out by him, called to his community, and this community is defined as harmonizing in his mission.
Individual Notes
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. - John 17:20-24
Christ is praying for us as individuals. He is praying on behalf of the disciples ("these only") and for believers today ("those who will believe in me through their word"). He says in v. 22 that the glory which comes from the Father is given to us.
In v. 24, Christ prays that we may be with him where he is. Christ calls us out from worshiping things that will never satisfy, gathering us into the Trinity where we find ourselves made whole.
In these verses, Christ himself is our resounding note. He is actually being recorded here petitioning the Father for us individually. The mission of God isn't merely something designed for the unreached world. More than that, it is what comes to us: we are made the benefactors of his grand mission. Those who are reconciled to the Father through Jesus are the resounding piano strings, now having the freedom to sound in response to our Composer's hands.
Now if this were the end of the story, we would have much to celebrate. But Jesus doesn't stop there. For what purpose is he pursuing us? He pursues us to be part of His new community.
The Chord of the Gospel
The result of Christ's pursuit is that we may all be one, just as God the Father was in Christ, and Christ in the Father, we can find life in the community of our Redeemer. Being pursued individually by Christ, Christians are called to be unified with each other, modeling the closeness found in the Trinity. This seems impossible, but isn't it what our souls long for?
Our communities of faith here on earth, though not perfect, are designed to resound with the perfect chord of the Trinity. Because we're made in the image of the relational God, we ourselves are relational beings. Verse 22 reiterates this when it speaks of the glory that God the Father has given Christ and that Christ has in turn given to us.
There is an intimacy that believers ought to have with each other, but even more than that, we are called to this type of union with God Himself. Those reconciled to God through Christ are found in the Trinity, creating a harmonious chord unified with themselves and with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Is this the end goal of our community? Even this by itself seems too good to be true, but Jesus isn't quite finished. Though perfect union with each other and with the Trinity sounds like completion, Christ keeps on. Being called into His community means we are part of God's mission in the world.
The Chorus
The purpose of our unity in v. 21 is "that the world may believe that you [the Father] have sent me [Christ]." And v. 23 teaches that one of the ends of this community is that the outside world will understand that the Father sent the Son and that the Father loves those who are found in Christ just as he loves Christ.
Being part of God's community means we're part of his mission. God's community is one that is defined as participating in his mission. There is no other. And this isn't some kind of shallow showing, either. Our communities of unity are supposed to illustrate deep Trinitarian truths: the Father sent the Son, and the Father loves us as much as He loves the Son. How can this happen if we don't find ourselves in his community, if we are not also in this mission? Christ leads us away from our version of mission, how the world should work, and places us on the path of submission to the God who makes all things new.
In Christ's high priestly prayer, he calls us out from our own idols, out from the façades of community that we've constructed, out from our own small diverging missions, and into the Trinitarian chorus where our satisfaction, relational needs, and purpose are found. This is the mission of God.
Dis-chord
You might often hear, or have said yourself, that mission inhibits community. Or that community inhibits mission. Each camp has their reasons for digging in. But John 17 says that neither of these camps do either well. Our community is not just for us. Our community is not just for others.
Mission without community can create shallow relationships through individualism (not being saved to God's community), or a trite moralism (you can do it yourself, you just need to be strong), and ultimately a weak faith because we need community to equip and mature us.
Community without mission creates a clique, like stumbling into a dinner with an inhospitable family. Focusing only on mission can create a shallow relationships through institutionalism ("we" have it right, "they" don't). Strict, unbiblical lines are often drawn between who has it and who doesn't. Community without mission can lead down the slippery slope to a trite moralism (God came to us because we did it...whatever "it" might be). And it ultimately creates a weak faith. We need mission to grow us.
Encouraging shallow individualism creates dehumanized factories and encouraging shallow institutionalism creates Christian ghettos. Neither offer the hope found in the gospel.
Sustain
The majority of us are already involved in things that can incorporate believers and those yet to believe into our lives. What do you already like to do? What gifts or passions of yours are you already doing?
Do you enjoy playing basketball? Take a few Christian friends and join up in a local recreational team, or go out together for pick up games. Let people on your team and the opposing team see what Christian community can look like. You'll find out soon enough that you will be challenged to grow as much, if not more, than other people will.
Who doesn't enjoy eating? Invite Christian friends and unbelieving neighbors and give them a chance to see what hospitality and fellowship looks like. When our messy lives intertwine with those of our neighbors, we begin to understand what it means to rely on the Spirit.
Personally, I enjoy creating and talking about making stuff with other artists. I could limit myself to only working with or talking to other artists who are Christians. I could also limit myself to only talking to unbelievers about all things art related. Believe me, either would make things easier at times! But God calls me to more than that. He calls me to involved myself in him, in his community, and in his mission. It is through these ordinary ways of living that God often makes himself known.
Celestial Music
Is mission incompatible with community or vice versa? Just as a chord sounds within and without, mission and community cannot be separated. And through Jesus' teaching we find that they are not opposed to each other, but are integrally connected. We have our community because God has his mission. And now we get to be a part of that same mission that sought and seeks us out. Being "on mission" means being in community, and God's community is one that is participating in his mission to make all things new.
Christ sought us out from our own nasty melodies and gave us a new song. He brought us into his community, the harmony found in his chord, and he conducts us in his mission, a symphony of life being played out over the world, celestial music.
God did this so that he may be glorified in all things. God's mission is for his glory to resound over the entire world, with all its spaces and gaps where we don't believe it can reverberate, with all its dark corridors of emptiness and vacant pits of discord. In all places to all people, God's song of salvation is ringing to those who have ears to hear, to us and to the world.
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Greg Willson is the Church Planting Resident at Riverside Community Church. He likes creating music, and writes about art and the church at gregwillson.com. Follow him on Twitter: @gregoriousdubs.
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For a more in-depth discussion of authentically living out mission and community, check out Jonathan Dodson's Unbelievable Gospel.
For free articles on blending gospel-centered mission and community in the your everyday life, read: Winfield Bevin's Living the Mission, Timothy Keller's The Call to Discipleship, and Seth McBee's A Story of Gospel Community.
Living The Mission
The church is rooted in the concept of the Missio Dei, which recognizes that there is one mission, and it is God’s mission. The Missio Dei is a Latin theological term that can be translated as "Mission of God." The word missio literally means sent. The church is not an end in itself; the church is sent into the world to fulfill the mission of God.
God is a Missionary
Understanding what it means to be a part of the mission of God begins with understanding that God is a missionary God. The very being of God is the basis for the missionary enterprise. God is a sending God, with a desire to see humankind and creation reconciled, redeemed, and healed. God’s mission can be seen throughout the pages of the Bible and history. Nowhere is the mission of God better understood than in the person and work of Jesus Christ. John 3:16 tells us that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Many Christians and churches teach and preach that missions are something we support or do, such as sending or supporting missionaries in other countries. This was the case 20 to 30 years ago. However, in the 21st century the mission field has come to us.
We live in a post-Christian world where people simply don’t know the gospel anymore. Therefore we are all called to be missional disciples and share in the mission of God. Ed Stetzer says, “Being Missional means actually doing mission right where you are. Missional means adopting the posture of a missionary, learning and adapting to the culture around you while remaining biblically sound.”
