7 Ways the Father Loves Us

It’s remarkable how difficult it can be to let ourselves be loved by God. For many of us, the love of Jesus comes through loud and clear, but God the Father often seems distant or looming. Many of our perceptions of God have been distorted by earthly shadows—fathers, employers, leaders, etc. To move forward in loving and being loved by God, we must replace our false ideas with biblically-saturated truth. God’s attributes—including love—aren’t like human traits that strengthen or weaken nor are they like moods that come and go. God is all of his attributes perfectly, all the time. And yet, we still struggle to believe it can be true, that this great God can love us messy and stumbling sinners. Sometimes we don’t feel his love on a day to day basis like we desire, so walls of doubt begin to shut him out. Other times we unwittingly read the Word not through the lens of his love and grace to us in Christ, but through tinted lens of condemnation and guilt.

My hope is that by dwelling on God’s love for us, we’ll move from a general and vague idea to a sweet and personal experience. God desires as much, and once the fountain of the Father’s love is opened we’ll find ourselves stepping into new streams of gratitude, contentment, joy, and security. Here are seven examples from the New Testament of how God clearly and convincingly displays his fatherly love to his children.

1. The Father’s Love in Sending

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.” (John 3:16)

The Father’s love for us is nowhere more conspicuous than in the sending of his only Son—freely, unprompted, and undeserved. The same Scriptures proclaiming Christ’s love in dying also reveal the immense love of the Father as the sending source. He so loved us that he gave his only begotten Son. This world-famous verse placards the pursuing love of the Father. And it’s not a nebulous or general love, but his particular love to actual persons like you and I.

Whether from the lies of the accuser or deception from our own minds, Christians can act as if Jesus is the good guy who convinces the fear-inducing Father to show mercy. In reality, the Father dearly wants to be in an intimate relationship with us so he dispatches the Son to bring us back. This unmerited love of God shines even brighter against the backdrop of our dark and ill-deserving condition.  That’s why the Apostle John erupts with the words, “Here is love!” when he thinks about the Father giving Jesus to bring wayward children into his family. “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). The cross is the exclamation and the evidence of how much the Father loves us.

2. The Father’s Love in Revealing

“And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.” (John 12:45)

As the Word, Jesus is the self-expression of God. The incarnation points to the Father’s love because it proves he wants to be known in a way that is clear, intimate, and according to truth. Because God is not like us in so many ways and cannot be seen or touched there are moments he might seem remote or intangible. Jesus takes our vague or slightly distorted notions of God and gives us the real picture of the Father in his fullness of grace and truth. We should look to the incarnation of Jesus to see just how near the Father has come. The Son shows us the Father, and through Jesus the invisible God is finally visible.

It should astound us that the infinite, transcendent, and perfect God would make knowing us and being known by us one of his highest priorities. What a joy that God is a Father who doesn’t just show mercy—and that would be wonderful enough—but he wants a real relationship where we know and love him. Our perceptions of God become fuzzy and distorted when we look at earthly figures of fathers or authorities. However, when we look at Jesus the character and compassion of the Father is clearly and accurately put on display.

3. The Father’s Love in Adopting

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.” (1 John 3:1)

God the Father’s love can be seen in the friendly and familial vocabulary describing a believer’s relationship with God. We are called his sons and daughters. God wants to be known and seen in this way which is why he draws on the affectionate language of Father and children. “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son” (Gal. 4:4-7). Paul was well aware how quickly we retreat back to fearing God as slaves so he presses home the truth we can trust Him as children.

Imagine two people in your mind’s eye. First, imagine someone you feel comfortable with because you’re loved and accepted. When with them you don’t ever have to worry about being anything other than yourself. Now visualize a second person who creates an uneasy sense of the need to measure up or being on your best behavior. Think of the difference if you were just sitting in your living room with either person watching TV together or talking. How free do you feel with the first person versus how hesitant or anxious you feel with the second? Because of our justification in Christ, the Bible describes God the Father as the person in the room we should completely trust and therefore find rest with—awake to the fact we are truly known. The Father doesn’t hold back love until we change or earn it. It’s a full stream of God’s unconditional love to his children.

4. The Father’s Love in Comforting

“Blessed be…the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.” (2 Cor. 1:3)

The Father expresses his love in the comfort he gives, and even in the fact he calls us to find our comfort in his fatherly embrace. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3). It’s a slightly different nuance but in Romans 15:5 Paul also calls him the God of encouragement. He doesn’t turn his children away or pile up heavy discouragements on their backs. He’s not looking to criticize you or asking you to toughen up. Instead, he’s a gentle God who gives the comfort we need when we hurt and the encouragement we need when weary.

The discomforts in this world are no match for the comforts of our Father. He wraps his strong but soothing arms around us. The comfort of the Father never goes away. It is not wearied or exhausted by our sins and it isn’t based on our performance. The Father comforts because he is the God of comfort. His love is seen both in the act and in the warm heart that calls us. We might imagine God with arms crossed ready to criticize or condemn, but God assures us that he stands with arms opened ready to welcome and console us.

5. The Father’s Love in Giving

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.” (Jam. 1:17)

The Father loves us by giving good gifts. He enjoys us enjoying him as we enjoy his gifts. This exhibits his care and provision for us but it also expresses his generous and glad heart towards his children. God hands out who knows how many gifts to us each day, but the problem is we either don’t see the gifts or we don’t stop to consider who they’re from. Gratitude happens when we open our eyes to an awareness of the gifts and then raise our eyes in a response of thanksgiving to the God who gave them. Our joy in gratitude becomes the joy of worship. The gift should always lead to the giver. David Pao says, “Thanksgiving in Paul is an act of worship. It is not focused primarily on the benefits received or the blessed condition of a person; instead, God is the centre of thanksgiving.”[1]

Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater to bring home the reality of God’s goodness. “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:13). The best examples of earthly fathers in their generosity and gifting are a tiny picture of God’s perfect love. God has blessed us with innumerable blessings, and the more we see them as gifts the greater opportunity we have to delight in the Father. In other words, one way to see God’s heart of love for us is to see the gifts that come from his hand to us.

6. The Father’s Love in Promising

“For all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus Christ].” (2 Cor. 1:19)

The Father’s love is seen in the making and fulfilling of promises to his people. All God’s promises to us are confirmed and secured in Jesus (2 Cor. 1:19). First, he loves us by being true and faithful rather than being unreliable or deceptive (Titus 1:2). Nothing gives a greater sense of safety and security than a trustworthy father. Second, he demonstrates his love in the promises themselves. He keeps his word and he offers some pretty amazing blessings. he promises to love us as his own children, to give us his Holy Spirit, to keep us secure in Christ, to wipe away our sins, and to one day come back and restore all things (see Eph. 1:3-14).

The Bible is stocked full of promises that are strong enough and sweet enough to carry us through each day. Promises are God’s caffeine kick to reawaken and energize Christians. One of the best things to do when studying God’s Word is to intentionally pick out the promises of God and to anchor your life on them. They are true and they are good. If we ever doubt God’s promises he calls us to look back to the pledge of his Son (2 Cor. 1:20; Rom. 8:31-39) and the down-payment of his Spirit (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:14). God loves us by promising us with countless blessings and assurances, and he loves us by always keeping those promises.

7. The Father’s Love in Disciplining

“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves.” (Heb. 12:6)

The Father loves us not despite discipline but through it. I know this point is a hard sell but the Bible connects the dots. God’s discipline is a calm but firm correction, never a fit of rage. He aims to teach us not reject or punish. The NT links discipline and love to help cement in our mind that they’re not irreconcilable enemies, but rather, they’re actually related (Heb. 12:3-11; Rev. 3:19). The fact that God corrects his children should encourage us just how much he cares and provide proof he will never give up on or leave us in our sin.

A beautiful scene in the TV show “Parenthood” depicts this idea. One of the families had adopted an abandoned young boy. Early on he misbehaves and continues acting out his bad habits. The mom thinks they should keep looking the other way but the dad reminds her they’re his parents now. He’s their child so they need to treat him like family, not like a guest or stranger. Since he’s now their boy and they want what’s best for him they make the tough choice to give correction and explain what he’s done wrong. As God’s children, we also need to remind ourselves that discipline isn’t the same as displeasure. In fact, it demonstrates God’s commitment to us. God treats us not as strangers or guests who he has no relationship with but as a father who deeply loves his sons and daughters.

Loving How We’ve Been Loved

When we don’t live in light of God’s love for us we’ll either shy away from Him out of fear or exhaust ourselves trying to win his approval. My hope is that as we let the truth of God’s love drip from our heads to our hearts we’ll be refreshed in security and rest. This is a game-changer when it comes to how we draw near to our God. It also transforms relationships and how we treat one another. As we experience the Father’s love in specific ways, we can give the type of love we’ve received.

There are a lot of great insights out there on parenting and marriage, but we cannot love children or spouses well unless the perfect love of the Father is a first-hand experience. In a culture desperate in its desire for “true love” and yet clueless in what that looks like, both single and married Christians can point others to a satisfying, unending love their souls are aching for. The application could be extended to the hard people in our lives or the unlovely in our families and neighborhoods, but in each case we can only love others well as we see them through the lens of how God has loved us: freely, undeservingly, and steadfastly.

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Dustin Crowe has a bachelor’s degree in Historical Theology from the Moody Bible Institute and studied at the master’s level at Southern Seminary. He is Local Outreach Coordinator of College Park Church, a church of 4,000 in Indianapolis, where he also helps with theological development.

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[1] David Pao, Thanksgiving: An Investigation of a Pauline Theme (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 28-29.

How to Proclaim Jesus and Make Disciples

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

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

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

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

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

Proclaim Like an Evangelist

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

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

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

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

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

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

Warn Like a Prophet

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

Teach Like a Theologian

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

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

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

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

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

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

How Our Union with Christ Defines Us

Every day, men and women get bombarded with ideas, subtle and obvious, on who they should be. The messages are mixed and they come from all corners. Whether it's the culture of the world or the culture of the Church (and the countless veins within each), the propaganda and advice can be dizzying and confusing.

I am convinced that the breakdown in our understanding of Christian human identity today is a lack of understanding and living out of our union with Christ. Setting aside the gender issues, there is one answer which Scripture gives us to the question of identity for men and women: to be conformed to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29).

We may have many earthly identities: single, married, husband, wife, mother, father, daughter, son, friend, butcher, baker, candlestick-maker, etc. However, there is a wider and deeper reality than all of this: a Christian man or woman is in union with Christ. A Christian man or woman is in Christ. That is our reality. It is Christ who defines personhood.

New Life in Christ

As a first principle, this is where we need to start as Christian humans. All thought, and the subsequent actions from that thought, should come from our union with Christ: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Cor. 5:17).

Let me give an example (and there are countless others) of how our understanding of our union with Christ affects our everyday life. As a wife, I submit to my husband according to Ephesians 5 because of the fact that I am united to Christ. I submit because Christ submitted to the Father and I am in Christ. All the secondary and tertiary reasons for why I am called to submit are of no value unless I fully internalize what it means to be in Christ. Moreover, there is no greater motivation or power to live in line with this section of Scripture except the knowledge of my union with Christ. Saying that it is in the Bible does not make this Scripture effective. Claiming to be a complementarian does not make these verses effective. What makes all the realities of new life effective is our union with Christ and living out the wisdom contained in his Word.

Here are some ways we can think about how our union in Christ define us, with a little help from Anthony Hoekema’s Saved By Grace.[1]

A Defining Union

1. If we are Christians, we were chosen by the Father before the creation of the universe and before anything existed; even before we existed. Our union with Christ has its roots in divine election.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him." (Eph. 1:3–4)

2. Our union with Christ is based on his redemptive work. Christ came to earth to save his people.

 "You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matt. 1:21)

3. Our actual union with Christ began at new birth. At regeneration (new birth – when our spirits are made alive), the Holy Spirit brings us into a living union with Christ.

