I may be spiritualizing this text a bit that refers to the Messiah and the scope of his ministry. The LORD said, “It is too small a thing” for Jesus to redeem the nation of Israel; the Messiah will bring salvation to the ends of the earth (Isa 49:6).
This brings two things into focus for me. First, that planting a church is too small of a goal, and it isn’t specific enough. We could call ourselves a church with just two or three Jesus-followers gathered together. Jesus is not against the church, He is her Head. But Jesus is not interested in seeing a local church established, even one that we might call a “life-giving church.” The goal of the church is not to have children (new baby churches that grow and mature). The goal is to fill the earth, not make children, if we are going to use the parent-child analogy, or mother-daughter image. We can’t have one offspring, pat ourselves on the back, kick back and think we’ve done our duty. The goal, role, mission of the church, as the incarnation of the Messiah, is to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.
If 25% of people in America who don’t go to church would visit a church if invited by a friend (according to a Barna Research Group survey), are we going to be satisfied to find that 25% and build our own little kingdom? What about the other 75%. What strategies will we initiate to reach the 75%? And do we have the best purposes and goals that chart the course for the church to help us develop the right strategies?
If we live in a community of 20,000 people and 30% (6,000) are in church on any given Sunday morning, we could establish a significant church with the 25% (5,000) who would visit if asked. But what about the remaining 9,000 people in the community? Will they be left out all together? They obviously have no interest in the “church.” Should we just wait till they do have an interest so that they will attend “church” with us? Or can we be assured that they will develop some interest in visiting a church if we just leave them alone? The more penetrating question that we need to answer is, “Do we have any responsibility for these 14,000 people that have no relationship with a local church?”
The second thing that strikes me from Isaiah 49:6 is that creating a relevant Sunday worship gathering (or high energy children’s and student programs, you name the ministry or program), even if it is the “best” in our area is “too small a thing.” Eighty to 100% of the focus and energy of the people who make up the church can’t be spent on one morning (and/or one evening) out of the week. But when we think about “church” we think about Sunday morning and maybe about our small group that meets one other hour during the week. At most, we are talking about five hours out of the week that receives almost all of the attention and energy, the resources of the local church. And all of that goes toward the 20% of the population of our communities (if we live in the Bible Belt) that attend “church” on Sunday morning. It’s way too small a thing to focus most of our effort on the few that show up every Sunday. This is not the heart of our redeeming God.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Turning Faith into Elevator Music
There’s something about “Christian” legal organizations and the like that makes my stomach hurt. I don’t always like the decisions our government makes, be it congressional, presidential or judicial. I want our government to do more to protect the life of the unborn than the convicted murderer. And because I’m inclined to think issues like abortion are quite serious, it influences my involvement in the political process.
At the same time, there are “Christian” organizations (often functioning like PACs) that would have me feel guilty if I don’t financially support their work. It’s not that I want the government to make laws and policies exactly opposite of what these “Christian” PACs are fighting for, but my deep conviction is that God doesn’t want me spending His money that way.
There is a thoughtful article dealing with this topic called Turning Faith Into Elevator Music. Here is a taste of what William J. Stuntz, Professor at Harvard Law School, has to say.
“Seeing the Ten Commandments in public spaces is a little like hearing the Miranda warnings on "Law and Order," which doesn't make anyone think about the real meaning of Miranda (whatever that is) because it doesn't make anyone think at all. It's the social equivalent of elevator music. Religious people shouldn't want their faith to be elevator music.”
Read it! It's worth thinking about.
At the same time, there are “Christian” organizations (often functioning like PACs) that would have me feel guilty if I don’t financially support their work. It’s not that I want the government to make laws and policies exactly opposite of what these “Christian” PACs are fighting for, but my deep conviction is that God doesn’t want me spending His money that way.
There is a thoughtful article dealing with this topic called Turning Faith Into Elevator Music. Here is a taste of what William J. Stuntz, Professor at Harvard Law School, has to say.
“Seeing the Ten Commandments in public spaces is a little like hearing the Miranda warnings on "Law and Order," which doesn't make anyone think about the real meaning of Miranda (whatever that is) because it doesn't make anyone think at all. It's the social equivalent of elevator music. Religious people shouldn't want their faith to be elevator music.”
Read it! It's worth thinking about.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Love Hurts, But That's What Makes It Great
Do we really know love, great love, apart from pain?
I feel pain, an internal kind of heart pain if I sense that my wife is disappointed with me, or if I have done (left undone) something that has pained her. I may not be aware of the specific cause, only the apparent hurt because I know her. Pain is real.
In love there is both trust and expectation. We expect that the one we love, the one who loves us, will do or act according to what is best for us and we will behave in order to obtain what's best for the one we love. We trust them with our love, with our very heart, our person, our soul. In loving someone we give ourselves to them with the expectation that they will in turn love us and not hurt us.
This will never work perfectly on the human level because we are all broken - we don't work exactly like we're suppose to. If we know we are broken and the person we love is broken, then we know also that by loving someone we are creating a relationship, and pain is part of relationships between broken people.