Jesus: The First Missionary
Being a missional disciple is simply following the way of Jesus. Jesus Christ was the first and greatest missionary. The Bible tells us that He came from heaven to earth to die for a lost and dying world. The following scriptures reveal how the mission of God was fulfilled through Jesus Christ and how we are called to continue and complete the Missio Dei in our culture.
- Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work." - John 4:34
- "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." - John 5:30
- "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." - John 6:38
- "I know Him; because I am from Him, and He sent Me." - John 7:29
- "And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do thethings that are pleasing to Him." - John 8:29
- "We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work." - John 9:4
- And Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in Him who sent Me. And he who beholds Me beholds the One who sent Me." - John 12:44-45
- "For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak." - John 12:49
- "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me." John 13:20
- "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." - John 17:3
- "For the words which Thou gave Me I have given to them; and they received them, and truly understood that I came forth from Thee, and they believed that Thou didst send Me." - John 17:8
- "As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world." John 17:18
- Jesus therefore said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." - John 20:21
Sent on a Mission
As the church we are called to care for a lost and dying world that is in desperate need of a savior. Too many times we compartmentalize the different ministries of the church. We have viewed social ministry as something we do on one hand and evangelism on the other. God is calling the church to rediscover the biblical model of holistic ministry.
Jesus met both the physical and spiritual needs of the people He ministered to. As the Body of Christ on earth, we are His representatives to a lost world. Therefore what we do and say are of eternal importance. Being missional disciples is not an either or situation. It means that we care about people’s souls and their bodies. It means that because we care about the gospel we should care about social and environmental issues. Being missional disciples brings all of life together under the banner of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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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
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For more on living the mission of Christ, check-out Winfield's book Grow: Reproducing Through Organic Discipleship.
For more free mission resources, see: Relationships First: Reasons it's Difficult to Share Our Faith by Jonathan Dodson and Messy Discipleship Jake Chambers.
Finding Christ in the Family Room
Scripture does not give us an imperative for family worship. This is important to say at the outset so that we are not laying down “sanctification” markers for each other. Having said that, however, we still need to acknowledge that God's Word does command us to teach our children how to love the Lord (Deut. 6) and train them in his discipline and instruction (Ephesians 6:4).
Principles & Methods
Before looking at family worship, it is important to discuss how the Bible gives us principles that we are to take and wisely apply in our particular situation. We should not do this just to go along with the more “sanctified” crowd. No, we are to be realistic about ourselves, our children, our own family culture, our strengths and weaknesses, and then prayerfully and wisely make household decisions. So whether in education, entertainment, clothing styles, family activities, and so on, we look to Scripture for liberties and boundaries and make thoughtful, prayerful choices.
Sometimes, we may find that the choice we made doesn't fit with our individual family, and we should adjust. Either way, when Scripture gives us principles, we should not use our particular application as a measuring rod for other people's devotion to Christ, nor are we to hold it up as the only godly way of living out a particular Biblical principle. This is not relativism. This is called grace. We need to give each other grace to execute these principles differently in the context of our individual families. This is one of the differences between principles and methods.
"Family Worship"
I've prayed for my children throughout pregnancy, during delivery, and over them as babies. Even when we were nominal Christians, we prayed with our children before bed. But I remember distinctly the first time I saw what is known as “family worship.” We had just moved into a new neighborhood and began attending a small Reformed church when a dear family took us under their wings and began mentoring us. They invited us into their home, where we got to see a family living the life of faithful Christians.
I was a green-behind-the-ears stay-at-home mom, desiring to learn what this new role—which I had been kicking against and hoping to avoid—really looked like day in and day out. Even though I had just delivered our third child we felt “new” in our roles because we had at that same time decided to eschew feminism, careerism, and egalitarianism for “the traditional biblical model,” if such a thing was possible.
This family at the time was going through Starr Meade's Training Hearts, Teaching Minds. Their love for each other and the responsiveness of the children to the parents was evident. And so we promptly bought the same book, which is a family devotional based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism. After a few months, our mentor family moved away, but we kept on going with our family worship. We did different books through different seasons. But things kept escalating until we arrived at the point where my husband wrote a family liturgy that we would recite—a liturgy that might be beautiful if done correctly in a church but not fit for family worship. In our zeal for “godliness,” we crushed our children with "family worship."
Tools of Discipleship
Family worship is a tool, and if the parents are tethered to the gospel, it can be a wonderful discipleship tool in the home. However, if this tool is not used wisely it can become a joyless burden to the children. Discernment is required. We should probably think through a few guiding principles as we seek to use the tool of family worship in our homes.
1. A Merciful Perspective
First, we need to remember to be merciful to our children in the area of family worship. Many Christian parents love their children and desire them to grow into Christ followers. This is as it should be, and I praise God for it. But with this comes a temptation that we should be aware of and work to keep in check. We can be so driven by our desires to see our kids saved and sanctified we forget how God deals with us as his children. I think it is helpful to not only think of ourselves as parents but as children—Children of our heavenly Father. If we keep this thought at the forefront of our parenting, it will drive us to be more mindful of their perspective or frame.
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. - Psalm 103:13–14
In this Psalm, God is compared to a father who shows compassion on his children. If we are not characterized by compassion to our children, this should cause us to do a 180 degree turn! Scrolling up to verse 8, we are told, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.”
Do we give our children this kind of bountiful grace or do we call them on the carpet for every sin? Do we spend our time chiding them for their wriggly bottoms during family worship or do we adjust our expectations of these little souls remembering our own wriggly bottoms when the Lord is trying to teach us something? Psalm 130:3 says, “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.”
2. Acts of Gentleness
Let us take our parenting cues from our heavenly Father. Does your family have a two year old? Well, maybe he gets his own bedtime prayer and you wait until that little person is asleep instead of forcing a tired toddler to sit still in the lap to “participate” in family worship. A time of day when everyone is excited to be together and involved would be a good time to harness to use for building your children in the Lord (e.g. meal time, prayer time right before bed when most children tend to be more open and willing to be gently shepherded).
Think back to how longsuffering your heavenly Father has been with you. How many of your sins has he forgiven? How long has it taken you to get to where you are right now and how much more time will it take to be formed into the image of Christ? This should correct our expectations of our children and help us enact gentle kindness and longsuffering patience toward them as we use the tool of family worship in our home.
3. Relentless Prayer
Next, we must remember that family worship is only one tool, not the only tool that the Lord can and will use in the life of your child. Don't let it be the end all and be all, which was my temptation and stumbling block. Our heavenly Father is so creative. Every day I am surprised at the manifold ways he works on my children's hearts.
The most potent tool for discipling and reaching the heart of your children is actually prayer. No “family this” or “family that” will ever have the power to transform the lives of the members of the family—only prayer in the name of Jesus. Let us be like the widow who was relentless and persistent, who wouldn't stop going to the judge. (Luke 18:1–8) Let us day and night bombard heaven with prayers for, and often with, our children.