"He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit." (Titus 3:5)

4. Throughout our lives, we live out our union with Christ through faith. That is, we exercise/seize/live out our new life in Christ, through faith.

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Gal. 2:20)

5. Our justification (where God declares us "not guilty," forgiving all our sins) is inseparable from our union with Christ. As we are spiritually moved by the Holy Spirit out from under the kingdom of darkness and the reign of sin, and brought into Christ several things happen: Our nature (ontologically) is changed from being under Adam to being under Christ. At which time we start sharing in Christ's obedience and righteousness. God sees us now through our new nature. Christ defines us. We are freed from the dominion of sin and driven by grace to live a new life.

“And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption." (1 Cor. 1:30)

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Rom. 8:1)

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." (Eph. 1:7)

"…and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." (Phil. 3:9)

6. We are sanctified through our union with Christ. The progressive work of the Holy Spirit over our lifetime conforms us to the image of Christ, leading us to bear spiritual fruit. As Sinclair Ferguson has said, “We must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God. … let it dawn on you... you must reckon this to be true.”

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:4–5)

7. We persevere in our faith because of our union with Christ. Through power of the Holy Spirit we endure, persist, and remain steadfast in our devotion. We remain because if we are in him, we cannot come out of him.

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8:38-39)

8. We die in Christ. Being united with Christ means that we die to ourselves that we may live through his life.

"For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s." (Rom. 14:8)

9. We are raised with Christ already and not yet. In one sense, our new self has already begun at regeneration. At the same time, we will be resurrected as our glorified selves at Christ's return.

"Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2)

10. We will live in eternity with Christ as glorified men and women. The ultimate result of our union with Christ is that we will spend eternity worshiping him for who he is and what he has done.

"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." (1 Thess. 4:16–17)

Tell This Story

It's beautiful to see our union with Christ spelled out theologically. But how are these truths played out in us Christians?

The most important thing to remember and to stay conscious of is that the power of the Holy Spirit which raised Jesus up from death is the same power doing all this work.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, God regenerated my heart. The Holy Spirit then mysteriously and spiritually united my spirit to Christ's. Now I live and move and have my being in Christ; therefore what I think, say, and do flows from this union. When Paul says in Galatians 2:20 that he has been crucified with Christ and that his life in the flesh is lived by faith in Christ who is living inside him—what can he possibly mean? How does this affect the life of flesh we live on this planet?

The Holy Spirit of the living God living inside of us changes everything. Sinclair Ferguson has said that “sanctification is nothing if it doesn't affect the bodily life.”  You have a new being, and the progression of sanctification works backwards and forwards at the same time. The Holy Spirit is putting to death the old you as he continues to slowly build up the new you. That new you will look more and more like Jesus—slowly, incrementally, the power of the Holy Spirit is creating and will create the new you until you are glorified.

This means the new me will make different choices about my body, my mind, my friendships, my entertainment, my reading habits, my hobbies, etc. This is why Paul talks about fornication as uniting Christ with a prostitute.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!... But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. (1 Cor. 6:15-17)

It says we are one spirit with him, and that our bodies are members of Christ. This means everything we do with our fleshly body has to align with something that Christ would do.

Would Christ get drunk and sleep around? No! Would Christ beat his wife? No! Would Christ lie to someone? No! Would Christ cheat on his taxes? Gossip about a neighbor? Cut someone off in traffic? Allow someone to go hungry? Do you see where I'm going with this?

Invariably someone will say, “Well that's just too hard. I'm not perfect. I'm not Jesus.” Good news: you are never called to be like Jesus by yourself. Scripture never says these are rules to obey in our own strength. Scripture says that the spirit of the God of this universe lives in us. He gives strength, power, self-discipline, and everything we need to live in line with the spirit of Christ in us.

We are a new people with a new nature on a new mission. We tell this story to a watching world as we worship, obey, and reflect our Savior. It takes fervor to say “no” to our old selves, the ones who like to indulge in our favorite sins. It takes humility when we fail to confess our sins and receive Christ's forgiveness, which he never begrudges but rather lavishes on us. It takes patience to love people who are not easy to love. It takes courage to talk about Jesus in the presence of those skeptical of his existence. Through our union with Christ, this new life empowered by the Spirit, we are given all we need to live as grace-driven members of Christ's body.

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

Luma's book, Gospel Amnesia, is now updated and available in paperback. Buy it HERE.

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[1] Anthony Hoekema, Saved By Grace (Eerdman’s, 1994), 55-64/

Why Do We Neglect Our Neighbors?

I recently spoke at a large, vibrant, multisite church. While speaking about reaching the younger generation, I asked a couple of questions. First, I asked those in each service to raise their hand if they grew up in a Christian home. Without fail, 80-90% raised their hands, most with understandable joy and enthusiasm for their heritage.

Then I asked the second question: “How many of you recall a time in your childhood when your Christian family talked about reaching out to your neighbors with the gospel?” About 10-20% reticently raised their hands.

Too many of us raise our children in our neighborhoods as if we were atheists. I have asked these two questions in seminary classes, on college campuses, in youth meetings and in large conferences. The response has been the same without exception. For too long many of us have affirmed a practicing atheism, thinking we can magnify Christ among other Christians while virtually ignoring him when among non-Christians.

Too many of us raise our children in our neighborhoods as if we were atheists.

Can we truly say the gospel lies at the center of our lives and our families, if we raise children from birth to adulthood and they can’t recall a conversation about the spiritual need of their neighbors?

Why Do We Neglect Our Neighbors?

The reasons for neglecting our neighbors is multifaceted. One reason is tied up with institutional Christianity, which discourages believers from taking initiative apart from a church building. A second reason, and perhaps the most crucial is this: we have lost wonder over the story and glory of God. Failure to worship God leads to a failed desire to bring our neighbors to worship him with us.

Failure to worship God leads to a failure to bring our neighbors to worship him with us.

We need to recover the gospel in a way that sets God’s glory in the center of all of life. The Bible is unambiguous at this point: the center Scripture is not us, but God, who alone deserves our greatest wonder and all glory. Genesis begins not with us, or even with creation, but with a Creator God who creates for his own glory. John’s Gospel does the same, focusing our attention on Christ. Romans does the same. While creation reflects God’s glory, he finally and most clearly reveals himself to us in his Son, Jesus. Thus, the central character of the biblical story is the Redeemer who works a story of redemption.

The Bible is taught, even in conservative, Bible-believing churches, in a way that ironically encourages believers to do little that requires sacrifice for the gospel (if you can call investing in your neighbors for Christ a “sacrifice”). We turn the Bible into a collection of moralistic stories (David beat Goliath, so you can beat the giants in your life) in which we are the center and the story is designed to help us. Such an approach gives us many heroes, from Joseph the victimized who overcame abuse, to Ruth and Boaz who offer a great encouragement to those seeking romance. In this approach, Jesus matters, but he becomes just a little bigger hero than all the rest. Of course the Bible does offer help with overcoming abuse and in relationships. That help is called the gospel.

No, there is one hero in Scripture. But it’s okay I suppose if we slip up on that at times, because after all, Peter did. At the Transfiguration when Peter saw Jesus with Elijah and Moses, Peter suggested building tents for all three (Luke 9:33). The Father quickly made it clear that Jesus alone was to be revered: “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” (Luke 9:35). Not even Moses or Elijah compare to Jesus.

We remove Jesus from the central place he deserves when we give lip service to his lordship in church services while neglecting his lordship in our neighborhoods. We need a revolution in our understanding of Jesus. He is the One who initiates, sustains, and will consummate all things. He alone sits on the throne.

For Us and Our Neighbors

What does this have to do with reaching our neighbors? When we consistently hear that the gospel and the Bible as a whole have to do with us, we have no motivation to go to our neighbors, let alone the nations.

But the gospel compels us to reach out locally and globally, from our front porch step to the ends of the earth. The gospel stands at the center, not only of our church life, but the entirety of life. This is why Paul places the gospel at the center of discussions on giving (2 Cor 8), fleeing sexual temptation (1 Cor 6., see especially verse 20), in marriage (Eph. 5:25), and as the basis for humility (Phil. 2). In other words, the gospel is for us, for our every sin and every success.

Jesus is the center of history. He is the center of the Bible (Luke 24:44-48). He is to be the center of our lives. We need his gospel as much as anyone else. We should preach the gospel to ourselves daily, reminding ourselves that life is not about us but about Christ, situating our great depravity under his marvelous grace.

We should preach the gospel to ourselves daily, reminding ourselves that life is not about us but about Christ, situating our great depravity under his marvelous grace.

Why should we care about our neighbors and the nations? We were made as worshippers to glorify God. We are also sent as God’s ambassadors to others. Awe of God will lead to witness about God. If the gospel really is good news, then we can’t help but share it. Wonder over at God’s love for us in Christ compels us to love others enough to tell them about our great Savior.

In Your Neighborhood

This is why my family moved into a neighborhood filled with unchurched friends. It’s why you’ve been placed in your neighborhood. Gospel work in our neighborhood has been slow, but we have seen some fruit. Along the way, we’re learning to involve our children in care for our neighbors. We’ve also had the opportunity to take our children all over the world, so they can see the work of the gospel in other places. Although most of us wont have the opportunity to travel the world, we can lead our families in traveling the neighborhood right away! Get out and meet your neighbors. Invite them over for dessert. Make some play dates. Think of ways to serve the neighborhood, and look for opportunities to bring neighbors along towards the wonder of Christ.

The gospel is simply too big, too amazing, too life-changing for us to take it, shut it up in our homes and our church buildings, and live as if we were atheists. The gospel propels us to spread a wonder over God’s grace and glory among neighbors and the nations.

What are you waiting for?

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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 him on Twitter: @AlvinReid.

*Check out Dr. Reid's new book from GCD Books, Gospel Advance: Leading a Movement That Changes the World.

Help Support GCD

Dear Friends, Gospel-Centered Discipleship exists to publish resources that help make, mature, and multiply disciples of Jesus. That is our heart. Our board members and staff pray daily that we will continue to resource the Church to this end.

And we have seen God answer these prayers in tangible ways. Over the past year, we:

• Saw over 250,000 visits to GCDisicpleship.com, a nearly 30% increase from the previous year.
• Increased book sales, with our last two books becoming #1 bestsellers on Amazon.
• Increased our reach, as we donated the rights to two of our books (Raised? and The Unbelievable Gospel) to a larger publisher with greater marketing potential.
• Published our articles into foreign languages, including Spanish and Swedish.
• Distributed 1,000 copies of Make, Mature, Multiply to a church in Houston to help launch their new discipleship initiative.

God has blessed our work this year. We give him all the praise for this fruit.

Free and Reduced Resources

We join with the Apostle Paul in saying, “What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:18). We are working hard to make all of GCD’s resources freely available as often as possible. Our hundreds of articles are, and will continue to be, free. While we charge for books, we price them below market value so that we can get them into as many hands as possible. Serving the Church in this way is our primary goal.

However, providing these resources free or at a reduced cost is not free to us. Like Paul’s ministry (2 Cor. 11:7-8), GCD is a donor-supported ministry. Publishing books, running websites, and creating resources costs us about $15,000 every year.

Partnering with Us

Will you consider financially supporting this work? We need to raise $15,000 over the next three months to keep this work going for another year. All gifts to Gospel-Centered Discipleship are tax-deductible and will be used to create more material that helps make, mature, and multiply disciples of Jesus.

If you’re interested in partnering with us, here are two ways you can give:

• Online: click here to make a donation online. You or your ministry can make a one-time gift of any amount, or a monthly recurring gift.
• Mail: make checks payable to City Life Church c/o GCD, and mail to: P.O. Box 19594 Austin, TX 78760.

Thank you for all that you do to help us serve the church with gospel-centered resources. Through purchasing our books, distributing our resources, and referring us to other friends, you’re helping us fulfill the work God has entrusted to us. Please pray that we will be faithful to steward this calling with excellence.

