Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
more on discipleship
I have been convicted that somehow in my "church planter-ness" I have forgotten the mission. It's to make disciples right? Not to build big or small christian communities that suck the life out of the pastors and the leadership always wanting to be entertained....not to convince people that our church or "rebrand" of christianity is good...
Remember, Jesus says to baptize (because we can't be His people unless we are born again. Baptism is a sign of our rebirth, a sign of conversion.) We must remember that just doing "good things" in the world does not equal His kingdom. There is a part of discipleship that happens before belief, a big part. This can be played out as we walk with not yet believers and show them what it looks like to love God and live in His ways in the tangible task of life. But it can't stop there. Someone who is baptized is someone that wants to proclaim their conversion. Our culture is trying to convert us to everything. Why are we afraid of converting people to Jesus? I think it's because we are worried more about our own name, our own identity more that the name and power of the trinity. We want to rebrand Christianity and try and make it good again but we have failed to realized that God has already rebranded humanity and made us good again in the person of Jesus.
Jesus then says to teach them to do all that I taught you to do. This is not a system, its a life style. It doesn't happen in a classroom it happens in life. So when we think like this we see that we can disciple someone to love their wife because we have learned and are learning to love our wives. We can disciple someone to rest, because we have learned and are learning to rest. This is not bullet points, its life. We can disciple someone to read and pray, because we are reading and praying. We can disciple someone to love their neighborhood because we are loving our neighborhood. You see, we can't disciple someone in something that we are not already doing.
But the biggest part of discipleship that I believe is too often overlooked is that Jesus is with us always, no matter where we go or what job we have. He lives in us. We are His carriers into this world bringing His kingdom wherever we go.Why do we teach people how to "be" like Jesus and then send them out to "be" Jesus? We have just created a new law, a new system of morality. We are not to go and "be" Jesus...we are carriers of Jesus. He is in us, He is alive, He is bringing His power and righteousness through us into our communities, families and workplaces. If the discipleship process makes us feel pressure to go and "do" then it's probably not true discipleship.
Think about these words... "All power has been given unto ME" (Jesus)... "so as you are in the rhythm of life, as you go"... "make disciples" (reminds me of be fruitful and multiply).... "of all peoples" (not just the ones you like)..."Baptizing them in the name of the trinity" (not just Jesus only, but teaching people about the whole character of God)..."teaching them to do" (we can't teach someone to do something we don't do. This is not ideas, this is life. Our true theology is what we live that we believe about God, not just what we say we believe about God)... "all that I have taught you" (not just the parts that feel good. not just go out and try and live like me.)... "for I AM with you always" (Jesus in us)...
Maybe we ought to rethink what we are asking people to do? Maybe we ought to be disciples that make disciples. Maybe our diagrams and charts ought to help communicate discipleship not replace it. Learning this as I go but I think that's what Jesus said right..."as you are going...Make disciples".
Remember, Jesus says to baptize (because we can't be His people unless we are born again. Baptism is a sign of our rebirth, a sign of conversion.) We must remember that just doing "good things" in the world does not equal His kingdom. There is a part of discipleship that happens before belief, a big part. This can be played out as we walk with not yet believers and show them what it looks like to love God and live in His ways in the tangible task of life. But it can't stop there. Someone who is baptized is someone that wants to proclaim their conversion. Our culture is trying to convert us to everything. Why are we afraid of converting people to Jesus? I think it's because we are worried more about our own name, our own identity more that the name and power of the trinity. We want to rebrand Christianity and try and make it good again but we have failed to realized that God has already rebranded humanity and made us good again in the person of Jesus.
Jesus then says to teach them to do all that I taught you to do. This is not a system, its a life style. It doesn't happen in a classroom it happens in life. So when we think like this we see that we can disciple someone to love their wife because we have learned and are learning to love our wives. We can disciple someone to rest, because we have learned and are learning to rest. This is not bullet points, its life. We can disciple someone to read and pray, because we are reading and praying. We can disciple someone to love their neighborhood because we are loving our neighborhood. You see, we can't disciple someone in something that we are not already doing.
But the biggest part of discipleship that I believe is too often overlooked is that Jesus is with us always, no matter where we go or what job we have. He lives in us. We are His carriers into this world bringing His kingdom wherever we go.Why do we teach people how to "be" like Jesus and then send them out to "be" Jesus? We have just created a new law, a new system of morality. We are not to go and "be" Jesus...we are carriers of Jesus. He is in us, He is alive, He is bringing His power and righteousness through us into our communities, families and workplaces. If the discipleship process makes us feel pressure to go and "do" then it's probably not true discipleship.
