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A New World Order

October 5, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Wow that sounds like a Star Wars image or something a bit sci-fi doesn’t it? The idea of a new world order is kind of strange to say the least. It’s scary to some and exciting to others. For most it’s future oriented although in some people’s minds it’s sooner than we might want. But rarely do we consider a new world order a present reality or even an old world reality, but that’s kind of my perspective.

Ok so let’s be a tad less cryptic here. I think the life of the follower of Jesus should be, although often isn’t, an example of a new world order. Jesus peppers the New Testament with references to this new world order. They’re everywhere in the gospel accounts. Admittedly, Jesus doesn’t call it the new world order but that’s what it is. Jesus uses the phrase Kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven. This in many people’s minds is a new world order that one day will be a reality.

Unfortunately this is a short sighted view of what Jesus is actually talking about when he references the Kingdom of God. Jesus doesn’t use the phrase Kingdom of God in the future tense. He doesn’t say that it one day will be here. Instead when Jesus refers to the Kingdom of God, he does so in the present tense, as if it’s already here? How can this be? How can this Kingdom of God thing be here when life looks the way it does? Can this new world order be a present day reality?

It seems that’s the way Jesus was teaching. He was trying to get the people of his day to see the potential to have a different kind of life than they were living. The Jewish nation knew hardship, but Jesus wanted them to see beyond the hardship to the life God desired for them. From captivity to exile to enslavement to living under the thumb of oppressive rulers these people knew what it meant to have a bad day! They wanted out of this way of life pretty much at all costs.

Enter Jesus saying The kingdom of God is at hand. That didn’t mean it was around the corner or coming tomorrow. It meant that it was within reach. And to be honest it still is within reach. The Kingdom of God is ours today just as much as it was theirs when Jesus first uttered the words. But they, and we, have a problem. We don’t believe it, or at best don’t live like it.

The people of Jesus’ day complained more about the bad than they claimed the kingdom realities in their lives. Jesus was telling the Jews of his day that a new kingdom, new world order, had made its way into their lives already. That new world order was far more than a religious approach to life. As a matter of fact, and we’ll address this in a future post, Jesus didn’t enter the scene as a religious leader necessarily. He was addressing far more than mere church membership and attendance. He was driving at the heart of humanity from a political, economic, health care, environmental, friendship, family, society level.

The new world order is here. The kingdom is here. The kingdom was just as present in World War II Germany as it was Jesus’ day. This kingdom was there when the towers fell and when covid rampaged the world. It was there when your political party won or lost. It was there when the hurricane flooded much of Florida. It was there when your loved one fought through their final moments with cancer. It was there when your spouse chose someone/something else over you. It was there when your child rebelled. It was there when your church had to close. It was there when you lost your job.

The kingdom of God, aka new world order, isn’t about getting the good things right now. It’s about living a different way regardless of how things go right now. Jesus was far more concerned about how we treat the poor and disenfranchise than how much is in our bank accounts. He cared more about the orphan and the widow than preserving the freedoms of the Israelites. The kingdom of God is less about you and me and more about the people with whom we interact daily.

You see the long and short is the Kingdom of God is already here. It is a new world order. Not one built with power and prestige and centralized rulers, but with service, love and humility. It’s time that we start living the realities of this New World Order, and there’s no better time to start than today.

Like Talking To A Brick Wall!

September 16, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Parenting is often like herding cats or trying to wrestle a greased pig. NO I’m not calling your child a household, wild or farm animal! But as a parent it’s easy to find yourself beating your head against a wall at times because you’re just not understanding your child’s needs, desires and heart.

I subscribe to several email newsletters and admittedly most of them are junk. But from time to time, I’ll come across a nugget that is worth sharing. Sometimes that nugget is simply forwarded to a friend or colleague, but today that nugget is the foundation of this brick wall message. Your child can be a brick wall at times. But what if I told you that there was a way to understand the way your child hears allowing you to better communicate with him or her?

