Equip, Don't Enable

One of my great concerns for the church in America today is the consumer mentality that has become so pervasive. Unfortunately, in my experience, most pastors complain about it a lot but then unintentionally, or even intentionally, propagate that reality in their churches as, rather than equipping our people, we are enabling our people. Ephesians 4:11-13 has an important word to offer to us to that end. Consider these words:

And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness

While this passage is not unknown to most pastors, I am not sure we have really considered the application of the text. I see four major implications of this text that cannot be missed by those who are leaders in the church.

1. God gives the church leaders. (11)

Leaders are not in their role simply because of giftedness, or desire, though both of those things are important. Leaders exist in their roles, first and foremost, because God has ordained that they be there. Your role as a church leader is a commission; an assignment from the God of the universe. It cannot and should not be approached with lazy, half-hearted effort. Leaders are given, as a personal gift from God. Notice the text. Leaders do not just exist. They do not just exist because God put them there. They exist as God's gift to the church. The idea here is that church leaders are intended by God to be a good, and gracious gift to the church.

2. Leaders equip the body. (12a)>

It is difficult to overstate this. God does not give us church leaders so that they can simply "do ministry." This text reminds us that He gives us leaders to equip the body, as a whole, to do ministry. In the American church we have even modified our vocabulary about the vocational expectation of a pastor to indicate that when we assume certain aspects of pastoral leadership that are focused on serving the needs of others we are now known as being "pastoral.” This belies a belief that what it means to be pastoral is to minister to the needs of others. This is unfortunate because, not only is it not faithful to the biblical text, but it is enabling, rather than equipping the church.

While this practice can sound noble, and while the pastor should certainly be a servant, we do a disservice to the people we serve and the kingdom of God, if we as leaders do the ministry that God has called the whole church to do. I want to suggest that while “pastoral ministry” is part of our responsibility as the body of Christ, the unique responsibility of the church leader is not to be extraordinarily good at “doing ministry”, but instead to invest our lives equipping the body to serve.

Not only that, though, the bible is clear that the ministry will not be done well, when we assume that posture, and the church will not grow, when we assume that posture.

Far too often we have developed a form of church that reflects our consumer driven society. “Church” is where people go to receive goods and services, and the pastor’s job is to deliver those goods and services. In this model,  we don’t create disciples, we create customers.

3. The body is built up. (12b-15)

The ability of the church to be built into the image of Jesus is dependent upon the leadership training and handing off ministry. Allow me to say that again. The ability of the church to be built into the image of Jesus is dependent upon the leadership training and handing off ministry. This cannot be stressed enough. The spiritual growth and maturity of the church is incredibly dependent upon the church leadership's capacity to develop the body to serve in ministry.

Colossians 1:28-29 reminds us, We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me

I know so many pastors and church leaders who are living out this passage, and yet they are frustrated because much of their effort seems to be ineffective. I want to suggest that our effectiveness as a pastor or church leader is extraordinarily connected to our capacity to hand off ministry others.

Notice how Paul says the church will grow, when leaders are developing others and handing ministry off to them. Paul says that the church will grow in unity, knowledge, doctrinal stability, gracious speech & the character of Jesus. Is it surprising, then, to note that much of these described character traits are absent from the church today? Could it be that our insistence on doing what we should be equipping others to do with us is radically inhibiting our churches?

The ability of the church to be built into the image of Jesus is dependent upon the leadership training and handing off ministry. All this is done as Jesus enables it to be so, and it is done to bring him great glory. As we serve passionately, equipping the body for the work of ministry, the body matures into what God intends for them to be. His bride is made perfect (or complete) as they mature, and that maturity does not happen apart from equipping. Notice the progression of the text concerning what Jesus accomplishes in the church, as leaders equip the church instead enable the church.

4. Jesus is glorified. (16)

All this equipping, this "building up of the body" is done as Jesus enables it to be so, and it is done to bring him great glory. As we serve passionately, equipping the body for the work of ministry, the body matures into what God intends for them to be. His bride is made perfect (or complete) as they mature, and that maturity does not happen apart from equipping. Notice the progression of the text concerning what Jesus accomplishes in the church, as leaders equip the church instead enable the church. The text explicitly points out that when church leaders equip the body, this is what would happen in the church:

- Jesus brings the church together (unity in diversity)

- Jesus makes the church grow

- Jesus increases the church’s capacity to love

- Jesus helps every believer to reach their potential

Ultimately, in the end, all of these things serve to make us like Jesus and advance Jesus’ mission. If we want to lead churches to be like Jesus; if we want to lead churches to advance Jesus’ mission, then we must determine to do the hard work of equipping the people. We must hand off ministry. Unfortunately, the reality is that in too many churches this kind of ministry shift would be challenging. Objections are sure to come from lazy church members who are happy as consumers, but I fear that the greatest objections will come from pastors who are fearful of doing the hard work of leading this kind of change, or who feel personally fulfilled when the church is radically reliant on them being Pastor Superman.

Remember this radically important lesson. You church's mission effectiveness is directly tied to ministry multiplication. Yes, this is hard. It may even be costly, both personally and professionally, but I am confident that the future success of the church is dependent upon it.

3 Reasons I May or May Not Follow You on Twitter

On Twitter it seems common to know more what users are against than what they are for. Sometimes, I get the sense that everyone is a watchdog not only for themselves, but ostensibly on behalf of everyone else. Now I understand the importance of good doctrine and protecting sheep from wolves, but what I do not understand is when people within the Church expend so much of themselves in policing on social media. Below are some reasons I keep my "following" column to a minimum. 1. Geographical Distance: One of the benefits of having moved so many times, and having lived in many different cultures in the U.S. and overseas, is that I've had a good amount of my ethnocentrism stripped away. Don't get me wrong, I still love the Northeast with its mountains, rivers, and rich bed of American history. It will always be home to me. But I've realized there are some ways we Northeasterners "do church" that simply can't compete with the Deep South. In the same way, there are some detrimental patterns in the Bible Belt that simply aren't issues for churches up north.

These geographical differences result in dialect, mindset, humor, historical, and cultural differences. This sets social media users up for a whole host of possible blunders or miscommunication. I think there is a reason Jesus commanded His disciples to go from Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth; He was saying, among other things, "You're most equipped to do ministry first locally, and as you learn you go, and as you go you learn." I'm simply not interested in what a grudging person in Virginia has to say about a pastor in Idaho. Nor am I too much interested in what a seminary punk in Washington has to say about a rural pastor in Maine. They're not speaking the same language and probably aren't even trying to.

2. Relational Distance: The Internet has closed the geographical gap in some ways, but I'd argue that reach and ministry are two different things from a user's standpoint, and we ought to note that difference even just personally. Thousands of people who listen to Matt Chandler on podcast would consider him their pastor. But Matt actually is my pastor; he knows me and is covenanted at The Village Church with me. So while he may reach people across the world, when he stands account as pastor of The Village Church, he stands account for his ministry to me.

When Twitter users troll pastors and leaders with whom they have no relationship, and no intention of building relationship, it is not helpful, nor is there a precedent for it in Scripture. "Well of course there isn't," you say, "face-to-face was the only option when Scripture was penned." Well then, I say, close that gap as much as is within your power. You have an issue with someone? We have the gift of modern transportation—use it. Using social media to continually push back on someone is cowardly.

3. Spiritual Distance: If you have an issue with another user on social media, and all I see is you pushing back on them repeatedly, I'm going to assume you have not done your best to close the gap of which I spoke above. Because of that, I'm going to assume you are not interested in true communion within the Church, but only your pet doctrine or peevish point. In this case, your seasoning is not welcome in my steak.

Titus 3 gives pretty clear directives for what to do with those stirring up foolish controversies, so I'll try to push back in a tender way, then perhaps a bit more firmly, but third strike and you're out. Your salvation is not in question and your brotherhood is always welcome, but I simply am not going to submit the health of my soul to someone who seems to be only interested in self.

The Social Media Pulpit

With these three considerations in mind, I guard my "following" column on Twitter pretty carefully. I do not think I have to only follow those with whom I agree, but just as we would not expect someone to walk into a room where stones are being tossed in every direction by those who should be my family, I'll do you one better: I'm not going into the house.

A fellow blogger received some pretty heavy hits recently and when she asked me if I thought she should continue to engage those throwing stones at her on Twitter, my counsel was simple: Preach the Word with joy and continue walking the path set before her. Standing at the crossroads and arguing ad nauseum does no one any good, and no one moves forward. Instead, I advised that she take the path in front of her with joy and the Holy Spirit, inviting others to follow to a more full likeness of Christ.

If you use Twitter, you have a pulpit. So, "Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching (2 Tim. 4:2)." Be known for what you're for, rather than what you're against, and always be long-suffering even in your shortest replies.

Note: I want to just say that I don't use these same considerations for blogs/articles. I take them into account, but my criteria for discerning which sites to read is more robust and full. I am mainly addressing Twitter in this. In other words, I'm using 800 words to describe what should happen in 140 characters.

Race and the Gospel

On the wall of my office hangs a picture of Jackie Robinson stealing home during a Dodgers game in 1947. I like the message it sends about courage and taking risks, but more importantly I like the message it sends about how Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the game of baseball, pioneering a way through the racial tensions in our country. It can be argued that this event opened up the possibility for the Civil Rights Movement. In 2004, Major League Baseball declared each subsequent April 15th “Jackie Robinson Day.” On this day, I am reminded that few people have done more for racial reconciliation and equality than Jackie Robinson. Except Jesus.

The Dividing Wall

Imagine for a moment that you are a Gentile living in first century Palestine. You’ve grown up with Jewish friends, in a Jewish world, surrounded by a Jewish way of life. As part of that life, your friends participate in temple worship. Out of curiosity, you follow them to the temple one day. As you come close to the Temple Mount, you begin to get excited. Your friends have told you about the experience of worship, and the anticipation builds as you imagine what it might be like to encounter Israel’s God.

As you arrive, you are surprised by a sign on the wall of the temple. Looking a bit closer, your heart drops as you read the words: “Gentiles enter upon pain of death.”

You’ve just encountered one of the most egregious experiences of racial segregation in history. The temple, created as a house of prayer for all nations (see Isaiah 56), had become an exclusionary place of worship, guarded by a series of courts which kept certain groups of people (Gentiles, women, etc.) from getting near the Holy of Holies. The Court of the Gentiles was the outer-most court of the temple and kept every non-Jew on the outskirts. But this racial discrimination extended beyond temple worship. If you were a Gentile, a Jew would be considered unclean if he stepped into your house. If you were a Gentile woman in labor, Jews were not allowed to help you through childbirth. The list goes on.

One in Christ

Enter Jesus. He healed a Roman Centurion’s son. He told a story where a Samaritan (a Gentile half-breed despised by Jews) was the hero. And he, in Paul’s words, “broke down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility (picture the wall in the temple which kept the Gentiles out)…that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body…for through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:14-18).

Jesus died in order to kill the hostility between Jew and Gentile. In Galatians 3, he says there is no longer “Jew or Greek.” The cross is where all racial hostilities cease. Paul says that both groups (Jew and Gentile; also black and white, American and Iraqi, etc.) have the same access to the Father. If we have the same Father, that makes us brothers and sisters. And this despite differences in ethnicity, socio-economic status, and other worldly divisions.

The idea is that you have more in common with an Iraqi who follows Jesus than you do your own brother or sister if they don’t follow Jesus. It also means that despite whatever differences you have (skin color, country of origin, etc.), those differences are not as important as the one thing you do have in common with believers of other races – Jesus.

Seeing Like Jesus

So, the gospel breaks down racial barriers. It redefines what family and citizenship means. That’s why in the next verse of Ephesians, Paul says that we are “fellow citizens with the saints, members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19).

So live like it. Whatever your color or background – the gospel calls us to care for all of the nations and love one another like Jesus loved us. If we are going to be gospel people, we must see one another as God sees us. God loves all people the same, regardless of color. Race should never be a barrier. This is what Jackie Robinson Day is all about.

For the Christian, this is what every day is about.

Kermit Gosnell and the Culture of Death

The picture to the left is my daughter, Harper Grace Smith, on March 29, 2013. In this photo and subsequent photos and videos, we were shown her developed vital organs, her strong heartbeat, and her incessant kicking and squirming. According to U.S. law, we could decide to stop these things from ever happening again. If we didn't want her, we'd be perfectly justified legally to end her 20-week-old life. In fact, we'd have a few weeks to think about it. The debates rage on about the human rights for the unborn, using labels such as "zygotes," "fetuses," and other non-human terms for the developing life inside a woman. This debate alone is a tragedy. And this disturbing testimony by a Planned Parenthood representative notwithstanding, basic human morality would promote the idea of embracing the life of a child actually delivered from the womb. Or so we hope.

Building a Culture of Death

Since at least 1973, with the decisions of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, we've been publicly conditioned to value human life only when convenient. It's amazing that these were debatable matters of the court, and they triggered the start of a frightening ethical progress. In short, abortion went from an idea to a normative option. I'm no fan of tracing the acts of extremists back to the roots of a belief system, but surely such degradation of life led to the reprehensible actions of Kermit Gosnell, an abortion "doctor" in Pennsylvania. According to reports, Gosnell performed innumerable illegal abortions well past the 24-week limit set by the state, including severing the spinal cords of babies who partially and fully left their mother's womb. Mothers of some children even died during the process due to shabby procedures and conditions. All with the help of underage "nurses."

That abortion exists at all, and that it's culturally acceptable, opens the door to the extreme horror of Gosnell's practice. And let's be clear: Whether a life is ended at 24 weeks (the legal limit) or 25, at one week or at birth, a life that God created is destroyed. The gruesomeness may be more obvious to the senses, but the savagery is the same.

Our world is becoming inoculated to the deaths of 1.2 million children every year, to the point that the media isn't putting Gosnell on the front pages and average Americans aren't raising much concern about the silence. Akin to the brainwashing of the majority in Nazi Germany, culture's acquiescing to the systematic destruction of a group of people immunizes our hearts to its ghastly reality. In Inside Hitler's Germany, Matthew Hughes and Chris Mann explain that brainwashing started with German youth. By the time the real violence began:

Ordinary people went along with this appalling violence against fellow Germans. One remembered that while [the attacks on Jews] was a shock, "When the masses were shouting 'Heil' what could the individual person do? You went along. We went along. That's how it was. We were the followers." (101)

Sound familiar? And while both pro-choice and pro-life proponents are equally flabbergasted by the Holocaust now, there will be a day when history will look back on today's America, India, China, and other life-destroying cultures and be repulsed by the staggering abortion numbers from 1973-???. Or so we hope.

Promoting a Theology of Life

For the Christian, this should be a non-negotiable issue. God creates human beings in his image (Gen. 1:27) and, in turn, knows them intricately in the womb (Ps. 139:13-15). God is a God of life, and each life belongs to him and no one else. Life itself is woven into every theological construct from anthropology to soteriology to eschatology. We are created to physically live, redeemed to spiritually live anew, and given eternal life to live forever.

As Jesus's disciples, we follow his lead on matters of justice. All things are for him, through him, and to him (Rom. 11:36), and he cares about mankind. For this very reason, the second great commandment orders us to love others as we love ourselves (Matt. 22:39). I don't know about you, but I would expect those who had the choice to defend my life when I had no choice. It's easy to promote abortion when you weren't the one aborted; it's righteous to defend the unborn precisely because you weren't the one aborted.

As culture presses in on our beliefs, posing us as the close-minded bigots of our era, we must stand firm. We will not be silenced. We must take this truth to the pulpits, the streets, the social media realm, and beyond. Let us follow in the footsteps of Jesus who healed the blind man even when he was pressured to leave him helpless (Matt. 20:29-34). If we take up our crosses and follow Jesus, contending for what is right and true, we can raise a clarion call for the value of human life in this age.

Or so we hope.

When We Stop Dreaming

The following is an excerpt of Freefall to Fly by Rebekah Lyons, used by permission. Purchase the entire book on Amazon.  ---

My head snapped up from the pillow at the sound of my daughter calling my name from downstairs. Good Luck Charlie had ended, and my job needed to start again. More than fifteen years removed from my napkin dreams, I was running fast. I’d been given a front-row seat on a rickety wooden roller coaster motoring on a never-ending loop. Twisting, turn- ing, backward, forward. Straining to find my bearings, but never slowing enough to compose myself. Going in circles, but never finding my dreams.

If we ignore the yearnings of our souls, we atrophy, and our dreams die. Sadly, many of us choose this descent because we believe it’s safer. If we don’t hope, we won’t be let down. If we don’t imagine, reality won’t disappoint. Either way, we avoid pain.

These destructive tendencies seem to afflict women in particular. Since 1988, the use of antidepressant drugs has soared nearly 400 percent, and women are 2.5 times more likely than men to take them. Twenty-three percent of women ages forty to fifty-nine regularly take these drugs, more than in any other demographic. Nearly one in four. A devastating statistic. Why the struggle? Why the heaviness?

As for me, I wondered: Is this just seasonal depression? Or will it linger? My faith was flailing. The gloom lifted by spring, but the lurking shadow reminded me that January would come again. I think perhaps the antici- pation of the darkness returning was as precarious as when it settled.