Putting the Worship Back in Family Worship
Having said all this, I do want to note that the Lord does indeed use the methods of family worship. I certainly don't want to discount that, I just want to put it in its proper place. Family worship should not occupy the center. Jesus does. Family worship is a tool that I personally love and believe can bring depth to the spiritual life of a family, when used wisely.
In our case, we now use three different gospel-centered books for family worship. We have five children, and their ages range from 1 to 18. For us, we needed gospel-focused books that would work in a family that has kids of all ages. So we rotate between using The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally-Lloyd Jones, The Gospel Story Bible by Marty Machowski, and Long Story Short also by Marty Machowski.
We are not perfectionists about these books. Sometimes we do one lesson or story. Other times we do more. We give the kids who can read the Bible readings to read to the family. We put the baby to bed first so he isn't a distraction and so we're not spending all our time trying to keep him still.
We also allow the children to choose what they want to pray for. Usually the older ones will pray for global saints and churches, the middle prays for church family members on the church prayer calendar, and our 4 ½ year old just loves to pray for his baby brother.
Now, this is just an example of our method. Don't feel compelled to go follow it. Pray and consider the frame of your children. Maybe what is best for right now is a short prayer in the morning with a verse or something from The Jesus Storybook Bible. There was a time when teaching and reciting the Children's Catechism was fruitful for us, and a time when it was good for us to look elsewhere. Explore different options and don't get caught in that harsh place where the perfect becomes the enemy of the good. Don't be too disappointed if something doesn't work out, keep trying.
Above all, remember that the goal of any of these discipleship tools is to draw that little person's (or big person's) soul to Jesus Christ. We don't need to prove our theological prowess to our children, we just need to show them the same kind of love Jesus shows us.
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Luma Simms (@lumasimms) is a wife and mother of five delightful children between the ages of 1 and 18. She studied physics and law before Christ led her to become a writer, blogger, and Bible study teacher. Her book Gospel Amnesia is forthcoming on GCD Press. She blogs regularly at Gospel Grace.
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For more resources on family worship check-out Winfield Bevin's A Beginner's Guide to Family Worship.
The Gospel Grid
When in the midst of counseling, focused discipleship, sermon prep, or a weighty time of confession with another follower of Christ – if you are anything like me – a moment rises to the surface and you think, "What do I say?" or "What do they need to hear?" or “How do I bring this to the gospel?"
In comes the Gospel Grid. The grid covers four M's:
- Message
- Motivation
- Model
- Means
Working through the grid helps keep the ball rolling by providing a track for your words. And it helps the conversation come back to particular truths and encouragements from the gospel again and again.
Start with:
1. Gospel Message -- What needs to be heard?
The gospel is a word with many words. It's a message, a proclamation of truth. Here we ask ourselves the question, "What do they need to hear?" Volumes could be said, but what will be particularly helpful to this situation and to their heart?
Gospel Identity
In Message, we are appealing to the earth shattering, veil-tearing truths of our gospel identity. Remind people that they are:
- New creations (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- Freed from sin (Galatians 5:1)
- Adopted (Romans 8:15)
- Forgiven (1 John 2:12)
- Loved (Romans 5:8)
Before cooking up a slab of good advice, put the good news on the grill and watch the aroma of Christ fill the room. If we are diligent to remind the saints that the Son of God suffered in their place, not begrudgingly, but with joy, to forgive them of this sin – joy is not far away. Gospel focus will harp on belief before behavior. Good news before good advice. Beholding before behaving.
Jesus' Identity
Remind people of Jesus' identity. It is vital to think rightly of Jesus. Without him, we can’t think rightly of ourselves.
Jesus is our friend and our Lord. He is the Cosmic King, and he’s closer than our skin. We ought to fear him, but should never be afraid of him. The gospel is meant to humble us. And part of the gospel is the glory due Jesus. The glory of Christ needs to take hearts and minds hostage. Jesus is to be exalted over all things in our lives. We have not been given names at which every knee will bow (Philippians 2:9-11).
Gospel-centered discipleship should always resound with the person and work of Jesus. No one can hear too often that Jesus is our great God and Savior, he has made us his people, and he is purifying us for his glory and our good (Titus 2:13-14).
I’ll never forget hearing another pastor confess pain and heart ache to Ray Ortlund. Ray looked into his eyes and began with, “Brother, Jesus loves you.” Powerful.
2) Gospel Motivation -- What needs to be done and why?
Message focuses on right thinking. Motivation hones in on right doing for the right reasons. Here we are asking the question, "What needs to be done?” in accordance with a gospel-driven motive.
Kill Sin
Do they need to go ask someone for forgiveness? Do they need to forgive? The gospel compels us to seek and grant forgiveness with one another as God in Christ forgave us (Ephesians 4:32). Confession and repentance is essential in all discipleship, but especially if we want to be gospel-centered.
What sin(s) need to be brought the chopping block of mortification? The gospel reveals to us that we are no longer our own, but that we belong to Jesus. And now we make it our aim to honor and please him (1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Corinthians 5:9). Encourage them to flee sin, not simply to avoid getting in trouble, but to enjoy God and glorify Jesus.
I’ve heard Christians say, “I’m waiting to be freed/released/saved from ______.” The satanic forces conjured up that formula. Christians are not waiting to be freed sin. Here’s why – a man from Galilee once screamed, “It is finished.”
Paul writes:
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:6-14)
So why should we flee sin? We’ve been brought from death the life. Why won’t sin bully us any longer? We’re under grace. The chains don’t need re-breaking. We need renewed minds (Romans 12:1-2).
Cultivate Good Works
In discipleship, it is common to focus on the things we shouldn’t do – but gospel soaked discipleship also explains what we should do.
Encourage disciples to flee sin – yes and amen! – and invite them to the good works that Jesus has prepared (Ephesians 2:10). What was Jesus’ motivation in his life and ministry? “Hallowed be your name…” Ours? “Hallowed be your name.” And through their serving “God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:10-11)
Ask the disciple if there is someone to serve as they have been served? Is there someone to go and encourage? Are they living on mission with a passion to see others worship Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).
Gospel motivation seeks to mortify sin and cultivate good works with a constant gaze on the person and work of Jesus, “to let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel Christ” (Philippians 1:27).
3) Gospel Model -- How should it be done?
Here we focus on attitudes, tones, postures, and the heart. The gospel gives the reason (motivation) and the rhythm (model).
How should a husband and wife relate? In accordance with the model God provides in the gospel – Jesus and his Church (Ephesians 5:22-33).
Is the disciple pursuing community with the people that God obtained with his blood (Acts 20:28)? Jesus didn’t only buy people; he bought a people, a body, The Church.
Are they practicing humility in all corners of life? Jesus is the definition of humility. Philippians 2:1-11 extols the striking humility of Jesus; and that Christians should “have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus [emphasis added] (v.5).”
All Christian virtue is modeled and made known to us by the person and work of Jesus. If we want to be more loving, humble, and selfless – there is nowhere better to look than the cross (John 15:13).
The Proverbs are a wonderful, but often abused, section of Holy Scripture. They are more than quick-and-witty tips to living right. The Proverbs are details into the life of Jesus, who is our Wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:24, 30), that we can now live because of Jesus.