The newsletter is from a group called Parent Cue. Some of there stuff is really helpful. As a matter of fact, we have a set of books from them on the shelves at the church I serve as pastor. They operate under the assumption that there are stages in a child’s life that they call phases. These phases are based on age and do make some assumptions but largely these hold true across the board.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the phases and a very brief summary on how to communicate in each phase. The goal is to help you stop hitting your head against the wall!

Preschool Phase

This phase is exactly what you’d expect – the time when your child is before or in preschool. The markers of this phase are all things learning. A child in this phase is learning what he or she can do. They’re testing the boundaries of who loves them, what love is and trying to figure out what happiness and sadness mean. Everything is new to them so be a place where they can come for safety. Help them feel loved and let them feel free to show who they are and be emotional. My favorite phrase suck it up buttercup won’t work well in this phase!

Look I get it. In this phase your child will make mountains out of every obstacle. They’ll cry when something doesn’t go their way. But be patient and understanding. Help them see that tears are ok, sadness has its place and frustration is at times appropriate. But help them navigate these feelings with words. Show them how to feel sad, happy, angry, worried with words instead of explosions of emotional hurricanes.

Elementary School Phase

Yep another easy one. Actually, these phases aren’t really rocket science in their naming. And most of us who’ve been parents for a while will see the communication strategies for each phase and think this is silly talk. But when you’re in the midst of a crying tantrum or exploding teenage emotion box you might not have access to reasonable communication. It’s best to have these on standby at all times.

The elementary school phase deals with our children as they navigate the challenges of growing up. They’ve learned a lot already and like little sponges will continue to develop and soak up everything around them for these years. But for these years you’ll need to know that approval and attention mean the world! Now the challenge is who will give them the attention they need.

At first you will be their hero, but quickly in this phase you’ll see that their peers and even their bullies will holder a louder voice in their lives than you do. Your child in this phase will start to compare herself to her friends. He’ll want everything his buddies have. When talking to your child in this phase, use a calm and quieter voice. Be on their level…literally. Don’t stand over them and talk down to them. Instead crouch down to talk to them at their eye level. Another really important part of this phase, that I am not great at by the way, is positive reinforcement. Praise them for getting things right. Remember a lot of what they’re doing is somewhat new to them. The world is a hard place so be the safe haven they need! Be your child’s biggest cheerleader and let them know it!

Middle School Phase

In middle school your child will become a bit of a stranger to you. A friend once said that it’s in the teenage years that it appears as of aliens have taken over our children’s bodies. If you’ve never had a middle schooler, you’re in for a treat! And I don’t mean that as bad as it probably sounds either. Parenting a middle schooler is going to be a challenge but not impossible by any means. It’s a largely rewarding experience actually.

A middle schooler is all about testing boundaries and bucking authority, and since you’ve been the number one authority in their lives until now you’re the one they’re disagreeing with the most. But it’s not just you they are questioning. As a matter of fact they are second guessing everything in their lives, including where and with whom they fit in.

In this phase your child will likely not be as talkative as she once was. He won’t tell you everything that’s going on in life. You might have to coax some thoughts and conversations out of your child in this phase. This is a great phase for mentors to be introduced into your child’s life. Surround them with people who will bring a good, and if you’re a follower of Jesus, godly voice. You want to give them space but also be the safe place for them as well.

High School Phase

By the time your child hits this phase you’re either ready to throw in the towel or throw a party for yourself that you made it, or maybe both depending on the day. Your high schooler will be exerting a ton of independence, and if not they need to be. You don’t want your child to grow into an adult who can’t adult without you around. Cherish all of the moments you have with your child because this phase quickly transitions to the most emotional phase of parenting.

Your child here is looking for purpose, direction and trying to answer the age old question what am I going to do with the rest of my life. Don’t add pressure in this one. Don’t make your child be the high school star you weren’t or follow in your all American jock footsteps. Your child is not a younger version of you. They are their own person. A young man or woman who will become something potentially far different than you. And that’s perfectly fine!

A huge shift has happened in your parenting from the preschool days to now. They once needed someone to trust, and while that’s still true, the most important thing for them at this phase is that you trust them. Show them that you trust them. They need to know that you’re listening and that in spite of their dumb choices and at times inappropriate actions you still love them.