Yours in Christ,

The Board of Gospel-Centered Discipleship

Brandon Smith Jonathan Dodson Brad Watson Austin Becton

Returning to the Good News

"What you really need is good news," I told him. He didn't understand. We had met time and time again and unbeknownst to him, he was trying to perform his way into the kingdom. "You can't do that," I exhorted, "otherwise you miss the entire point of Jesus and his performance on your behalf!" Whether we acknowledge it or not, we all need good news. Not just good news, but better-than-anything news. News that announces something spectacular—like nothing you could ever imagine or fabricate. And until you recognize this need, you'll be helpless. Like an engine with no gas, your life, without a constant barrage of Jesus-is-King news, will stall.

I often tell my congregation that I have 34 years left in my ministry here, and for those 34 years, you will hear the gospel over and over again, not because you don’t know it in your brain, but because knowing it in your brain isn’t enough. We must know it—I must know it—in our hearts, and in our hands. The gospel isn’t the starting point—it is the point. It’s the point of everything! And until we understand this truth, we will continue to be lured away, enticed by other false gospels that over-promise and under deliver.

Martin Luther is reported to have said that he continues to preach the gospel each and every week because each and every week his people forget it. I’m sure he would include himself in this assertion because let’s face it, we’re all guilty as charged.

Because of this, I came up with five simple reasons as to why we need to hear about Jesus and his glorious gospel each and every day. “Give us Jesus” ought to be the rally cry of the church. Over and over again, our hearts should be yearning to hear the gospel again and again—like my two-year-old daughter begging for a “horsey-ride” on my back, let us go back to the truth that sets us free.

Give us Jesus and his gospel:

1. So Our Affections Are Stirred

Our emotions are impressed with many things. Whether a good movie, television show, football game, or shiny new Apple product, we love an emotionally stirring experience. We thrive on it. But what happens when those emotions become sour? What happens when we just don’t feel like worshiping Jesus and finding joy in him? What do you do when your affections are clouded with bitterness, jealousy, envy, and anger?

Jonathan Edwards is helpful: "Upon the whole, I think it is clearly manifest, that all truly gracious affections arise from special and peculiar influences of the Spirit, working that sensible effect or sensation in the souls of the saints.”^[1] It is the Holy Spirit that drives our affections towards gospel holiness and one of the means by which he does so is through gospel proclamation. We need it. Fighting for joy is absolutely that: a fight; but joy in him is absolutely worth it (Ps. 16:11). Only when old affections have been expunged by greater, far superior affections can we be free from idolatry. Give us Jesus so our affections are stirred!

2. So Our Identities Are Clarified

Whether it is a counseling appointment with a young man trying to understand what he should do with his life, or a newly-engaged couple looking for some premarital help, I am convinced that the root issue with all of our problems is an issue of identity. For example, no matter the marital issue, I can always trace the issue between the husband and wife back to the problem of a husband not being a biblical husband, and a wife not being a biblical wife. Identity matters tremendously.

If you think about it: sin is a loss of identity. When Adam and Eve sinned against God in the garden, they lost their identity as a covenant people with their covenant God. Subsequently, because of their transgression, their lives were marred by sin and ever since then, man, made in God’s image, has simply forgotten who he is in relationship to God. Everyone knows he exists (Rom. 1:20); however, the issue is identity amnesia.

Take the example of the pursuit of holiness. For the Christian, the battle of sanctification is a battle to be who you are. If you’re a redeemed saint, then act like one! Though we don’t have the time to get into this too far, the reality is, the indicatives of the gospel drive the imperatives of holiness. When we give ourselves to sin, we lose our identity—hence the need for the gospel. Again, and again. We need a reminder that we are freely justified in Christ to rest in him. Give us Jesus so our identities are clarified!

3. So Our Idols Are Uprooted

John Calvin once wrote, “The human mind is, so to speak, a perpetual forge of idols.”^[2] Calvin was on to something. Every time we lose sight of the gospel it is because we have taken our eyes away from Jesus and placed them on an idol. Idols can be subversively deceptive, or they can be patently obvious. Either way, this side of glorification will undoubtedly be marked by a constant fight with idols.

One of my favorite quotes on idolatry and the gospel comes from Thomas Chalmers:

“The love of God and the love of the world, are two affections, not merely in a state of rivalship, but in a state of enmity—and that so irreconcilable, that they cannot dwell together in the same bosom. We have already affirmed how impossible it were for the heart, by any innate elasticity of its own, to cast the world away from it, and thus reduce itself to a wilderness. The heart is not so constituted; and the only way to dispossess it of an old affection, is by the expulsive power of a new one.”^[3]

This is brilliant. An idol cannot be uprooted by mere moral effort. It has to be uprooted and replaced by something far superior, namely, the gospel. And what better way to see an idol uprooted, than the goodness of the good news? The intensity of pain we feel when an idol is removed from us is directly proportionate to how far away we walked from belief in the gospel. If sin is trusting, confiding, believing and gaining identity from something other than God, then it follows that we ought to, through repentance and faith, trust, confide, believe and gain our identity in Jesus. Idols are destroyed when good news is heeded. Give us Jesus so our idols are uprooted!

 4. So Our Covenant Is Kept

Whether we know it or not, the New Covenant instituted by our Lord is meant to be kept (it is, after all, a covenant!). Sometimes we do not often talk like this, mostly because in portions of our culture we’ve lost the key concepts behind covenant. Irregardless of unconscious ignorance, it is our duty—indeed it is commanded of us!—to “be holy” (1 Pet. 1:15-16; cf. Lev. 11:44). To be sure, Christ is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). However, we are still called to the covenant obligations of obedience. And because of the indwelling power of God the Holy Spirit, we can follow Jesus in obedience (John 14:21) because the law has been written on our hearts (Jer. 31:33; cf. 2 Cor. 3:6). How this happens is through the work of the Spirit leading us to truth (John 17:17) and glorifying Christ (the power of the gospel in us). You need to hear it, because the Spirit uses it to drive your obedience. Give us Jesus so our covenant is kept!

5. So Our Mission Is Spurred On

So having had our affections stirred, our identities clarified, our idols uprooted, and our covenant in check, what do we do? The answer? Make disciples. This is our mission. The gospel is news, therefore, it should be proclaimed. Boldly, I might add. After all, Jesus has been given all authority—we need not fear! (Matt. 28:18)

If we do not continue to go back to the good news again and again, we will lose sight of our identity, and purpose. The gospel is the engine that drives the mission! Without it, we are lost. Again and again, we need to hear, see, believe, experience afresh, enjoy and understand the good news of Jesus’ work on our behalf: his virgin birth, his perfect life under the Law of God, his perfect fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures (including Israel’s story!), his substitutionary death, his resurrection, his ascension to the throne, and his current mediation—this is our gospel! Let it spur us on to do his work. Give us Jesus so our mission is spurred on.

“I have stored up your word in my heart,” the writer says, “that I might not sin against you” (Ps. 119:11). The issue is not just hearing the gospel, but marinating in it as well. Whether proclaimed from the pulpit or shared over a cup of coffee, the gospel must take center stage, because we do not want to sin against God. When it is stored in our hearts and minds, we get all of the benefits mentioned above. But the ultimate benefit is that we get God. We need the good news because we need God. May all of us be immersed in the gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ!

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Jason M. Garwood (M.Div., Th.D.) serves as Lead Pastor of Colwood Church in Caro, MI. Jason and his wife Mary have three children, Elijah, Avery and Nathan. He blogs at www.jasongarwood.com. Connect with him on Twitter: @jasongarwood.

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^[1] Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008). 267. (Emphasis in the original).

^[2] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2008), 55.

^[3] Thomas Chalmers, The Expulsive Power of a New Affection. (Minneapolis, MN: Curiosmith, 2012), 19.

10 Ways to Kill Community

I don’t mean to be an alarmist, but there are some flinching verses in the New Testament when it comes to the necessity of being in Christian community. Being ‘in Christ,’ being a Christian, means that we are with Christ’s people. A gospel-centered life will always involve the company of the gospel, the redeemed saints of God. A life that is worthy of the gospel will bob in the wake of a gospel community.

“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27).

According to Paul, a life that is in step with the gospel is a life in sync with the Christian community, being gospel-focused together. If we are serious about the gospel, we will be serious about community. There are ten community killers that we must avoid. One from Hebrews 10 and nine more from Colossians 3.

10.  Don’t Meet with Other Christians

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Heb. 10:24–25)

The author of Hebrews couldn’t have been clearer: “Don’t neglect meeting together.” The Christian life is a community life. It’s with the Church. To truly walk with Jesus is to walk with Jesus’s people. Consider the New Testament books. Every New Testament letter, except four (1–2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon), are written to churches. We can’t obey the New Testament, or practically understand its context, without the community. We are to live in community not just for ourselves, but also for one another. To stir up others and have them stir us to love Jesus and spread the fame of his name. Our American default is, “What will I get out of this?” Here’s the answer: What you get is loving and serving others.

Community is so essential; I think eternity depends on it. Hebrews 10:24–25 is one of the classic community passages—and for good reason. But have you notice the eschatological impetus in the text? “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:24–25). There are two important questions two dwell on. Who are the ‘some’? And why talk about the ‘Day’?

Who are the ‘some’? It’s those who have made a habit of not meeting and being with other Christians. Two groups of Christians in the verse: Christians that meet together; Christians that don’t meet together. This is a warning in Hebrews. Eventually, it’s those who have abandoned the Church, distanced themselves from community, and therefore they have abandoned Christ. “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). Unbelievers, goats in sheep’s clothing, eventually stop grazing among the people of God.

Why talk about the ‘Day’? In a stellar passage about encouraging one another, why address the Day of the Lord, judgment, and wrath? The writer of Hebrews also does this earlier in his letter:

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” (Heb. 3:12–14)

He warns about falling away and holding fast till the end—which can be curtailed by the communal command “exhort one another.”

The writer of Hebrews is saying, “Commune together, encourage each other, so you don’t fall away.” What about once saved always saved? Yes, amen. The Spirit seals all of those who are truly in Christ. But the Bible says nothing about, “Once professed always protected.” Profession, in a sense, is proven, revealed in obedience to Christ, the fruit of regeneration, “holding till the end.” We are here to help each other stay the course for that Last Day. Community isn’t just to help you get through the week—it’s to get you through Judgment Day.

9. Lie About Yourself

“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Col. 3:9–10)

Community thrives on honesty, light, and love. Paul urges us not to lie to one another because he knows we will be tempted to hide the truth about how we are doing and what we are doing. But remember, we have a new identity in Christ. We aren’t our sins—we are Christ’s. Once we believe that everyone one of us is in being renewed, and none have “arrived,” the motivation to lie to will fly away.

8. Focus on Differences

“Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” (Col. 3:11)

Community isn’t conformity. Unity isn’t uniformity. We are all very different people. A lot of men in my church are obsessed with killing animals. I love eating animals. I’ve gone hunting with them; it was a lot of getting up early to see a whole lot of nothing. But do differences in hobbies mean we can’t have community together? Do we have anything in common? You better believe we do: Christ. We are all different members of the body of Christ. Some are hands, feet, toes. You think the feet are interested in gloves? Think the hands are into shoes? No! But they know they need each other. Don’t major on the minor differences. Christ is all, not us, at all.

7. Have a Prickly Heart

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” (Col. 3:12)

It’s one thing to show up to someone’s house, and a horrible thing to be a cactus while you are there. Are you compassionate toward others or crusty? Gospel-centered people aren’t allowed to be cranky people. It’s out of step with the gospel of joy. “Jerks for Jesus” shouldn’t be a thing, and sadly, that is how many Christians live. Peer into the gospel, and let it clothe you in the composure of Jesus of Nazareth.

6. Don’t Bear with Others

“Bearing with one another." (Col. 3:13)

Bearing with one another isn’t, “Yes, they are ridiculous. I’ll be the bigger person.” Rather, it sounds like, “I love this person and I want to serve them like Christ has served me. I can do more than put up with them, I’ll endure with them, and carry their burdens with them.” Jesus calls us his friends, he laid his life down for us, he loves us, and now we lay our lives down for each other—because we love each other (John 15:12–13). Selfishness won’t do this.