A friend recently confessed through tears that she struggles with bitterness. Her life doesn’t look the way she’d hoped it would. She couldn’t reconcile how her life—looking so successful on the surface—disguised the aching void that brings her tears the moment she opens her balled fists.

Are we grieving because our lives don’t look the way we imagined in our youth?

Do we pressure our children to reach their potential because we aren’t living up to our own?

Are we spending every moment cultivating the lives of everyone . . . but ourselves?

Women are stars fading behind the dark shadow of those we care for, and we often look a little worse for wear. Our light is dimmer than it used to be as we find ourselves unable to dream beyond our current reality.

So we compromise. My childhood dreams were just that—dreams. I should let them go. We push down any hope when we sense it emerging. The desire for change uncovers what terrifies us most: failure.

Then we go numb. We tell ourselves a quick fix will do just fine. Whatever will keep our heads above water—whatever will allow us to keep making lunches, paying the bills, getting through sex, doing the kids’ carpool, working out, pursuing that career, and so on—will just have to do. We don’t want to become the crazy lady at the bus stop, so we think to our- selves, Just give me the shortcut. Then I’ll be okay.

Perhaps most alarming are the many women who don’t see past their manicured lives—grasping for society’s definition of being “put together.” We have pretty ways of masking our lack of meaning, using all kinds of beauty products and retail therapy. We have homes to furnish and decorate, then redecorate once we tire of what we have. We keep up with fashion styles, throw and attend parties, and maintain a rigorous pace. While these are all delightful and beautiful and often worthy goals, using them to conceal our unfulfilled lives is dangerous.

Some women uncover their talents before having kids and then shelve them while raising their children. They’ve experienced a sense of fulfill- ment in living out their purpose but believe they must set aside their pursuits for the sake of motherhood. They’ve bought into the belief that their gifts and child rearing are disparate parts, unable to coexist. Instead of fighting to figure out the balance, they stuff their dreams in a box marked “Motherhood.”

Other women never identify their purpose before having children. Parenthood sets in and can unknowingly become the excuse to stop cultivating their dreams. Instead, they place their quest for significance on the lives of their children (as we see played out on Facebook every day). But this suffocating pressure is too much for anyone to bear, much less a five-year-old.

In either case, the displacement of a mother’s purpose (beyond child rearing) becomes a huge loss to our communities. If women aren’t empowered to cultivate their uniqueness, we all suffer the loss of beauty, creativity, and resourcefulness they were meant to inject into the world.

Can a mother chase the dreams that stir her heart and simultaneously raise her children?

Can a woman chase the dreams that stir her heart when life gets in the way?

The masks need not remain. The fading is teaching us to turn from try- ing to prove to each other that we have everything together to letting our wounds show. We speak words that ring out in the air and just sit there. Moments of sharing and pain and desperation. Desperation to be heard, to be understood, and to know we are still in this life together. The years give us new perspective and freedom to be honest. In these settings, an echo keeps surfacing. Struggle, responsibility, pain, and in the midst of it all, faith.

Aging is paradoxical: the older we get, the less we are sure of. All we hope for is the courage to keep walking. And our understanding of God’s grace takes new shape for us. Our hearts stumble into unknown territory as our lives twist and turn. Yet we aren’t sure how to respond.

We thought we had faith figured out before, when life was a negative in black and white. But now that we see in full color, the image has faded. Clarity left long ago when we were held in the tension between seeing how things ought to be in contrast with how they really are. We freefall because we never figured out what makes us fly.

We stopped dreaming.

I’m riveted by the scene in The King’s Speech when Prince Albert, Duke of York, delivers a discourse to a large crowd on a dreary London day in 1930. He stutters conspicuously, and the crowd squirms in their seats. Out of desperation to defend her husband’s reputation, the Duchess of York travels to a dilapidated part of town to locate Lionel Logue, a speech therapist. He has Bertie (his affectionate nickname for Albert) wear headphones and listen to blaring classical music while reading Shakespeare’s well-known soliloquy from Hamlet. Lionel records Bertie’s voice as he stutters through the famous first phrase—“To be or not to be”—but Bertie’s final frustration drives him out of the room, recording in hand, shouting, “What’s the use?”

Bertie hides the vinyl recording in his desk drawer. Just out of reach. But he knows it’s still there. After a week passes, Bertie pulls out the record and listens. As his smooth, liberated speech echoes out of the speaker, he is dumbfounded, amazed by the gift he possesses. He hears words of conviction soaring without stutter. Beautiful like music. His wife bears witness. An epiphany. They promptly return to Lionel in secret to continue working. Too often we live with our talents hidden in the desk drawer. Just out of reach. We’ve tucked them away. Refusing to listen. It hurts too much to hope. So we go on with our lives, not allowing ourselves to go near that drawer.

“We arrive in this world with birthright gifts—then we spend the first half of our lives abandoning them or letting others disabuse us of them,” Parker Palmer writes in Let Your Life Speak. “Then—if we are awake, aware, and able to admit our loss—we spend the second half trying to recover and reclaim the gift we once possessed.”

This was an excerpt from Freefall to Fly by Rebekah Lyons. Purchase the entire book on Amazon. 

--

Rebekah Lyons is a mother of three, wife of one, and dog walker of two living in New York City. She's an old soul with a contemporary, honest voice who puts a new face on the struggles women face as they seek to live a life of meaning. As a self-confessed mess, Rebekah wears her heart on her sleeve, a benefit to friends, and readers alike. She serves alongside her husband, Gabe, as cofounder of QIdeas, an organization that helps leaders winsomely engage culture.

Can Racially Diverse Churches Exist?

In 2006, I planted Emmaus Church with a small team of people who dreamed of a gospel-centered, multi-ethnic, multi-racial church. We had a vision that our church would not just have racially integrated worship services but also racially integrated community life because of the reconciling power of the gospel. In the early years of pursuing this vision, we were often told this goal was impossible to reach (especially for a church in Portland, Oregon, the whitest major city in America). I would like to report to you that we never for a moment believed such voices, and we never failed to believe that God was willing and able to make our vision become reality.

But I can’t.

Despite our full commitment to pursuing a gospel-centered, multi-ethnic, multi-racial church – and despite our unwillingness to settle for only half of that equation – we often doubted it could happen. And when it did in fact happen, we then doubted it could be sustained. Of course we have not been alone in this sentiment. The vast majority of pastors I know would love for their churches to reflect the racial diversity of their cities. Yet those very same pastors make little to no attempt to actually achieve that desire. This is because in America, in general, and in American Christianity, in particular, there are so many factors working against a truly integrated church family that it most often feels like a fool’s errand.

But is it?

Can American Christians find themselves in gospel-centered, multi-ethnic, multi-racial churches that are integrated both in and beyond the Sunday gathering? Can this be normal? Based on the Scriptures and my personal experience, I believe the answer is “no and yes.”

No, Racially Diverse Churches Cannot Be Normal

Racially diverse churches cannot be normal because unity is not normal. Human beings have been against each other since Adam and Eve hid their nakedness and blamed each other before God. It is in our sinful nature to be both divided and divisive (Galatians 5:19-21). This is one of the reasons that the Homogenous Unit Principle often works; it appeals to the sinful desires of our hearts to exalt ourselves and separate from those who do not likewise exalt us by affirming who we are and what we like.

This inborn tendency toward division and divisiveness is made even stronger by the social construct of race because it provides us with (false) justification for our sin. If we adopt the man-made category of race we escape condemnation because we are now convinced that our division and divisiveness is not a product of our self-centered hearts but a product of God-ordained biology. This is how American slavery was defended in the 18^th and 19^th centuries (e.g. “God built white superiority into creation so he intends for society to function this way”), and this is how the segregation of American churches is often defended in the 21^st centuries (e.g. “God made us to worship differently, so it makes sense for us to worship separately”).

In light of the fact that we have inherited both a sinful tendency toward division and a social construct that exploits it, a truly racially unified church will never be normal. Never. This is clearly implied in Jesus’ extended prayer on the eve of his death. In John 17, Jesus prays three times for the Father to unite the members of his church with one another just as Jesus is united with the Father. He then twice says that it is through such unity that the world will know that Jesus is who he says he is (John 17:21, 23). In other words, unity of this sort is so rare that the world simply cannot explain it apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is in fact the utter abnormality of true unity that makes people stop, notice, and seek an explanation when it sees Jesus’ church united.

Yes, Racially Diverse Churches Can Be Normal 

The fact that unity requires an explanation reveals that unity is not normal, but the fact that Jesus is the explanation for said unity reveals that unity can become normal for those who are in Christ. Thus, while racially diverse churches will never be normal in America, they can become the new normal for American Christians because Jesus has not only done everything necessary to unite us to God, he has done everything necessary to unite us to each other. Consequently, living to see racially integrated churches as the new normal is not just possible, it is preferable for at least three reasons.

First, we should do everything we can to make racially diverse churches the new normal because this is a model Scripture gives us. In Acts 6, the apostles work to integrate and unify a culturally diverse church and, as a result, “the word of God spread” (Acts 6:7). In Acts 11:19-26, we are introduced to the ethnically diverse church of Antioch, and in Acts 13:1-2, we are introduced to their diverse leadership team which consisted of blacks and whites, Africans and Greeks, Gentiles and Jews. I do not think it is a coincidence that it was in Antioch that the disciples were first referred to as “Christians” (pejorative or not), as their multi-cultural, multi-national, multi-ethnic unity could only be explained by their connection to Christ.

Second, we should do everything we can to make racially diverse churches the new normal because racially diverse churches reflect the coming kingdom. When the Apostle John received the revelation, he was given a vision of the redeemed which he described as “a great multitude…of every nation, tribe, people and language” worshiping God in unison (Revelation 7:9). This is what Jesus’ coming kingdom will look like. The church is tasked with bringing a foretaste of this coming kingdom into this present world. Thus, as much as the American church works to bring God’s kingdom into this world through helping the poor, forgiving offenders, and healing the sick, we should also work to bring God’s kingdom into this world through integrating our worshiping communities.

Third, we should do everything we can to make racially diverse churches the new normal because Jesus is the only reasonable explanation for racially integrated churches. True unity between human beings is so rare that Jesus says it requires an explanation for which only his person and work will suffice. If this is true of unity in general, it is much more true of unity across racial lines for two reasons. First, racial categories are more immediately visible to Americans than any other. Second, racial tensions are more palpable and potentially explosive to Americans than any other. Therefore, racial unity is both more obvious than unity across other categories (so our non-Christian neighbors immediately recognize it) and more unlikely than unity across other categories (so our non-Christian neighbors cannot explain it). This opens the door for us to offer Jesus and his gospel as the answer to a question they are actually asking.

American Christians want to experience racially diverse churches for the reasons above. American Christians can experience racially diverse churches because Jesus has done everything necessary to unite us to God and to each other. But American Christians will experience racially diverse churches, if, and only if, we are intentional about seeking them.

Racially Diverse Churches Will Only Become Normal Through Intentionality

Racially integrated churches do not “just happen” any more than conversion “just happens.” Though the Holy Spirit is the only one who can convert people who are spiritually dead, he chooses to do so through human beings who commit themselves to declaring and displaying the gospel to their neighbors. In the same way, though Jesus is the only one who can build racially integrated churches, he does so through human beings who commit themselves to building racially integrated churches.

Are you willing to make that commitment?

If so, there is no formula for success apart from a wholehearted commitment to what seems impossible and a willingness to do whatever is necessary to get there. This means that what is right for another church may not be right for yours. For example, I know of a gospel-centered, multi-racial church that became racially integrated largely because of its exceptional worship team, which was intentionally multi-cultural in its song choice and performance. This worked for them. Yet because of the limited pool of human and financial resources we had when we planted, this would not have worked for Emmaus. Instead, we made a conscious decision to avoid having any music in our worship services for the first year and a half of our existence. We knew that the moment we chose one musical style over another we would be unintentionally choosing one culture over another.  Therefore, we waited for our church to become multi-racial so diverse music could come from our diverse congregation rather than the other way around.

While there is no formula for success, there are several things through which everyone who wants to experience a racially diverse church will have to think. As I share a few of these topics below, I do so with white church leaders and members (like me) in mind. I am convinced that pastors of color are much more equipped to plant and lead multi-racial churches because American culture forces them to be aware of race and to live in a multi-racial environment every day of their lives. For those like myself who need additional guidance, here are four key areas you will have to intentionally think through.

1. Church Leadership

It is very easy to say you want a racially diverse church. But few people will believe you or follow you if you are not willing to also have racially diverse leadership. If you are white, you must consider the fact that people of color are asked to submit to white leadership every day in virtually every sphere of their lives. If they are to believe your church is offering something different from the world, they will have to see you not only empowering minority leaders but also willfully sharing your authority with them and submitting your authority to them. Are you willing to do this with people who see the world and ministry through a different lens than you? This is ultimately what you’re asking your congregation to do, and they will only do it if you model it for them.

Invariably, when I talk about this particular issue with other pastors the same question comes up: Where will I find them? This very sincere question reveals two very sincere problems. The first problem is that white evangelicals live such segregated lives that they can’t think of any people of color who could be potential church leaders. The second problem is that white evangelicals define “potential church leaders” not only in biblical terms but in culturally shaped, non-biblical terms that automatically eliminate a large number of Christians of color. Are you willing to work with leaders who do not come from the overwhelmingly white Bible colleges and seminaries of your particular theological ilk? Are you willing to work with leaders who do not have leadership experience in the overwhelmingly white para-church ministries you are most familiar with? Are you willing to work with Jesus loving, gospel-centered believers who do not share your affinity for a euro-centric view of church history and theology?

2. Worship Service

When most of us think of the ideal worship service, we unintentionally think of a worship service that most appeals to our particular racial, ethnic, or cultural experience. This means that we are vulnerable to defining the elements, order, and style of a good worship service in ways that exclude or otherwise alienate those from other racial, ethnic, and cultural experiences. For instance, to the average white hipster in Portland, a good musical worship set is moody and dark, while to the average black adult in Portland, a good musical worship set is celebratory and upbeat. Similar distinctions can be observed in preferences about the length of the music set and sermon, the oratory style and chosen illustrations of the preacher, the frequency and method of receiving communion, and even the best way to welcome visitors. Are you willing to re-evaluate every detail of your worship experience in your pursuit of a fully integrated multi-racial church? If so, what is the process?

 3. Congregational Education

If an American congregation is to be racially diverse it will most likely include its share of white people. We white Americans have inherited many privileges on the sole basis of our skin tone. One such privilege is not having to think about race at all and especially not having to think of ourselves in racial categories. As such, the white members of our congregations are likely to have difficulty understanding why our church is talking about race so much and making so many intentional decisions with race in mind. It is not uncommon for white Christians in these circumstances to unintentionally and unconsciously speak and behave in ways that actually work against racial unity in the congregation. It is not that they are racist. It is that they do not know how to live in a truly racially integrated environment. Are you willing to make the white members of your congregation aware of their whiteness and all the privileges it affords them? Are you willing to call the white members of your congregation to voluntarily lay down their privileges in service to the black, Latino, Native American, and Asian members of your church and your community? If so, how will you do that?

 4. Humble Listening

If you are going to pastor an integrated church, you are going to have a church full of people whose experiences and viewpoints are different from yours. Likewise, you are going to be aiming to reach a city full of people whose experiences and viewpoints are different from yours. Formal training in Bible college or seminary can prepare you for many things in ministry, but it cannot train you to see through someone else’s eyes. Reading books and blogs from white people who do multi-racial ministry (like me) can help you ask the right questions, but it cannot help you answer them. Your own observation of another’s racial experience and cultural distinctions can be helpful, but it cannot be complete nor wholly accurate. The only way to know what the various people of color in your church or city are thinking, feeling, and desiring is to ask them and listen without any agenda other than learning from them.  Are you willing to profess your own ignorance and to have those conversations?

Racially diverse churches will never be normal. And that’s the point.

In conclusion, let me be clear that I am not an expert on multi-racial churches. Though God has graciously honored our prayers and made Emmaus a gospel-centered, multi-ethnic, multi-racial church, we are only an average-sized church, and we still have a very long way to go. For example, our city is 9% Latino, but our church is less than 2% Latino. We are dissatisfied with this and are intentionally trying to minimize that gap in order to accurately reflect the diversity of our neighborhood, bring the gospel to one of the fastest growing people groups in our city, and learn more about the God we worship through the rich contributions of Latino culture. To do this, our church is in the process of translating its bulletins, website, song slides, and other printed materials into Spanish while I, as lead pastor, am reading books on Latino culture and history, listening to my Latino neighbors, and spending more than 10 hours a week trying to learn the Spanish language. I confess that this is difficult work, and I have no idea if any of it will bear fruit. But I can guarantee we will never see fruit if we’re not intentional in our pursuit of our goal. And that goal is worth every bit of the work.

I hope that you determine the same for your church.

Integrated, racially diverse churches will never be normal. And that’s the point. It is precisely because they are abnormal that they are worth every sacrifice you have to make in pursuit of them. Their utter abnormality causes people to search for an explanation for every one of them that exists. And that explanation is solely found in who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. May you and I work together to see racially integrated churches become the new normal so that all of our churches require such an explanation.