Then why do we bother with relationships? First, without relationships we experience the pain of loneliness, which is unnatural and potentially worse than being wounded by someone we love. Second, I believe there is the hope of love, the hope of relationships void of pain. This was possible with the first man and woman until they doubted God. And there is the possibility of partially experiencing this with God as He loves us perfectly even though our love for Him is not yet perfected.
It's as if our souls remember a story of perfect love from long, long ago that has such a ring of truth and reality to it that we want to believe it and go searching for it. But over time, pain may so scar the soul that this story of perfect love is finally forgotten and hope dies.
This is not true for the child of God though. He has a new heart that cannot be overcome by the scars of pain. The blood that pulses through this new heart is the blood of Jesus and the temporary wound caused by broken people don't scar this heart. The Great Physician's surgery leaves no scar. Even though woundings come and still cause pain, the new heart never loses hope. Because His love for us, toward us, in us; His love that flows through us to those around us; is perfect, steady, always achieving what is best; we are able to persevere, to never give up even though the ones we love will hurt us and we will hurt the One who is perfect love.
DO NOT DOUBT THE GREATNESS OF HIS LOVE FOR YOU!
Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12
I feel pain, an internal kind of heart pain if I sense that my wife is disappointed with me, or if I have done (left undone) something that has pained her. I may not be aware of the specific cause, only the apparent hurt because I know her. Pain is real.
In love there is both trust and expectation. We expect that the one we love, the one who loves us, will do or act according to what is best for us and we will behave in order to obtain what's best for the one we love. We trust them with our love, with our very heart, our person, our soul. In loving someone we give ourselves to them with the expectation that they will in turn love us and not hurt us.
This will never work perfectly on the human level because we are all broken - we don't work exactly like we're suppose to. If we know we are broken and the person we love is broken, then we know also that by loving someone we are creating a relationship, and pain is part of relationships between broken people.
Then why do we bother with relationships? First, without relationships we experience the pain of loneliness, which is unnatural and potentially worse than being wounded by someone we love. Second, I believe there is the hope of love, the hope of relationships void of pain. This was possible with the first man and woman until they doubted God. And there is the possibility of partially experiencing this with God as He loves us perfectly even though our love for Him is not yet perfected.
It's as if our souls remember a story of perfect love from long, long ago that has such a ring of truth and reality to it that we want to believe it and go searching for it. But over time, pain may so scar the soul that this story of perfect love is finally forgotten and hope dies.
This is not true for the child of God though. He has a new heart that cannot be overcome by the scars of pain. The blood that pulses through this new heart is the blood of Jesus and the temporary wound caused by broken people don't scar this heart. The Great Physician's surgery leaves no scar. Even though woundings come and still cause pain, the new heart never loses hope. Because His love for us, toward us, in us; His love that flows through us to those around us; is perfect, steady, always achieving what is best; we are able to persevere, to never give up even though the ones we love will hurt us and we will hurt the One who is perfect love.
DO NOT DOUBT THE GREATNESS OF HIS LOVE FOR YOU!
Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12
Monday, July 11, 2005
squirrelly
why don’t they just make up their minds? their in the road, minding their own business when I intrude on their space. all of a sudden they panic. as fast as their little legs will move them, their off, doing their dead-level best to avoid mortality. something happens, but i’m not at all sure what. they about-face and run into my line of travel. what is it about these small brained creatures that makes them abandon the safety of their first choice and return themselves squarely in the lane of danger? and why am i so much like them?
Thursday, July 07, 2005
the way is hard
God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings.
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
For it was fitting that he (Jesus), for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
- Hebrews 2:10
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
For it was fitting that he (Jesus), for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
- Hebrews 2:10
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Friday, July 01, 2005
What's Your WorldView
Maybe I've been spending too much time at the John Welsey College library? My wife would definitely agree!
I took this quiz and here's the verdict:
You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan.
You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.
I took this quiz and here's the verdict:
You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan.
You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.
What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com |
Friday, June 03, 2005
Sojourner
I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me! (Psalm 119:19)
We are on our way to Ghana, West Africa tomorrow. There are so many things we need to remember: passport, malaria meds (and other vaccinations), and a hundred other little things that we will need during our trip.
Our team, mostly students, will rely on translators to communicate with the people. We will be in a foreign world, and our differences will be blatantly obvious: a large group of mostly white people in places where we may not see any other pale faces. Without translators, bus drives who know the cities, and cooks who protect our weak stomachs from unusual food that would wreak havoc, about all we could hope to do is survive. And even that would be very difficult.
This two week trip will give us condensed picture of what the psalmist describes as the whole earthly experience for the child of God.
We are on our way to Ghana, West Africa tomorrow. There are so many things we need to remember: passport, malaria meds (and other vaccinations), and a hundred other little things that we will need during our trip.