5. Don’t Forgive

“If one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Col. 3:13)

When we are living in gospel mode, we will be quick to forgive because the bloody cross is always in our sight. Christians aren’t allowed to hold a grudge—that is anti-gospel. Forgive others from that soil outside of Jerusalem, muddled with the blood of Jesus, remembering that God has no grudge with you—therefore, we must forgive.

4. Be Unloving

“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." (Col. 3:14)

The gospel is love in action. “For God so loved, he gave.” Love is more than a sentiment; it’s always a sacrifice. Gospel-laden community will be filled with the brand of love spelled out by Paul: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Cor. 13:4–7).

3. Be Thankless

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” (Col. 3:15)

If you don’t have a disposition of thanks for the body of Christ, indifference isn’t far away. Distance is around the corner. Community isn’t a hamper on your schedule, it’s a helper. Community isn’t the gospel, but it is one of the gospel’s multitudinous and glorious gifts of grace.

2. Don’t Care About the Growth of Others

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Col, 3:16)

Our spiritual growth isn’t just for us, it’s for the community. Community is for the well being of everyone, not just one—not just you. Christian community isn’t just about doing some Bible study; it’s coming together to say, “I want to help you grow. I want to be a part of developing the best you possible. Jesus is calling me to you. And I need you to do that for me, too.”

1. Don’t Let Christ Be Your All

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3:17)

If your life is all about Jesus, you will be about the things that Jesus is about—and Jesus is about his Church. Always and forever. When Jesus is our all, we will want to give our lives for the people that Jesus gave up his life for, his redeemed people. Holding back our lives from people in the church is one of the most anti-Christ things we could do. Rather, in word or deed, couch or coffee, potluck or grill out, prayer list or accountability time, let it all be done in the name of the Lord Jesus.

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J.A. Medders is the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Church in Tomball, TX. He is pursuing his M.Div. at Southern Seminary. He and Natalie have one precious children, Ivy and Oliver. Jeff digs caffeinated drinks, books, and the Triune God. He blogs at www.jamedders.com and tweets from @mrmedders.

Fighting Against Mission Fatigue

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

Causes of Mission Fatigue

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

1. Looking for the Wrong Fruit

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

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

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

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

2. Living with an Urgency of Ego

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

3. Living with an Urgency of Ideal

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

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

4. Agenda-filled Relationships

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

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

5. Lack of Patience

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

6. Bad Math

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

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

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

7. Mission-Centered

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

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

Fighting Fatigue

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

1. Repent

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Live in the Urgency of Spirit

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

3. Seek Rhythms of Rest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• What did we see God doing last year?

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

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

• What are our fears with this next year?

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

The Best Way to Spend Your Life

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

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

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

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

Leading the Misfits and the Moles

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

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

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

The Masses

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

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

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

The Misfits

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

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

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

The Managers

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

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

The Moles

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Apprentices

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

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

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

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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. He is also a MC leader/trainer/coach and executive team member of the GCM Collective. Seth currently lives in Phoenix, AZ with his wife Stacy and their three children: Caleb, Coleman, and Madelynn. He is also the artist and co-author of the wildly popular (and free!) eBook, Be The Church: Discipleship & Mission Made Simple. Twitter: @sdmcbee.

Getting in the Right Circles

Chances are, you sat around with a circle of friends yesterday evening watching (or not watching) the Super Bowl. Yeah, the first half was brutal. A first-play safety, two interceptions, the scoreless Broncos, and a couple of awful double commercials (Ford, a-hem). Some of the better commercials were gripping stories, like the Maserati commercial, which opens with gigantic crashing wave, followed by a terrifying twister, and then an ominous shadow eclipsing the grandeur of a rock-hard mountain face, all narrated in nubile innocence, hauntingly announcing “our lumbering giants.” The advertisement is so epic that the moment the car is revealed you feel used, manipulated, flat-out marketed. The story pulls at our fears, stirs our emotions, and even pricks hope for rescue from our giants, only to be offered the salvation of machinery. Many of us have rejected such silly notions, that human ingenuity and leaps in technology can bring about a societal utopia. Truth be told, we’d rather listen to the stories of our friends. At least their stories are true, even if they are mundane. Real community is built on real stories, not pipedream commercials or the failing hope of modernism. Or is it?

Circle of Friends

Today, what’s often passed off as community is nothing more than a circle of friends. A circle of friends is an insular, self-affirming circle of homogeneity where everyone’s alike. We share similar styles, food preferences, and values. We laugh at the same jokes, discuss the same movies, visit the same haunts. All of this is fairly innocent, but also indicting.

Media critic and documentarian Adam Curtis has suggested that since the explosion of information and celebrity culture, we now determine reality based on our own experiences with our circle of friends. Sure, we don’t fall for Maserati ads, but we do fall for our friends. These circles of friends become closed off to other perspectives and see the world through their own cult of connectivity. Today, our peers possess more authority than government, history, reason, or God.

Today, our peers possess more authority than government, history, reason, or God.

For example, what we do on the weekends is often the result of friendship influences, not deep values. Our views on sexuality, politics, and even theology are sometimes shaped more by our circle than by a transcendent authority. If you’re Christian, you may consume immoral media or refuse to sacrifice your time and money for others because, well, your circle of Christian friends has settled for this. Comfort is the norm.

Is our morality, our commitment, our service, our very identity shaped more by our circle of friends than by the kingdom of Christ? We say we follow Jesus, but often hide behind our friends. It’s hard to break free from the circle of friends. There’s a lot of social pressure. And if we don’t have a bigger story to shape our lives, a more universal narrative to reorder our world, then why not go with the ones we trust and admire? Why not fall in line with their mediocre spirituality, their comfortable ethic, and their tolerant morality? So we dig in locally, disbelieving universal stories, and create our own narrow-minded versions of reality. We base our discipleship on our friends' discipleship, our holiness on others’ holiness, our missional boldness on others’ boldness. The circle of friends isn’t as innocent as it seems.

Encircling Jesus

Jesus, on the other hand, doesn’t create a circle of friends; he creates a kingdom community. His disciples are from all kinds of vocations—fishing, accounting, and so on. They come from different places, and have different accents, but the one thing that holds them together is Jesus and his gospel message. He doesn't merely attract a community; he creates a new family. He calls his disciples out of their families and into a new family: “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:33-35). Jesus creates a new family that conforms to his will, not a circle ensnared in the will and whim of friends.

A circle forms around Jesus, not around one another. Jesus forms not a circle of friends, but a circle of family, who together follow his lead. We must pause to reflect—do we bear the family resemblance? Where are we ensnared? Will we let go and follow Jesus?

When the disciples followed Jesus, they began to take on his characteristics. In the gospel of Luke, they follow his pattern of ministry: 1) Proclaim the kingdom message 2) Perform a healing 3) Perform an exorcism. First, the twelve disciples (Luke 9), and then the seventy (Luke 10). We need to exorcise our cultural demons and receive the healing power of the gospel. Paul repeatedly calls for conformity to Christ, while admonishing us to put off worldly conformity (Rom 12:1-3).

Come After Me

What compelled the early disciples to leave their families and follow Jesus? It is rather odd, radical, that they left everything behind to follow him. What was Jesus’s hook? “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men” (1:17). The translation of “follow” is unfortunate. Jesus doesn’t say, “Follow me”; instead, he says, “Come after me.” There’s another Greek word for follow, which appears in Mark 8:34, where Jesus says: “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me” (8:34). But the word translated “follow” in 1:17 actually means “after, back, or behind.” You see, Jesus isn’t saying follow me; he’s saying, “Get behind me,” “Come after me.”

Jesus isn’t saying follow me; he’s saying, “Get behind me,” “Come after me.”

What’s the difference? When we think of following someone, it puts the emphasis on us. We click the button to follow someone on Twitter. We make the effort to follow an athlete’s career. If you follow a band, you’ll spend effort and money reading their interviews, watching videos, going to shows, and buying their merchandise. We follow. But Jesus says come after ME. Where does he put the emphasis? Not on our following but on his leading. Jesus says come after me, get behind me; I’ll pioneer, go ahead, make a way. Don't start by following Jesus, but by coming after him.

So you see, we need more than a new community, and even more than a new family; we need a new person to come after. We need to follow in the wake of someone who is great enough to chart the course for true humanity, while also able to leave behind waves of grace for our every failure. Instead of leaping out in front of Jesus in our own strength, or encircling our friends in weakness, we need to come after Jesus.

When we encircle Christ, and allow his gospel story to re-narrate our lives, we gain the hope of true purpose and transformation. When we return authority to Jesus, and retrieve it from our circle of friends, we will find flourishing and faith, change and peace, grace and godliness. His death-resurrection narrative delivers on its epic waves to defeat the lumbering giants of sin and even death. Jesus rises from the dead to create a new, countercultural community that bears a family resemblance.

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*I am indebted to Mark Sayers for drawing my attention to the work of Adam Curtis.

** View the Maserati commercial.

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Jonathan K. Dodson (M.Div, Th.M) is happy husband to Robie, and proud father to Owen, Ellie, and Rosamund. He is also the lead pastor of City Life Church and author of Gospel-Centered Discipleship & Raised? Finding Jesus by Doubting the Resurrection. He enjoys listening to M. Ward, watching sci-fi, and following Jesus. He blogs at jonathandodson.org.

When People Can't Listen

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

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

Why Won't They Listen?

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

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

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

Exodus 6:9 tells us a different story:

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

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

The Seed of Pastoral Frustration

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

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

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

Leading Sheep That Won't Listen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Broken in Spirit

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

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

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

The Prideful Pursuit of Humility

These days, I have a constant, repetitive prayer to God. One that asks for God to remove my pride and my self-doubt. It’s a prayer for humility, something I feel more in need of now than ever before. Pride and self-doubt are really two sides of the same coin. One believes that we know better than God does, the other believes that he isn’t good or powerful enough to change us. Neither makes much of God, effectively bringing him down below us. The prideful and the self-doubters both believe they’re better than God, they just show it in different ways.

Pride and Self-Doubt

Pride is more of an obvious manifestation of a lack of humility. It’s easy to spot most of the time. Some of those who struggle with pride link their own lives to their success. And when they don’t succeed, it probably wasn’t their fault. When things go well, pride points the finger inward; when they don’t go well, the finger points outward. Their eyes are horizontal, not vertical.

Self-doubt is a cloaked version of humility’s lack. It’s not so easy to identify, as cynicism can sometimes be seen as merely a need for gentle encouragement. We shouldn’t forego being gentle, but a rebuke is also needed for self-doubters. We self-doubters understand well our failures but struggle to see God as more gracious, loving, and forgiving. Essentially, God isn’t enough to change us. He doesn’t have enough power or goodness. Unlike the prideful, a self-doubter struggles to accept any form of praise. When things go well, their finger points outward, when they don’t, the finger points inward. Again, like the prideful, their eyes are locked horizontally.

Sometimes the prideful are looked up to because of their confidence, albeit broken. Sometimes the self-doubter is looked up to because of their humility, albeit broken. But both really are living lives out of themselves. Neither has “considered the lilies of the field” and looked up to God as provider. One thinks man primarily provides, one denies provision altogether. None asks with the author of Psalm 26, “Test me, O Lord, and try me; examine my heart and mind.” One doesn’t examine enough; one examines, but without God.

True humility asks the God of the universe to gaze into ourselves with his unflinching eye, that he might examine us and illuminate our shortcomings. Of course he can do this (and does) on his own without our requests, but there’s something important about that desire coming from us. In our request for God to examine us, there is an implicit acceptance of our faults, the drive to not stay the same, and the belief that God in his goodness can do something about it.

When confronted with the desire for real humility, we tend to fall into two categories: the anxious and the accepted. The stem of anxiety comes from knowing we’re not where we should be, but thinking we can get there on our own. It’s a prideful chase of humility. Our eyes are locked towards others or ourselves, never looking up to where our hope comes from.