You will want to remind your child in this phase that while they are soon to transition away from home living they always have a place to call home. This is hugely important. When my wife and I moved to a our new to us home, we decided on a home that had enough space that our children could come back anytime they wanted/needed.

Ok so these are four of the key phases that cover much of the life you’ll experience as a parent. As your child is now back in school and navigating the struggles of friends, teachers, classes, homework, college prep, potty training, throwing sand in the sandbox or being bullied in the halls – your child needs your unconditional love, endless support, and verbal accolades. You only get one shot at this. Don’t miss even one opportunity to love on your child. They fly the nest before you even realize it.

Wrong way

September 15, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I can be a bit of a critic from time to time when it comes to the church. It’s not that I like to point out the wrong things or that I think the church is doing everything wrong. It’s kind of like working out. If we’re going to do it, we better do it right or else we’ll either hurt ourselves or someone else in the process. I think a lot of what happens in the church at its worst is hurting the view of the church in the world, it’s neglecting the community into which the church has been placed or at best it’s just a colossal waste of time.

There’s a word that is used in church settings a lot that is so misunderstood and misapplied. It’s the word discipleship or disciple. It is so aggravating when we, as church people, spin that word as if it’s something the pastor alone does or something that happens in a corporate worship service. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Now before you get all freaked out, listen to what I’m actually saying. Discipleship is NOT about going to worship, but a disciple should desire to be part of a worshiping community and participate in the worship life of a local group, often called a church or congregation. And here’s where some of you are going to disagree with me, but I don’t even think discipleship can happen in the context of a large group gathering like a worship service. It has to be in smaller settings, after all this is even how Jesus himself did it. He constantly went away with the 12 or sat with his inner 3. He didn’t spend significant time in the thousands or even hundreds, but he got down into the dark corners of the individual lives. This is discipleship at its core.

I guess it really depends on what your view of discipleship is but from my perspective discipleship is about being transformed into the image of Christ for the sake of others. And if I’m being totally honest, I don’t see a ton of life transformation happening in the lives of those are involved sitting in the pews in public worship service on Sunday mornings. It happens as they engage in bible study, small groups, service to the community, fellowship activities, and faith sharing. The key to discipleship from a biblical perspective is to prepare one another for works of service in the kingdom of God.

Think about it for a minute. How do you disciple someone? Better yet who is the last person you discipled who started discipling someone else? I think for so many in the church today we’ve painted the picture of just bring them to church and pastor will disciple them. This goes directly against what Paul teaches. We’re to equip the saints for works of service not make them rely on the pastor to get the job done.

In my own ministry I’ve fallen into the trap of letting people rely on me to do all the work. It’s exhausting to say the very least. But when we put in the extra effort of making disciples and raising up leaders today, it will free us for a more powerful and effective ministry down the road. I guess what I’m trying to say in a shorter version is that it’s time to stop enabling church people to think the pastor is the one responsible for their faith.

Instead we need to encourage, equip, empower and release people to grow in faith within the community of believers. Encourage them to gather as pairs, triads, small groups, cell groups, home groups, community groups – whatever you call them! The follower of God cannot do the work of God in isolation from the people of God. That’s just not how it works.

So whether you’re a pastor or a church member or a person who’s just trying to find their way in what it means to believe in Jesus. Don’t go it alone. Don’t rely on a pastor to have all the answers. Gather with a few other people who can challenge you. From whom you can learn and grow. Who will help you see where you’re living in congruity with your words and where you’re living in a way inconsistent with what you say. Find people who’s opinions encourage you and at the same time people who are willing to challenge you. This, at its heart, is what the process of discipleship looks like as long as all of it is done with growing in Christ at its core.

There’s no silver bullet. No perfect way prescribed by the bible for how to do much of this. Just best practices of those who’ve gone before us who’ve done it far better than we are today in times that were far more challenging than we’re facing right now. So maybe it’s not that we’re doing it the wrong way but that there might be a better way after all.

I Love Good Jazz

September 5, 2022 / / 0 Comments

If you’ve never listened to jazz music then you’re really missing out. Jazz music isn’t like other forms of music. It’s almost like Jazz music is alive. It’s not bound to a piece of paper. Jazz just has a life of its own.