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Cole Brown is founding pastor of Emmaus Church, a multi-racial congregation in Portland, OR. He is the author of Lies My Pastor Told Me & Lies Hip Hop Told Me and blogs on race, culture, theology and related topics at colebrownpdx.com. He lives in Portland with his wife and two children and loves Jesus, Hip Hop, and comedy. Twitter: @colebrownpdx

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Warning: Don't Bury Our One Talent

Adam Cavalier currently serves as cross-cultural worker in southeast Asia. His home church is The Chapel on the Campusin Baton Rouge, LA. He holds a Master of Theology (Th.M.) in pastoral ministries from Dallas Theological Seminary. Check out his blog at From Cajun to Asian.  

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Imagine there is a young, flourishing leader in your church. He is a bright, humble, and faithful extrovert. Not only that, but Extrovert has an insatiable desire to know God through his Word, exudes confidence, has impressive communication and social skills. Everybody in the church loves him and believes he has great potential to be a celebrated leader in God’s church. Extrovert just read a book on missions, has been infected with the Great Commission bug, and it looks like he is never going to recover. Now when he reads Scripture, he sees God’s heart for the nations on every page. After praying through a book that lists unengaged, unreached people groups, he has zeroed in on a particular people group in Northern India. Currently every time he prays, God continually places this specific people group on his heart. He believes God is calling him to dedicate his whole life to this group by learning their language, translating the Bible into their native tongue, and sharing the gospel with them until either every single person in that group believes in Jesus Christ or the he returns in glory.

Also, imagine another young leader in the church who is not so dynamic. People aren’t necessarily overly drawn to his personality. He has a quiet, gentle, introverted spirit, but some find him a little odd. Although he has his little quirks, Introvert has exemplary Christian character. He is faithful, honest, dependable, and he can handle the Word well. The church loves him, but they don’t want him on stage. And because he doesn’t have an infectious personality like Extrovert, they keep him relegated to less visible responsibilities in the church. Dissimilar to Extrovert, Introvert isn’t as drawn to the cross-cultural mission field. He sees God’s passion for the nations, but isn’t personally called to be a missionary. He feels called to stay home, equipping and sending others.

Misguided Intentions

There is a problem. Most people in his church and community think that both their plans are misguided and ill-advised. The church wants to send Introvert to the field, and keep Extrovert home. They wonder why Extrovert would want to go and use his God-given personality overseas. He could cultivate it and have a much greater impact on God’s Kingdom at home where the crowds are. Likewise, they think that Introvert could better be used cross-culturally. He doesn't light up the stage, but there are unreached people who are lost and dying apart from the knowledge of Christ in distant lands. Though he is a tad awkward in social settings in our culture, he could be effective in international ministry. I have heard these arguments time and time again. This is not a hypothetical story; it’s the story of many believers who desperately want to be a part of God’s promise to have someone from every tongue, tribe, and nation represented in Heaven worshiping the one true King.

Praise God For All Types

The intention should not be to regard certain personalities as essential over and against others. The call is for Christians to regard all personalities as fundamental to God’s purposes for nation-saving, sin-breaking, life-changing, risk-taking, God-honoring purposes. We are not to pity persons who are individually called to go to the cross-cultural mission field, we are to praise them; better yet, we are to praise God for them. One the one hand, those who want to serve Christ overseas are invaluable here. They are precious, and we need more people with a heart for the nations at home to function as senders and equippers. The missions-minded believer will be a catalyst for others to give more time, resources, and thought to what God is doing in the nations. A believer who is willing to go must also be willing to stay.

On the other hand, someone who feels called to serve Christ overseas would have immediate impact on the field. Go-ers should go! I believe our desire has all too frequently been to export our under-developed introverts and hoard our over-exposed extroverts. Many in our Western cultural are guilty of burying our one “talent” in the ground and waiting for our “hard” Master to return (see Matthew 25). As Westerners, we do a great job of giving time, money, resources, and prayer to the foreign mission field. But when it comes to what we cherish most – our beloved people – we are less willing to give that up to God. I believe that we should not only be lavish in our distribution of gifts, talents, and resources, but also our people. As John Piper says in his book Let the Nations Be Glad!, “Many Christians in the West think that the day of sending missionaries from our churches is past. This is tragic. Presumably, what we should do now is support missions from the Global South (“the Christian church in Africa, Latin America, and Asia”). My way of putting that would be: Let them shed their blood. We will just send money." This is true of believers in the West, but I believe it is especially true of our well-liked extroverts.

Let God Decide

I believe this problem often stems from our seemingly-impenetrable pragmatic worldview. Who doesn’t want a dynamic pastor that can handle and communicate the truth of God properly? Don’t misunderstand me. I think we should have well-trained pastors and church leaders equipped with biblical truth and skills to minister in the local church effectively. But I believe we have not always done a good job of balancing this principle with an uncompromising faith in God’s astonishing promise that he will carry out the work – regardless of our best attempts to help (or hurt). Will the dishes get done if your child helps you in the process? Sure, we might break a dish or two in the process, but God decides to include us in the task that has a sure outcome. Someone from every single tongue, tribe, and nation will be present before the throne. The question is this:  Will we completely trust that God will accomplish his purposes through us in a way that only he can do?

Our subtle response to person's calling is to respectfully ask, “Did God really say that you should go to that people group?” I think that if we continue on this Spirit-quenching approach to Kingdom growth, we will deliberately stunt Spirit-empowered growth and will only allow for man-made results. Can’t you hear it? Some have said, “Come, let us build ourselves a nation and a church with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” The good news is that this is not an unsolvable problem.

By the grace of God and with his help, we can overcome our poor stewardship by only one thing: Believing the gospel. We should be eager to send our “best” people out to the field, not reluctant to let them go. Time and time again, I have seen Christians willing to send out “strange” introverts to the cross-cultural field, but hesitant to send their fashionable extroverts. Joseph and his dreams can go to distant lands and foreign people, but the older brothers can stay. David can go out to the fields and tend to the sheep, but the stronger brothers can stay and fight. The character and calling of a believer should override our (sometimes selfish) opinions on guiding our brothers and sisters on where they should go or what they should do with their lives. In this case, Jim Elliot’s memorable quote should ring a resounding amen in our hearts, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

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For another great article on extroverts and introverts, see Seth McBee's article HERE.

Questioning the Gospel

Christians do a lot of back slapping when it comes to belief in the gospel. It’s like we’re afraid to ask hard questions, struggle through difficult times, and doubt the faith. Jenny is a new Christian. She’s well educated, thoughtful, terribly excited about the gospel, and acquainted with suffering. As we talked about her newfound faith, she explained to me that she tried church in the past. She’d had a “bad experience.” I braced myself for some church trashing, but quickly realized Jenny had something to say to the church. Jenny recounted story after story of her difficult questions being turned away by Christians and pastors. She was told, “All the answers are in the Bible. Just read it and have faith.” Her doubts were dismissed as undermining skepticism. Eventually, despite her admiration for the church, she left. Why? She wasn’t allowed to question the gospel.

The Bible Invites Doubt

Non-Christians aren’t the only ones that need to question the gospel. On the other side of faith, our discipleship should be suffused with doubt. Many of us run from it. We look down on doubt. In contrast, the whole Bible presupposes doubt. The Bible is largely written by believers to believers who doubt their beliefs. Many saints were adept at questioning God, asking questions like:

• “Will you put to death the righteous with the wicked?” (Gen 18:25)
• “Oh, Lord, will you please send someone else?” (Ex 4:13)
• “Why do the wicked prosper?” (Ps 73)
• “How long Oh Lord?” (Ps 79)
• “Have you not rejected us, O God?” (Ps 60)
• “How will this be since I am a virgin?” (Lk 1:34)
• “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46)
• “Why do I do what I do not want?” (Rom 7:20)

These men and women questioned God, to his face. Thomas was incredulous when told about the resurrection. Facing Jesus, he still doubted. Just prior to the ascension, with the risen Jesus standing in their midst, we’re told disciples “…worshiped but some doubted” (Matt 28:17).

Recovering the Practice of Doubt

Christians have lost the practice of doubt. Instead, we often reinforce blind faith. We gather like-minded people around us to reinforce our beliefs, while isolating ourselves from genuine questions about God, Scripture, and life. Non-Christians see this and are put off. Some assume that Christianity is pure indoctrination. Others believe that you have to check your brain at the door of church. So they remain, on the outside of the church, with important, authentic questions about the gospel, with no one to hear them out.

We need to learn from our skeptical friends and neighbors. We need to be more honest about how bizarre our faith sounds. Have you ever considered that Christianity sounds like a cult? We purport that our leader died and rose from the dead, but that he is now, conveniently, invisible. We believe that he will reappear one day to set all things right. Do you really believe this? Why? Can you account for it in a believable way? Many of the gospel teachings are slipped onto the shelf of our mental library, where they gather to collect dust. Sure we “believe” them, but don’t pull them down often enough to doubt them.

God has created a world filled with irony and incongruity. We are redeemed but we aren’t. We are perfect in God’s sight but not in real time. Jesus has defeated death and evil, but people die and suffer every day. Then, there’s the everyday struggle to believe. We possess the promises of God, but fail to believe them every single day. Instead, we believe in the fleeting promises of the world. We believe the approval of co-workers is better that the enduring approval of God the Father. We believe holding a grudge will bring more satisfaction than giving away Christ’s forgiveness. Suffering through a trial, we believe God in unjust or we are awful, instead of seeing God’s grace and goodness to purify misplaced faith in ourselves or in the comforts of this world. O, how we disbelieve.

Blind Faith is Blinding to the World

We disbelieve the gospel because we fail to doubt the gospel. We don’t interrogate it to find better promises. We don’t question God, asking him for greater joy than the fleeting satisfaction we have in comfort. We don’t query the gospel to make better sense of suffering. Instead, we place one hand over our eyes, and point upward: “Just have faith.” This is unbelievable. It is shallow.

Blind faith is blinding faith. It masks the light of the gospel, covering up the perceptive truths of Scripture that must be queried to be uncovered. People like Jenny need Christians who welcome, not stomp, doubt. An unbelieving world needs to see why the gospel is worth believing. They need to see what atonement has to do with pluralism, what regeneration has to do with environmental stewardship, what propitiation has to do with humility, what adoption has to do with sex trafficking, what justification has to do with self-esteem, what new creation has to do with the Arts, what union with Christ has to do with longings for significance. Our colleagues, coworkers, and neighbors also need to hear us doubt the gospel in face of: literature, homosexuality, racism, women, technology, pluralism, hypocrisy, evolution, and atheism, to name a few. The gospel must be questioned if we are to uncover its riches, not only for ourselves but also for the world.

Blind faith reroutes a detour around God’s design in suffering. Peter reminds us that trials are meant to make us question, reflect, and refine our faith. When we suffer the loss of a friend, job, or dream, we are meant to question the gospel. We are meant to discover, through trial, how Christ is better, not just affirm that he is better. Suffering can show us how God is sufficient and the Savior is sublime. But we must doubt. We must take our hands off our eyes to stare our troubles in the face. Only then can faith become precious and perceptive. We’ve failed to realize we are meant to doubt our way into faith every single day. When we doubt the gospel, in God’s presence, we find Jesus standing up in our circumstances, flooding them with hope.

Doubting for Joy

Standing in front of the risen Christ, “they worshipped but some doubted” (Matt 28:17). The disciples are skeptical. They possess the facts, the proofs to believe, but still don’t have faith. Or maybe they believed but lacked faith? Making a distinction between belief and faith Harvard Religion scholar, Harvey Cox writes: “We can believe something to be true without it making much difference to us, but we place our faith only in something that is vital for the way we live.” If we don’t see the gospel as vital, then we will restrict it to the realm of belief. In other words, we can believe the gospel with it making very little difference to our lives. We can believe without faith.

The way forward from belief to faith is through the path of doubt, down the road of inquiry. We must question what we believe in order to increase in faith. For Christ to become vital, we must see how essential he is, in everything. We need the vital organ of faith. Belief cannot live without faith, the animating power of actual trust in a trustworthy gospel. This comes through testing our faith, asking how God is good in our pain, what Jesus has to do with Science, how the Holy Spirit changes on culture. We need to get in front of the face of God and ask the hard questions with humility. We need to pull the gospel off the shelf and doubt it for joy.

Seeing the resurrected Jesus, some disciples “disbelieved for joy” (Lk 24:41). Doubt arose in their hearts. Jesus patiently revealed his hands and feet, scarred from his crucifixion. This was no spirit. Touching his body, they tested their beliefs (that the resurrection wasn’t plausible), and considered the immense promise this belief held if it were true. They leaned forward into faith. The closer they got to the risen Lord, under scrutiny, the more belief gave way to faith. They even watched Jesus perform an experiment, eating to prove he wasn’t an apparition. The prospect of the gospel became more compelling as they questioned the gospel in the face of Christ. They disbelieved for joy. Like the wonder we feel when we hit a homerun, ace the test, or win someone’s affection, they disbelieved for joy. Stunned in awe, they couldn’t believe it, but they were jumping up and down for joy inside. Disbelieving for joy, they fell headlong into faith.

This month marks a new series of articles at GCD following the theme of: Questioning the Gospel. We hope you’ll come doubt the gospel with us and disbelieve for joy.

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Jonathan K. Dodson (MDiv; ThM) serves as a pastor of City Life Church in Austin, Texas. He is the author of Gospel-Centered Discipleship andUnbelievable Gospel. He has discipled men and women abroad and at home for almost two decades, taking great delight in communicating the gospel and seeing Christ formed in others.

The Shadow of Secularization and the New Dawn of the Church

The sky is falling. Secularization is on the rise, or so it seems. Positions long held by Christians as central to our faith are now massively unpopular and Christians are increasingly marginalized because of it. What is more, there seems to be a growing movement away from identification with Christ and his church, and towards an embrace of no religious affiliation at all. Of course, this is leading to an increasing pessimism among churches that are being marginalized, and this sentiment is understandable. I want to suggest however that this encroaching secularization may, in fact, lead to the dawn of a new era for the church, an era in which the church may actually prosper and grow like it has not in America in some time.

Same-Sex Marriage

Same-sex marriage is coming. As of this moment it has not been recognized by the Supreme Court, but I have little doubt that it is coming. While it may not ultimately be determined by the Supreme Court, it will certainly be determined by the court of public opinion and in that domain, those of us who would advocate for a traditional understanding of marriage as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman have lost. 58% of all Americans now believe the legalization of same-sex marriage is inevitable. 70% of all Millennials support same-sex marriage. Half of all U.S. Senators have now publicly announced support for same-sex marriage and even prominent Republicans are joining that chorus. The verdict may not have been announced yet but, apart from an act of God, the verdict is now in. Same-sex marriage will be the law of the land, and it will happen soon.

With that said, I think the ramifications run deep. The increasing marginalization for those who support traditional marriage will only pick up speed as these decisions are ratified in the public square. It would not surprise me to see Christians who embrace traditional marriage, during my lifetime, viewed with much the same disdain as those who embrace white supremacy are currently viewed. Obviously this will increasingly diminish a conservative Christian ethic from the general acceptance in the marketplace and serve to push conservative Christianity to the margins.

Encroaching Secularization

Another troublesome trend that seems to be discouraging many within contemporary Christianity is oft-reported, and regularly referred to as, “the rise of the nones.” This phenomenon is the movement of significant numbers of Americans who previously identified with Christianity and who now identify as having no religious preference. This scares a lot of Christians, and the fear has been fueled by many in the media who may struggle to understand the nuances behind it and are reporting that Christianity is in substantial decline. Thankfully Ed Stetzer, who I work for, has been at the forefront of researchers who have identified that committed Christianity is not actually disappearing, but nominal Christianity is. In other words, what is actually happening is that those who have not really expressed any tangible commitment to their faith, but have previously identified as a follower of Christ, are now acknowledging what has probably been true all along, that is they are not actually believers.

The New Dawn of the Church

In spite of these incredibly fast-changing realities for the American church, I am not nearly as discouraged as one might assume. These changes, among others, would seem to indicate doom for the church, and yet I am convinced that there are reasons for hope.

1. Christianity is strongest as a counter-cultural movement, rather than as a form of civil religion.

In America, we have long been told that America was founded on a "Judeo-Christian ethic.” While this may be true, it has unfortunately led to an unintended problem, namely that Christianity long ago began to be assumed by many inside and outside of the Christianity community. Anytime something is so broadly “known” that it begins to be assumed, or taken for granted, any attempts to learn about it will be subtly, but surely, diminished. Why learn about something that everyone already knows? This has certainly become the position of Christianity in the USA. Our churches are full of Christians who are extraordinarily unfamiliar with their bible, and as a result, they are unfamiliar with their faith. Of course, this is to say nothing about those outside of the church who are increasingly unfamiliar with the claims of our faith. Beyond this, assuming the faith has led to a diluted faith which is not a clear picture of the faith of Jesus at all.

As Christianity continues to be marginalized, and as those who claim the faith are reduced to only those who are most committed to the faith, this naturally leads us to a place where Christianity is no longer assumed. When it is no longer assumed, it becomes more and more difficult for it to be misunderstood, though it may often be dismissed, allowing the church a unique opportunity to declare and display the unique story of God to the world. This is a good thing.