The stem of acceptance comes from knowing that we are God’s beloved children. In Matthew 3:17, Christ is baptized and God declares, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” This same declaration is now directed to those who have faith in Jesus. How can this be? Having faith in Christ means our lives are woven into his. his life becomes our life. his goodness becomes our goodness. Romans 6:4 tells us that Christ’s death and his new life become our own. This means it is only by the power of Christ that we can participate in anything like humility. The gospel puts that which is wrong in us to death and brings that which is good to life.

Doing and Being

Our doing comes from our being; what we do arises from who we are. And if you are a disciple of Christ, you are, first and foremost, the radically accepted son or daughter of the King. You have flaws and shortcomings, baggage and sins. He has welcome arms. You have brokenness, hurt, pain and unfulfilled desires. He has a loving embrace.

It is only because of our acceptance with our Father that we can be obedient. Our obedience is our acceptance lived out. And one of the bi-products of this kind of life is humility. It’s tricky: searching for humility first attracts pride. But searching after God himself will attract humility. Christ himself embodied this example. Paul teaches us about the Incarnation in Philippians 2:8 and says he “humbled himself.” How did Christ do this? By “becoming obedient.” Christ, knowing his acceptance in the Trinity, knowing the Father’s love towards him, submitted his own body in obedience, in turn bringing about humility. If there was anyone on this earth who could have looked within and mustered their own humility outside of the Father, it would have been Christ. But he was obedient to the Father and that’s where Christ’s humility shines.

More than merely our example, Christ himself is our means for humility. The Philippians 2:8 passage says that Christ’s obedience led to his death, “even death on a cross.” Christ’s death on the cross was an act for us. Because Christ died, our pride can die. Not because we’re good enough, but because Christ has put an end to it. Because Christ died, our self-doubt can die. Not because we’re self-effacing, but because Christ looked our sins in the face and took them on, putting them to death. And now, being accepted by our Creator, we can live the new life that Christ rose again for. He walks in resurrection life so that we can. We don’t have to be primarily prideful or self-doubting (though we’re not perfect… yet), but we can live in the freedom of being an accepted son or daughter of our loving Father.

The Courageous Servant

Our new freedom takes on the character of a courageous servant. Psalm 116:16 says, “O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds.” We are not kings, we are servants, not slavishly serving ourselves, but freed to serve the King. Our identity as such does not afford pride. But we servants aren’t weak, either. Psalm 31:24 exhorts us to “be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!” We are servants and we are rooted in a strength outside ourselves. This is a vertical orientation.

Both the prideful and the self-doubter need to take courage by waiting on the Lord. If you are tempted to overshadow your inadequacies with pride, take courage. The life you now live is marked by our acceptance by the Father. Run to him, confess, and ask him to change you. If you are tempted to believe that God isn’t good enough to change you, run to him, confess, and ask him to change you. This is what waiting on the Lord looks like. This is the obedient life and true humility. We are saved from pointing the finger inward, saved from pointing the finger outward, freed to live with our hands outstretched heavenward, to our loving Father.

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Greg Willson is the Church Planting Resident at Riverside Community Church. He likes creating music, and writes about art and the church at gregwillson.com. Follow him on Twitter: @gregoriousdubs.

6 Tips for Shepherding Your Small Group

Growing up in church, I have been in my fair share of small groups. Some good, some not so good. I’ve been in youth groups, college groups, groups that have met at homes, groups that have met informally, and groups in which I was the youngest by several decades. However, with all that time spent in small groups, I had spent very little time leading one. Last year, I became a small group leader at my local church, shepherding middle school guys on a weekly basis. While I wasn’t totally foreign to teaching middle school guys in a church setting, I certainly wasn’t a veteran either. Almost immediately, I had these great ideas about what my small group would look like and how great it would be. Needless to say, when my romanticized vision of small groups met with reality, it looked much different than I anticipated. In the process of trying to re-create a more realistic picture of small groups, Jesus taught me (and keeps reminding me of) several key lessons that I as a leader needed to hear.

1. Be Patient

I have lost track of how many times I wish the kids I taught would grow in grace and understanding faster or, for some of my kids, I wish they would trust in Jesus sooner rather than later. As small group leaders, we can subtly develop a Messiah complex of sorts. “If I just use this curriculum. If I just do things this way. If we just read this book or if I can be this sort of leader, then the group will change."

Whatever challenges you face, never stop reminding yourself, as Zac Eswine confesses in Sensing Jesus, “I am not the Christ.”[1] We were never intended to “be Jesus” to anyone, including our small group. You can’t carry that weight. You weren’t meant to. As much as we pour into our groups, as many seeds that get planted, we can never lose sight that God gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:6-7). We should testify to the good news of the gospel and trust God that it will produce fruit in its ordained time. When Paul writes that God, “who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6), do you trust that it applies to your small group?

2. Don’t Be Afraid of Big Words

One of the qualms that I have with American Christianity, particularly in student ministry, is that we are afraid our people can’t handle big, theological words or concepts. They have minds as well as hearts, so engage both. When we don’t, not only is this insulting, it also (in the long run) is unhelpful. It shapes disciples who are a foot wide, but an inch deep, so to speak. Shallow teaching leads to shallow theology which leads to shallow worship. Our people need more than that. They need a deep gospel because in life they will face deep and complex problems, namely, the curse of sin that affects everything.

In Romans 1:16, Paul writes that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” In the gospel, the power of God works mightily, not just in saving, but in sustaining and maturing. Salvation isn’t just concerned with our justification, but also our sanctification and glorification. If we define salvation this way (which I think is the way the Bible would define it), and the gospel is the power of God for salvation, then we can be confident that as we lead our small groups and teach them biblical truth, that the Holy Spirit, in his wisdom, will bring change in our people’s hearts, not us. We are free to challenge those we lead with words they may not know and teach them what they do mean, knowing that the Holy Spirit will do his work.

Trevin Wax, in his excellent little book Gospel-Centered Teaching makes a helpful point in this regard:

“As a group leader, you want to provide a feast and let people draw the sustenance they need. But we may have to ‘cut up the meat’ for new believers and make sure that the truth is accessible. They key is to put the biblical ingredients together and provide the meal. Fill up the plate! Don’t be afraid to challenge people, just make sure you are continually thinking of ways to drive the point home.”[2]

Later, Wax further elaborates on this point, especially as it relates to children:

“Small kids need big words. Not because they understand everything all at once but because, over time, God uses the inspired words of His Book to convict kids of sin and convince them to repent and believe in Christ.”[3]

Regardless of the ages of people in your small group, give them meat and trust God to sharpen their teeth as they digest its riches.

3. Be Consistent and Committed

In their book Lead Small, Reggie Joiner and Tom Shefchunas discuss the importance of being a consistent small group leader “Show up consistently…You cannot lead a small group without trust. You cannot build a community without trust. And the first step to gaining the trust of your [group] is making sure they know you will show up.”[4] We need to fight against the human tendency, especially in Western contexts, to be autonomous. It can be suffocating, spiritually and emotionally, to have members be nothing more than one person in a sea of faces. “Everybody needs someone who knows their name, and what’s happening in their lives.”[5] This goes for the small group leader as well. When you are consistent and committed to leading a small group, not only does that give you an opportunity to really know your people, it also gives them an opportunity to know you.

4. Show Them Jesus

The greatest need your small group has is to have you point them to Jesus. More specifically, they need you to point them to Christ’s finished work on the cross as a substitute for sinners. They need a big view of Jesus. All the programs and events we can schedule as small group leaders won’t provide what they need that Christ alone has made provision for. They need to believe in Jesus as their Prophet, Priest, and King. Your people need to know the difference between “do this and live” and “it is finished.” In the midst of a law-driven church culture and a society that says your identity is wrapped up in your behavior, they need to hear the hope of the cross and resurrection, that “those whom [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Rom. 8:29-30).

Unfortunately, many of your small group members, specifically those who have already been born again, may live with a low-level guilt because they think somehow they haven’t done enough for God to be pleased with and they are scared he hates them. Give them some hope, some grace. Point them to the Living Word seen in the written Word. Show them all the promises that are already theirs in Christ. A small group who delights in Christ’s finished work for his people and is addicted to grace will be transformative and a place where people connect in genuine, honest community.

5. Help Them Love the Church

As of late, it has been “trendy” to hate on the Church. With the influence of postmodernism and various elements of the “emerging church” conversation still lingering about, we need to lead our people in seeing with new eyes the centrality of the local church in the life of a Christian. With all the problems in the Church (and yes, there are many), the Bride of Christ is Jesus’ chosen means by which he carries out his mission. In a Twitter post on December 30, Juan Sanchez, preaching pastor of High Pointe Austin, quotes D.A. Carson on the Church, saying, “It was inconceivable in the New Testament for someone to say I'm a Christian, but I'm not part of a church.”[6]

Jesus is gathering for himself a ransomed people, not just a bunch of isolated individuals. Your small group needs to see community in the local church as a place where Jesus is made much of, sin is fought against and joy is fought for, and people come from various backgrounds and seasons of life to do life as one family. They need the Church more than they know. Help them see that for themselves.

6. Don’t Be Discouraged

After reading all this, you might be thinking to yourself, “Chris, I can’t do this. If this is what it takes to be a small group leader, I won’t make the cut.” Let me provide a word of encouragement. First off, I by no means what to say, “This is the standard of being a small group leader.” Some of you reading this may have been small groups leaders longer than I have been alive, so I by no means what to suggest that I have formulated the perfect model for small group leadership. To be honest, I don’t think there is one. There are too many variables to consider to try and formulate a one-size fits all model for effective small groups.

Secondly, more than effective models, your people need a Substitute and they have one in Christ. And so do you. The gospel promises you that because Christ was strong for you, you can be weak.[7] You don’t have to have all the answers and can point to Christ, who is their Wisdom (1 Cor. 2). Jesus desires that you use your gifts and passions of leading and teaching people as a human being, not as the Messiah. The gospel announces that all the you need is yours in Christ. There is one thing you need to be an effective small group leader: a heart that has been awakened by the glorious gospel of grace. All the things you need to be equipped in this task, Christ will provide. In your weakness, Christ has not left you. As a small group leader and as a child of God, your identity is not wrapped up in your inadequacies and failures. Your identity is wrapped up in the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, which causes your Heavenly Father to look upon you and say, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.”

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Chris Crane serves as Middle School Small Group Leader at Lake Highlands Baptist Church in Dallas, TX. He holds a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Dallas Baptist University and is currently pursuing a Th.M. at Dallas Seminary. He writes at chriscrane.net. You can follow him on Twitter: @cmcrane87.

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[1] Zach Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2013), 20

[2] Trevin Wax, Gospel-Centered Teaching (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2013), 69

[3] Ibid., 73

[4] Reggie Joiner and Tom Shefchunas, Lead Small (Cumming, GA: Orange, 2012), 29

[5] Ibid., 29

[6] Juan Sanchez, Twitter post, December 30, 2013, 8:46 a.m., http://www.twitter.com/manorjuan

[7] I first heard this expression from Tullian Tchividjian’s very helpful book Jesus + Nothing = Everything (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2011).

Why Patience Is Vital

We all know how disappointing life can be. Maybe you never thought you’d still be single at age 35, or still stuck in an entry-level position, or still battling depression. Or maybe you never thought…fill in the blank. All of us have something that goes in that blank. We all know what it’s like to feel that things haven’t worked out quite the way we expected. What do you do about it? The Christian answer involves being dissatisfied with it. Paul tells us to “wait eagerly” and “strain towards” what is ahead of us (Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:13): the perfect New Creation, where there are no disappointments. We’re not to act like this is all there is; that way lies despair.

But it’s dangerous to tell ourselves (and call each other) to be more restless. Why? Because the wrong kind of restlessness tells us that to be content in the present, we must be content with the present. If we’re not content in the present, we need to change our present.