Our team, mostly students, will rely on translators to communicate with the people. We will be in a foreign world, and our differences will be blatantly obvious: a large group of mostly white people in places where we may not see any other pale faces. Without translators, bus drives who know the cities, and cooks who protect our weak stomachs from unusual food that would wreak havoc, about all we could hope to do is survive. And even that would be very difficult.
This two week trip will give us condensed picture of what the psalmist describes as the whole earthly experience for the child of God.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Experiencing the Incarnation
Last weekend we had a retreat for our mission team that will be leaving for two weeks of service in Ghana. On Friday night, we were sitting in the round and Ken said that we should speak words of encouragement to each other. And he showed us what he meant by speaking to my wife, who was in tears before he finished a complete sentence.
As someone else in the group began encouraging someone, I found this narcissistic desire welling up in me to hear words of affirmation from someone in the group (which is a little unusual b/c the first thing I usually worry about in that kind of setting is "What will I say?"). Would anyone have anything nice to say about me?
There is one girl in the group who is somewhat of an outsider, not familiar with most of the other students in the group. But I know her pretty well, so I decided to encourage her.
The atmosphere in the room that night was, how do I say it, mysterious. It was as if Jesus was in the room loving us. Someone would speak up, "The thing I love about Grant is ..." The mystery of the incarnation is still all around us.
We sang a song with a verse from Psalm 139:17 that says, "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!" It blew me away that He chose to live in us and express Himself through us. We were experiencing Him, hearing Him and feeling His presence as we spoke to each other. How awesome is just one of His thoughts.
That was a week ago. And only this morning did it hit me. The affirmation I longed for came as I spoke encouragement into someone else. After we were done, that young girl gave me a hug, not just a hug but an embrace. And my wife said, "Thank you for saying that to her. I was going to speak to her, but I think it meant more coming from you." I had received more by giving than I would have by quietly waiting and hoping someone would speak to me.
As someone else in the group began encouraging someone, I found this narcissistic desire welling up in me to hear words of affirmation from someone in the group (which is a little unusual b/c the first thing I usually worry about in that kind of setting is "What will I say?"). Would anyone have anything nice to say about me?
There is one girl in the group who is somewhat of an outsider, not familiar with most of the other students in the group. But I know her pretty well, so I decided to encourage her.
The atmosphere in the room that night was, how do I say it, mysterious. It was as if Jesus was in the room loving us. Someone would speak up, "The thing I love about Grant is ..." The mystery of the incarnation is still all around us.
We sang a song with a verse from Psalm 139:17 that says, "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!" It blew me away that He chose to live in us and express Himself through us. We were experiencing Him, hearing Him and feeling His presence as we spoke to each other. How awesome is just one of His thoughts.
That was a week ago. And only this morning did it hit me. The affirmation I longed for came as I spoke encouragement into someone else. After we were done, that young girl gave me a hug, not just a hug but an embrace. And my wife said, "Thank you for saying that to her. I was going to speak to her, but I think it meant more coming from you." I had received more by giving than I would have by quietly waiting and hoping someone would speak to me.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Pain
When I was about three years old I fell off the swing in our back yard. No big deal. It happens to kids every day. My parents tell me that I cried a lot as a little fellow (there goes the tough guy image), so they didn’t think much about the tears from such a low fall.
About two weeks later a friend of my parents picked me up by the hands and swung me around. The crying and wailing returned instantly. Mom and Dad knew this shouldn’t hurt. They ended up taking me to the doctor who found out that my arm had been fractured from the earlier fall.
There was purpose in the pain. It told me and my parents something wasn’t right. In some ways pain is like the warning lights on your dashboard. They tell you the engine is overheating or the oil pressure is low or it’s time to refuel. Ignore the warning and you’ll pay the price.
Pain isn't pleasant, but I sure am glad my wife felt pain when it was time for our son to be born. No pain and I may have had to deliver at home by myself. That’s one I’d rather the doctor and nurses handle.
We all experience pain: physical pain from illness or injury, emotional pain from broken or damaged relationships. Pain is universal. Pain, both physical and emotional, is the warning system God has wired into us. We’re suppose to sit up and take notice that something’s wrong.
About two weeks later a friend of my parents picked me up by the hands and swung me around. The crying and wailing returned instantly. Mom and Dad knew this shouldn’t hurt. They ended up taking me to the doctor who found out that my arm had been fractured from the earlier fall.
There was purpose in the pain. It told me and my parents something wasn’t right. In some ways pain is like the warning lights on your dashboard. They tell you the engine is overheating or the oil pressure is low or it’s time to refuel. Ignore the warning and you’ll pay the price.
Pain isn't pleasant, but I sure am glad my wife felt pain when it was time for our son to be born. No pain and I may have had to deliver at home by myself. That’s one I’d rather the doctor and nurses handle.
We all experience pain: physical pain from illness or injury, emotional pain from broken or damaged relationships. Pain is universal. Pain, both physical and emotional, is the warning system God has wired into us. We’re suppose to sit up and take notice that something’s wrong.
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