I remember going to my first jazz club. I was in college, so trying new things was the norm. We left well after dinner time and took the drive into downtown Detroit. It was a neighborhood I probably wouldn’t have normally entered, primarily because it had a bad reputation and I had no real need to go that far into Detroit. But one of my friends was going to play that night so a few of us agreed and off we went. And am I ever glad I went!

Part of my excitement for going was because I’m a trumpet player. Not a great one but I still dabble around with it from time to time. I play music, like the stuff on a piece of paper, with notes that go up and down. It makes sense. There’s a rhythm that’s been predetermined for you. There are a series of notes that rise and fall. There are volume markers to show you when to get louder and when to get softer. These things are there to make sure everyone plays the exact same thing. But that’s not how jazz works. Jazz musicians don’t need this kind of sheet music.

That night that’s exactly what struck me. There wasn’t a sheet of music anywhere in the club. The drummer set a simple rhythmic beat. Discussed a pattern for how they’d approach the piece. Determined the key. Had a few comments about style and flow of the song they were about to play. Then they took off! And man was it the coolest sound I’ve ever heard! It was such a cool jazz sound that it made the room feel like I was floating down a crystal blue river. The whole room was blue like jazz.

Ok so I know this is a weird transition but there’s also a book with the same title as the feeling in that room. Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. And I totally get it, if you haven’t read the book, you’ll think this is a weird name for a book. But the story behind the title is pretty amazing. I’ll do my best to summarize the title and its meaning here along with a quote or two from it that struck me as really good.

The title of the book really reflects what I was experiencing in the club that night. The air was a little foggy with cigarette smoke. I could taste the air. The lights were so dim it was almost dark. The atmosphere, while dark just felt wide open. You could see everyone in the room because there were no walls or dividers to separate you from the other patrons. We were there from all walks of life. Race didn’t matter. Gender didn’t matter. Economic status didn’t matter. Everything just fit in that one context on that one night.

It’s kind of like the way faith is supposed to be. No sheet music to tell you exactly what note to play. There’s a key in which we operate. There’s a rhythm that we match, a rhythm that’s not our own. There’s a smooth, almost silky feel to the way this life is supposed to be lived. Blue Like Jazz captures the openness of that club where we can see one another from all angles. That’s the way life in the kingdom is supposed to be. No hiding behind our embarrassment. No fear of judgement. No manmade divisions meant to break one another down.

One of the things Miller says in the book really caught my attention. If you try hard enough, you can get the things you want most in life. But you better be careful because the things you want most in life just might kill you in the end.

There’s immense freedom in the movement of jazz music. Without sheet music you can go where the beat takes you. You just have to listen to the right beat. In this quote, the author is reminding us that just because we have the freedom to play the notes we desire, it doesn’t mean it’s right or beneficial to play them. Some notes don’t match the song at all.

Faith is so often like this. We embed our ideology into the text of the Bible. We make it say something it never was intended to say. We infuse our wishes and personal lives into the words on the page that was never there to start with. But this is not the way it’s supposed to be. This is not how it’s supposed to be done.

We too can experience a faith that’s Blue Like Jazz if we take our beat from the rhythm of God’s Word. Then all we have to do is play the song using the notes he’s given us, following the patterns and flow embedded in our soul by the Spirit.

Kick back. Take it all in for a minute. I hope you can see and experience a faith that’s a little bit blue like jazz.

Is it time for a facelift?

August 5, 2022 / / 0 Comments

There are things in our lives that we do over and over without much thought. They become so routine that they end up losing meaning over time. This happens in just about every area of life and every industry. The benefit of larger industries is that they typically will staff people to keep them forward thinking, but not always.

One of my many jobs was in the car sales world. That is an industry that has needed a facelift for along time in how business was done. When I entered the sales floor area, the strategy was sell a car. The approach was by any means necessary – ok within some realm of reason. Through my years in that world, we underwent an intention facelift to how we did what we did. Our what and why did not change, but our how needed to change with the times because we quickly realized the methods no longer were effective nor efficient to accomplish our purpose.