This kind of restlessness doesn’t trust God’s timing. It wants heaven now. But those who seek heaven on earth make it hell for everyone else. Parents who demand perfection crush their children. Employees who trample on anything and anyone to reach the top create toxic workplaces. Worse, when we’re content with nothing less than heaven now, we’re bound to disobey God in order to grab it. Attempting to walk into happiness, we stay far from God, or walk away from God. And that’s (eternal) disaster.

We need to combine our restlessness with patience. Restlessness with patience is Christian maturity. Restlessness without patience is disaster.

Our Patience Problem

We live in an age that lacks patience! We’re bombarded with the message that we can, should, must have everything now. So we hate to wait. After all, if this life is all there is, there’s not much time to get everything done, to experience all we want to.

And the problem is that while we want fast, God likes slow. He really likes slow; and he often makes his people wait. God promised Abraham a son twenty-five years before Isaac was born. The nation of Israel waited hundreds of years in Egypt before being delivered, and thousands of years before receiving the promised Messiah-King. So we need to get used to waiting. We get help in the book of James:

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. (James 5: 7-8)

Have It All, and Have It Now?

James’ call to be patient for Jesus’ return is a big challenge for most of us. Our general impatience in life often translates into an unhealthy impatience for the new creation—unhealthy, because it’s shot through with lack of trust in God’s timing.

There’s a supposedly Christian movement that promises health and wealth in this life to followers of Jesus. If you have enough faith, God will give you houses, money, and cars. Here’s an example of the message, quoted in December 2009’s issue of the Atlantic: “We declare financial blessings! Financial miracles this week, NOW NOW NOW! … More work! Better work! The best finances!”

Who wouldn’t love this prosperity gospel? It shouts: Don’t wait for the new creation. Seize it all now.

And I have to confess that I fall for it. I have opposed this gospel and sought to persuade others of its dangers; and yet I often construct my own mini-versions of it. My mini-prosperity gospels arise when I cultivate false expectations of what this present world can and should offer. When I begin a new day, my usual assumption is that things will go well for me. There will be ample food for breakfast, and enough hot water for my shower. My car will start. The people I meet during the day will understand and appreciate me. My neighbors will be friendly and will lend me their tools. My children will be well-behaved in the evening, be in bed on time, and will sleep well. When I’m on vacation, my expectations are ratcheted up even higher— I’ve waited and worked for this little slice of heaven on earth, and no one had better take it from me.

I can tell when my expectations are too high—when I’m trying to seize it all now—by noticing my reaction when something deviates from the plan. Am I annoyed at car trouble? Impatient with inefficiency? Grumpy when hungry? If something goes wrong, do I feel cheated? Am I angry with God, as though he hasn’t delivered what he promised?

If the answer to these questions is “Yes,” then I’m not being patient enough. I’m not trusting God’s timing. I’m trying to enjoy all his promised future in the present. I’m expecting perfection from an imperfect world. So I need to hear James’ call for patience. If James were a prosperity preacher, he would say to his economically deprived readers: Believe and you will receive! Have it now! But he doesn’t say that. Instead, he twice urges patience for the return of Jesus. Full deliverance and blessing will come—in the future. We wait patiently until then.

Being Patient

What does this mean in practice? Well, picture the man who always wished he could go to university. Two years ago, he was offered a scholarship, but he’s married with four kids now, and he knew pursuing a degree would require neglecting his family and mean he was never in church. He said no to the scholarship. That hurt, but he’s okay with it. He knows he’ll have forever to study God’s words and works in the new creation, and he doesn’t need to seize it all now.

Or imagine the woman who longed to be married, but somehow it never happened. There was a time in her late 30s when she hit it off with a guy she met at the gym. Everything went well for the first couple months, and then one night he pushed to have sex. When she said she wouldn’t do that, he distanced himself, taking her dreams of marriage with him. That hurt, and still does, but she’s okay with it. She knows she’ll have forever to enjoy an intimate relationship with God and his people, and she doesn’t need to seize it all now.

Patient trust in God and his timing makes us resilient and hopeful when life is hard. It’s essential to avoiding disaster. It prevents us walking away from Christ; it means we won’t try to seize it all now, and lose it all in the future. How can we be patient? By remembering the true gospel, which tells us that our future is glorious, and certain, and whispers: Wait for the new creation patiently. You’ll have it all then.

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Stephen Witmer (PhD, University of Cambridge) is Pastor of Pepperell Christian Fellowship in Massachusetts, and teaches at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. This blog is an excerpt from his new book, Eternity Changes Everything: How to live now in the light of your future (The Good Book Company, 2014), which will launch at the Bethlehem Conference for Pastors in early February and is available for pre-order now. Follow him on Twitter: @stephenwitmer1.

Joining Jesus in Restoring Culture

What do we mean when we talk about “culture”? In Culture Making, Andy Crouch defines culture this way: “Culture is what we make of the world. Culture is, first of all, the name for our relentless, restless human effort to take the world as it is given to us and make something else.” All of us make something of the world. And our contributions actually communicate quite a bit about what’s important to us. What we make of the world either gives people a surprising vision of the Kingdom of God or reinforces their spiritual numbness as citizens of the dominion of darkness. This is the essence of Jesus's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.

Now that we are citizens of a better Kingdom that is breaking into the world, Jesus invites us to participate with him in what he is “making of the world” via the Kingdom of God.

During a flight to Denver, a man named Ben and I talked for a couple of hours. He shared how he used to be a Christian but now isn’t sure how to categorize his spirituality. As the conversation continued, we began to speak about the role of the Christian church in the world today.

“I think Christianity is primarily characterized by fear. Churches are shrinking away from culture out of fear.” Ben stated.

I replied, “That’s a fair assessment. That’s certainly not how it should be.”

Then I began to share good news about Jesus with him. What followed was one of the most mutually encouraging Jesus-driven conversations I’ve ever experienced. I introduced Jesus as the restorer of culture.

A Robust Redemption

Jesus is our atonement. Jesus is our substitute, our propitiatory sacrifice, and our expiation. Jesus is our example. Jesus is our ransom. Jesus is our reconciliation. Jesus is our redemption. Jesus is our triumph and victor. Yes, he is all these things. But Jesus is also the restorer of culture.

What makes the atonement so beautiful is that, like a well-cut diamond, there are so many angles from which we can view its brilliance. But without that last facet, virtually all of our understanding of the atonement can become  individualized. Jesus is not merely redeeming us; he is redeeming all things.

As Mouw points out in When the Kings Come Marching In, there is more to the atonement. The redemptive ministry of Jesus is bigger and extends into culture.

I believe Jesus is good news for children who are victims of violence. Jesus speaks a word to citizens who live under murderous, corrupt governments. Jesus offers hope to those in sexual slavery. And his message is more than just, “Repent. Believe. Be baptized.” Jesus also says to them, “I am your restorer. This is not the way things are supposed to be, but my Kingdom is here and my Kingdom is coming.”

Ultimately, we will proclaim an atonement that covers our perception of the scope of sin. So if we believe that sin is only individual, we will preach redemption that covers only the individual. However, as we begin to see that sin also reaches into every area of creation, we uncover the need for an atonement that is larger in scope. And thankfully the atonement is big enough to cover both individual and systemic sin.

 What Ought to Be

Genesis 1:28 gives a command that scholars have dubbed “The Creational Mandate” or “The Cultural Mandate.” God says, “Adam and Eve, check out the good creation I’ve made! Now go cultivate, subdue, tame, innovate, and make.” To play off Crouch’s understanding, God is saying, “Go make something of the world that reflects my sovereign rule over it.” When sin soiled the good that God made (Gen. 3), things were fractured. Perfect culture became distorted culture.

But God is the ultimate creative maker. He has made us in his image so that we also would also creatively “make” in such a way that points people to his invisible rule. He has redeemed the fallen world in order to help us flourish once again. What we make of the world should inevitably point to a picture of this human flourishing.

We believe that Jesus will return again to set up his Kingdom here on earth (Rev. 11:15). At that point God will abolish sin, injustice, pain, oppression, and disease. As citizens of God’s Kingdom, we are to use our talents, skills, and passions to give people a glimpse of what the Kingdom of God is like. We live now in the reality of what will be. That means we have the joyful opportunity to join God in the renewal of all things. Each one of us has an opportunity to help the world taste the Kingdom by being a “restorer” and introducing people to Jesus and his ways.

If this seems strange or foreign to you, here’s the essential building block for this conversation: God’s Kingdom is what ought to be. The brokenness of our world is what ought not to be. Jesus’s ministry as prophet, priest, and king is about nothing less than initiating – and eventually consummating – what ought to be.

Participating in Restoring Culture

The world is messy. There is division, destruction, hatred, greed, slander, debauchery, and plenty of other types brokenness. It is all around us. How does understanding God's desire for culture translate practically? Here are a few points for consideration and action.

1. What is? Like a fish in water, it can be difficult to consciously observe the water we swim in. Yet Jesus and his disciples seemed to be good at observing people, places, and patterns that everyone else was gazing right past. In the community you inhabit, what are the norms of life? What’s good and enjoyable? What’s broken or perverted?

2. What ought to be? Disciples of Jesus are driven by a vision of a different kingdom. We know how God created things to be, how they were before the first sin. So ask the Spirit for some creative imagination and ponder: “What would this community look like if the Kingdom of God broke in? If Jesus was ruling here, what would be different?”

3. How can I participate? What do you sense the Spirit asking you (and/or your church community) to create? Who or what is he asking you to confront? What specific actions and strategies will you enact to see the Kingdom of God break in?

Wherever you happen to find yourself right now, the surrounding culture is a landscape ravaged and twisted by sin, yet still bearing glimmers of Eden. And God is inviting you to participate with him in the renewal and restoration of all things. Under the leadership of Jesus, he invites you to make his invisible Kingdom visible. By the power of the Spirit, he invites you to abandon fear and imagine what ought to be and then pray, innovate, confront, create, redeem, and restore.

–

Sean Post resides with His wife and son in Maple Valley, WA. He serves as Academic Dean for Adelphia Bible School  - a one-year Bible and mission immersion experience for young adults. Sean is also a leadership coach, doctoral student, book-lover, and a has-been basketballer. Twitter: @Sean_Post

Psalm 139 and Infinite Intimacy

We often find in ourselves a host of desires. Whether it is acceptance, relationship, popularity, or success, we cannot deny that there are innate longings within us compelling our thoughts and actions. We find ourselves subject to emotional despair or satisfaction depending upon whether or not these desires are met. One of these desires (that God has inherently blessed us with) is for intimacy, to experience closeness and to be known. Typically, we think of intimacy in regards to romantic relationships, however, when reading through Psalm 139, it reveals that God is quite intimate with his creation. He is very near and close to us and possesses a vastly intimate knowledge of us. He knows us beyond measure and in ways that we cannot even begin to fathom. Psalm 139 shows us four beautiful aspects of God’s intimacy with us.

1. Indescribable Intimacy (vv. 1-6)

The first stanza of Psalm 139 defines how vast God’s knowledge of us truly is. We find that there is nothing we can do that would come as a surprise to him. When I was a kid, I remember trying to do something so unprecedented and absurd that even God would be taken by surprise. I would sit in my room, knowing that the God who presides over the entire universe was watching me, and then, I would try to fake him out with some ridiculous action. Of course, I looked quite foolish doing this as is easy enough to imagine, but then, the thought would come to my mind that God even knew I was going to do whatever eccentric act I could come up with before I even did it. In trying to fool God, I only found myself looking foolish.

“Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.” (Ps. 139:4)

Looking at this passage, I still have to ask myself today, “Am I trying to fake God out?” I no longer pull the ridiculous stunts of my youth, but do I still try to do things without God finding out about them? Do any of us do this? Psalm 139 tells us that before God, we are laid open like a book for him to read. Beyond that, God is the author of that book (Ps. 139:2-3). He is the ultimate expert on the subject of you, and he comprehends our deepest thoughts, emotions, and motives. Furthermore, we cannot even begin to know how much God truly knows us, it is beyond our understanding. His knowledge of us is so pervasive and infinite that it invades our very existence and penetrates through us on an emotional, physical, biological, and atomic level. His knowledge of us is infinitely superior to our own understanding of ourselves. The only response is to stand in awe and wonder and like David, humbly admit that “such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it” (Ps. 139:6).