2. Christianity is strongest when Christianity means something more than nominal identification.

This should be seen as one of the great blessings of “the rise of the nones” across the country. As we find fewer and fewer people who willingly assume the title “Christian” without any tangible commitment to the faith, a substantial barrier to effective evangelism comes down, namely the barrier of false belief. Those who have spent any time in areas cloaked with an aura of Christianity understand how difficult it is to share our faith with people who are far from God, and yet are convinced that they are in the faith.

Another wonderful consequence of the changing moral norms, and the decreasing identification with Christianity, is the number of those who are convinced of their eternal security because of their ability to adhere to a moral code is also reduced. In other words, those who have embraced a sort of moralism as their faith, and interpreted that moralism as Christianity, are going to disappear. This dilution of authentic faith is problematic to gospel expansion, and as it disappears, the growth of the gospel seems more likely. Again, these are good things.

3. Christianity is strongest when we assume a missional posture.

Missional activity occurs most naturally in an environment where Christianity is not regularly seen or understood. I know this is true for me, personally. For instance, when I find myself in a foreign country that is unfriendly to the gospel I find myself more intentional in my behavior and my conversations. I find myself more accommodating, relationally, to those who disagree with me. This is often not true when I am in the majority.

Sadly, my story has too often been the story of the church in America. The church has assumed a position that could be considered anything but missional. Far too regularly we have talked down to those who disagree with us. We speak using verbiage that most do not understand, and we expect them to modify their behavior if they want in our “club.”

As Christianity is marginalized in America; as most are not only non-believers, but are aggressively opposed to our faith, I think the church will find itself increasingly forced into a missional posture. This, of course, is a good thing.

4. Christianity has historically thrived when it is the minority.

History tells us that Christianity is most sharp; it is most clear and it is most aggressive, when it is in the minority. It is when the faith becomes generally accepted as normative that the church begins to function lazily, when lethargic, and even lapsed faith often becomes the norm and the church begins to decline. We have seen this over and over throughout the millennia.

So the decline of the church's supposed influence may, in fact, be the spark that leads to a renaissance of our faith. Even, potentially, the persecution of those who identify with Jesus could be a blessing. It was early church father Tertullian, after all, who reminds us that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." While I do not foresee martyrdom coming in the U.S., his point stands. The isolation and marginization of the church may end up being the fuel that drives her growth. This is a good thing.

To be fair, it should also be noted that history does not always indicate the best future for post-Christian corners of the world. The Middle East and Western Europe are not exactly shining examples of our faith on display after Christianity has moved off the scene as a dominant force.

In light of all of the above, I think the church should approach the future with some level of brevity. We should be aware of the challenges that are ahead of us, but we should not run in fear. The future can be bright, for all the reasons I laid out, and even more. Most of all, the future is bright because God is good, he is still sovereign and he loves his bride, the church. And this is a great thing!

The Missional Shift in Student Ministry

Alvin Reid is a great partner and friend of GCD. This last week he released his new book, As You Go: Creating a Missional Culture of Gospel-Centered Students. In this great read, Alvin hopes to help students and leaders to have their entire lives defined by the mission. This is a much needed resource for the church in America and we are happy to share this excerpt of As You Go with our readers. ---

On the east coast of North Carolina a windy spot named Kitty Hawk faces the Atlantic Ocean. On that site over one hundred years ago two brothers named Orville and Wilbur Wright made a discovery that has radically changed my life and most likely yours as well. On a cold December day in 1903, these brothers tested what became the first fixed-wing flying machine in history. Their efforts marked the tipping point of a movement leading to global air travel, which has become a staple of culture now. A century later, in Atlanta alone, numbers equivalent to a small city pass through a single airport, traveling literally all over the world in a matter of hours.

Airplanes have not changed travel – the movement of people from one place to another -- in its essence. But the means and speed of travel have changed dramatically.

We have an unchanging Word from God (the Bible) and a unique message (the gospel), but the world in which we teach and live and share the truth of a relationship with God has changed significantly in recent years. Today, we have the largest number of youth ever in history, and by far the most unreached.

From the earliest days of the church in Acts until now, the Great Commission has not changed in its essence. But the approach to the missionary enterprise of taking the gospel to the world has changed dramatically. Peter and Paul had ink to pen their writings, but no blogs or Twitter feeds. The United States has become the fourth-largest mission field in the world. This means a fundamental shift must take place: Student ministers must recognize more students today are lost without Christ than ever in history, and the “market share” of students active in church is shrinking. In other words, student ministry needs a revolution. We live in a time when much is at stake and much is changing, as revolutionary as the Renaissance and Reformation, a time when the stakes will not allow status quo Christianity to continue unchallenged, if any season ever did. Where do we begin if we hope to see a movement of God create a missional revolution among students?

1. God.

We need a new vision of God: His vastness, His involvement in all things, His love and His justice. If your students have a lot better grasp of you as the student pastor than God -- who sustains the world by the word of His power -- you have a problem. If your students understand the latest stats on sexuality in America more than they know the attributes of God and how He is King over all of life, you have a serious problem. We need student pastors and who are better at theology than at new ideas. Years ago the founders of one student ministry said it is a sin to make Christianity boring. Agreed. And it is a greater sin to make Christianity silly, which is what has happened far too often. We must exalt a great God and give focus to His Word.

2. The  gospel. 

A movement of gospel recovery is happening today. Read Gospel by J. D. Greear or The Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson. Or better, read Romans or John. We have shrink-wrapped the gospel, paring it down to the most bare of propositions. We must recover the great drama of redemption in Scripture, and see the gospel reflected in culture from movie plotlines to the wonder of creation. The one thing that is constantly newsworthy in your ministry is not an Ipad giveaway. It is Jesus. We need a radical, Christocentric transformation, understanding the gospel is for salvation and sanctification, for saved and unsaved alike. Jesus is the answer to all of life—not the superficial, subcultural Jesus, but the Jesus who cares for the broken and rebukes the self-righteous: the children-loving, disciple-calling, leper-healing, Pharisee-rebuking, humbly born, and ultimately reigning Lord Jesus.

3. The goal

Every ministry exists to glorify God. The goal of student ministry is to glorify God by developing disciples who learn both to see the world as missionaries and live as missionaries—to live focused on the mission of God. This means focusing less on discipleship aimed toward the lowest common denominator, which is a failed paradigm. It means you score success in long-term discipleship, equipping students for a life of service to Christ. It means helping students grow and develop their own plan for gospel impact now.

4. The gathering.

Connect to the whole church, across generations. Today’s teens are not only the most numerous; they are also the most fatherless. We must connect students to the larger church and not function as a parachurch ministry within a church building. We need a Titus 2 revolution where older men teach younger guys and older women teach younger ladies. We have spent so much time on the imperative that I fear we have lost the indicative, the “why” of all we do with, for, and through students. Once a person meets Christ he or she goes on a journey to further understand the message of God and live out the mission of God, to build a gospel-centered life with a missional posture toward everything: career, family, church, economics, fitness, morality — everything. Gabe Lyons in The Next Christians observes via research what I see consistently in my frequent interactions with leaders. Leaders seek a “new way forward;” they “want to be a force for restoration in a broken world even as we proclaim the Christian Gospel.” I, and others, call this way forward missional. Being missional means to think like a missionary, and missionaries travel: geographically to far lands, or sometimes they simply take a journey into their own communities to share Christ more effectively and intentionally. Geography does not define a missionary; the mission does.

Continue reading As You Go.

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Alvin L. Reid is husband to Michelle and father to Josh and Hannah. He is a professor of evangelism and student ministry at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary as well as a popular speaker and author. He has written numerous books on student ministry, evangelism, missional Christianity, and spiritual awakenings.  Follow on twitter: @AlvinReid.

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Related Resources 

Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson 

How to Disciple Urban Youth by Eliot Velasquez

Replacing the Center of Youth Ministry by Josh Cousineau 

5 Lies that Kill Obedience

When Mirela and I loaded up our belongings and headed to the northwest, we were filled with an incredible blend of expectation and zeal. We knew something major was happening, and God was going to let us be part of it. We didn't have a grand plan. We just had a genuine desire to serve and to start a church in Portland. It was a big adventure and we felt like pioneers on the Oregon Trail. As we crossed the Walla Walla mountains in eastern Oregon, we listened to Rich Mullen’s song, “You’re on the Verge of a Miracle.” We couldn’t wait to see mass revival in Portland. God placed us in a remarkable church planting team. We’ve seen lots of evidence of God’s grace in our lives and in the church. He has continually provided for our small church plant. We are thankful for many things. From the outside, it looks pretty good. Church planters come from all over the world to learn about what we are doing. Our missional communities multiply every year. We even have a cool website.

The reality is: life lived on the frontier is hard. We have seen only a handful of people come to Christ and be baptized. Church conflict is constant. It seems as though every time someone joins our church, another person leaves. About a third of the missional communities we start fail. All the while, our city continues to be desperately far from knowing the riches of the gospel. My neighbors constantly reject the good news of Jesus despite our best attempts to demonstrate and proclaim it to them. The city is not flourishing in the peace of salvation, but struggling in the chaos of brokenness. It doesn’t feel like the ‘miracle’ is happening. We sometimes wonder: “When will the revival come? Will we be around to see it?”

Lessons from China

It reminds me of the church in China. No, not the Chinese church of today, where thousands are baptized daily and they can’t print enough Bibles or equip enough pastors to keep up with the rapid multiplication of the church. Not that movement. I am reminded of the Chinese churches of Hudson Taylor, Robert Morrison, and the Cambridge Seven. They spent the best years of their lives laboring with little or no fruit. Despite decades of evangelism and service, they only witnessed a few conversions and a few new churches in their life times. By the time Mao banned religion, many, even within the missions movement, assumed China was ‘unreachable.’ These missionaries had seemingly wasted their lives.

However, the house church movement that began to erupt in the 1960s and continues today was built on the foundation of these missionaries. The converts they baptized became the backbone of today's movement. The few disciples they made, made more disciples, and they made disciples, and so on. The revival those missionaries prayed for came. It was just decades after they had died. The pioneering missionaries never saw the packed house churches or the all night baptism services. They didn't see their prayers answered. Yet, they faithfully served, at great personal cost, for years. They obeyed the call to go and make disciples without knowing their impact.

The Rewards of Obedience

What do you get for all your anonymous and resultless faithfulness? Nothing short of God. “Discipleship,” as Bonheofer writes, “means joy.” The reward is Christ himself. Often we get confused and think the rewards for obedience are big churches, lots of twitter followers, and the approval of our peers. We miss the promise of Christ.

How sick are we when we lust for the results of Christ’s work, thinking it could belong to us? When we prefer convert stories to Christ? Sadly, many of us will hope more for ‘success’ than we will hope for Christ.

If you follow Jesus, you may never see revival. Though you love your city, you may never see it transformed. But if you follow Jesus you are guaranteed this one thing: Jesus. Your fruit is the joy of obeying Jesus. Nothing else. The baptisms and church plants belong to God. Those are God’s work, not yours.

5 Lies that Kill Obedience

Our ability to quit and become sidetracked is great. Our hearts are constantly being attacked by lies that keep us from persevering in faith. These five lies are particularly successful. They are deceptive and effective in killing our conviction to follow Jesus and trust in his work.

1. “You are above this.”

This is the lie of strong pride. That the grunt work isn’t for you. I first heard this lie when I cleaned toilets for a church in Los Angeles. You may hear it while you are watching babies in the nursery Sunday after Sunday. Or when you get stood up once again by your not-yet believing friends for dinner. You hear it when your neighbors shun you for being crazy people who believe in Jesus. The lie is: “you are better then this.” When you believe this lie, you think you are entitled to fame. In reality, you are only entitled to be called a child of God, and that right was purchased by Christ. Don’t settle for position and fame. If you think you are above the job and task, you will not persevere in obedience.

2. “You are below this.”

Many times it also sounds like: “You don’t belong and you don’t deserve this.” This is a lie attacking Christ’s ability to work in and through you. If you believe this lie, you believe that God is not at work, but you are the one at work. This lie leads to fear and rejection of your identity as a son or daughter of God. It is also born out of comparison to others instead of Christ. What is so devastating about this lie is it paralyzes folks from obedience that would give God glory. No one is capable or skilled enough to do what God has called them to do. The Holy Spirit empowers us for the tasks and God is glorified in using us.

3. “If you were better, it would be easier.”

This one comes when things feel incredibly hard. It leads to self loathing and increased suffering. This lie shakes your sense of purpose. You begin to place yourself as the focal point of God’s work and conclude you are either in the way or driving it forward. When things improve, you believe it is because you have done better and have earned it. When things fail, you are certain it is your fault. Similar lies are: “You have to be good to be used for good.” Or: “You have to be smarter, better, quicker, more talented, more educated, rich and moral in order to do good.” This leads to a personal quest for self-rightness, excellence, and God's job. This lie essentially says: “You are this city’s savior.” Eventually you quit in desperation because you have labored without a savior.

4. “If it isn’t happening now, it never will.”

This lie says: "today is all there is and God can't work tomorrow. If God hasn’t answer your prayers for revival by now, he never will." When you believe it, you lose perspective on the scope of life and count everything you are doing as worthless. You are no longer content in obedience alone, but want to see what your obedience will create. This is nearsighted dreaming. This lie results in quick quitting or shrinking versions of worthwhile-God-given dreams. This is a lie people believe when the settle for less then the radical surrender and obedience God called them to. When we believe this lie we are saying, “God doesn’t care anymore or he can’t do it.”

5. “You are alone.”

This is the hardest one. Our sinful hearts leap to this lie when we are tired and discouraged. The goal of this lie is to isolate you and make you think no one else cares, and no one else is coming to help. No longer are you being obedient to God’s work, but now you feel like a hired hand. It is as if God is paying you to establish a franchise of his kingdom and is looking for a return on his investment.  Your belief in this lie says, “Jesus doesn’t love me or this city. He didn’t died for this city of for me...God abandones his people."

Gospel Motivation

At the heart of each these lies is an attack on your motivation and an attack on the gospel. The truth is Christ died for you. You are loved and you are his son or daughter (1 John 3:1). He has empowered you with his Spirit to be his witness (Acts 1:8). He will work in you and through you as he works all things together for good and conforms you to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:28-29). He is with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28).

When I was 11, my family moved to Lisbon, a city of five million people with fewer than 4 percent believing the gospel. Shortly after we arrived, my family went to a hill that overlooked the city we came to ‘win’ for Christ. My dad wept over it as he prayed for the people and for the gospel to take root and free people. We all cried. We had put everything on the line to follow Jesus to this city. We loved the city and we loved Jesus.

Soon it will be two decades since that day we prayed for that city, and the statistics are the same. My parents saw only a couple people baptized in over a decade of ministry there. They will never see or experience his prayers for the city being answered. What did they experience? God’s lavished grace in new ways; the gospel.

Are you willing to weep over your city for decades and never see your prayers answered, and plant seeds you never see germinate? What if your church never becomes nationally known? What if you don’t write books or speak at conferences? Is the gift of the gospel enough for you?

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Brad Watsonserves as a pastor of Bread&Wine Communities in Portland, Oregon. He is also the director of GospelCenteredDiscipleship.com. Brad is the co-author of Raised? Doubting the Resurrection. His greatest passion is to encourage and equip leaders for the mission of making disciples. He is Mirela's husband and Norah's dad.

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Related Resources:

Gospel Amnesia by Luma Simms (e-book)

Living the Mission by Winfield Bevins (article)

The Gospel and the Great Commission by Abe Meysenburg (article)

4 Temptations of a Bible College Student

Michael Cooper currently serves as Assistant to the President at Criswell College and attends Cornerstone Church in Mabank, Texas. Follow him on Twitter: @mrcjr24.  

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This May, I will be graduating with a B.A. in Biblical Studies. Ask me about Greek paradigms or eschatological views, and I can fill your head with information. I mean, it’s been my “job” for the last four years to learn the ins and outs of theological debates and to master the intricacies of various doctrines. Though I love studying such things, there exists a great danger.

For many of us, the doctrine of sin is something that can become just another answer on a test. It grows into such an intellectual exercise that we miss the reality of it crouching at the door, seeking to destroy us. This is, to say the least, one of many difficulties that a Bible college or seminary student knows all too well.

As I reflect upon my time in college, I can think of four temptations that could easily lead to sin. While I think every Christian is susceptible to these temptations, in the environment of Christian academics a full-time "student of the Word" is prone to drift in this direction quite easily.

Temptation #1: Reading the Bible as a Textbook

It was challenging at times not to view the Bible as a “textbook” for my classes, paired up alongside Ladd, Carson, Wright, and others. As one dives deeper into the depths of Biblical theology, hermeneutics, and critical thinking, the danger to turn the Bible into nothing more than another book is tempting. I found myself using, quoting, and reading the Bible as a tool for research instead of allowing the Bible to become the standard for my life. Reading the Bible became, dare I say, dry and boring as a Bible college student. It became a routine, something that I was supposed to do.

However, the Bible is not just another book. It is the Word of God, the rule of faith and practice. So in order to fight this temptation, one must consciously read the Bible as though God is speaking directly to you. Of course, use your historical backgrounds, hermeneutical methods, and exegetical tools, but do not lose sight of the true goal of reading the Bible and encountering Jesus Himself. Do not read the Bible as a student only; read it as a disciple of Jesus. Allow it to change and challenge you.