4) Gospel Means -- How will it be done?
Up to this point everything sounds all fine and dandy, but a question looms. The disciple will wonder it – you’ve thought it too. “How am I going to change and do all this? I fail often. I struggle. I want to change and grow but my goodness – this seems beyond me.”
Assure them, “You are right. This is beyond you – way beyond you. But not Jesus.”
We cannot forget our gospel means. Without this truth, our discipleship will be nothing more than mega-ton yokes.
Gospel-centered discipleship clutches to the words, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Remind the disciple that Jesus is alive in them. The same power that rose Jesus from the dead – a.k.a. God – has setup shop in their body. He is tinkering, sanctifying, and empowering them to live anew. Whatever God demands he also supplies.
The means, muscle, capacity, and know-how of the Christian life are not in us; but in Jesus. And if we are in Christ and Christ in us, the power for the Christian life is now in us. The Holy Spirit of God is rumbling through our lives – and he will bear fruit. Christians work in concert with the Spirit of Christ (Philippians 2:12-13).
In gospel means we are moving the disciples eyes away from sola bootstrapa and towards solus christus – Christ Alone. Do they believe that apart from him they can’t do a single thing (John 15:5)? Gospel-centered disciples admit total reliance upon Jesus. And it leads to a plea, a prayer for help.
“Jesus, apart from you I cannot do _______. I cannot be ________. I need you. I need your strength, power, and righteousness. Help me Lord. Renew my mind. Do this in me, for your glory and my joy. Amen.”
Putting It all Together
One final example; Pastor Paul said it best.
I have been crucified with Christ (MESSAGE) It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (MEANS). And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God (MODEL), who loved me and gave himself for me (MOTIVATION). – Galatians 2:20
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Jeff Medders is the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Church in Tomball, TX. He is pursuing his M.Div at Southern Seminary. He and Natalie have one precious little girl, Ivy. Jeff digs caffeinated drinks, books, and the Triune God. He blogs at www.jeffmedders.org and tweets from @jeffmedders.
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For more in-depth discussion of sharing the gospel, check out Jonathan Dodson's Unbelievable Gospel.
For more free resources on strengthening your witness, read: Jeremy Carr's Impressing the Gospel Through Questions, David Fairchild's Gospel Diagnostic Questions, and Jonathan Dodson's All the Right Answers: Reason it's Difficult to Share Our Faith.
The Unqualified Disciple
When I ask women in our church if they would be willing to invest in a discipleship relationship with a younger woman, I am usually met with hesitation. “Me?” their eyes seem to ask. “Me? Disciple someone else? You must not really know me. I don’t think I’m qualified.”
The conversations take different forms, but the responses are often the same. Again and again, I hear women voice a sincere doubt that they have anything worthwhile to give. Even if they are willing to give a discipleship relationship a try, deep down they are thinking with something akin to panic, “I’ve got nothing!”
I know how they feel. I feel the same way every Sunday afternoon. I have three young women who come to my house to engage in a small discipleship group. We often discuss what we’re learning from Scripture or a book we’re reading together and how it relates to the gospel and our lives. But every Sunday afternoon, in the couple of hours before they arrive, I hear the same refrain in my head… “Who am I to disciple these girls? I haven’t spent good time with the Lord at all this week. I snapped at my husband this morning and am irritated with one of my children for not sweeping the floor. I’ve got these girls showing up in 30 minutes to a dirty kitchen, and I haven’t even read my chapter yet! Lord… I’ve got nothing!”
The Unqualified Disciple
How do I answer the women in my church, when I know exactly how they feel? When they express doubt about their qualifications, I’m tempted to say, “That’s not true! You’ve got a great marriage and are raising some stellar kids. You’re hospitable and easy to talk to. You’ll be fine!”
Though my praise might convince them, that response won’t do. It certainly doesn’t help me on Sunday afternoons when I feel neither great nor hospitable. I’ve had to go to the Scriptures to search out the truth. What does God’s Word have to say about how we feel?
To some degree, what we are feeling is true. We don’t have anything, in ourselves, to give. We see in the Scriptures that our hearts are deceitful and desperately sick and even beyond our ability to understand them (Jer. 17:9). We also see that anything we call righteousness basically amounts to a bunch of dirty rags that are only fit for the fire (Isaiah 64:6). In fact, there is not one of us who can claim righteousness on our own (Psalm 14:3). Jesus tells us unequivocally, “apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5). So if we’re trying to dredge up righteousness and truth from inside ourselves in order to give that away to others, it’s true. We’ve got nothing.
God's Qualifications
I think Moses felt the same way. When God approached him in the wilderness and instructed him to go and speak to the most powerful man in the land, Moses must have lifted his eyebrow just as I’ve seen the women in my church do. He said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Ex. 3:11) Moses was wanted for murder and had been tending sheep for most of his adult life. I’m sure inside he was screaming, “Me?!? I’ve got nothing!”
But God doesn’t assure Moses of his qualifications as I’m tempted to do with the women I talk to. No, on the contrary. God assures Moses of God’s qualifications. God answers Moses’ question of “Who am I?” with a resounding “I AM.” This is the response we need to hear.
When women raise their eyebrows and express doubt about discipleship, my job is not to convince them that they are equal to the task. My job is to convince them that God is equal to the task. “You’re right,” I need to reply, “You’ve got nothing. Neither do I. But God has everything.”
We can’t forget that we’re branches. By ourselves, we will bear no fruit. Worse than that, we will die. But attached to the vine, we feed off the life of Jesus and become healthy, bushy branches, laden with fruit to nourish others. Attached to the vine, we have a lot to give.
Jesus says it this way, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8). And as we bear fruit, we share that fruit and make more disciples, all the while bringing glory to the Father. You’ve got nothing, you say? Oh, no. If you’re attached to the vine, you’ve got everything.
Gospel Opportunities
The hesitancy that we feel when it comes to engaging in a discipleship relationship is real. We know ourselves better than anyone. We know our past mistakes and our current failings. We think that these disqualify us from leading anyone in discipleship, but actually the reverse is true. Our very hesitations are gospel opportunities.
When we remember that we’re branches, we remember that what is flowing through the branch is the life of Jesus, the gospel itself. The gospel! The good news! The gospel reminds us that we don’t have to live a perfect life in order to engage in discipleship. Jesus lived the perfect life in our place. He died to take the punishment for all our mistakes and failings. Then, praise God, he rose from the dead, canceling our debt and disarming the power of sin in our lives. This is what we give to others in discipleship: the good news of the gospel!
So next Sunday afternoon, things are going to look different at my house. When I look around at my dirty floor and my unread chapters, I am going to remind myself of something. I am not giving these girls myself, I am giving them Jesus. I am not attempting to present to them a perfect life, but Jesus’ perfect life. My goal is not to show them how to do everything right, but to apply the gospel when we do everything wrong.
When I hear the familiar refrain, “I’ve got nothing!” I will reply with certainty, “If you’ve got the gospel, you’ve got everything.”