2. Inescapable Intimacy (vv. 7-12)

“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (Ps. 139:7)

Here, David is not looking for a place to escape from God. His questions are hypothetical and allude to the fact that we cannot hide from God’s presence. To do so is to act in utter futility. The overwhelming vastness of his nature extends beyond the farthest reaches of the cosmos and covers the depth and vastness of the ocean (Ps. 139:8-9). As Alpha and Omega, God’s presence exists beyond time and space; it extends to eternity past as well as eternity future. For believers in Christ, it is beyond absurd to ever think we can escape from the presence of God; his Holy Spirit dwells within us. His intimate nature with us is invasive, permeating our very spirit and soul, and transforming us from the inside out in order that we may be conformed to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29).

The truth of the matter is that there is no place (past, present, or future) within the entire universe we could find ourselves where God’s presence could not be. If such a place were to exist, why would we even want to go there? God’s presence expunges the darkness of this world to shed a light that cannot be extinguished. (Ps. 139:11-12) A light that guides us, exuding from a perfect and Holy Father who contemplates our thoughts and desires. Within the infiniteness of his knowledge of us, we should find ourselves completely driven to dwell within this presence, as it is in this intimate presence that we are understood perfectly and completely.

3. Inward Intimacy (vv. 13-16)

God’s intimate knowledge of us extends and manifests itself even to our own physical creation. This stanza reveals God’s activity in creating us as we are. “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (Ps. 139:13). This verse shows that God’s process is hands on, and not a distant or arbitrary process. As a child grows and bones form, tissue develops, tendons attach to bone, and the synapses of the brain form, God is present and active in every aspect of the physical creation of a human being, or any other creation for that matter. God has created us in an intimate manner revealing his care and concern for the things he creates. This intimacy, care, and concern even existed long before our physical creation:

“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” (Ps. 139:16)

Before anyone’s physical creation, God in his sovereignty knew not only the process of our creation, but also every day that would follow. From the time of eternity past, and exceeding eternally into the future, God has known every subtle intricacy of you and your entire existence. Every cell of your being he knew of forever ago, and he brought them all together and fashioned them to intimately form who you are. He knew every nanosecond of your life before you ever took a breath. He also knew every personality trait you would have as well. Your quirks, mannerisms, and idiosyncrasies; he knew of them all and how they would affect who you are as a person. The things that make you sad or happy, he knows. Whatever stresses you out, your pet peeves, and your greatest delights, he is perfectly aware of them all. He has unequivocally known us beyond measure and it is a demonstration of his infinite love for us.

4. Joyful Intimacy (vv. 17-24)

 David’s closing words of the Psalm result in praise, a call for justice, an alignment of thought with God, and a prayer for God to continue searching him for any wrong that may be in his heart. Seeing how intimately God knows us should compel us to burst out with rejoicing for who he is. Instead, we often feel inadequate about ourselves and question some of God’s decisions. The Psalm also teaches us that we are not illegitimate children in God’s eyes, but that we all possess value as works of a magnificent Creator. When we see the Creator’s creation being wasted away or destroyed, we should cry out to God who is capable, and will one day, restore all things.

Being made in the image of God and bearing his intimate fingerprints amidst every aspect of ourselves, we should seek to align our heart’s concerns and desires in accordance with his. Finally, we should realize that we are not yet a finished product. Though made in God’s image and by his hands, we still are marred by the affects of sin and should cry out to God to search us and convict us in the areas of our lives where we fall short. His conviction leads to repentance and thus, leads to our joy.

With Confidence

God’s intimate nature with us should lead us to humility, patience, and trust. If God has created us as the Psalmist proclaims, then we are created by a God of understanding who is intimately aware and concerned of all our desires. He is not ignorant of any part of our lives; he is in the details, presiding over us and watching over us. Like David we pray, “Lead me in the way everlasting” with great trust (Ps. 139:24). God has gone through immeasurable lengths to know us, even to the extent of becoming like us as man in person of Jesus, and that should fill us with an immense hope. We can take the words of Christ, “Do not be anxious about tomorrow” (Matt. 6:34) to heart, knowing that God is sovereignly watching over us in every facet of our lives, from the inside out.

In light of Psalm 139, the “what if's” of life seem to melt away when we survey them trusting in God’s absolute omniscience. With confidence, we can look to Psalm 139 and discover that our lives have meaning and value to God, and we can place faith in the Almighty who knows us with an infinite intimacy.

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Mark Hampton is currently a student at Criswell College and serves at Metrocrest Community Church where he plays a role in music, media, and missions. Along with school and work, he is a Hindi student and travels to India each year for ministry and language learningYou can follow him on Twitter: @markismoving.

Gospel Amnesia in the Local Church

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

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

SPIRITUAL COVETEOUSNESS & SPIRITUAL PRIDE

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

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

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

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

SINS IN THE LOCAL CHURCH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8 Characteristics of Sanctification

One of the things I enjoyed most about my previous job was the direct connection between how hard I worked and the results I saw. If I just put my head down and pushed hard I could get where I wanted. It was an independent role and I liked the fact that my production rested on no one’s shoulders but my own. Much of my frustration in growing as a Christian is because sanctification isn’t exactly like my job. Yes, my effort does affect my growth but I can’t simply produce the desired outcome from my performance alone. I’m learning that while I certainly play a part in my maturity I can’t just will it through hard work. This has not only shaped my own spiritual formation but it changes how I encourage other believers.  When a brother comes to me sharing a struggle with sin I realize I can’t just take him to the mat for not working hard enough but I must take him to the cross to rest in Christ’s work for him. I find many Christians genuinely desiring to grow but they end up throwing up their hands in discouragement saying, “I’m trying but things don’t seem to be changing.” I think as weary believers, we can go from feeling frustrated to feeling free as we take the yoke off our own backs and place it on Jesus.

Gospel-centered sanctification tethers becoming (growing) to being (identity) by making Christ’s accomplishments and provision for us the catalyst of our lives. Here are eight characteristics of gospel-centered sanctification that frame our theology of the doctrine while also steering our practice.

1. News, Not Advice

“And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” (1 Pet. 1:25)

The gospel is first and foremost an announcement. It is news about the historical events related to the life, death, and resurrection of the God-man Jesus.[1]  And it is good news because the objective events have personal significance; they are for us so we might be redeemed from our sin and reconciled to God. I do my brothers and sisters in Christ little good when I resort to offering sage advice, giving opinions, or dispensing the latest spiritual maxims.

For the gospel (and no shabby replacements) to remain the center, we must regularly remind one another of the good news of Jesus Christ. We retell this accomplished, objective, historical news and unpack the never-ending applications gushing from it. If the majority of my conversations sound like “you should try doing this or that” instead of “Jesus has already done this for you” then I’m headed out to the stormy sea of advice and opinion.

“Advice often masquerades as the gospel. Messages filled with advice to help people improve their lives or turn over a new leaf are in contradiction to the nature of the gospel—news we respond to, not insight we should consider heeding.”[2] Also see: 1 Cor. 15:1-8; Eph. 1:13-14; Acts 15:6.

2. Repentance, Not Resolve

“Confess your sins to one another.” (Jam. 5:16)

The gospel grabs us and shakes us back into the reality we quickly forget: sin is a big deal and our hearts reek of it. I avoid thinking of myself or my sin in these stark terms. I’ve noticed that instead of confessing my sin, I settle for praying that I would “do better.” Instead of seeing my cutting tongue as sin requiring humble repentance I might piously say, “I’ve not done a good job in my speech this week and I need to make that a higher priority.” Through my language of “trying harder” or “being more disciplined” I create the mirage of being a good person. All I need, I tell myself, is to dig deeper into my inner reservoirs of strength and goodness. In reality, I need more God-dependent and self-humbling repentance and less self-sufficient and God-ignoring resolve.

“In confession, we become authentically Christian, agreeing with God about our judgment-deserving sin and trusting in his sin-forgiving grace. We return to the reality of grace, in Christ, which in turn compels real obedience.”[3] Also see: 1 John 1:8-9; Ps. 32:5; 2 Cor. 7:10; Rev. 2:5.

3. Needy, Not Self-Sufficient

“God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” (Jam. 4:6)

Once we turn to repentance from sin instead of improving on our weaknesses, it becomes clear we can’t dig out of the problem we got ourselves into. I don’t just need more discipline. The problem isn’t primarily that I’m not giving it all I’ve got or trying with enough vigor. The gospel unshackles us by allowing God to be in charge of my sanctification instead of me (deep exhale). When I stop relying on myself and my resources and collapse into trust in God, I see He possesses the power I needed all along.

God promises help to the humble but leaves the self-reliant to their own resources. My generation laughed when Stuart Smalley picked himself up by looking into the mirror and saying, “I’m good enough. I’m strong enough.” Unfortunately, we failed to see that this kind of thinking had slipped into how we live our lives.

“This bruising makes us set a high price upon Christ. Then the gospel becomes the gospel indeed; then the fig-leaves of morality will do us no good.”[4] Also see: Rom. 8:9-11, 13; Phil. 2:12-13; Eph. 3:16; Gal. 5:16-17, 25; Col. 2:20-23.

4. Heart Transformation, Not Behavior Modification

“I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts.” (Heb. 8:10)

The biblical view of sanctification requires a genuine change of the heart (root) in order to have the long-term effects of reflecting Christ (fruit). Heart transformation takes time and work. Because most people “don’t have time” and don’t like work we try to short-circuit this process by simply altering a few behaviors. Since the person hasn’t actually changed—including their motives and desires—it’s a near-sighted solution at best. For example, instead of actually dealing with the pride in my heart that fuels sarcasm, I just tone it down a couple notches.

If others are less offended by my words then I assume I’ve fixed the problem. Despite the better version of me on the outside the heart remains unchanged. We might know this cognitively but think how often when someone shares a struggle with sin the first thing they’re told is how to work on the behavior. These might be helpful strategies, but they aren’t solutions. Care for the root and healthy fruit will eventually ripen.

“It’s all too easy to turn the fight of faith into sanctification-by-checklist. Take care of a few bad habits, develop a couple good ones, and you’re set. But a moral checklist doesn’t take into consideration the idols of the hearts. It may not even have the gospel as part of the equation.”[5] Also see: Mt. 15:19-20; 23:25-28; Luke 6:43-45; 2 Cor. 3:3.

5. Freedom in Christ, Not Slavery to Law

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Gal. 5:1)

The gospel promise is that at the moment of faith our condemnation is removed and we are declared righteous—with the results of full acceptance and fatherly love. Hearts changed because of grace are given a stronger motivation than a person striving to merit God’s favor through works. Grace jolts us into joy because of an undeserved redemption and we can now live out of gratitude and love for Christ. We seek to grow in sanctification, not to receive favor but as a result of tasting such favor. This does not eliminate the role of law completely, but it does change our relationship to it.

The difference between gospel-centered sanctification and its performance-based counterfeits is that the former prompts heartfelt obedience out of gratitude and the rest provoke external compliance out of guilt. The fruit of the Spirit are not what we bring to God for approval. They are the result of walking in the freedom Christ brings to children freed from the law’s enslaving power.

“Even the Christian with his nose to the obedience grindstone can miss out on this transforming positional view. I may outwardly look very diligent in the faith and dutiful in good works, good words, and good manners, but if inwardly that is all the result of an insecurity about my standing with God, the hardest work I can muster will be both worry-inducing and worthless. The performance treadmill simply leads to exhaustion.”[6] Also see: Rom. 5:1; 8:1, 15-16; Gal. 5:14-16.