Temptation #2: Puffing Up

Paul states in 1 Corinthians 8:1 that “knowledge puffs up.” Now, now all you seminarians… before you lay down your “proof text” trump card, realize that Paul said again, "If I have…all knowledge but not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). You may have the knowledge to distinguish between proof-texting and proper exegesis, but if you walk into your church welding your newly found knowledge like a sword you might do more damage than good. The temptation to “puff up” is present within the heart of every Bible college student.

Growing in the knowledge of God is a wonderful experience. Yet, that temptation toward placing yourself above “laypeople” can result in a critical and an unloving individual who knows a ton, but doesn’t have the ability to put it into practice. We are commanded by our Lord to love Him with our mind. As full-time students of the Word, this is our motivation. Do not forget that He commanded us to be humble, loving, and gracious towards others. I think this applies appropriately to those of us with degrees in Bible and theology. Allow that knowledge to drive you to the foot of the cross in humility and love for others.

Temptation #3: Neglecting the Church

I find this temptation so ironic for theological students, but is so easy to fall into. It is easy to walk through the pages of the New Testament and become discouraged as you look at the biblical expectations for the first churches, and realize that our churches don't match up. As you compare your local congregation to the New Testament model, you see the blemishes and bruises, which can result in discontentment and frustration.

This relates to the second temptation: We study the church, but don’t attend the church. Students can become so knowledgeable of a subject like ecclesiology that all they do is deconstruct. And the way to combat this temptation is to reconstruct. Allow your critique of the local church to be constructive. But in order to do so, one must become involved in a local congregation first. Submit under the authority of a church and begin to serve. N.T. Wright once said, "Practice without theory is blind, and theory without practice is dumb." The best way to put your theory in practice is through a local congregation.

Temptation #4: Studying Just to Get a Grade

I've said it many times over the past few years: "I just want to get the grade and get out." I acknowledge this temptation all to well, especially as a senior. This type of thinking distorts the goal of studying – it becomes more about the grade rather than about Jesus. In order to fight this temptation, it is imperative to view the work you are doing in class as worship unto Jesus. I remember walking into my Greek I class a few semesters ago, and my professor stood up and began to speak to us about this very principle. He indicated that as we study Greek it would be difficult, but he encouraged us not to give up. His conclusion was, "Make your work your worship."

It’s easy to do enough just to get by, but as disciples we are called to a higher mission in everything we do. Another scholar that reinforced this for me was Andreas Kostenberger in his book Excellence: The Character of God and the Pursuit of Scholarly Virtue. What other degree do you have the opportunity to learn about the God of the universe? Take advantage of your time and make your work your worship.

Finish the Race

It is easy to fall into these temptations. Once you do, your fallen nature might take control and turn it into sin. My encouragement – as one who has struggled with all four temptations – is to recognize the hurdles when they come upon you. Make sure you know how to clear them. If Jesus is Lord over the universe, then allow Jesus to be Lord over your schoolwork. It is challenging, but it is worth it to finish strong. May we be able to join Paul as he declares, “I have finished the race" (1 Timothy 4:7).

That was a Bible college proof text, I know.

Why Entrepreneurs Don't Like Your Church

Most readers know me as a missional community practitioner and don’t realize I am also an entrepreneur. I currently own an investment portfolio management firm, and have for 10 years. I’ve started three other businesses, and will be starting another when we move to Phoenix later this year. I am a business starter, that’s my ‘day job.’ Most churches have a hard time getting entrepreneurs, like me, to join their mission and vision. We are either running from church or passively sitting in pews on Sunday. We have gifts and strengths to offer, but they lay dormant in the local church. Why? It isn't for a lack of asking. Pastors frequently attempt to pull the business owners in but are met with, “I’m too busy.” Excuses, like these, are usually a cloud of smoke to mask the true objections. My hope is to help shed some light on what lies beneath the "I'm too busy" objection.

A Big Problem

First, entrepreneurs are not more important or better than the rest of the church. However, we can all agree that the entrepreneur is usually a pretty odd specimen with unique gifts and abilities. The church can’t afford to have anyone’s gifts sidelined. The mission of the church is too important to miss out on a single part of the body. What does it say about our church, if a fraction of its gifts go unused, unengaged?

The entrepreneur is not super human, but they usually have a ton of capacity, they aren’t scared of risk, they love thinking outside the box, and they don’t mind submitting to leadership. What’s really interesting is that if they find something they are sold out for, they’ll call others to join them. They can become a huge ally for the church to aid in the understanding of making disciples who make disciples. The problem is that for many years the entrepreneur has been told to “fit into this box” or go elsewhere. Many have. Many entrepreneurs have decided to fulfill the great commission through para-church organizations and non-profits. I understand why.

What if you were a baseball player and were continually told by your coach that instead of playing baseball, you were going to knit scarfs? I’m guessing you’d find a different place to allow your talent to mature. In a sense, churches have been doing this for years with the entrepreneur. We don't put them in the game they were designed to play.

Entrepreneurs are so unique they can give a church's vision a run for its money, ask tough questions, and sharpen the leadership of the local church. They have the ability to challenge and push leaders in ways other folks can't. They cause us to dream bigger, get specific, empower others, and take major risks. So, why do entrepreneurs hate your church?

Your Vision is Too Small

What do I mean by “vision?” The mission of all followers of Jesus is to make disciples who make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). The vision for your local church is the how, where, and who of this commission. How are you going to make disciples? Where are you going to go? Who are you going to reach? Your church was placed on earth to make disciples. That is why you exist. If we all had the exact same vision for the how, where, and who we were going to make disciples of, then we might as well be one big church. But, the fact is, God has given each church a unique vision to carry out the mission he has given us all. Far too often, churches settle for a vision that is too small.

Entrepreneurs think big. Honestly, that’s also what makes us (entrepreneurs) fail sometimes. We think all our ideas are going to be the next big thing, when in reality, our dreams are often bigger than the marketplace can handle. However, these big dreams allow businesses to be born and succeed.

Entrepreneurs want to be part of something big, not something that is going to only affect those around the block. Now, those around the block might be the starting point to implement the vision, but shouldn’t be the end point. If you want entrepreneurs to be engaged on the mission in the context God has given your church, think big, not small.

Soma Communities told me they wanted to see 3,000 missional communities in the Seattle area. That’s 1 for every 1,000 people. That vision started with me getting after it, trained, and excited for multiplication. If they merely told me that they wanted me to go and start a missional community in my neighborhood, that would have been great and all, but the first thing I’d be thinking is: “Is that it? Is that where I stop?” Honestly, as an entrepreneur, to have that be the end goal, wouldn’t be exciting enough.

God is our example for casting vision. He told Abraham: “Your offspring will be numbered as the stars. The whole earth will be blessed through your family.” This is a big vision. God also said that we were to be his witnesses, not only to our neighbors and cities, but to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Think of this vision laid out by God in Genesis and Acts. It includes the people next door to you, but is also much bigger that that. God’s vision is simultaneously as small as a family and as big as the world.

So, when we hear this, we get excited. Not because we can do it on our own, but because we know that God can and he has given us the Spirit to empower us for the mission. This is a vision beyond our powers and requires us to rely on the Spirit. So, while others may balk at a large vision, the entrepreneur will be your ally in calling people to fulfilling the seemingly impossible. We need entrepreneurs calling us to push the envelope, to think beyond our neighborhood and consider the world. They will become a litmus test: if your vision is too small and doesn’t require risk, innovation, or creative thinking, they will pick up on this.

Your Vision is too Generic

Having a large vision is one thing, but if it is a generic vision, it will likely die. God’s vision for Abraham was big, but it was also specific. He told Abraham: “Go to the land I will show you.” At times, God is not always specific with us, but that’s okay. He’s God. But, what I do find interesting is how God treated Paul on the mission field. Paul listened to Jesus when he said, “you’ll be my witness even to the ends of the earth” (big vision) and then listened to the Spirit as he continued to instruct Paul where to go and where not go. It is amazing to watch how specific the Spirit was with Paul as he listened and relied on God (Acts 16).

What we’ll see in churches is that their vision is: “We want to glorify God in all the earth.”  Well, thanks? It is a big vision, but I can frankly do that without being connected to your specific church.

Give us some handles on what you mean. When Soma Communities says: “We want to see 3,000 Missional Communities in the Puget Sound area.” This gives me so much information right up front. I see a big vision: a number that they desire to attain. I also see the means by which they are going to see disciples made: missional communities. The vision tells folks how they plan on glorifying god in the earth. You don’t necessarily need to see a number, but put some sort of descriptive handles so we aren’t left to wander.

It’d be like me trying to secure a loan for my business and saying: “We want to be the best company in the whole world!” How? By being the best. Where? The world. Ridiculous. Entrepreneurs need specific vision.

Your Implementation is Too Restrictive

Many churches and pastors usually fail the most here. You literally take the best weapon from the entrepreneur out of their hand by wanting to control everything.

You tell them how things are going to run on Sunday, how things are going to run in your programs, and how things are going to work in their community, small group, or missional community.

Entrepreneurs are used to coming up with game plans and strategies based on who they are, what their context is, and who is working alongside them. Churches steal that mindset from the entrepreneur and tell them, “Our way or the highway.” And frankly, most entrepreneurs have said, “See ya later.”

Churches then chalk it up to us not wanting to submit to leadership, but that’s not it.  We don’t want to be controlled and manipulated into thinking the pastor knows it all and knows how our lives should work. That sounds a little harsh, but that’s how they see it.

Entrepreneurs are used to being handed the “rules” to live within as they deal with local government, tax laws, officials, etc. Once we figure out the “rules of engagement” we can take it and build our businesses within that framework.

Think like that when implementing your vision. How can the church set up a system where it allows the entrepreneurs to use their gifts instead of restrict them? In Soma Communities, the parameters or rules are: we believe that the primary organizing structure of the church is gospel communities on mission and how you work that out is up to you! They train, equip, and encourage. They don’t control.

The Austin Stone does this well, too. My friend Todd Engstrom, says, “For us inviting entrepreneurs into conversations that are in their fields, not just ours.  Most entrepreneurs hate the church because everything is pretty prescribed, and honestly not very complex. So, we help them think through ministry in their world, but allow them to be the experts.“ By inviting the entrepreneur into these conversations, Austin Stone has launched 9 different non-profits and unleashed leaders into full engagement in the mission of making disciples.

This is a dream for the entrepreneur. It allows us to work within the time frame that our businesses allow instead of having to be at programs, church services, or church buildings. To be part of most churches, you have to be at the church building more often than a hipster wears a scarf. Most business owners don’t have time for that. When they don’t show up to those events, they are made to feel guilty and less than a Christian for not showing up to the latest greatest event.

As a church, flip that scenario and say, “the mission and vision is critical; figure out how to make disciples in the ways that God has given you.” Empower folks! Free up the implementation of your vision to liberate more gifts. This respects the uniqueness of everyone’s design. We have all been made differently, with different gifts, with different schedules, and different ideas.

Your Methods Are Too Safe

God is sovereign, right? Don’t be a chicken pastor. If we can all agree that it’s God’s mission, God’s power, and God’s resources, why wouldn’t we risk everything we’ve got? Entrepreneurs are willing to try whatever it takes and are rarely controlled by the fear of failure. They thrive on risk and “going for it.”

Entrepreneurs can see right through the leaders who are more afraid of man than God.  They can see the fear of failure. They never want to be part of something safe and want to push the envelope with mission. They want to be sent to the places considered unsafe to live in, work in, and do ministry in.

Last year as Soma leadership, we prayed for leaders to be sent to Seattle, San Francisco, and Phoenix. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but the more I heard about Phoenix and some of the “hard things” about it, I knew I was ready.

People were saying:

• Phoenix has a ton of gangs and drugs and horrid schools.
• Phoenix is spread out and is more like a suburban context, which is impossible to do missional community life in.
• Phoenix is hard for relationship building. Most people just stay inside and don’t want to get to know other people.

All I heard was, “Yadda yadda yadda…” My wife thought through the above and said, “if all these (and other excuses) are true, shouldn’t we be the first to move in and show others about our God who lives in community? “

Pastors, stop being safe with your people. Call them to take risks in making disciples. If it doesn’t work, who cares? You’ll learn something. If you’re following Jesus, you have nothing to lose. It’s not even really a risk. God is in control and he is good at it. If you enable entrepreneurs to take risks, others will follow. Your church will quickly see the joy in following Jesus with reckless abandonment.

Final Word to Pastors

Honestly, if you are reading this and you are a pastor, know this: entrepreneurs desire to be part of what the local church is doing. They’re just tired of you thinking too small and being too timid. Dreaming big. Leading strong. Take risks. Entrepreneurs will follow you.

This article isn’t a fix-it-all. However, pastor and business starters are on the wrong page. This is meant to be a shout to the pastor from the pew on why you have been frustrated with us and we (entrepreneurs) have been frustrated with you.

I don’t believe that we are always right, or that we are better than any other person in your flock. But, for too long, we’ve been shelved and treated as though our gifts are a hindrance to the church instead of actual gifts.

If you can start to lean into these four basic things…you’ll be surprised how much you’ll see the entrepreneur get behind you and desire to be part of what the church is doing.

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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. Twitter @sdmcbee.

Other article by Seth: Leading Joe Blow Into Mission, The Introverted Evangelist, and How Kids Learn to Follow Jesus.

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Also Read Proclaiming Jesus by Tony Merida.

The Story of Good Friday

In observance of Good Friday, our resident novelist, Ben Roberts, wrote a reading and response to the narrative of Jesus' sacrificial death. We pray it blesses you as you remember the gospel today.

The Last Supper

The sun sank over the olive groves in the west, and across Jerusalem the doorways were smeared with sacrificial blood. This was Passover, the culmination of high holy week, and though the city was ruled by Rome—occupied by soldiers under the command of procurator Pontius Pilate—families gathered to remember how Jehovah had liberated their ancestors.

When the table had been set and all of His followers had assembled, Jesus—who had been their Rabbi, their Lord—took a towel and a basin of water and washed the feet of his followers. They questioned this: it was a chore for a servant.

But, Jesus continued the task, saying, “You are right to call me Rabbi and Lord, but I tell you a servant is not greater than his master. A messenger is not greater than the one who sent him.”

Then the group took their places at the table, and as they passed the matzo, the unleavened bread, Jesus said, “One of you will betray me.”

His followers were horrified. It confirmed their fears. Hadn’t they heard rumors in Jerusalem? Weren’t the religious leaders conspiring in the temple? But, betrayal by a follower?—this was unthinkable.

Each questioned him, saying, “Not me, Rabbi. Tell me it’s not me.” Jesus looked at Judas, who had already received his blood money from the conspirators. He said, “Go. Buy what we need for the feast.” And, Judas went out into the night.

Then Jesus took the matzo and blessed it and broke it and gave it to each of his followers, saying, “This is my body, broken for you. Take it and eat.”

He took the Passover cup of new wine and gave thanks to Jehovah God and offered it to his followers, saying, “This is my blood—the blood of the covenant, which is shed in atonement for many, for the forgiveness of sins.”

His followers did as he instructed, and Jesus said, “I will not eat or drink with you again until we meet in my Father’s house. After I’m gone, you will have each other. Continue to offer this bread and this wine in remembrance of me. You must love one another just as I have loved you. By this simple act, the whole world will know you are my followers.”

Prayer

Jesus, unite us in fellowship. As we remember you, unite us in communion.By the power of your Holy Spirit. Jesus, blessed is your name on high. Your love for us is infinite. Jesus, let us love one another As we know you love us. To know this love, Jesus, To know the love of your Father, To know your Holy Spirit here among us now. This is eternal life. Hallelujah. Amen.

The Trial

Later that night, Jesus walked with his followers through the olive groves of the Kidron Valley. Many of them were worried, and Peter approached him to say, “Rabbi, I will stay with you through any difficulty.”

But, Jesus told him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you’ll deny me three times.”

They rested in a garden outside the temple walls. Jesus often came to this spot to pray, and this was where Judas led the mob. They found Jesus, surrounded by a group of drowsy followers who all fled when they saw the swords and clubs of the crowd. Only Jesus remained.

Judas approached him, saying, “Rabbi,” and kissed Jesus on the cheek.

Then the mob seized him and brought Jesus to the religious conspirators. They proceeded to accuse him without due process of the law. Jesus listened to the accusations but said nothing.

Caiaphas, the High Priest, asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed?”

Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

Caiaphas tore his garments and screamed, “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy.”

At the first light of day, they hauled him to the Roman court. Pilate questioned Jesus and found him blameless, but the crowd chanted, “Crucify him. Crucify him.”

To avoid a riot, Pilate washed his hands of the business and sentenced Jesus to death.

Jesus’ trial is troubling from a legal stand point. Jewish law prohibited the opening of a trial at night. Jesus was assigned no defender. The allegation of blasphemy was not a capital offense, and trials for capital offenses required at least two days. From the standpoint of Roman law, Jesus was found innocent, and yet he was sentenced with the most extreme penalty of the law simply to keep the peace. In other words, these proceedings were not merely unjust—the trial was illegal. Worse still, Jesus was abandoned by his closest followers. Even Peter denied him three times, cursing and insisting that he didn’t know beloved teacher.

