A sending God

UK blogger Andrew Jones explains: "Missio Dei [the mission of God] stems from the Triune God: the Father sends the Son, the Father and the Son send the Spirit, the Father and Son and the Spirit send the church into the world." So a missional church is about doing God's work in the world today.

Nice, succinct and to the point - as long as I believe the underlying truth, "There is not relationship with God without Christ" which is the first stage of Jones litany. To agree to this truth is to agree to a darker truth, "without Jesus one's eternal future is in hell." Does that make God intolerant? Yes, intolerant of sin. Without Christ there is no hope for you and I or our well meaning friend who has not accepted Jesus. This truth has kept me up more nights than I can count. Here is what Paul said about "his people."

"I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit—I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel (Rom. 9:1–4).

Brian Jones in Non-Religious Devotional Thoughts 10/14/2013 asks us this series of questions, "How about you? Do you feel great sorrow and unceasing anguish for that non-Christian friend you work with? That Jewish neighbor? That Hindu person who works at the restaurant you frequent? If not, why not? To me there are only two answers to that question: You either don’t believe in hell, or you don’t care that your friends will go there when they die. There’s no middle ground here. Most Christians I meet either don’t believe that their non-Christian friends are going to hell, or worse, don’t care. Are you one of them?"

We may wish they would come to the church but, the commission says "go make" not "come become." The church needs to be attractive - that is part of doing Jesus in the community. The problem arises from making beauty of church more important than making the church mobile.

Mike Breen, pastor at Community Church of Joy near Phoenix, Arizona, says. "The missional church is rooted in not just the New Testament church of Acts, but in the mission of Jesus himself. A missional church lives out the church's three-dimensional calling: to be upwardly focused on God in worship that is passionate; to be inwardly focused on community among believers that is demonstrated in relationships of love and compassion; and to be outwardly focused on a world that does not yet know God."

To do this means an attitude shift described by Pastor Janetta Cravens, of First Christian Church in Macon, Georgia, "We are moving from seeing ourselves as a church who needs members from the community to seeing ourselves as being in a community whose members need the church. We've realized we're here to serve the community in unique ways."

We are free to disciple

"Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive"1 Corinthians 10:23.

When I first read this in my pre-teens I rejoiced. Clearly God had set me free from my parent's crushing hand of tyranny. I could hear the Apostle Paul telling me to engage in any and all pursuits that caught my interest. I had missed the qualifying "beneficial" aspect of the "everything" statement which my Dad corrected for me the first time I came into the house with a cigarette in my mouth claiming God over rode parents. My lesson, though hard come by - Dad was a "rod straightens out the child" kind of person - has been an ongoing tutorial.

Like most people who come to the faith I was very interested in the freedoms of that faith. I mistakenly assumed that as long as I practiced my faith in a way that did not harm God, myself, or my church I was free to live out my relationship with God and others as I pleased. I believe the main reason we, the members of His body the church, do not bring others to church is because we truly believe we are free to not bring them. After all, "everything is permissible." As long as we do not sin we are comfortable, even validated, in our personal relationship with God through Christ. 

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Verse 24 following the text reads, "Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others." That is the definition of "beneficial." How we choose to live out our relationship with God is open to enjoying His bountiful creation "as long as" what we do points others back to Him. God feels so strongly about this He gave as His final command, "Go." While it is true Matthew 28:19's opening phrase is better translated, "As you are going make disciples..." it's meaning in the original language carries the force of command to make disciples. We are not asked to go as we please. We are commanded to make disciples wherever we please to go. 

Just as accepting Jesus as our lord and savior is non negotiable for acceptance by Him so making disciples is non negotiable to living with Him.

Disciplining is not an elective and it begins with a simple invitation to our acquaintances to come and see Jesus through His church. If you are uncertain how to disciple someone else I recommend http://www.multiplymovement.com as a great place to start.