6. Under the Rule of Christ, Not Apart from It

“He has delivered us form the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” (Col. 1:13)

In the gospel, God heaps good news on top of good news. We’re not only freed from slavery to sin and Satan but we’re also redeemed to the kingdom of the Son. There we receive the guidance, protection, and presence of the all-powerful King. Imagine if God had freed Israel in Exodus—people who had been slaves all their lives—and then left them in the wilderness. They lacked wisdom, understanding of righteousness, and knowledge of how to live consistently with why they were created. Thankfully, for Israel after the exodus and for Christians after redemption in Christ, God does not leave us as refugees but makes us full-fledged citizens.

When I see sanctification through gospel-centered lenses, living under the rule and reign of Jesus doesn’t steal my joy but maximizes it. The biblical concept of kingdom unites gospel and law. God’s law for those already in the kingdom is not a criteria for citizenship. Instead, it is just as much a demonstration of his care and grace as it his authority. In Christ’s kingdom, his laws are not to be loathed but to be loved, and his rule is not dreadful but delightful.

“The gospel of the kingdom is the announcement that life with God, under the rule of God, is made immediately available to us through Jesus, our King. He arrives as one who restores, rules, and provides access to God’s kingdom.”[7] Also see: Rom. 6:6-7, 22; 1 Cor. 6:20; Ex. 20:1-2; Matt. 13:44-45.

7. In Community, Not Isolation

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” (Heb. 10:24)

Many of the frustrations and shortcomings in the Christian life occur from trying to play a team-sport on our own. The kid playing basketball alone in his driveway never becomes great without instructional coaching, the complementary strengths of his teammates, and the sharpening of skills that only comes from other people. When we start thinking we’re strong enough and good enough on our own we believe self-reliant lies opposed to a gospel of need. If you’re not in a biblical community focused on Jesus and anchored in the authority of the Word, who will ask tough questions when you choose sin or share your joys when God is faithful? Who will speak the gospel of grace when you think you’ve blown it? Who will pray with you when you feel alone or shaken in your faith?

Sanctification within community is a two-way street. God matures us as others love us in word and deed, but he also strengthens us by stretching us to share our faith, serve with our gifts, and enter into messy relationships—which all of them are of course. Being plugged into a church body and committing to grow in maturity alongside others isn’t an option. Gospel-centered sanctification only happens as you humbly receive the gospel and the gifts other believers bring to you, and then doggedly commit to doing the same for them in return.

“We are to be sanctified by living lives together that are honoring to God and marked by growth and maturation. Bonhoeffer anchors the goal of Christian community in ‘meeting one another as bringers of the message of salvation.’…A life-giving community is one that is continuously being transformed by the gospel as a people.”[8] Also see: Heb. 10:24-25; 1 Thess. 5:11; Col. 3:16; 1 Cor. 12:25; Gal. 6:1-3.

8. Progression, Not Perfection

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” (Phil. 3:13)

Unfortunately, we often talk in a way that fosters misunderstandings about what the Christian life will look like. Our speech can make it sound like the Christian’s life should be characterized by complete victory over sin instead of continued repentance from sin.  Martin Luther provides a good counter-balance in Thesis 1 of his famous 95 Theses: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘Repent,’ he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.”[9] In this life we will always remain simultaneously sinners and saints—people who have been justified and yet remain nagged by indwelling sin.

The Puritans portrayed this lifelong perseverance in their picture of the Christian carrying a weight on his back but the Word in his hand on his pilgrimage to the celestial city. Since we never arrive at perfection in this life we must daily bring our sins before God and receive fresh grace from his hand. We not only confess our sins but we by faith look to Christ to find assurance of our forgiveness and the help to change. This is why many church liturgies include confession of sin and assurance of pardon, modeling the rhythm of our own lives. Just as sure as the sun comes up after the night so also we awake daily in need of grace that pardons and grace to persevere.

“This life therefore is not righteousness but growth in righteousness; not health but healing; not being but becoming; not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it. The process is not finished, but it is going on. This is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.”[10] Also see: Phil. 3:12-14, 20-21; 1 Thess. 5:23; 1 Pet. 5:10.

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Dustin Crowe has a bachelor’s degree in Historical Theology from the Moody Bible Institute and studied at the master's level at Southern Seminary. He is Local Outreach Coordinator of College Park Church, a church of 4,000 in Indianapolis, where he also helps with theological development.

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[1] The language of the gospel being good news and not good advice began with Tim Keller: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2007/05/23/keller-gospel-centered-ministry/

[2] Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2012), 72.

[3] Jonathan Dodson, Gospel-Centered Discipleship (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 68.

[4] Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed (Carlisle: Banner of Truth, Reprinted 2008), 4.

[5] Kevin DeYoung, The Hole in Our Holiness (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 34.

[6] Jared Wilson, Gospel Deeps (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 47.

[7] Daniel Montgomery and Mike Cosper, Faithmapping (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), 35.

[8] Brad House, Community (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 40.

[9] http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/history/95theses.htm

[10] Edward M. Plass, What Luthers Says, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1997) 234-35.

Bringing Young and Old Together

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

Generational Gaps

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why the Divide?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Building Gospel Bridges

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

1. Construct Inter-Generational Gospel Communities

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

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

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

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

2. Promote Inter-Generational Gospel Discipleship

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

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

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

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

3. Make Disciples of Multiple Generations

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

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

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

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

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

Together in the Gospel

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

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

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

2014: The Year I Quit

My New Year’s resolution is to quit. Quitting is usually seen as failure, as giving up.  This is ironic because the Christian life is all about quitting. It is about giving up on yourself before you can even start. I had to give up to become a ministry leader. I never wanted this role. I was wounded by pastors in the past and never wanted to do anything close to leading a ministry. Growing up, I only went to church when there wasn’t a good football game on television or I wasn’t playing soccer. I never really wanted to “go to church” let alone “be the  Church.”

Then Jesus stepped in. Jesus saved me in my mid-20’s and immediately called me to tell others about  him and to start living life as part of his church. Surprisingly, I loved both. I had to give up (quit) my way of life to live out his ways and t  It ended up being amazing. I was on fire for the Lord. My faith was increasing daily. Everything I gave up only made me feel like I had more. I confessed stuff I had hidden for years, and I quit trying to make up for my hidden junk with charity.

I finally decided to receive his forgiveness and healing. I realized that Jesus knew all my failures, sin, insecurities, and doubts  yet he still loved me. I felt like I could fly and I couldn’t help tell everyone about it. This made me quit even more. At the time, I had a job that stole a lot of time from my wife and church family - it was weekends and nights, demanding and sporadic. I quit. And God immediately provided a better job, with better hours, with better pay. My faith soared.

Trying Harder

My journey into church planting wasn’t me “not giving up,” it was me giving up on my career dreams, my addictions, and my view of the church and church leadership. I had to be a quitter to get into ministry.

I have now been an elder of a church plant for four years  and somewhere along the way I stopped “quitting” and started  trying too hard. I don’t even know when this started happening, but I know it did. .

Maybe it was one of the many leadership assessments, where instead of me feeling thankful for outside support and perspective, I started believing the lie and feeling the pressure to prove myself. Sure I may be young and inexperienced but I will show you that I earned this.

Maybe it was the several times I have had close friends leave the church for one reason or another, or  maybe because some of them beat me up a bit on the way out. I will show them for leaving. I will try harder, I won’t give up, they are wrong about me. I will succeed and show them how great I am.

Maybe it happens every year when I get my network’s survey asking how many baptisms our church had. Instead of rejoicing in all the people God is saving across the country (the reason for the survey in the first place), I start wondering if I did good enough. We had 8 baptisms. Is that good enough? Two of them went back on drugs and left and another two got divorced and left and another moved in with their boyfriend and said they will never talk to me again. Do those still count?

Or maybe it is the constant question,  “How many people are in your church? How many on Sundays?” Do I give them last month’s numbers that were the highest ever? Or this month’s numbers that were the lowest of the year? And why were this month’s so low? What could I do to change that? Maybe if I study more, nail down the perfect church structure, go to the right conferences this year, speak at a conference, podcast more, podcast less, get our  Twitter account more followers, pray harder, get more people praying harder, preach on this, teach on that, then I will be a success!

Maybe it was when I started having kids and getting less sleep and trying to pretend that I got this whole parent thing down. These kids won’t listen. They won’t sleep. They won’t stop making messes. They won’t stop filling diapers. I just want them to go to bed on time so I can watch “one,” just “one” episode of The Office on Netflix, then I will be happy. Truly happy.

Maybe it was when I adopted a beautiful baby girl and found out that adoption is hard and it revealed the evil in my heart..  I found out that on my own I didn’t love her the same as my biological son; I wanted to treat her like a step-daughter instead of as my daughter. I understand the gospel. I understand adoption. Why is this so hard? Maybe I don’t understand at all. Maybe I still believe I am a step-son of God and  trying to prove myself to him. I am adopted. I am loved. I get to adopt and I get to love my daughter as my own just as the Father loves me as his own.

Maybe it is trying to hide the amount that I still lust, still want control, still feel more comfortable when there is more money in my savings account, still over-eat, still hold grudges, still have pride, still am selfish, and still want my own kingdom. What is wrong with me? Shouldn’t I be better than this by now? Maybe I am hopeless case. Maybe I have reached my righteousness ceiling. Maybe God gave me as much freedom from sin as he can and now the rest is up to me. I can’t be a pastor. I got to hide this mess so I can pretend that I can help people with their mess. I guess I will just minimize all of this and try harder on my own.

Maybe it was when I learned how to “dress my sin up” with more acceptable language. “I am struggling a bit with this, I am growing in that, I gave in to a little temptation, the Lord is calling me to live more comfortably.” I checked out my friends wife, I ignored my kid to check a sports score on the phone, I am bitter against at least ten l people who I am supposed to love as brothers and sisters, I’d rather watch my football team lose than share the gospel with an unbelieving friend. I am selfish and still often believe that being selfish is the best way to live.

Finally Quitting

I quit. I’m not getting anywhere on my own. .Paul grew more and more aware of his sinfulness as he matured and led, and I am growing more and more aware of my achievements and how to minimize  my sin.

Truth is that I am still a mess, but he still knows all  of my mess and still chooses to love, bless, protect, and care for me. He still gives me a purpose and a life worth living. Truth is that my sin does not define me; his love defines me. I am a beloved son of God the Father. I am a saint. I am a living stone amongst living stones that make up the dwelling place of God. I am alive in Christ. I am holy. And I don’t have to try and prove  any of this. I get to just trust that this is who I am. I am not my sin or my failures. I am his righteousness and his victory! And when I trust who I am in Christ, I begin to live like I am who he says I am. This is how I discovered the power over life-long sin, addictions, and pain that lead me into a life of ministry in the first place. But I often forget this and once again start trying too hard.

I quit. The problem isn’t with church surveys, with kids, with people leaving, with temptation - the problem is with my heart. A heart that trusts who God is and what he has done is going to be secure in Christ. A heart that is trying to prove itself will try harder to gain God or people’s acceptance. I want to quit trying and start trusting who God has made me to be! I want to live freely in his grace!

I quit. I want Jesus to lead his church, lead my family and lead me!  I want my ministry to be his ministry, to be about his reputation, and about God the Father’s approval that Jesus earned for his followers. I want this to be the light burden and easy yoke that Jesus promised.

The truth is that it is only  grace that I am in ministry. It is only grace that anyone would marry me, that God would give me three kids, that I could have the privilege of adopting, that anyone would dare follow me as I follow Christ, that anyone would listen to me as I to teach about Jesus. It is all a gift that I don’t deserve. It is all grace! Forgetting this and trying to prove that I earned it, only leads to a cycle of trying to prove something that can never be proven. It is impossible, exhausting, and foolish to try and prove that I deserve what I don’t deserve.

So, this is my letter of resignation. I want to be the biggest quitter alive. I surrender. I can’t do any of this and I want the world to know it. I need Jesus. I need his forgiveness. I need him to send the Spirit. I need him to save my friends, family and neighbors. I need him to reveal himself to San Diego. I need him more now than ever. And he is here. He is with me. He forgives me. He blesses me. He is filled with joy when he thinks about me.

He loves me. And he loves you, too.

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