Prayer

Jesus, you were a laughing stock to people who did not know you. Jesus, you were outlawed from human company. You were accused like thief and murderer. Jesus, we have betrayed you to mockery, injustice, and disbelief. Jesus, we have belittled you. We have made much of ourselves. We cry out to you, Lord Jesus. You understand our suffering and sorrow. Give us strength to remain in you, even in our own final dreadful trial. Amen.

The Execution

Following Pilate’s orders, the Roman troops took Jesus into the praetorium, stripped him naked, and forced a crown of thorns onto his head. They beat him with a barbed whip, flaying the skin off his back. As he stood there bleeding and trembling in shock, the soldiers laughed, bowing and calling him your majesty.

Once they were bored with this sport, the soldiers forced Jesus to march through the city, dragging the cross on which they would execute him. He was weakened by the beating. So the soldiers forced a passerby to carry the cross. In this way, they went to a rock quarry east of the city, a place called Golgotha because it looked like a human skull. There the soldiers tied Jesus’ arms to the cross and drove long metal spikes between the two bones of his forearms. His feet they pinned together with a single metal spike through bones of his ankles. Then they lifted the cross into the air, dropping the base into a hole, and left him there to die.

Death by crucifixion is slow. The body gradually asphyxiates. In order to draw breath, Jesus had to lift himself by the nails piercing his arms and legs.

A crowd gathered to mock him, shouting, “You’re the Son of God. Come down off that cross.” The carrion birds circled overhead. Dogs waited beneath.

After several hours of agony, Jesus said, “It is finished,” and bowed his head and gave up his Spirit. The soldiers thrust a spear through his abdomen into his heart and lungs, and he was officially declared dead.

Prayer

Jesus, you are the image of the invisible God, The firstborn over all creation. For you, Jesus, all things were created, Things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, All things have been created through you and for you.

Jesus, you are before all things, And in you all things hold together. You are the head of the body, the church. You are the beginning, The firstborn from among the dead.

Jesus, God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in you. Through you we are reconciled. You made peace through your blood, shed on the cross. Jesus, in our sin, we were once your enemies. In your grace, we are now your brothers and sisters.

By your atonement alone we are holy in God’s sight. In you alone, we are without blemish, free from accusation. Lord let us continue in faith, established and firm, Lord Jesus, give us strength to remain forever In the hope of the gospel. Hallelujah. Amen.

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Ben Roberts (@Benstolemyname) is a follower of Christ & an editor at both Gospel Centered Discipleship & the speculative literary journal, Unstuck. A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers, he lives in Austin with his wife, Jessica and son, Solomon. They fellowship and worship at Austin City Life.

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Other free Easter resources from GCD: Journey to the Cross by Will Walker and Raised? by Jonathan Dodson. 

Roger Ebert, Non-Believers, and The Hope of Christ

Roger Ebert has been a powerhouse journalist for over 40 years. My generation may perhaps know him best as the co-host of the Emmy-nominated movie review show Siskel and Ebert at the Movies or the later version, Ebert and Roeper at the Movies which gave “two thumbs up” to movies that both critics recommended. He is also a highly acclaimed newspaper columnist, and the first film critic to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize or a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2007, Forbes named him the most powerful pundit in America. The lesser-known story of Roger Ebert is found in his Roman Catholic upbringing. Though the son of a non-practicing Lutheran, he was raised in a Catholic school and “dedicated” in the second grade. Even as a child, Ebert admittedly struggled with what he’d learned from the Church in relation to what he’d learned about the universe through science. In the end, “just have faith” wasn’t a persuasive enough answer.

In the last few years, he has written two interesting entries regarding his faith (or lack thereof) on his popular “journal” at the Chicago Sun-Times blog. Though he is only one man, I believe that his concerns are shared by those that we interact with on a daily basis. In light of this, it might be helpful to engage two major statements that Ebert has made, and explore how Christians might respond with biblical wisdom and love if presented (or personally battling) with similar concerns.

Working for Grace

Reflecting upon struggles with objective morality as a young man, Ebert writes:

We were drilled in memorizing entries from the Baltimore Catechism, which was a bore, but more interesting were the theoretical discussions about what qualified as a sin, what you have to do to get to Heaven, and “Sister, what would happen if…” Those words always introduced a hypothetical situation which led the unsuspecting Catholic perilously close to the fires of Hell.

Looking back, I realize religion class began the day with theoretical thinking and applied reasoning, and was excellent training. To think that you might sin by accident, and be damned before you could get to Confession in time! What if you had an impure thought at the top of Mt. Everest, and couldn’t get back down? We were exposed to the concepts of sins of omission, sins of commission, intentional sins and, the trickiest of all, unintentional sins. Think of it: A sin you didn’t intend to commit. But Sister, is it a sin if you didn’t know it was?

Catholics are often illustrated as a works-based religion, but how many of us remember hearing this functionally taught in Baptist, Methodist, and other Protestant churches? As a young teenager in a Southern Baptist church, I shared in Ebert’s ethical anxiety. Which sins might damn me forever, and how many apologies will compensate for my offense to God?

The non-believers that I encounter will often address Christianity in one of two basic ways. First, they will proclaim that God and his followers are hateful and narrow-minded, and that they don’t care to associate with someone like that. The other popular response is that the person is “good” enough not to need Christianity to experience a pleasant afterlife. One or both of the ideas can present a significant roadblock in sharing the gospel.

The common misconceptions about God’s wrath or man’s ability are clarified in the person and work of Christ. Paul rightly declares, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). John can say confidently that “God is love” (1 John 4:16) because he has proven it through Christ. Additionally, no one is righteous in God’s eyes (Rom. 3:10) and Christ’s mission was to remedy that through sacrificing himself on the cross with joy (Heb. 12:2). God’s grace is unending and unchanging, and available to those who will humbly receive it (James 1:21). This is a magnificent truth to share.

The Hesitant Atheist

Regarding the specifics of his current beliefs, Ebert concludes:

I consider myself Catholic, lock, stock and barrel, with this technical loophole: I cannot believe in God. I refuse to call myself a [sic] atheist however, because that indicates too great a certainty about the unknowable.

This statement is puzzling at first glance, but makes sense considering the way this age views spirituality. Believing in some sort of ethereal divine presence is not uncommon today. It is popular to say, “I don’t belong to any religion; I’m spiritual.” Ebert and others realize that there might be some form of deity or power beyond our comprehension, and this leads them to seek out a middle road between religious doctrine and complete denial of the supernatural.

We see this in Ecclesiastes 3:11: “God has put eternity into man’s heart.” When non-believers do the Ebert dance by claiming neither God nor atheism, they are working from an obscure awareness that there is something beyond what they can see. The veil is lifted when the human heart is flooded by the Holy Spirit and awakened to the truth (1 Cor. 2:12-13). What was once hazy and uncertain is now an unmistakable, radiant light. We can safely operate under the assumption that God is ready to ignite a flame in anyone that we come into contact with.

Building Bridges

The trouble with rebuttals from non-believers is that we as Christians are highly invested in our faith. And we rightly should be. It’s crucial, however, that we respond in love toward those who make claims against us. As we’ve discussed here, there is already a built-in hostility toward God due to sin, and we would do well not to amplify their opposition with our words.

Peter exhorts us to “give a reason” for our faith (1 Pet. 3:15). We are commissioned to stand boldly for the truth and not compromise our values, but boldness and hatefulness are not interchangeable. Non-believers are blinded by Satan (2 Cor. 4:4) and unreceptive to the things of God, but he leads people to repentance through his kindness (Rom. 2:4). Jesus laid his life down for us, and we must be willing to lay down our own pride for the sake of serving others.

Responding to critics or even genuine seekers is not easy, but we must press on. In Jesus’s first serious confrontation in Scripture (when he was accused of working on the Sabbath), he replied, “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17). This fervor is what he expects from all of us.

May we take the gospel boldly to the uttermost ends of the earth, or to our neighbors across the street, armed with the love of Christ and power of the Spirit.

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This originally appeared at For Christ and Culture.

An Open Letter to My Politically Outspoken Facebook Friend

Dear Friend, I saw your post on Facebook today. And yesterday. And the day before yesterday. From what I can tell, you are pretty worked up about the bill that was just passed by the Senate. Furthermore, your frustration with the president’s signature on the bill was apparent. I get it. You don’t like laws that were just ratified in our country. I can’t say I’m a great fan of them myself. However, I’ve noticed a trend with your posts that has me a bit concerned. In all honesty, we need to talk about politics and our faith. We need to talk about how we treat others. We need to talk about the gospel’s relationship to these things. Of course, we are having the conversation face-to-face as soon as I finish typing this email, but I wanted to at least write down my concerns (for myself) before we meet to talk about the issues.

My Passive Sin

Let me take the “log” out of my own eye first. I know I don’t seem to care too much about the political atmosphere in our country. My own passivity on political matters is a sin to you because you see so much injustice and wrong being done by our government. I don’t act as I should act. My absence from the voting precincts for the primaries and general elections is apparent. I understand the argument “if you don’t vote you can’t complain,” and that reasoning is, to a degree, accurate. We have been given a great gift to be able to, through our votes, speak our minds about candidates and issues that are brought before us as a city, county, state, and nation to decide. My lack of involvement demonstrates that I do not care for legitimate means of stating my position on issues that I should care about. Education, health care, immigration, abortion and the like are gospel issues. My lack of caring for who is speaking and working to legislate those ideas demonstrates a lack of concern for the impact of the gospel on those we live around. In some ways I am showing that I don’t love my neighbor. I am disobeying the Word of God by not seeking the welfare of the city I have been sent to live in (see Jeremiah 29:7).

Furthermore, my passivity has caused me to be judgmental about those who are rightly and actively involved in talking and advocating certain political positions. I have been judgmental in my thinking towards you, and for that I am in sin. I have believed certain things about you that I have no power to discern, because I can’t know or see your heart. I have believed that, because you are interested in politics you must love your country more than you love God. I’ve believed that your first allegiance is to the U.S.A. and not to the Kingdom of God. Furthermore, I’ve believed that you only care about your prosperity, your comfort, your interests and if others aren’t as responsible and hard working as you then they can just suffer their own stupidity. I’ve demonized you in my mind because of the political stances you’ve expressed in your Facebook posts. Let’s be honest, I’ve wronged you by placing myself on a pedestal to look down upon you because you speak up about political issues. For this I am wrong and need to be reconciled to you. Please forgive me.

I need to be reminded of the gospel in this area. Christ has come and lived as the perfect righteous King over all kings. He has taken all the sins of political passivity and all the sins of political activity and died for them so that we might live under his perfect and gracious reign now and forever. I need to be reminded that his resurrection is the resurrection into Lordship and that the Father has given him the name above every name. All glory, honor, and power are his because of his life, death, and resurrection. I need to be reminded of this truth: Jesus as the King is good news for the world. I need to believe who Jesus is and submit to him as my King. My activity in working for the welfare of my neighbor, city and country, even through our political system, should be evidence of my devotion to Christ as my Lord. However, I am not believing the gospel changes things. I am not believing he can bring change through the God-ordained and appointed governments and our political system. My passivity demonstrates that I don’t trust the King who uses means like government to renew and recreate all things into his glorious image. By my passivity and judgmentalism of those who are active, I show that I don’t believe that the government is “God’s servant for your good” (Romans 13:4).

Dishonoring Authority

In sharing my failure with you, I now hope we can help each other through our sins. You see, I struggle with the way you talk about our government and particularly our governors on Facebook. I’ve seen the posts you’ve shared about how ignorant you believe our president is. Your rants about government control and abuse concern me by the tone they take and the frequency with which you post them. You aren’t the only one who does this. I see it from so many professing Christians that it deeply bothers me about what is being believed about politics in the church. Why did you post the story about wishing harm would come to our president? Why do you call him names or refuse to use the title that he has rightfully earned, “President?” Whether you agree with him or not, he has been placed in this position of power by God. Paul reminds us in Romans 13 that “there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” and that our president is “God’s servant.” Those are incredible words. God has, by his sovereign design and purpose, placed the government and the president in place to accomplish his will. God's will is not thwarted by our president's views or mistakes. God chose our president. God is using our president.

Furthermore, it is sin when you disrespect him and fail to show him honor as Scripture commands. Peter tells us to “honor the emperor,” and I fail to see how you honor him. I know that our president does not see your Facebook posts, but your friends and family do. You are teaching non-Christians that the gospel allows us, when we don’t like something, to vilify and demonize someone else. You are displaying to the church that it’s okay to mock, disparage, and demonize God-ordained authority just because you disagree with them. How would that go over in the church if you disagreed with our pastors and treated them the same way you treat our governing authorities?

Where does submission to the governing authorities demonstrate itself in your life? I know we are Americans and it is in our cultural DNA to say “We serve no sovereign here!” But the gospel gives a deeper and better DNA. No, submission doesn’t mean turning off our minds and doing whatever we’re told. Submission means intelligently honoring, respecting, and obeying the authority over us. The Scriptures never tell us to overthrow government. Instead it tells us that God is the ruling one over all governments and that by submitting to the God-given authority we are submitting to his rulership. I don’t know if you are aware of the political cultures of Jesus’ day but his government was anything but righteous. The same emperor that Peter tells the Christians of his day to honor, Nero, saw fit to persecute and kill those Christians. Yet the Scripture stands. Paul’s submission demonstrated itself by laying down his “rights” and being imprisoned, even for righteousness sake. Jesus himself didn’t disrespect any governor or authority he stood before, even though they were about to crucify him. As believers in the gospel we are Biblically called to submit to our government, it’s laws, and leaders.

I don’t want to stop at challenging your surface behavior on Facebook. I am concerned about your heart. I am worried that you are not believing the gospel, just as I struggle to believe it. Remember the gospel tells us that Jesus submitted to the will of his Father, and this submission cost him his life. However, he died so that we could be forgiven for our lack of submission to our authorities. He submitted to enable and empower us, by the Spirit, to submit to those God has placed over us. This includes the governing authorities under which we live. Furthermore, Christ has been raised to live again to be King over all kings. We don’t just submit to the government as the end. Our ultimate submission is to Christ the King. By honoring the leaders God has placed over us, we uplift the value and dignity of all people made in the image of God, whether kings or commoners. We show the church that Christ is our King and that we care about his Kingdom here on this earth.

Active Submission to Authority

I know what you are asking at this point: “What does someone who is both politically active and submissive look like?” I think the way forward is reflected in our deeds more than our words. We need to be people who do the right things, in the right ways, at the right time. For instance we need to vote, write our congressional leaders, and be involved in the processes that have been set up for us to disagree. If you don’t like the law that has been enacted don’t petition all your friends on Facebook to join your cause. Write and speak to your representatives. If you do not find the president’s position on an issue in alignment with yours, you have the right to disagree, but do not disagree in such a way to slander, malign, or demonstrate hatred towards God-given authority. Submission doesn’t break the law of the land, nor does it violate the Law of God. In that vein I’m not sure that using Facebook to express your viewpoints politically is the right place. Short attempts to express a position often go mistaken and misunderstood. Furthermore, passing along meme’s to demonstrate your position aren’t humble or submissive. They are billboards of disrespect and dishonor. Submissive activity in politics will often go unnoticed by the general public, but if you use the right means to achieve the right end, God will be glorified and the emperor will be honored. You’d do well to read about William Wilberforce and his submissive political activity against the slave trade in Britain in the 19th century. He and his friends are fantastic examples for us to follow.

I know these are difficult words, but we need to remember the gospel even in politics and social media. Maybe the change that we both need starts with something we’ve both failed to do. We’ve both failed to pray for “kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quite life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:2). Let’s start by repenting of our sins together and then praying for our leaders and the governing authorities. I believe the Holy Spirit will be pleased to transform our insufficient views of the government and each other as we humbly pray together for these leaders that God has put over us. I love you and want to see us both be more submissive to Christ so that we will grow more and more to be like Christ even if we struggle with our politics.

In Christ,

Jeremy

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

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A great book on the impact of forgetting the gospel: Gospel Amnesia by Luma Simms.

Related free articles: What is Missional Culture? by JR Woodward and The Call to Discipleship by Tim Keller

8 Tips for Short-Term Mission Trips

Mark Hampton is currently a student at Criswell College pursuing a B.A. in Biblical Studies. He also works as an intern at Metrocrest Community Church in Coppell, TX where he plays a role in music, media, and missions. Last June, he returned from a six-month mission trip to India and will be returning this summer to work with pastors in rural environments. Follow him on Twitter: @markismoving. ___

As summer approaches, churches across the nation prepare to send out teams for their summer mission trips. Those who are going on trips typically go through some type of training, but as flawed individuals, it’s more than easy to make some mistakes. Some are only minor and will lead to a good laugh and a great story to bring home; however, there are others that can have more collateral damage than meets the eye, and could prevent the work we do as missionaries from being effective.

Here is my list of eight important things that I have learned from doing mission work and I hope that it helps all of us going on trips this summer to have a greater impact, realistic mindset, and do the least damage to others and ourselves.