Another area that contains practices that need a bit of a facelift are found in the church. Now I’m not getting into a war on worship or bible version or preaching style but something hopefully a lot less controversial. I’m talking about small groups. I have a love-hate relationship with these little monsters.

Small groups are wonderful additions to the life of a church to be certain! But there is always a danger that they become stagnant, slow the mission, and even cause division.

A typical small group

The most typical way a small group happens in most churches today is that a group of people who believe the same thing gather together to have a bible study. They’ll ask some opening questions about life. But essentially it’s time to dive into the bible. They’ll close with a prayer and head home. Most of the small group is generally lead by one person, who normally is the who plays the role of host. But when the group heads home, there isn’t much left to do until they gather again in a week or potentially two.

An alternative to the normal

I’ve been told that I do things a little different and to me that’s just fine. The how isn’t (nor has it ever been) set in stone to my knowledge. The what and the why are significantly more rigid but the how in my understanding should be more flexible.

I have taken the approach with small groups that they can’t be just a small version of what we do on Sunday morning. I mean one person talks. The group listens. We sing. Pray. Then everyone goes home to consider what this means. Then come back next week. It can’t be a wash, rinse, and repeat scenario!

I believe there’s a new direction small groups need to take in our shifting cultural landscape. The approach is to give these groups a purpose beyond themselves. I challenge small groups to have four key components: Community, Prayer, Biblical Equipping, Mission. Each of these four keys is critical to keep the group from being a Jesus social club. And if you’ve never been in a small group that has these four elements, I’m just going to say you’re missing out.

Community isn’t really all that earth shattering. We were created to be in community. God was first disappointed that Adam was alone so he created a community for him. We are designed to live in community with one another. The way we express community in our small group is to eat a meal together. Each meal is designed to let all participants bring something to share. The point isn’t the food really. It’s the community that is established over the meal. We let our defenses down when we eat together. We ask questions and catch up on life. It’s a wonderful way to love our neighbors as ourselves as well, because as we share life together we learn how we can serve one another.

Prayer isn’t really just the whole before a meal and for the sick people kind of prayer. It’s a shared experience of worship. We share the praying responsibility. Each person adding to the prayer as they see fit. Prayer is a form of worship. This is the focus of this time of prayer to focus our lives around the provision and providence of God.

Biblical Equipping is like Bible study on steroids. It’s not just a quick this is what the Bible says kind of thing. It’s looking at a section of the bible and inviting everyone to be part of the discussion. What did you hear? What stands out at you? Where else have you heard this same things in the Bible? If we applied this what would be different? There are a ton of questions we can ask of any Bible section to let the text equip us for works of service and ministry. Which if you’re keeping score here is the task of the church! There is always an application, rubber meets the road kind of approach in the Biblical equipping portion.

Mission is where we rarely get in our typical small groups, but it is absolutely essential! Serve somewhere together. It’s super easy. We’ve cleaned up a neighborhood, prayer walked, folded bulletins at church, set up for an event, provided food to police and fire, adopted a family at Christmas time. The sky is the limit here. The idea is simple. Do something with the faith you claim to have in your Biblical Equipping portion.

The key to all of this is just because it worked 40 years ago doesn’t mean it will work today. Churches talk about reaching new people, well what a better way than through an intentional time of equipping one another for works of service using the Bible!

Just like the car dealership didn’t change its focus when we changed our sale process, so also the church doesn’t change its focus when we shift our how to a new approach. Still selling cars just in a different way. Still growing in Christ together just using a different approach.

Compounding Effort?

August 4, 2022 / / 0 Comments

We’ve all at least heard of compounding interest. Maybe you don’t know what it means or how it works, but I’m sure you’ve heard of the concept. I’m not going to get into all the details on how compounding interest affects you, but the idea is that the interest on one day compounds or adds to the interest the next and so on. You financial people give me a little break here. That’s the best one liner description I could come up with!

So what about effort and what does compounding interest have to do with anything other than money?

Great! I’m so glad you asked! If you take the basics of compounding interest and apply that to other areas of life you’ll see that we can do a lot of great things if we just let all of the effort and ability we have work together. Let me explain using a little churchy terminology.