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Lindsay Powell Fooshee is married to John, a pastor and church planter with Acts 29. They are raising 3 great kids in East Tennessee, soaking up the joys of toddlers and teenagers at the same time. Lindsay holds an M.A. in Christian Thought from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and enjoys teaching and writing about what’s she’s learning. She is passionate about discipleship and blogs regularly about it here.
Inerrancy and Worldview - Excerpt
Religious Gullibility
Let us now consider one more challenge to the Bible, namely, skepticism about religion. Some skeptics consider religious belief to be a symptom of gullibility or psychological weakness. The skeptics might say that people have religious beliefs either because they do not ask critical questions about religious claims or because they are psychologically weak and feel a need for a crutch. They want the support and comfort of religious belief, which imparts meaning to their lives.
If this principle of gullibility ho
What do we say about this skepticism
The Materialist Explanation of Religious Belief
In addition, a materialistic worldview may exert an influence. Materialism says that either God does not exist or he is essentially irrelevant. It thereby debunks religion because most religions claim that God or gods are vitally relevant. Moreover, since materialism rejects the idea of direct divine interaction with human beings, it looks for purely material causes for religious belief. Beliefs must arise from some structures in the brain, structures that in the end are a product of a long process of evolution. Materialists hope that eventually scientific research will show how such structures can all be associated with some practical,
This kind of materialistic explanation of religious belief has a consi
Gullibility
Skepticism about religious belief should, nevertheless, not be dismissed too quickly. It is a counterfeit, which means that it is close to the truth. It has seen some things to which we do well to pay attention.
Why are some people so gullible about religion? If we like, we can expand the category of religious belief to
The ancient societies around the Bible showed similar symptoms.
People often seem to be more gullible in spiritual matters than elsewhere. They are more gullible about the gods than they would be if a seller tried to cheat them in the marketplace or their child tried to lie his way out of a tight spot.
Deep Personal Needs
At least three characteristics of fallen human nature help to explain this gullibility. We long for deep significance, for safety, and for assurance, particularly when it comes to the big questions of life. These longings go back to creation. God created human beings in his image. He designed that they would have fellowship with him. God met with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. According to this plan, God himself gave them significance not only by creating them, but also by giving his personal love to each of them. This fellowship would have continued if Adam and Eve had not rebelled. God would have had fellowship with each
Human beings nevertheless rebelled against God. And ever since we have been looking for substitutes for God. The gods of ancient Greece were one form of counterfeit. Counterfeits must be close enough to the truth to lure people in.
Significance
They lure people in first of all by supplying a counterfeit answer for the longing for significance You are significant when you are connected to something bigger than yourself, particularly if you have a key role to play in that bigger whole. God’s plan was for each person to be significant by being loved by God and loving God in return. In knowing and loving God who is infinite, each person would find supreme satisfaction and supreme meaning for his own life.
A false god offers a substitute for the true God. It claims to answer our longing for meaning by being big enough to give meaning, and by being interested enough in a person to allow him to participate. The longing in people is so strong because it is a corrupt form of longing for God himself. We were created to have fellowship with God, so that the longing originally was a longing for God. But it is corrupted into a longing that people hope to have fulfilled by a false god. Anything that promises to fill their longing—whether an idea, another person, or an idol—may be received gullibly. A person believes and receives because he desperately wants to believe and receive. This kind of longing creates much more tension for many people than cases where the stakes are not as high. Longing for ultimate meaning is more profound than longing for an ice-cream cone.
Or in a scientific investigation,
Care for Our Situation
A second potential source for gullibility arises not merely from our longings but also from our circumstances. How do we secure safe shelter, good crops, adequate food, a safe sea voyage, healthy children, and so on? Before the fall, God committed himself to bless mankind. But after the fall our situation is mixed. God does supply food (Acts 14:17), but on occasion he may also bring famine (Gen. 41:30–32; Deut. 28:18). People want their situation to be good. They may therefore look to magic, fortune-telling, gods, and religious manipulation of various kinds.
Now and then people may get some favo
The incentive here is to practice religion because it brings tangible benefits. Sure, the practitioner admits, it may not always work, but sometimes it works. And the “sometimes” offers enough incentive to keep up the practice. In fact, when a practice appears not to work, it may become an incentive to redouble one’s efforts. The practitioner thinks, “I need more devotion, bigger sacrifices, more impressive ceremony.” The redoubling of efforts may also include the suppression of doubts. Maybe a particular god can see into one’s mind and he is not pleased with doubts.
Ultimate Commitments
Finally, people want assurance. They want not just assurance about little things, but assurance from some ultimate rock on which to stand. This rock would be the ultimate commitment that unifies a person’s life. We are designed so that God will be this rock, this ultimate commitment. God designed us in order that we might be committed to him, to “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5).
When we forsake the true God, we make commitments to ultimates that become substitutes for the true God. In other words, we commit ourselves to counterfeits. We worship them. Worship is an expression of ultimate commitment. The Greeks had their gods whom they worshiped. Modern people may worship money, or sex, or power.
Whatever is ultimate cannot, in the very nature of the case, be weighed against some criterion that would be still more ultimate. If God is ultimate, he is the standard for testing truth, both in matters of religion and in everywhere else. When we rebel against God, we still must wrestle with issues of truth and certainty. We get nowhere without some criteria. The best criteria derive from the most ultimate allegiance. So the allegiance itself remains unquestioned. People then become gullible in the standards that they use to sift truth and to sift evidence with respect to their ultimate commitment.
If the Greek god Zeus is ultimate, the Greeks as human beings have no right to doubt him or to bring objections against him. Zeus gets a kind of “free ride” in comparison to the normal ways that Greeks might use to sift evidence in lesser issues.
An ultimate commitment of the wrong kind can easily corrupt truth. Some religions have explicitly allowed their adherents to lie whenever a lie would promote their religion. The religion, as ultimate commitment, takes precedence over normal standards for telling the truth. Even when a religion does not say so explicitly, lying becomes a temptation to those who care deeply about their religion. What does a little lie matter when the cause is right—
Money as an Example of Ultimate Commitment
Or consider the modern person who worships money. Let us say that he is a successful businessman.
But does he ever ask himself whether his ultimate commitment is worth it? Does he ask himself whether money is a worthy object of worship, and how he came to have the devotion that he now holds? Probably not.
If our businessman began to ask too m
Did the same sort of gullibility arise with the ultimate commitments of people in the ancient world? What about the people who worshiped the gods of ancient Greece or ancient Babylon? Of course they too may have fallen into gullibility. It is in the nature of things; it is in the nature of human beings as finite creatures who have the capacity for personal commitment. Ultimate commitments are, after all, ultimate.
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Vern Sheridan Poythress is professor of New Testament interpretation at Westminster Theological Seminary, where he has taught for 33 years. He has six earned degrees, including a PhD from Harvard University and a ThD from the University of Stellenbosch. He is the author of numerous books on biblical interpretation, language, and science.
(Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from Inerrancy and Worldview: Answering Modern Challenges to the Bible by Dr. Vern Sheridan Poythress available on Crossway. It appears here with the permission of the author and publisher.)