1. Serve Incarnationally

One of the foremost things to remember when going on mission is that you are there to serve. Whether you are evangelizing, teaching, or building a house, it will mean more to someone if it comes from a servant’s heart. Keep in mind the attitude of Christ who “came not to be served but to serve” (Matt. 20:28). Also, be incarnational when you do so. By incarnational, I mean that we should strive to be as much like those we are serving. As Paul wrote, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” (1 Cor. 9:22b). Embrace your host culture in every way that you can; eat they eat, wear what they wear, do what they do. This is what Christ did to come in the flesh and take “the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil 2:7). Trust me, you’ll do more to reach people from a different culture if you can empathize with them, rather than trying to maintain your American identity.

2. You Don’t Have to Be ‘Called’

That’s right! So, if you happen to be waiting for a great sign from God for you to go on mission you can quit waiting. You don’t have to be called because you have already been commissioned (Matt. 28-18-20; John 20:21; Acts 1:8). As a new creation in Christ, you have the authority to go and proclaim the Gospel to all nations (2 Cor. 5:17-19). You can go and serve out of obedience to Christ’s commands without having received some specific "call.". As a disclaimer, prayerfully consider what God would have you do though. There may be a specific reason He does not want you to go and you should concede to stay home. On the other hand, God may specifically call you to go somewhere and likewise, you should obey what God has put on your heart.

3. Support the Stayers

Most of us who go on summer trips aren’t going to pack up and move there. However, we will probably be working with someone who has committed to a specific area or people group for a long amount of time. Keep in mind that they have more experience in the area and that they will build relationships with people that will extend outside of a 1-2 week period. Often, encouraging and serving them is as vital a part of missions as working with the unreached. Your support can help them press on in difficult working conditions. Cleaning their house, watching their kids, or any other behind the scenes work can help them be better servants to those you are collectively trying to reach. Try to build into the ministry they have to help create something long term, rather than just performing hit and run ministry.

4. Don’t Build Things That Won’t Last

This is probably one of the easiest and most dangerous things that we can do on mission trips, and I must admit that I am guilty of it. This most often happens with the relationships we form, especially with children. In missions where you work with children, they are probably the less fortunate. They have probably been abandoned or experienced some type of loss before, and they do not need to form a bond with someone who is going to leave them never to be seen again. Now, I’m not saying to avoid children when you go on mission, but bear in mind that you do have a flight home. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, but rather, try to lead the people you work with into better relationships with those who are there for the long haul.

5. Embrace the Awkward

Get out of your comfort zone and practice doing so! Seek out a community that is different from your own somewhere near where you live. Take a team member and go visit them and talk with them. Sure, it’s not going to feel natural, but if you go with a genuine interest to get to know the people you may be surprised how quickly the walls can come down and how quickly relationships can begin to form.

6. Have a Stay-at-Home Mission Partner

Remember, not everyone you come home to has had some awesome experience over the past few weeks. Realize that life has carried on as normal for them and that they won’t have the same enthusiasm as you do when you come home. Get a close friend (preferably someone who has been on a mission trip before) to be there to talk about everything you did, hear all of your stories, and look at the 3,000 pictures you took. Have this person praying for you every day from the moment you know you’re going to the day you come home. Try to send them a postcard if you can and bring them home a small gift. When you tell them of everything God did they will know that they were also a part of what took place.

7. Manage Your Expectations

The key word here is YOUR. By YOUR, I mean YOUR expectations about YOURself. God will be God, and He will do amazing things, but you are not God. There are going to be times when you are worn out, spiritually exhausted, tired of the living conditions or the food, and are frustrated. I recommend memorizing a specific Psalm you can say to yourself when these moments occur. It’s also important to keep your expectations realistic for when you come home. It’s easy to come home with the “Mission High”, and again, I’m guilty of doing so. We think we’ll be completely different when we come home, but it just doesn’t last. God works on us over time. Yes, going on a mission trip can fundamentally change you, but understand that there may be more subtle things that have changed about you as a result that may take a while before you see what they are.

8. Pray for the Ridiculous

Surround your mission trip in prayer! Enlist others to pray, as many as you can, and don’t be afraid to pray for God to do things that seem absurd. Our biggest vulnerabilities can turn into God’s greatest victories if we are obedient and trust in Him to do the work. Pray for your time on mission from every angle possible and don’t let one detail escape being prayed for. Invite the Holy Spirit into every facet of the task at hand and pray constantly before, during, and after your trip.

I hope and pray that this list will challenge, encourage, and inspire those who are going on mission trips this summer. Certainly, this does not cover everything that could be said about missions. This list merely comprises what have been some of my greatest (and hardest) lessons that I have had to learn both on and off the mission field. Remember, that in our weakness God’s strength is perfect (2 Cor. 12:9), and because of that promise we can take hope in what God will do through us to reach the lost and hurting of this world. Therefore, be bold! Go and serve and you will see what amazing ways God can use His people!

Can Marriage and Mission Mix?

“I can’t wait to be done with college; then life will slow down.” Over the last decade of working with college students, that’s one my favorite recurring comments. Every time I hear it I chuckle under my breath, trying to resist outright laughing. You likely know as well as I do: life never seems to slow down! Most of us find ourselves stressed, stretched, and spinning out of control. We can’t even seem to find time for a hobby, or to keep ourselves in shape – or if we’re married, at times even the time to connect deeply with our spouse! Add kids to the mix, with their added busyness, and the craziness increases exponentially! That seems to be the reality of today’s culture.

But there’s a greater reality, which has applied to every culture in which Christians have lived: God sends us into that culture, despite our busyness, as a “minister of reconciliation” (2Cor 5:18), to “seek its welfare” (Jer 29:7) and to “make disciples” (Matt 28:20). That call and command rests on all of us, no matter how busy, but the question for this article looks specifically at married people: how can God use my marriage for his mission?

DIVERGING STREAMS?

Many married people reading this are well versed in two streams of Christian thought: the first stream is that we are God’s people sent into God’s world to carry out God’s mission. From Abraham on, God sends his people into the world – not to be enveloped by the world, but to live – as St. Augustine put it – as the “city of God,” living among the “city of Man” and seeking its good. The other stream is that marriage is the best reflection of the Trinity, and of God’s love for and pursuit of his Bride. Orthodox theology for the past 2000 years has affirmed Paul’s words in Ephesians 5, that the blessed relationship between a husband and wife is the clearest picture of “the mystery” of “Christ and his church.” We’ve heard both those streams; we know both principles; we even believe and strive to live out those truths.

The problem is that we often hear, know, believe, and live those streams separately from each other, while God designed them to be one strong, flowing, unified river. We try to live as missionaries and as couples as two distinct compartments of life. As Paul Tripp has said: “But they’re not naturally divided. That’s why you don’t have a huge discussion in the New Testament of the tension between ministry and family. It’s just not there. We have set that up, because we naturally look at these two things as separate dimensions.” Here’s the truth for every Christian couple: marriage is the clearest picture of the gospel in the world today, and your marriage is one of the best forms of evangelism in the world today. We can no longer keep our marriage and our mission in separate, parallel streams – they must unite.

How can God use our marriage for his mission? We can learn much from the Bible’s brief glimpses of one couple, Aquila and Priscilla, in Acts 18.

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. -Acts 18:1-3

GOD’S MISSION THROUGH YOUR IDENTITY

Aquila and Priscilla were not pastors and they didn’t have seminary degrees. They made tents for a living, working a culturally-normative profession. Yet they saw themselves as ministers of the gospel by opening their lives to Paul. We see at the end of 1 Corinthians that they hosted the local church in their home. Later in Acts 18 they go with Paul on mission for the gospel. In some circles today, Christians refer to “tent-making” as the honorable use of a “secular” job for ministry. For this couple, tent-making carried no great honor; it was simply their job, and a means of God’s provisions, as they lived their lives for the gospel! They were a married couple with a normal life, who used their marriage and life for God’s ministry. Whoever you are, and regardless of your job, city, or profession – or marital status! – you are a minister of the gospel!

The God who saved you “by grace through faith” now has “good works, prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:8-10). “God… through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18). If you're married, you're probably busy. Whether you’re paid by a church or by Starbucks, FedEx, an ISD, or the government, and whether we’ve been married one week or 50 years, and whether you have 10 kids running around the home or are empty-nesters, and whether you deal with the normal messiness of life or struggle with deeper issues, you’re still (primarily) God’s people sent on God’s mission to God’s world. That’s your identity in Christ: you’re a minister of his gospel.

GOD’S MISSION THROUGH YOUR HOSPITALITY

As part of Aquila and Priscilla’s gospel ministry, they opened their home to the Apostle Paul. He didn’t just crash on their couch for a few nights but moved in with them. Their home was also the meeting place for the local church. If you look at the normative life of the early church in Acts 2, you know that folks didn’t just wander into their home at 10am on a Sunday, stay for an hour, then go to Chili’s. Instead, “day by day, [they attended] the temple together and [broke] bread in their homes” (Acts 2,). They were likely in Aquila and Priscilla’s home a lot.

There’s an old episode of Everybody Loves Raymond in which Ray’s parents purchase a new couch, and won’t remove the plastic wrap for fear of getting it dirty – that’s a great picture of how many of us view our homes. Today we often view our homes as a “refuge” or “retreat” from the difficult world “out there.” That thinking misses part of the point: our homes, like everything God gives us, are gifts to steward for the sake of God's mission! Aquila and Priscilla had a home, and used that home as a generous blessing to others.

Aquila and Priscilla lived as God’s ministers, and in doing so, they used their home as a ministry. In the familial mess of opening your home, doors open for deep conversations. In denying the comfort and convenience a home can provide, others are blessed and cared for.

GOD’S MISSION THROUGH YOUR DECISIONS

Put yourself in Aquila and Priscilla’s shoes: you’re new to town, and you're only there because you got kicked out of your last town. If the local church needs a place to meet, would you volunteer your home? Paul shows up and asks to live with you. While your first impression today might be excitement: “The most famous Christian in the world, the guy who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament, the greatest missionary of all time, wants to live with ME?!” We must see the other side too: Paul was also one of the most persecuted, “most wanted,” most despised persons of his day. “Inviting him in” was a massive danger to yourself!

When we think of “hospitality,” we often mistake it for what the Bible calls “fellowship.” At times it’s easy–or at least, easier–to open your home to other followers of Jesus. But true, biblical hospitality is opening your home to strangers, caring for the hurting and the “least.” Biblical hospitality means blessing folks who could never bless you back. Hospitality is initiating with others and loving people because God first initiated and loved us.

The rubber meets the road in marriage and ministry through the decisions you make each day. Those decisions display what you and your spouse value, love, pursue, and fear. Your decisions display what you and your spouse worship. And those you’re ministering to will watch your marriage and learn from it. How you use your home as a couple is one of those daily decisions.

The Fears We Have

What are our biggest fears with using our marriages for mission? That we’ll be unsafe? That we won’t be successful? That our child will experience a tragedy or they won’t have the best opportunity to succeed themselves? None of these fears are inherently evil, but if they become a greater fear than “the fear of the LORD,” which “is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov 1:7), they have become evil. If they become the primary motivation behind our marital and familial decisions, above obedience to God, then we are listening to our culture over our God. In the decisions we make, we must discern whether we’re placing our hope in God or something else. Are we trusting a certain neighborhood for safety more than God? Are we placing hope in a certain job to provide better than God?

Here’s the point: in Romans 16:3, Paul literally says, “Priscilla and Aquila risked their necks for my life.” Why would they do that? This couple valued God’s mission and ministry over any cultural norm, distraction, or idol. There would be no other reason to risk their lives except that their values and goals were different than those of the world around them. Throughout Jesus’ own ministry, he called people to fight against their inward-focused, selfish, consumerist lives. He called them to battle the natural currents of culture and to fight Satan’s subtle temptations to convince you – among other things – that following God is too risky.

GOD’S MISSION THROUGH YOUR STEWARDSHIP

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:9: “if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” If Jesus hadn’t risen, and there’s no hope for the future, then we should be more pitied than anyone in the world! The reason our lives should invite pity from people who don’t know Jesus is that our lives should look so strange, illogical, and even crazy. People should think we’ve lost our minds! Is that true of the decisions you and your spouse make? What values and priorities do your neighbors see in your marriage? What goals and pursuits does the world around you see in your life?

If God is using our marriages for his mission, it looks completely illogical. For example you might be able to afford the best private school in town, yet send your kids to the less-esteemed, local public one because your family places obedience in mission above an educational reputation. It makes no sense to deny a higher paying job, for one with better hours – but you pursue mission by dwelling with your family and mission field longer. Might we give up a club, hobby, organization, Xbox, or even one of our many Bible Studies, to free up time, money, and energy for those God sent us to? Might we even “cold-call” our neighbors and invite them over for dinner? Would we let them see our imperfections, and bless them without expecting a return? This is the call to display the weird life of gospel implications in marriage.

The key to each of these– living as a minister, opening your home and marriage, and living a counter-cultural lifestyle – is seeing yourself as a steward of your life, possessions, and even family, rather than an owner. Here’s what Aquila and Priscilla understood: everything we have is a gift from God. Everything we have is his; everything is given to us to use and cultivate and use on his behalf. We are the servants in Matthew 25, and one day our Master will look at all he entrusted us with. Will our master be pleased or disappointed in our stewardship?

GOD’S MISSION THROUGH YOUR PROCLAMATION

Our marriages, like everything else God gives us, are gifts from God to steward well for his purposes. Do we take his gift and make it about ourselves? Do we trade his purpose and mission for our selfishness and safety? Do we take marriage – the best display of the gospel to the world – and hide it away rather than using it to proclaim the glory, grace, and goodness of God? Aquila and Priscilla were so sold out on God’s mission that they later moved to Ephesus with Paul. They stayed there when Paul continued on, and as a “husband-wife team,” directed their ministry into a young convert named Apollos.

After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila… And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus… Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. -Acts 18:18-26

The scriptures that speak to this point in history show that that, as a couple, Aquila and Priscilla “discipled” this young man for a season just as they had opened their lives to Paul and the church at Corinth. And like Paul, God used Apollos to produce great fruit and bring himself great glory through the known world.

A CONVERGENCE FOR SAKE OF THE GOSPEL

By their actions, decisions, lifestyle, and their words, Aquila and Priscilla were a couple who proclaimed the gospel. What your city be like if it was filled with couples devoting their lives and marriages to helping others understand the good news of Jesus? What would your church be like if it was filled with families who opened their homes to literal life-on-life discipleship? What would it look like to see our marriages as gifts from God, for the sake of his mission, rather than our own selfish desires?

It is difficult! It battles everything in us that wants comfort, convenience, privacy, and silence. If we deny ourselves for his mission, we should be pitied if Jesus didn’t raise from the dead. But he did! In doing so, he transforms both our marriages and our mission; he gives us the only reason for living this way; he becomes the only reason for “intentionally illogical” decisions. In Jesus’ death, resurrection, and call on our lives, his mission and our marriages converge into a story that’s bigger than our own – the writing of which took a greater sacrifice than we’ll ever be asked to give.

In our marriages, we have the opportunity to put that story on display every day. Will we continue to live as married people, who separately, occasionally in our busyness, pursue ministry? Or will the gospel transform our time, priorities, and relationship, and unite those diverging streams into one, as we live out our new identity and God’s mission through our marriages?

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Special thanks to Ross Appleton for the foundational concept this article is built on.

Ben Connelly lives in Fort Worth with his wife and daughters. 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 in spurts at benconnelly.net. Twitter: @connellyben

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Read more about the implications of the resurrection in the free e-book Raised? by Jonathan Dodson and Brad Watson. 

Living the Resurrection?

This is an excerpt of the book Raised? Doubting the Resurrection. Get the entire e-book for free at www.raisedbook.com. --

Once we make our way through doubt, come to understand the gospel story and saving faith in the risen Christ, these questions arise: How do we practice the resurrection? What difference does it make in you and me? How do we live this new, or raised, life?

The last lines of Matthew’s Gospel belong to Jesus himself. Believers in the resurrection cherish them because the final words of their Savior explain how to live the resurrected life. After his resurrection, and just before his ascension to the Father, Jesus tells his disciples how to be fruitful and multiply with their new, abundant life. He describes a life characterized by a new authority, a new identity, and a new mission.

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. - Matthew 28:16-20

A New Authority: Follow Me

Jesus has all authority on heaven and earth. His authority eclipses the kings of Israel and the leaders of nations. All other kings die; Jesus vanquished death. All rulers are made, but all things were made by and for Jesus. His rule extends beyond the earth into the heavens, where he deposes powers and will bring all who are in opposition to surrender, establishing never-ending peace. Paul poetically describes his lordship:

[Jesus] is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 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 1:15-20

In short, the risen Jesus has all the authority in the universe. Christ is profoundly great and good. He deserves our worship and obedience. Those who possess resurrected life joyfully acknowledge that Jesus is in charge and follow him. We listen to what he says, by reading his teachings, and we follow what he says, by lining our lives up with his teaching. A disciple learns to submit to Jesus in every facet of life. From waking up to going to bed, everything falls under his authority. Short-term plans and long-term investments are decided by his instruction. Living the resurrected life means placing yourself under Christ’s rule. He is in charge and he is good at it. So know this—Jesus is no tyrant. He does not abuse his power. Rather, he is a loving and serving master. He is the master who washes his disciples feet. He is the king who lays down his life for his friends and, yes, even for those who doubt him. You are not cheated. You can run the cost-benefit analysis a million times, but it always comes out the same. The cost of submitting to Jesus pales in comparison to the rich relationship and future you have in Christ.