In the church world we have three T’s we talk about from time to time. They are time, talents, and treasures. Normally we will make it a point to talk about our time and how we use it. Then our talents or abilities and how we use those. And finally our treasures and how we spend, invest and give those away. But how often do we look at them on a compounding scale?

Think about it for a second. When we take our time and use it for one purpose. Then our talents for a different purpose. And finally our treasure to fund or support a similar yet different purpose, how much good can we actually do? It’s like helping 3 different groups a little when we could make a bigger impact if we compounded our effort.

Imagine instead seeing a specific ministry of the local church and diving into that ministry fully. I mean using your time, talent and treasures all in the same place. Not only do you give of your dollars to support that ministry, but you also volunteer serving others through that very same ministry. And to add to it, you have a unique (or not so unique but still needed) skill that you use in your volunteering to accomplish something in that very same ministry.

Essentially you just more than tripled your gift to that ministry! It’s like the difference between giving $50 to 3 organizations or giving $150 to one. Your gift makes a much larger impact when you compound it.

So whether you’re a church kind of person or not, consider how you can compound your effect. Think where you’re spending your time, ability and money. Are they all lined up in the same direction? How can you have a bigger impact by realigning your priorities?

In short layering our giving with our volunteering and the use of our skills can have an exponentially larger impact!

Where Did They Go?

August 1, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I’ll be the first to admit it. It can be a tad irritating at times. Some people have seemingly fallen off the map in the past couple of years. I wonder frequently where did “so and so” go? But I wonder if that’s the best take on things…

So before I get too far into this, let me reassure you that this is in no way a slam on anyone who’s moved on. It’s not about any one person in particular actually. And this is not about the person who hasn’t reconnected yet either. This is about those who seem to focus more on the one(s) who’ve gone and not returned than we focus on the one(s) who are right there with us still.

I have the opportunity in my job to work with a lot of churches, but this doesn’t only apply to churches! One common thread in many of my conversations with pastors and church leaders revolves around those people who left during the uncertainty of the pandemic and just haven’t returned. It’s a condition that many institutions and groups are facing actually. Once active and heavily engaged individuals just disappearing without so much as an email, phone call or text message.

It’s hard to see this for anyone and even worse when some of these people who’ve just flat vanished are close friends. But I have a feeling our focus in this whole situation is a bit off.

I was talking with a church recently about this very issue. Where have they gone? Why are they not back yet? We need to get them to reconnect. How do we do attract them to come back again?

While I totally understand this way of thinking. And I’ve even thought it myself a few times, this is not the healthiest or even most beneficial way of thinking. I’m curious have we started to focus so much on the ones who are not back that we’ve disregarded the ones who are right there in front of us?

I fear the answer to this question is yes. I believe that our desire to have these missing faces back and re-engaged in the group has caused us to neglect and even ignore those who are willing, able and ready to serve.

Specifically to church leaders: if you want to re-engage those who’ve walked away start with the ones who are still involved. Get them excited about ministry. Share the work of the church with them. The Bible tells us that we’re supposed to equip the saints for works of ministry. But all too often we gather them together and make them watch us do ministry then complain when they leave because they’re bored.

In one of the many books I’ve read recently, I found a principle for moving an organization or group of people. I think it was in the book Tipping Point, but can’t be certain. The idea is basically that focusing on the late adopters (or those who’ve disconnected and refuse to reconnect) is fruitless, painful and exhausting. It yields very little by way of positive results. The author suggests to pour into the ones who are early to middle adopters, those who are right there already doing the work or at minimum watching it being done.

When these current workers and watchers get going and get excited, there will be a trickle down effect to the rest of the organization. So the long and short is that it’s not bad to miss those who’ve gone, but they can’t be the focus. If we focus on those who are right there with us even half as much as we do those who are gone, we’d be shocked how exciting life in any organization can truly be.

What’s Our Purpose?