The Opportunity of Doubt
It is human, all too human, to doubt. When we share our faith with our non-Christian friends, we are often skirting the tension between finite understanding and infinite understanding—between the materially possible and the spiritually necessary. Doubt and faith have nothing to say to each other, and yet in this world, they often appear inseparable. For this reason (and by God’s grace), I have felt the Spirit prompting me at times to share my doubts with the folks I disciple. My prayer is that what follows is both a guide to the stormy waters of doubt as well as a clear pointer to the light of Christ shining above the troubled seas of our lives. One Hundred and One Fun Things to do with Doubt
Last football season, I had an extra ticket to a game, and I invited my friend along. We stopped by the grocery store for some beers and sunscreen before heading to the tailgate party. Which is to say, I wasn’t really brooding about Existence right then, but my friend was. As we waited in the check-out line, he started talking about the end of the world: how humans have polluted the land, air, and water; how we’re continuing to do it; how we’re actually increasing our efforts.
Zoom out. We were waiting in line in a noisy, crowded store, and my friend was speaking to one of my most complex, unending despairs. Here’s how the doubt runs in my mind: both the Bible and science indicate that the future isn’t exactly rosy for the earth, and yet one of God’s initial commands was for humans to be stewards of His creation. I can’t help but feel deeply ashamed of the ways my actions contribute to the destruction of the environment.
This doubt stems from a cognitive dissonance: Take care of the Earth versus the Earth will be destroyed. This dissonance is partly responsible for the heated political rhetoric surrounding the environment and sustainability. At any rate, this is what I told my friend. I explained how deep my despair is about this subject, and I didn’t sugarcoat it with some platitude about my beliefs. I was honest. I told him that I have to pray about the Earth every morning. I have to give it back to God. On a cosmic-scale, it’s almost hilarious just how much global climate change is out of my hands, and yet I cannot help but feel responsible.
The beauty is that God doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He doesn’t have to. He knows this planet—He even knows me—far better than I do. By placing my faith in Christ, I align myself not with unthinking religiosity, but with the greatest thinker in the universe. As a result, I am free to act (and sometimes even fail) in pursuing environmental stewardship.
Zoom back in. My friend and I are standing in line to buy junk from the local mega-corporation. (There’s those cognitive dissonances playing out in real life.) But I don’t have to despair. Yes, I think the gospel calls us to help in renewing all creation, but do I always trust that knowledge? No. That’s what I told my friend. The gospel frees me from judgment and empowers me to act (Romans 6:1-2), but I am still compelled to get down on my knees and pray for strength to accept that freedom everyday.
We can open up to our friends about doubt, if we will see past our feelings of despair into our forgiveness in Christ. This frees our witness from both crippling defeatism and self-satisfied legalism. It can season our speech with the salt of critical thought (Colossians 4:6). In other words, the doubts aren’t the key. The key is the compassion found in Christ—that he understands our doubts and still loves us.
With this freedom, my friend and I climbed into my car and drove to our national distraction. Because I followed the Spirit’s promptings to be transparent about doubt, I gained an opportunity to talk about my faith. Honesty about doubt led to a deeper conversation about faith.
Doubts and the Doubting Doubters who Doubt Them
In Christ, there is no real reason for doubt. In Christ, we claim forgiveness, grace, and peace. Through faith in Christ, we possess the power to move mountains. The problem is one of unbelief. Our brokenness, our every sin stems from something we do not fully believe about God, but if we are to share our faith in a genuine way, we must share how God answers our unbelief, how our wayward minds are redeemed in Christ, how our troubled souls find rest and overflowing grace in the Holy Spirit.
When sharing a doubt with your friends, avoid the language of ownership (if possible). More importantly avoid self-pity about the despair attached to the doubt. Avoid smugness about your faith. The hope is that in disclosing a doubt we can open up a discussion of faith and offer loving words about how God answers our unbelief with grace and courage.
For example, many of my non-Christian friends feel the doubt voiced by logical positivist philosophers like A.J. Ayers. In so many words, they’ll explain that religious language is nonsense because it’s scientifically/empirically unverifiable. While this isn’t my particular brand of doubt, it is certainly one to which many non-Christians cling. But in speaking to them about this doubt, I have not found it helpful to rationally discourse about this philosophical stance. The conversation then caves in on the limits of its own reasonability, resulting at best in a series of metaphysical chess problems.
Rather, when I’m attentive to the Spirit, I’ve learned to take a step back and remember my own feelings of doubt—how they create such pointless sorrow and anxiety—and I speak to that. In other words, when we’re in tune with the Spirit, we speak from the heart to the heart (not necessarily from the mind to the mind).
The Division of the Individual
That’s all good and fine for sitting at the café chatting with our friends. What do we do when doubt gets personal? For example, what of the militant doubts that point out the uncounted atrocities that have been committed in the name of religious belief?
Again, take a step back and pray. Remember, this is the despair and anguish of unbelief talking. We are not equipped to answer these charges. Fortunately, Christ is. In this example, it may not be a good idea to air your own feelings of unbelief and doubt, but rather speak directly to the pain of the individual with the healing and love you have found in Christ Jesus.
Here’s the funny thing about faith. We all have it. It takes a certain amount of faith simply to be convinced that my “self” or anyone else exists. Interestingly, folks don’t typically assign this aspect of faith any religious meaning. It’s simply “who we are.” But, in the total absence of faith, who are we really? There are statistics that speak to those who lose this last hold-out of faith, and they aren’t pleasant. Without some small amount of faith, we would begin to doubt the very substance of our being.
This is the critical juncture of how broken we really are. Except for faith, our humanity is literally falling apart. In John’s Gospel, Christ says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). This is kinda scary stuff for a non-Christian to hear, but God is bigger than those fears. God is bigger than the horrifying things that have been done by ignorant and deceived and broken people in his name. How do I know this? Is it simply wishful thinking? Is God loving only because I say so? No. Christ says that’s all sorts of backwards and upside down.
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. - John 15:9-12
In other words, when addressing—for example—despair over the atrocities committed in the name of religion, leave everything else and follow Christ. Remind your self and your friend that—according to scripture—nothing has been done in Christ’s true unutterable name that wasn’t also done in love. If an act of “religious belief” was done without love, it was done without Christ, and if it was done without Christ, then it was done without faith. In the absence of faith, all that remains is—not just doubt—but the void, the total dissolution of the God-breathed life inside us.
The critical distinction we must make as disciples of Christ is that our identity and agency do not arise from the formless void gnawing at the base of individual identity. By grace, we are learning to see that the very prospect of this construction of individual self is impossible from its foundation up, hence the terror and pain of those feelings of doubt. But when we take ownership of faith in Christ, then from him flows a new communal identity and a powerful fellowship of agency—the foundation of which is the very center, the unshakable core of all Creation.
Identity Restored
My true identity is in Christ not in myself. In Christ, we stand united with the true meaning of our lives, with our renewed humanity. But for a person hearing this truth for the first time, all this sounds pretty weird. The loss of individual identity? Being united with what? This is when—if I’m in tune with the Spirit—I often hear that still small voice saying, “Share those same doubts you once had… now share how Christ offers so much more.”