Four Ways to Follow Jesus

• In Community. Following Jesus is communal. You need others and they need you. You share in struggle and daily remind each other of the abundant life and precious savior you have in common. Christians gather on Sunday to sing not only to God but each other: “Jesus rose from the dead!”

• In Prayer. Have you ever wondered why Christians pray? They pray because they know how dependent they are on God. Prayer is an invitation to know God and join his grace agenda for our lives.

• In Repentance & Faith. Repentance and faith are integral to the Christian life. Repentance is not feeling sorry to get on God’s good side. It is turning from the fleeting promises of sin to the superior promises of the Savior. It is seeing that, by grace, we are already on God’s good side and nothing else can compare to him.

• In the Story. Despite its age and apparent obscurity, the Bible is the story and inspired texts of God. It teaches us how to follow Jesus. We read it not to learn about extinct cultures, but to know and follow our Savior who was raised.

New Identity: In Christ

Resurrection life is nothing short of an entirely new identity. An identity is formed by what defines you. In American culture, your sexual orientation, your political party, your race, your religion, or your home state may define you. You can find identity in your occupation, your alma mater, your hobbies, and even your clothes. You can locate your identity by filling in the blank with “I am ____” statements.

• I am an accountant
• I am a Buddhist
• I am an alcoholic
• I am a vegetarian
• I am a Longhorn
• I am a skater
• I am white
• I am a democrat
• I am gay
• I am beautiful
• I am a hipster
• I am a disciple
• I am a Christian

Sometimes our identities are a composite. However, there some are typically stronger than others. How do you know which is strongest? Think about the one you just couldn’t live without. If you can’t imagine life living without it, you may have found your deepest identity. Each identity has a hidden mantra that goes something like: I am what I eat, who I sleep with, how I make money, what I wear, what I look like, or where I came from. Others are defined by their addictions and failures.

The interesting thing about many identities is that they come from what we do. The resurrected life is different. Instead of being named by the things we have done, we are named “in the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” We no longer have to be defined by our rise and fall in success and failure. Instead, our identity is defined by God’s utter success over our sinful failures and his gift of new life. We have a new identity. The New Testament describes our newfound identity in various ways:

• Child of God
• Friend of God
• Servant
• Sent one or missionary
• Disciple
• Blessed
• New Creation
• Saint (Holy One)

This list only scratches the surface of our new identity in Christ. This is God’s grace in the resurrected life. We don’t deserve these wonderful identities. Yet, Christ’s work is to give them to us. They all spring from grace—what he has done for us, not what we have done for him. He is Father to the child, Friend to the friend, Master to the servant, Ultimate Missionary to the sent one, Savior to the disciple, Resurrection to the new creation, Holy to the saint.

Empowered by the Presence of God

Jesus’ final words make it clear; we will not be abandoned: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The resurrected Jesus is not in a distant universe or looking down from the clouds to see how well we are doing. He is with us and will be forever. The resurrected life is a continually restored relationship with God. We will not be exiled. We will not be alone. This is the ultimate benefit of following Jesus: Jesus himself. We can enjoy him daily. Like Adam and Eve before their rebellion, we can always walk the garden with God.

The promise of God’s presence isn’t a fleeting greeting on the inside of hallmark card. It is real comfort and power. As Jesus was preparing his disciples, he told them he would send them the Holy Spirit. In the Bible, the Book of Acts tells the story of how the Holy Spirit empowers normal disciples to follow Jesus. We see the Spirit empower ordinary people like you and me to speak the gospel boldly, obey Jesus commands, heal the sick, make disciples, give generously, and care for the poor. The Holy Spirit is the power of the resurrection for Jesus and for us: “And the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11). The power of the resurrection is in us through the Spirit!

Now, we could easily read this think, “Okay, let’s get to work...maybe I can do this.” But if you set off in your own resolve, you will fall flat. I do. When Im not living out of resurrection power (depending on the Spirit through prayer), I end up relying on emotional power. If I feel good that day, I’ll attempt to live out of my new identity and follow Jesus. If I don’t feel good, I’ll struggle to follow him. Either way, I miss the vibrancy of the Spirit. I quickly tire out, snap at others, or silently take credit for good things. I amass self-righteousness through self-dependence. However, when I begin the day with utter dependence upon the Spirit, drawing near to God in prayer, asking for his power and guidance throughout the day, it changes things entirely. Instead of tiring out, I’m filled up. Instead of snapping at others, I find a hesitating nudge from the Spirit to love and forbear. Instead of taking credit, I’m quick to give glory to God. The Holy Spirit enables you to live the resurrected life. He bears the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control, even in difficult circumstances. You don’t have to muster up the strength to follow Jesus. Instead, you get to rely on the strength of the Holy Spirit.

New Mission: Make Disciples 

Matthew 28:18-20 is what Christians call the Great Commission, the dominant marching orders for all who have faith in Christ. It can sound a bit militant: “Take God’s authority and make disciples.” But remember, these orders are from the one who lays down his life. Ironically, our orders are to invite through imitation. The mission is to make disciples through our words and actions. Or, as Jesus said, “teach and obey.” In fact, it is when we experience the riches of renewal through Christ that we become, as Eugene Peterson says, “God’s advertisement to the world.” We make disciples by living resurrected lives and telling people about the resurrected Christ.

There’s not a hint of coercion here. It’s a life of love. Jesus wants us to spread the gospel throughout the world by spending our lives intentionally with others. Resurrection doesn’t stop with us but travels through us. The commission is to invite. We get to invite others to join his redemptive agenda for human flourishing and the remaking of the world. We are sent to share the good news that Jesus has defeated sin, death, and evil through his own death and resurrection and is making all things new, even us. Jesus calls his followers to participate in his work of renewing the world.

Distinctive Discipleship

Part of what makes this command great is its scope—all nations. When Jesus spoke these words, he was orienting a primarily Jewish audience to a distinctly multi-ethnic mission. We get the word, “ethnic” from the Greek word for nations, which doesn’t refer to modernist geo-political states, but to non-Jewish ethnic groups (Gentiles). The commission is not calling disciples’ to Christianize nation-states, but to share the good news of what Jesus has done with all ethnic groups. Christ does not advocate Christendom, a top-down political Christianity. Instead, he calls his followers to transmit a bottom-up, indigenous Christianity, to all peoples in all cultures. The command is to make disciples of all nations not from all nations. So, we aren’t meant to exchange our rich culture for a cheap, consumer, Christian knock-off culture. Andrew Walls puts it well:

Conversion to Christ does not produce a bland universal citizenship: it produces distinctive discipleship, as diverse and variegated as human life itself. Christ in redeeming humanity brings, by the process of discipleship, all the richness of humanity’s infinitude of cultures and subcultures into the variegated splendor of the Full Grown Humanity to which the apostolic literature points Eph 4.8-13.

What we should strive for is distinctive discipleship, discipleship that uniquely expresses personal faith in our cultural context. Disciples in urban Manhattan will look different than disciples in rural Maehongson. These differences allow for a flourishing of the gospel that contributes to the many-splendored new humanity of Christ. Simply put, the message of Jesus is for the flourishing of all humanity in all cultures.

The Call of Resurrection

Jesus tells those who follow to leave all they have behind, to give their lives to the poor, to love their enemies, and be a blessing to the world. The resurrection enables us to follow Jesus. In this we risk for the sake of humanity and out of belief in the gospel. We do not hold back because we live with the certainty that death and sin have been defeated. His death and resurrection has become our death and resurrection. We have a new authority, identity, and mission.

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This is an excerpt of the book Raised? Doubting the Resurrection. Get this eBook for free at www.raisedbook.com.

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Jonathan K. Dodson (MDiv; ThM) serves as a pastor of City Life Church in Austin, Texas. He is the author of Gospel-Centered Discipleship and Unbelievable Gospel. He has discipled men and women abroad and at home for almost two decades, taking great delight in communicating the gospel and seeing Christ formed in others.

Brad Watson serves as a pastor of Bread&Wine Communities in Portland, Oregon. He is also the director of GospelCenteredDiscipleship.com. His greatest passion is to encourage and equip leaders for the mission of making disciples. 

Raised? Doubting the Resurrection

We wrote this book out of our love for skeptics and respect for the questions they help us ask. We also write as believers who oscillate in real belief in the resurrected Christ. We hope it proves to be an insightful, stirring reflection on the resurrection. 

We are giving this book away in the hope that churches will make the eBook or hardcopy available to their people, especially to all their visitors on Easter. We are praying God would use it to spark gospel conversations, equip believers, and help people meet the risen Jesus.

Download artwork, slides, and the book at: www.raisedbook.com

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One in five Americans don’t believe in a deity. The “none” category in religious polls has doubled over the past ten years. Less than half of the population attends religious services on a regular basis. As statistics rise on the decline of Christian faith in America, you may find yourself wondering if Christianity is really worth believing? After all, the Christian faith makes some audacious claims.

Audacious Claims of the Gospel

Some of the most audacious claims are made right at the center of the Christian faith—in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Though some particulars may vary, the gospel is something all Christians agree on: “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Now, there are some big assumptions made in this verse: that we sin; that Christ was strong enough to deal with sin, and that he was stronger than death—he was raised from the dead!

If this is all true, Jesus calls us to respond by faith in him to receive forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life (John 3:16; Romans 6:23). Here we have four big concepts—sin, faith, Christ, and eternal life. Followers of Christ have, at times, communicated these concepts terribly. As a result, there is a general misunderstanding, even among some Christians, as to what these terms mean. For instance, eternal life (or resurrection life) is often mistaken as an escape from life in order to get into a cloudy eternity. How boring! While we address this error throughout the book, it gets particular attention in chapter four. In chapter three, we examine the meaning of sin, faith, and Christ. These are misconstrued to mean bad behavior, wishful thinking, and great teacher. Way off target. All of these concepts lack deep appeal apart from a greater narrative to fit into. In chapter two, we trace the bigger story of Scripture to see if it resonates with human longing. In this chapter, we hone in on an audacious gospel claim—that Jesus was raised from the dead.

At first glance, the death of Jesus is easy enough to embrace. It is well documented and the Roman authorities crucified people regularly. The god-sized claim beneath his self-sacrifice is what ruffles feathers. The claim that his sacrifice was on behalf of all humanity troubles both our pride and our intellect. Jesus, represented all of us? What gives him the right? Who says we need a representative or sacrifice anyway? The gospel gets crazier. The bull’s eye of the gospel is the death and resurrection of Jesus. We don’t have to dive deep to surface doubt with the resurrection. Its surface value is, well, incredible. The notion that a first century Jewish man, crucified between two common thieves, was actually God and rose from the dead is unbelievable. To the modern mind, resurrection is utterly implausible. People don’t beat death, especially after being in the grave three days. In light of recent horror trends, we might be more inclined to believe in a zombie emerging from the dead than a resurrected and fully restored person. Yet, at the center of historic Christian faith is the belief that a Jewish man named Jesus was “raised.”

If you doubt the resurrection, I’m glad. Anything worth believing has to be worth questioning, but don’t let your questions slip away unanswered. Don’t reduce your doubts to a state of unsettled cynicism. Wrestle with your doubts. Find answers.

If you call yourself a believer and a skeptic, don’t settle for pat proofs, emotional experiences, or duty-driven religion. Keep asking questions. Those who haven’t questioned their faith can easily become doctrinaire, even detached from the everyday struggle of faith. Whether you are a skeptic, believer, or somewhere in between, press into your faith or push into your doubt. Question your faith and question your doubts. Determine good reasons for believing or not believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If he really did defeat death, it changes everything. Doubt well and you can walk away from skepticism, cynicism, or blind faith into perceptive belief, intellectual security, and deeper commitment. You can know that you have honestly questioned the resurrection.

Others Who Struggle to Believe

You aren’t the only one to struggle with belief in the resurrection. The story of the resurrection includes many doubters. The resurrection story is rooted in an historical account of events in first century Palestine (modern day Israel). The Gospels (written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) report these events from four different vantage points, narrating the life, ministry, death, and alleged resurrection of Jesus. The Gospel authors tell us that Jesus predicted his death and resurrection years before it occurred (John 2:22). He knew what was coming and went along with it. He didn’t run. One evening, Jesus met his disciples in a garden to pray. Suddenly, he was interrupted by clanging armor and flaming torches. Roman soldiers appeared to arrest him at the behest of the religious right (the Pharisees). The Pharisees charged Jesus with sedition, a charge most unsettling to the Roman Empire. As his disciples scattered, Jesus was left to face trial alone. He was quickly tried in the wee hours of Friday morning and crucified that afternoon. He was buried that night. On Sunday, grief stricken women went to visit Jesus’ tomb. As devoted disciples, they were shocked to find his tomb uncovered. Other disciples joined them, entered the tomb, and found his body gone, with his grave clothes lying there. This is where doubt begins to creep in.

Some claim the body was stolen. Mary thought the same thing, until Jesus appeared to her. Other disciples disbelieved her resurrection report, even after Jesus appeared to them (Luke 24:36-43). They mistook him for a ghost, so Jesus took it upon himself to prove his physical existence. He ate a piece of fish before their very eyes and they all believed, except doubting Thomas. Thomas saw all of this and remained incredulous. He heard the news, saw the man, and even watched Jesus perform an experiment proving he was real. Now, if God really is Jesus, and he’s risen from the dead standing right in front of you, proves he’s not a spirit, and you still doubt, how do you think Jesus should respond? You’d think Jesus would smack him down for doubt, rebuke Thomas on the spot, and call him to fall in line with his now believing friends. But he didn’t. Instead, Jesus entertains his doubts. He invites Thomas to press his hands to his tender crucifixion wounds, charging him: “Do not disbelieve, but believe” (John 20:27).

If you doubt the resurrection, you’re in good company. To the solidly skeptical and those struggling with doubt, Jesus remains ready to receive our questions. Jesus entertains doubts. He also implores belief. (Wouldn’t you if you died and rose from the dead, appearing to your disbelieving family and friends?) And to those who do not see the resurrected Christ, and still believe, Jesus confers a particular blessing (John 20:29). Though a blessing from God sounds nice, it can still be hard to get past the implausibility of someone rising from the dead. Many believe in the historical Jesus, but fewer believe in the resurrected Jesus.

The resurrection is like a river that parts a road. People are on the road approaching the river. Arriving at the river of the resurrection, you look across it to where the road continues, and see quite a few cars are parked there. In your doubt, you can’t imagine how people got to the other side. How did they get across the river? How can rational people come to the belief that Jesus died and rose from the dead?

The Global Perspective

Truth be told, the parking lot on the other side of the resurrection is overflowing. Resurrection-believing Christians are all over the world. Today there are approximately 2.2 billion Christians in the world, almost a billion more Christians than Muslims (who adhere to the second largest world religion, Islam). Christians around the world claim a personal encounter with Christ and a relationship with a resurrected Jesus. Many of them are so devout they have suffered for their belief in the resurrected Christ. These believers are from a broad array of cultures and ethnic backgrounds. What are we to conclude from this?

Because Christianity is the world’s largest (and incredibly diverse) religion, should you jump ship on your unbelief or switch religions? The sheer number of believing, praying, suffering Christians does not make the resurrection true, but it should make it possible. It is possible that Islam is also true; however, Muslims do not put hope in a resurrected messiah. Allah is not a God who suffers for humanity and conquers death. In Jesus, however, we find God crucified and raised to life. According to the Bible, the resurrection is also a preview of things to come (1 Corinthians 15). Resurrection isn’t restricted to Jesus. All who have faith in him will eventually gain a resurrected body to enjoy a “resurrected” world. This certainly is hopeful. If billions of people and thousands of cultures have found hope in the resurrection, then perhaps there is something to it? How did all those ethnic groups come to believe a claim as implausible as the resurrection of Jesus?

The majority of the Christian population has shifted away from the West to the South and the East.The current statistical-geographical center of global Christianity is, quite literally, Timbuktu, Mali. That’s Africa. The largest Christian nation is China. Now, the interesting thing about the current center of global Christianity is that it is in cultures that affirm the supernatural. In fact, the global south encounters inexplicable, supernatural events on a regular basis. Not so in the West, we have ruled out the supernatural. We rarely see such extraordinary things. We begin with the assumption that the supernatural is not possible. Is this position critical or biased? To be sure, some Americans are willing to believe in the supernatural the teachings of Buddha, Vishnu, and Eckhart Tolle, but are we willing to believe in Jesus, risen from the dead? If we are to consider the plausibility of the resurrection, we must begin with its possibility. Critical of our default cultural position, this is the only intellectually honest place to begin. Is it true, as the Apostle Paul summarized: “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)? Let’s consider this central tenant of a historic world faith. We will begin by asking other skeptics who were alive at the time of Jesus’ alleged resurrection. Did they find the resurrection plausible? How did some of them get across the river of doubt?

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