Think about these words... "All power has been given unto ME" (Jesus)... "so as you are in the rhythm of life, as you go"... "make disciples" (reminds me of be fruitful and multiply).... "of all peoples" (not just the ones you like)..."Baptizing them in the name of the trinity" (not just Jesus only, but teaching people about the whole character of God)..."teaching them to do" (we can't teach someone to do something we don't do. This is not ideas, this is life. Our true theology is what we live that we believe about God, not just what we say we believe about God)... "all that I have taught you" (not just the parts that feel good. not just go out and try and live like me.)... "for I AM with you always" (Jesus in us)...
Maybe we ought to rethink what we are asking people to do? Maybe we ought to be disciples that make disciples. Maybe our diagrams and charts ought to help communicate discipleship not replace it. Learning this as I go but I think that's what Jesus said right..."as you are going...Make disciples".
just maybe
maybe we have complicated things too much. It's funny how we as pastors can get so caught up in our own terms, our methods, our vision... that we miss the point. It is hard to find the balance of having vision and being intoxicated with your own vision. I do believe that God give specific missions and specific visions for each body of Christ. However we must not miss the goal... to make Disciples. The easiest way to work this out is to see how transferable it is. I've found that if I can't explain the "vision" to someone in 5 min then it's probably too complex. This is not to say that we need to dumb things down, however maybe we ought to take some clues from our culture. Google- people use it because it's google stupid. They use it because you can write an email, upload a doc or chat or search for a flight to Africa all from the same place. It's integrated into life and it flows.
Remember that Jesus entrusted His mission with regular men, hard working, untrained men. They didn't need a masters in theology to follow his train of thought. In fact, they might of missed a lot of what He was saying in the moment but the Jesus trusted His Spirit to work out His mission in their life in the normality of life. He sent them out to do it. He told them to that He was sending them out in His power (not his fancy diagrams), to be HIs people (not a sexier version of him), to bring His teachings (not cool little rebottled catch phrases) to where they lived and where they were sent to (Jesus said, as you are going... make disciples). The end goal was that we would carry His Kingdom (not our take on what it looks like) into the world. And the proof of our discipleship was if people were being discipled. Imagine that!
Maybe, just maybe, we need to be refreshed by our call to make disciples. What if we took all of our "church life" (BTW I think that is bad theology, all of life is God's life, all our money is God's money, all our time is God's time)... but what if we looked at what we call "church" and asked the question, "is this making disciples of Jesus?"
Maybe we would understand that our "ME Church" mentality was the farthest thing from the mission of Jesus?
Remember that Jesus entrusted His mission with regular men, hard working, untrained men. They didn't need a masters in theology to follow his train of thought. In fact, they might of missed a lot of what He was saying in the moment but the Jesus trusted His Spirit to work out His mission in their life in the normality of life. He sent them out to do it. He told them to that He was sending them out in His power (not his fancy diagrams), to be HIs people (not a sexier version of him), to bring His teachings (not cool little rebottled catch phrases) to where they lived and where they were sent to (Jesus said, as you are going... make disciples). The end goal was that we would carry His Kingdom (not our take on what it looks like) into the world. And the proof of our discipleship was if people were being discipled. Imagine that!
Maybe, just maybe, we need to be refreshed by our call to make disciples. What if we took all of our "church life" (BTW I think that is bad theology, all of life is God's life, all our money is God's money, all our time is God's time)... but what if we looked at what we call "church" and asked the question, "is this making disciples of Jesus?"
Maybe we would understand that our "ME Church" mentality was the farthest thing from the mission of Jesus?
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
me church.part 2
I'm not sure how many parts I will post before I think of another name for a post...but for now it's part two. The irony is that as I blog my family is watching my most hated show, american idol. This show stands for everything I stand against, well not all I stand against but a lot of it. But what worries me more is that our churches are taking clues from shows like this and allowing them to give us the theology of our services. We want to be like them, we think success is how many butts are in our seats watching our "God show". It's a "me" church culture where we come and consume. Most churches don't text for the pastor they like but we do choose our church "family" based on how it fits us, our liking, or feelings. Week after week americans "go to church" and cast their vote for the best.
Now I don't think we ought to boycott technology or not use the arts in our service... but do we ever stop and ask why? We are all about the "what". This even rolls into our lives as we long for the "better" and just think we need a new "what" to help us. What book can I read to help me with sin, what pastor can I podcast to fix my marriage, what verses can I read to help me with my anger...But do we ever ask the why? Pastors, we have to realize that what we do in our services is being lived out in our church family in the details of life. If we are performing for them each week so they can consume our jesus product then why are we amazed that they live their christian life looking for the next fix, the next product, the next "what" to fix them.
So I am learning to ask these questions. The question is not about the "Me Church" but about the King Jesus and His bride. Why does God want worship from His people and why don't we worship. Why do we do what we do each week at our gatherings and how are the elements of the service being played out in the church in our communities each week? Maybe we should give people more than 30 seconds to "greet a visitor" if we want them to spend more than 30 seconds each week to meet a new neighbor or friend. Maybe we should preach first, declare the truth of God and that life ought to be worship...before we ask them to worship in song. BTW- I'm learning all this as I go and I'm not suggesting a hippy fest each week where we sit around and chat about God and stuff. But what if I as a pastor realized that every week I was a part of a "teachable moment" and that I might be teaching more from the "why" of what we do, then just what I "preach" in my sermon.