July 25, 2022 / / 0 Comments

It’s really no secret what I do for a living. I’m a pastor of a church in a small town in north central Ohio. As a pastor I’ve seen many amazing and wonderful things, witnessed significant challenges, walked with people through some dark moments, sat with people in their sadness, challenged people when their witness and lifestyle weren’t matching one another and lost some friends in the process. But with all of these seemingly varied activities with the wide range of emotions attached to them, what are we really here to do anyway? What is the purpose for our calling?

As followers of Jesus, as churches, and as gatherings of Christians what is our end goal?

I feel that for many in this world, the end goal has shifted and we’ve started to major in the minors so to speak. This means that we’ve made a big deal out of little things and a lesser deal out of bigger things. What follows is my honest, heartfelt assessment of some of the things we are missing the point on altogether.

One of my favorite things that Jesus never said but we pretend he did is spur one another on toward perfect attendance and passive observation.

When speaking of why the church exists and what we’re supposed to do as we gather, the Bible teaches that we’re to spur one another on toward love and good works not worship attendance. Jesus is far more concerned with how we live out what we say than he is how often we sit in our assigned seat at church. But for so many churches it seems as if we care more about how many are seated and less about how many are sent (more on that later).

The emphasis of the church should be to equip the saints, that’s the believers gathered, for works of service. But how often does that really happen? When we care more about attendance than actual participation and ownership of ministry life, we do a grave disservice to the gospel. If we’re truly supposed to spur one another on toward love and good works and to equip one another for works of service, then we have a long way to go.

These things really don’t take place in the corporate worship setting. Now, as I say often, don’t get your undies in a bunch! I am in NO way saying to throw corporate worship out the window. What I am saying is that we can’t put all of our proverbial eggs in the worship basket. And that seems exactly what the church is doing more and more of lately. So shifting our thinking from mere gathering to actually engaging in works of ministry together is critical as we move through some unsettled times in church history. But how do we do that?

One of those silly church cliches is that we need to focus more on sending capacity and less on seating capacity. But no matter how cheesy that is, there is massive truth in it! The more we focus on numbers in worship and who’s here and who isn’t here, the less we see what Jesus really called us to be. And the less we see what he is already doing in our midst.

Now don’t use this as a license to not participate in worship! The Bible also says that we should want to come and worship. We should not neglect coming together! As a matter of fact the more we grow in our service and sending natures, the more powerful our desire to be in worship. And the more we really are present in worship, the more desire we have to be serving and being sent. It’s a cool cycle where one feeds the other. Not being a part of a worship gathering is the result of not being sold out on the heart of being a follower of Jesus. And not allowing yourself to be sent out is a result of not being transformed by the message of Scripture.

We must have both and approach to ministry together. We need to meet together. So invite one another to join for worship, bible study, small groups, fellowship gatherings, outings of all sorts! But don’t stop there…take those worship moments, bible study or small groups and do acts of service. Encourage one another in how they serve. Move one another out of their comfort zones to do something significant in someone’s life that forces them to rely on God.

What’s our purpose? Sure our purpose is to worship, but it’s so much more than that. If all we do is worship, we miss a huge part of what it means to be the body of Christ! If all we do is serve, we miss what it means to find real rest and healing at the feet of Jesus. We need both!

The Missing Generation?

July 21, 2022 / / 0 Comments

So there’s this thing that’s making the rounds in the church world that there is a whole generation of young people that are missing out on something in the church. I think that’s kind of bogus, but I guess you can believe what you want on that topic. If you stick around for a few minutes here I’d like to explain why I think this metric is bunk and what we can do to change the perception a bit.

For starters I wonder if we’re looking at things wrongly? I mean what qualifies a missing generation? Does it mean no one from that generation is at all engaged? Does it mean they’re not in worship? Has this generation told us they want nothing to do with us? And really the important question in my mind is are they really missing or are we just missing them?

You see the problem, as I see it, isn’t that they’re missing. These high school, college and post college young people aren’t necessarily absent from the ways of Jesus. They’re just not in our buildings the way we would hope. They don’t function like previous generations functioned. But is that really a bad thing?

I’ve talked in many settings before about our metrics being off and measuring things that really aren’t the best sets of measurements. What if we’re seeing an entire generation actually care more about doing the things of Jesus instead of sitting around and only learning about the ways of Jesus?