September 17, 2013 - The church is God's missional & missionsal tool for evangelism

"I don't have the spiritual gift of evangelism" is a sentence I am used to hearing. I have heard it since I was 9 years old and our family were traveling from church to church attempting to raise full-time support to be missionaries in Africa. Usually that sentence is made in the context of us (our family) being special chosen ones to take the Good News to the "lost" while the speaker stayed home and attended church supporting the special ones, which usually included the local Pastor.

I have always assumed that rational came from the American penchant for "specializing" all jobs. Doctors have a specialty as do lawyers, plumbers, and chefs. It makes sense to us to think of the work of the church requiring specialists for evangelism as we do for preaching. Makes sense, but, it is wrong.

From its inception the church, the collected body of believers, was gifted so that the church could finish the mission Jesus gave us. That commission is the presentation of the Good News to people in such a way that they can understand its impact for their lives and make an informed decision to accept or reject it. That is why all churches are missional - they want their body to be active in presenting the Good News in their daily lives. The fruit of that is the increase in baptisms and usually numbers of members as well as attendees. When evangelism is set in the context of our family and neighbors it requires that we be missional in our everyday lives.

When evangelism is set in the context of people whose cultures differ radically or whose homes are geographically removed it requires us to support missions to those people and areas. The collected body of Jesus, the church, is God's tool for effective evangelism mission-ally and missions-ally.

I remember my Dad's response to one person who asked about becoming a "missionary." Dad asked who that young man was discipling (being missional to) to become a follower of Jesus. "No one, I don't have the gift of evangelism, yet," he replied. My Dad's answer was a conversation stopper, "If you aren't evangelizing among the people you know you are not going to do any better among the people you don't know."

Jesus' recorded words in Acts 1:8 apply to every church (the collected body of believers) both missionally and missionsally, "But you [all] will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you [all] will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

How is La Habra Christian Church (you all the collected body of believers) doing in these two areas?

Did Y'all Get That?

English is wonderful language. We are able to clearly and concisely express our ideas. When used properly English leaves little room for misunderstanding what is being said or written. Certainly there are contextual and emotional parameters that cloud meaning, but, as to the specific words used the meaning is, for the most part, clear. It is the "for the most part" that trips us up. Take the pronoun "you" for example.

One word used to refer to the second person singular (you the reader) and to the second person plural (you the readers), depending on the context. When used by Westerners it most commonly is used in the second person singular. That is unless you come from the South where we speak clearly to "you" or to "y'all" depending on the context.

However, in communal cultures, such as the culture during the time of Jesus, it most commonly refers to second person plural unless clearly otherwise in the context.

"So what" you ask? Good question.

Throughout the New Testament instructions and commands are often given to "you" which you and I read as to one person (Sherman in my case) when the hearers of that day would have heard as y'all. I believe this misunderstanding has led us to put more emphasis on the individual which has created a false assumption about our responsibilities as followers of Jesus. We assume that we as individuals are responsible to Jesus' Mission, or, the Pastor, as an individual, is responsible for the Church. We dilute the effort of the Church and minimize the contribution of the individual when we attempt to place specific responsibilities on a person rather than the people of the Church. Two passages from the Acts of the Apostles will illustrate.

Acts 1:7-10 records the ascension of Jesus. Just before He is lifted away He has one final instruction to reiterate. That He chose this one over so many others shows its ultimate importance. He could have reminded us of the love we are to have for each other, or, the need to live holy lives, but, he chose to say;

“It is not for you [all] to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you [all] will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you [all]; and you [all] will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Got it? The Great Commission was not given to individuals but to the gathered who were about to become the Church. Luke got it. Following Peter's message Luke records these words:

"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" Acts 2:42-47.

To make a long lecture a little less long I will summarize:

Y'all be witnesses together, Y'all decide how to do that best in your cultural setting, Y'all do it to direct people to Jesus, and Jesus will do the saving. The Church, not the individual, is God's tool for directing people to Himself through Jesus.

We can hang out together or we can get hung up separately - the former is God's "normal" and the latter is our "natural."

You are really lucky - you get to go to boarding school.