This is why we take communion each week. By doing it weekly, we put Jesus at the center of the service each week. We tell the family before we start to preach or sing that we are going to take communion. We tell them that if the preaching, music or decorations are not up to their standard... it's ok because we came here to remember Jesus. His life, death, resurrection and His spirit that is alive in us today. We remind them that we are going to confess our sin and our need for Jesus. And that as we take communion we are being reminded of this mystical picture... that Jesus is in us being sent back out to our community, culture and families. It amazes me that no mater what the text is that we preach out of, or what story of God we tell, or if we have a family business meeting for an hour on Sunday... by taking communion every week the Gospel is proclaimed, we repent of sin and we are sent back out on the kingdom mission. We are reminded that we don't have to go and "be" jesus because the reality is that we are Jesus carriers.
Now I don't think we ought to boycott technology or not use the arts in our service... but do we ever stop and ask why? We are all about the "what". This even rolls into our lives as we long for the "better" and just think we need a new "what" to help us. What book can I read to help me with sin, what pastor can I podcast to fix my marriage, what verses can I read to help me with my anger...But do we ever ask the why? Pastors, we have to realize that what we do in our services is being lived out in our church family in the details of life. If we are performing for them each week so they can consume our jesus product then why are we amazed that they live their christian life looking for the next fix, the next product, the next "what" to fix them.
So I am learning to ask these questions. The question is not about the "Me Church" but about the King Jesus and His bride. Why does God want worship from His people and why don't we worship. Why do we do what we do each week at our gatherings and how are the elements of the service being played out in the church in our communities each week? Maybe we should give people more than 30 seconds to "greet a visitor" if we want them to spend more than 30 seconds each week to meet a new neighbor or friend. Maybe we should preach first, declare the truth of God and that life ought to be worship...before we ask them to worship in song. BTW- I'm learning all this as I go and I'm not suggesting a hippy fest each week where we sit around and chat about God and stuff. But what if I as a pastor realized that every week I was a part of a "teachable moment" and that I might be teaching more from the "why" of what we do, then just what I "preach" in my sermon.
This is why we take communion each week. By doing it weekly, we put Jesus at the center of the service each week. We tell the family before we start to preach or sing that we are going to take communion. We tell them that if the preaching, music or decorations are not up to their standard... it's ok because we came here to remember Jesus. His life, death, resurrection and His spirit that is alive in us today. We remind them that we are going to confess our sin and our need for Jesus. And that as we take communion we are being reminded of this mystical picture... that Jesus is in us being sent back out to our community, culture and families. It amazes me that no mater what the text is that we preach out of, or what story of God we tell, or if we have a family business meeting for an hour on Sunday... by taking communion every week the Gospel is proclaimed, we repent of sin and we are sent back out on the kingdom mission. We are reminded that we don't have to go and "be" jesus because the reality is that we are Jesus carriers.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
me church. part one
It's funny how I have returned to blogging after all these years. I remember me as a young lad blogging out of anger, wanting to be heard. Or maybe it was out of injustice that I saw or a fallen world that crewed into the "real" of life.
However, I hope that this blog doesn't become just a place to vent but that it allows me and others to process our thoughts and reflect on how we need to submit ourself to the kingdom of Jesus in the "real" of life.
I have titled this blog "Me Church" because this is at the heart of my present pain. I feel a disgust in me for how me, myself and other pastors have wrongly presented and promoted the bride of Christ... His Church. So let my confession be the first... I have not seen the Church as Jesus' bride and have made it about me. I have encouraged others and served others in a way that tells them that it is about them and not Jesus.
Today as I preached, I stopped to ask the church... "what is the church"? It's funny how it became silent. If I was at a Baseball game and asked the fans, "what is Baseball" I think that the answers would roll off their lips. Now to the churches credit, it might of caught them off guard or they may have been afraid of saying the wrong thing. But don't we think it's time we stop and ask that question? Not out of Rebellion but our of allegiance to our King and to His bride.
Could it be that we have so made "church" about me, about us... that we don't even know the answer to a simple question? I am not a smart guy and I am not going to try and over think this. However, Jesus left His bride, the church, in the hands or a bunch of uneducated, untrained (by worldly standards) men. Yet I never get the feeling that they sat around asking the question, "what is Church"? or, "How do we get people to come to our church"?
Maybe this blog is only for me to unleash these thoughts of my own pain and sin that makes me think church is about me. Or maybe this blog will serve as a launching pad for disciples of Jesus to start making disciples of Jesus instead of making them groupies of "our church".
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