Christ is the hinge on which the entire universe turns. Christ is the door that opens to the infinite glory of God. Likewise, the gospel is the key that unlocks our restore identity. The good news is Christ understands our doubts. In Luke’s Gospel, Christ dispels the disciples’ doubts just before his ascension, offering questions that convict me even now: “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see.” (Luke 24:38-39)
My prayer today is to lay my doubts before Christ. To meditate on the wounds he suffered for my sake and find in his cuts and bruises the fullness of grace poured out for my sake. What doubt can withstand this flood of mercy? May the Holy Spirit guide the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts toward healing the sickness and pain of unbelief in ourselves and in those we disciple!—that we might sing of the peace and restoration found only in our redeemer Christ Jesus.
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Ben Roberts is the Managing Editor of Gospel Centered Discipleship, a member of Austin City Life, and a follower of Christ. He lives in an amazingly ugly house with his wife (Jessica), son (Solomon), dog (Charles Bronson II), and two very angry chickens. A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers, he is currently working on a novel. Twitter @GCDiscipleship
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For more on sharing the gospel authentically, check out Jonathan Dodson's Unbelievable Gospel.
Behold the Beauty
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 3:18
Imagine for a moment that you and the person you have been discipling for a long time are standing on the beach, looking out into the ocean. The sun is setting and it is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. In that moment, you are caught up in the colors of the sky. There is a blend of pink and purple radiating through the cloud formation. It’s stunning. Feelings of gratefulness permeate your heart and mind. You say a quick prayer thanking God for such a beautiful creation.
But you choose not to keep that to yourself. So you turn to your friend to see if he is enjoying the sunset, and you find him on his phone checking the scores of the baseball game. You tell him to quickly look at the sunset because it is beautiful. He tells you to wait a second, because his phone is trying to load the score of the game. You judge him and get perturbed–you don’t want him to miss this! So you challenge him again to look up and see it.
But he’s frustrated at his phone, gets angry, turns his back and sits down. He doesn’t see the beauty of the sunset.
You look back up and find yourself lost in the moment. Then your phone rings...
The Act of Beholding
Paul tells us that, "we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord," are being transformed. There's a massive glory shifting in our lives for the Christian ("one degree of glory to another").
He goes on to tell us that it, "comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." When you repent of sin and trust Christ alone, you go from death to life, sin to Christ's righteousness, unbelief to joy, and deadness to new birth. You change.
But notice what word Paul uses here to qualify this transformation. He says that we are, "beholding" (Greek, katoptrizō). The word here means to "look at something as in a mirror; to contemplate something." John Calvin, in his commentary on this verse, writes that it "sometimes means to hold out a mirror to be looked into, and at other times to look into a mirror when presented...the second of these is the more suitable to the passage before us.” In other words, we look to the Lord to to see ourselves as we truly are.
The Identity of the Beholder
To put it differently, beholding leads to becoming. When we behold something or someone we begin to take on the identity of that object. For the Christian, and for us looking at the sunset, beholding something pushes us to delight in that object. Where our worship is, our hearts will fall in line. A tough question to ask in discipleship is, "What are you looking to for ultimate significance and satisfaction?" Be honest! On Saturday afternoons what are you doing? Obsessing over a sports score? Or discipling your family by talking about the glorious gospel?
And herein lies the challenge: Are you basking in the glory of the Christ of the gospel? Are you as stunned by the gospel as you were by the sunset? Or are you, like your friend, too busy on your phone to see its beauty?
Behold the Beauty of the Gospel
As a pastor I'm convinced that the greatest thing I can do to train disciple-making disciples is to continually point people to the gospel. Surely we understand that the good news is what points us to Jesus and by implication has the power to save us (Romans 1:16). Many, however, fail to see the gospel as what changes, or sanctifies us. I grew up with this understanding. I trusted Christ for salvation and he saved me. But after that, it was all on me to grow as a Christian with my ever-so-fleeting moral effort. How ashamed I feel now!
But what is the role of the beauty of the gospel in discipleship? I think it's like the example of your friend’s interaction. He is working with you in a formal discipling relationship and by pointing him to the beautiful sunset, you’re pointing him to the beauty of the gospel. And oh, how beautiful the gospel truly is! The beauty of the gospel should stun our vision, arouse our emotions, stir our affections, motivate us for mission, and shatter our pride.
You are challenging him to renounce his idols by beholding Jesus (Galatians 6:8). You’re challenging him to grow in his understanding of God's holiness by beholding God (Isaiah 6:1-7). You’re constantly helping him search the Scriptures to better understand his new identity in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are, by the help and power of the Spirit, helping your friend appreciate more intimately the beauty of the gospel.
Beauty Over Brokeness
But it's hard to appreciate something when our focus is off. It's hard to see the beauty of the gospel when our hearts are misaligned and worshipping idols. When we worship things that are not God, our hearts become clouded and our judgment misappropriated. We turn our backs on the beautiful sunset and sulk in our idolatry.
And yet the gospel still speaks to us. The gospel, like the sun shining over us, meets us in our depravity. It jumps starts the heart as Christ and his Spirit pursue us. Paul says "this comes from the Lord." In other words, we are responsible for our actions, but at the same time utterly dependent on God who stands ready to receive us as his child (Phil. 2:12-13; cf. Luke 15:20). The good news announced by Jesus is news that is good every single day. (Sometimes we simply fail to believe that the news is good!) We can, in confidence, turn to Jesus who loves unconditionally. As it has been said before, we worship our way into sin, and we worship our way out by beholding the beauty and grandeur of the gospel.
And that's the role of the beauty of the gospel: to be the object our affections, the purpose of our identity, the reality of our existence, and the joy of our salvation. It draws us in like a beautiful sunset, puts God’s glory on display, and challenges us to realign everything. In discipleship, we are simply pointing people to its beauty, asking them to find happiness there.
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Jason M. Garwood (M.Div., Biblical Theological Seminary) serves as Lead Pastor of Colwood Church in Caro, MI. Jason and his wife Mary have two children, Elijah and Avery. Jason enjoys theological banter, good pizza, tinkering around on the iPad and fighting for joy. He blogs at the Storied Jesus. Connect with him online: facebook.com/jasongarwood. Twitter @jasongarwood
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For more resources on disciple-making, check out Jonathan Dodson's The Unbelievable Gospel.
A Gospel for the Muslim
We desperately need a “gospel for the Muslim.” Now, to be clear, to say that we seek a “gospel for the Muslim” does not mean that there are a variety of gospels. But just as Paul talked about Peter’s commission of the “gospel for the Jew” and his own commission of the “gospel for the Gentile” (Gal 2:7), so also do we need a gospel presentation that is tailored to the questions Muslims are asking. There is one gospel by which both Muslim and non-Muslim must be saved, but it must at times be expressed differently so that each can more readily grasp it. Three words describe the current Western approach to the gospel: formula, forgiveness, and death. We present the gospel as a formula, a series of propositions about God, which addresses our need for forgiveness from guilt, and which summarizes the means of attaining that forgiveness, the death of Jesus.
While such a presentation accurately reflects aspects of the gospel, a more effective strategy among Muslims might focus on three “new words:” story, cleansing, and victory.