I was ten when my Mom and Dad decided the best course of action for my education was to place me in boarding school. Our family had been in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia) for six months starting a new mission work in the south eastern part of the country while living some 200 miles from that site with New Zealand missionaries. I had been able to attend school with their children locally but now we were moving. I don't remember being concerned that I was not included in the discussion. I assumed my parents had my best interest at heart and went along with all the change entailed. Until:

I remember the day and half trip from Mashoko Mission to Bulawayo interrupted by a shopping spree for my uniform which included a blazer and tie I was expected to wear every day. On the day my Dad took me to Hillside Boarding School I remember being nervous and it must have shown. As we pulled up to the school Dad looked at me and said, "You are really lucky - you get to go to boarding school. Do you know how many of your friends would have liked to be away from their parents as well?" Then we laughed and I my nervousness changed to eagerness. 

Those are still three of the best years of my life. I reveled in the sense of adventure that came almost everyday. How different it would have been had Dad not properly prepared me. How different it would have been if I had not daily felt the love of my parents to that point. How different it would have been had he said, "Thanks for sacrificing yourself for the good of the work."

When Paul writes in Romans 5:3-5, "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." we can say, "I am really lucky - I get to sacrifice for Jesus."

How to get from here to there

I am one of those men who asks for directions. There I said it. I am not particularly proud of it but I have always preferred to ask than to wander - well, most of the time. There was that time in Athens while walking to the Parthenon I took Judi on a walking tour of the city saying every 30 minutes or so, "It can't be that far - I can see it from here." Other than that...

I have, however, found that asking for directions can be almost as frustrating as just striking out in hopes of landing on the right spot. There is an old farmer's story of a salesman who was trying to find a particular farm in the hills of Kentucky. Seeing a farmer standing beside his tractor next to the road he stopped to ask for directions. 

"Well, turn around and head back about 1 mile to the Topper Store and turn left. Then watch for a barn with checkered roofing cause in a little bit you'll come on to dirt road on your left - take the next left..." After five minutes of directions the salesman headed out only to end up back at the same tractor with the same farmer 30 minutes later. Frustrated he called out, "I followed your directions exactly and still ended up back here."

That's good cause I wasn't gonna go to the trouble of telling you where to go till I was sure you could follow directions."

There is something exhilarating about just starting out to see where we end up, but, if we have a particular destination in mind it is good directions we will need.

You and I want to see more people who do not follow Jesus choose to follow him. For that to happen we are going to have to follow some basic directions. 

We must agree the church is God's tool for directing them:

"His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord" Ephesians 3:10-11.

"So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" Ephesians 4:11-13.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" Ephesians 3:20-21.

There is a lot more in Ephesians directing the church in its primary mission I recommend it as of first importance.

I was one of the lucky ones

.I knew who I wanted to marry the moment I met her, however, I was pretty sure (OK positive) she would not have anything to do with me. Talk about above my pay grade! She was beautiful, had a great voice, was a knock out, could hold her own in an argument about Paul's misogamist leanings, what a looker, and she had made a decision to serve overseas (the Peace Corps). Did I mention her eyes?

We met during a week my family lead the missions section of the VBS at her church so when she showed up at my school that Fall as one of the College group from the church she was attending while studying at Ohio University I felt blessed. Really! Then she asked me to show her around - me! After a half hour of non-stop from me on the school, town, family she suddenly stopped me and said, "If you don't kiss me I am going to go crazy!" 

For a minute I thought I had said what I was thinking out loud. Then I realized it was her - talking to me. Well, the rest is in the history books, but, I will never forget how incredibly honored and awed I felt when she selected me to be stand next to her. Still do. It is what picks me up when I am down, shores me up when I am low, and warms my heart when it turns cold.

I tell this story to remind myself how I felt the first time I really heard Jesus say, "I love you; the real you; the you you try to hide from everyone else. I love you and have loved you before you even cared if I loved you."

There is no feeling that comes close to revealing our debt of gratitude to Him for saying that to each and everyone one of us. When life trips us, buries us in minutia, batters us with conflict the only force to pick us up and move us forward is this promise from Paul, "The love of Christ constrains us..." (2 Corinthians 5:14).