Instead of presenting the truth of the gospel propositionally as a formula, we ought simply to let the story of Scripture unfold. Muslims rarely come to faith in Christ through apologetic arguments and dogmatic proof-texting, but they often come to faith in Christ by studying the major stories of the Bible and encountering the gospel there.
Instead of presenting the work of Christ in terms of forgiveness, we can emphasize the cleansing power of the gospel. Muslims understand the need for purification; they undergo a process of ritual cleansing, called wudu, every time they pray. Such a cleansing is only external, but Christ offers wudu for the soul.
Instead of presenting the death of Christ merely as a point of weakness, we should point to the victory inherent in Christ’s work on the cross. Every time Muslims pray, they say that God is the “most powerful” and the “most merciful.” Is not the cross the greatest demonstration of those two attributes? What greater demonstration of power is there than a God who overcame sin and death? God’s greatness is actually shown in His humility. As Gregory of Nazianzus said, “The strength of a flame is shown by its ability to burn downward.” And what greater demonstration of mercy is there than in Christ’s death and resurrection? The God of the universe conquered sin and death in order to redeem us for Himself, through no merit of our own.
The Bible, from cover to cover, is the story of a victorious God who cleanses us so that we might live with Him.
Muslims Misconceptions about Christians:
Many obstacles stand in the way of Muslims coming to faith in Jesus—theological differences, the danger of conversion, and the sheer fact that most Muslims have simply never heard the gospel. Some of the more surprising obstacles, however, arise in the misconceptions that Muslims have about Christians. During the two years I spent serving in a conservative Muslim country, I repeatedly encountered variations of two common misconceptions: 1. Christianity is morally corrupt. 2. “The West” and “The Church” are synonymous. Being familiar with these two misconceptions can help as we engage Muslims for the gospel.
1. Christianity is morally corrupt.
MTV was huge in the part of the world I lived. Western music videos frequently featured rap stars or scantily clad women wearing crosses. My Muslim friends assumed, naturally enough, that these were Christians and that their behavior was typical of Christians. Upon telling people I was a Christian, I often received the response, “Oh, you are a Christian—like Bill Clinton!” This was during the peak of Clinton’s impeachment, so the comparison was meant to conjure up images of either adultery or perjury . . . or both. Not a savory comparison.
I was once even asked by one of my friends, a Muslim college student, if I would throw her a “Christian” birthday party. When I asked what she meant, she replied that she wanted a party with a lot of booze and racy dancing, just like she had seen on television. Misunderstandings like hers, sadly, are the norm and not the exception.
While this misconception continues to irk me, I find it helpful to know that it exists. Most Muslims assume that Christians are unabashedly immoral. Of course, we can—and should—respond to this misconception by allowing our lives to refute it, by showing that Christians do not encourage flagrant debauchery. In the end, though, it is beneficial simply to keep this misconception in mind as we minister among Muslims.
2. “The West” and “The Church” are synonymous.
Most Westerners have grown up with a notion of the “separation of church and state,” and it is jarring for us to learn that Muslims rarely make such a distinction. Islam is, in its very nature, a political entity as well as a religious one, complete with its own social law codes. There is no parallel Muslim concept of the “separation of mosque and state.” So when Muslims look at Western nations like the USA, Germany, France, or the UK, they see “Christian countries.” Our presidents are assumed to be Christian leaders, and our political policies are assumed to be reflective of church policy. What the US does, the Church does. I was once asked, for instance, why “the Church” bombed Iraq.
This may be difficult for many of us, but we need to learn to put our patriotism aside. We only have enough bandwidth to represent a certain number of issues, and it is simply not worth it to sacrifice a gospel platform for the sake of defending American political decisions. I was recently told by a Turkish Muslim that “all of the problems in the world are caused by America.” Do I agree with him? No. But is this where I want to stand my ground? No. For the sake of the gospel, our patriotism must die when we serve in Muslim countries.
How Muslims Come to Faith in Christ
Muslims worldwide who come to faith in Christ consistently identify one of three factors leading to their conversion (or a combination of these three).
1. A copy of the Bible is placed in their hands.
When I first arrived in Southeast Asia, a “win” for me was a Muslim converting to Christianity. This got to be a little disheartening after a while, and wasn’t providing me with as many “W”s as I would have liked. So I down-graded, and sharing the Four Spiritual Laws became my new “W.” Defining things this way helped me feel more successful, but it did not lead to greater fruitfulness.
Rather than defining your “W” as conversion or sharing the message, make your “W” getting Muslims to study the Bible with you.
A friend of mine, “Danny,” found this out after spending nearly two years debating with a Muslim friend, “Solomon.” Through the course of their friendship, Solomon told Danny that his arguments had not convinced him to be a Christian, but to be a better Muslim! Exasperated, Danny asked Solomon to read through the book of John, and Solomon obliged.
As Solomon read through the gospel, the words pierced his heart in a way that none of Danny’s arguments had. He read and re-read the Gospel of John, and soon came to faith in Jesus. What inspired this change was his exposure to the Word of God.
The Word of God is powerful. Let the Holy Spirit use the Bible to do the work of winning hearts to Christ. As Charles Spurgeon said, the Bible is like a caged lion. We do not need to defend it; we simply need to let its power loose.
2. They see the love in a Christian community.
The Muslim community, or ummah, is close-knit, but it is built on shame and reciprocity. Those who leave the ummah face ostracism, persecution, or even death. Christians can offer an alternative community, one founded on grace, acceptance, and forgiveness. Most Muslims have never seen this, even in their own families.
It saddens me to think of the thousands of Muslims who come to the United States for university education. Most of these Muslim students will never step foot in an American home. They would go if invited, but few ever receive an invitation. This is a tragedy.
I recently had a debate with a Muslim scholar, and afterwards he was telling me about another debate he had recently with a religion professor from Duke. “I do not like the guy from Duke,” he said. When I asked why, he answered:
“I am more of a ‘Christian’ than he is. I believe more of the Bible than he does. Every time something was brought up from the Bible, he would apologetically explain it away. Your Christian world has two choices: the Duke professor, who doesn’t believe but is charitable, or the angry, hateful conservative. Many Christians won’t go toward liberalism, so they feel they have no choice but hatefulness. What they need is you. You believe every word of the Bible, but you have a generous spirit toward Muslims.”
3. They are visited with a supernatural dream or vision.
I am naturally skeptical of supernatural dreams and visions. But I have seen too many Muslims come to faith as a result of dreams and visions to deny that it is a work of God. For whatever reason, God often uses supernatural dreams to push Muslims to investigate Jesus, to find a Christian, or to read the Bible.
This should humble us and remind us that the power for salvation comes from God alone. When we do not know what else to do, we ought to pray. Pray for your Muslim friends. Pray with them as well. Then stand back and give God a chance to work.
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J.D. Greear and his beautiful wife Veronica live in Raleigh and are raising four ridiculously cute kids: Kharis, Alethia, Ryah and Adon. He is the lead pastor of the Summit Church and author of Breaking the Islam Code and Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary. Twitter: @jdgreear
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For more resources on teaching and preaching the gospel, check-out Tony Merida's new book Proclaiming Jesus.