What I’ve experienced in my context is that these younger generations aren’t really all that caught up in sitting for 60-75 minutes to hear someone spout off cool ideals about Jesus only to go home. And the way our current system is designed, that’s pretty much what a Sunday morning feels like to some. The congregation is for the majority passively observing. There’s little room for engagement around the truths of Jesus. Then we send people home to figure it out or live your life so you can come back next week for another shot in the arm of our tradition and teachings.

Can we shift our focus? Is it possible to remain true to our understanding of the Bible along with our confessional practices and move from doing ministry to this generation to doing ministry with this generation. It’s all about including them in the works of ministry. And yes it’s actually biblical!

The idea that we are to curate believers who passively sit and watch a show on a Sunday is not only off-putting but frankly it has no grounding in scripture whatsoever! The early church was dynamic and moving. It was about gathering to learn and grow and be challenged just as much as it was about going out to love and serve and give to our neighbors in need. We talk a big game but when it comes to actually putting our boots on the ground, we get a little lazy to put it mildly.

I really believe we need to shift our thinking from merely counting people in attendance to including them in acts of ministry for the sake of the world around us. When we do this, we’ll realize that this generation is not lost after-all. As a matter of fact, they’re likely doing this stuff without us at best. But even at worst they’re sitting back waiting for us to do something of some relevance to the people we say we are to love in Jesus’ name.

Now don’t get all freaked out about the word relevance. The gospel is relevant. Jesus is relevant. Nothing we can do will change that at all. But the church as an institution and even as a people have become less relevant because it sure appears all we care about sometimes are boards, budgets and butts in seats.

You want to find the lost generation? Do something that serves, loves and gives to the marginalized in your community and you’re guaranteed to find them, hiding in plain sight, where we’ve refused to look.

Moving The Sticks

June 7, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I’m one of those people who thinks in pictures. So you say cookie and I picture a homemade chocolate chip cookie. You say truck and I picture the truck I currently drive, no matter what exact truck you’re referring to! Knowing how my mind works, I thought I’d share some things to consider when we talk about discipleship and why we do it.

The image in my head…

I love football. Not the whole national, professional kind of football but what I consider the good old college kind of hard hitting, forcing the ball down the field kind of football. There are a few things about football that just about everyone knows. There are lines that mark what is in bounds and what is out of bounds. There is a goal line. There are hash marks to help position the ball on the field and to help each team know how far they need to go in order to move the sticks. This is what some people call getting a first down. If you’re not a football fan, I’m sorry this illustration will likely be lost on you.

How do we move the sticks in the Christian church? Now I’m not talking about the institutional church that revolves around a building with a steeple and an hour or so once a week. The church to which I’m referring consists of the people who together have one confession of faith. The church is less the thing we do and more the people we are. It is less a time or space and more an act of gathering and doing life together.

With this understanding of church, how do we move the sticks? How do we know when we’re doing what we’re called to do? The illustration of moving the sticks is about moving forward and going in the right direction. How do we know if the church is moving in the right direction? And making any kind of positive progress while doing it?

Simply put the church that moves in the right direction will be making disciples. They will have proper worship and will do the things that are marks of the church. But the forward momentum of the church isn’t measured in worship, attendance, giving, or many of the butts in the seats kind of measures we typically use. According to the Bible, the forward momentum of the church is measured by how disciples are made.

This is why discipleship is so very important in the life of the church. If churches are not making disciples, then they’re not doing the one thing Jesus told us to be doing. I think we stop making disciples because we have a hard time measuring what a disciple is. We don’t have a 12 step program for making disciples. So we tend to measure things that we can measure like worship attendance and how strictly one adheres to a set standard of tradition. But moving the sticks as a church, so to speak, happens when we help people move from mere observers in their faith lives to men and women who own their faith.

Moving the sticks for the church isn’t about growing a local church or even enlarging the church budget, but it’s about working with men and women who believe in Jesus. It’s about helping them see the depth and breadth and width of Jesus’ love for them in their everyday lives.

The end goal stays the same, living in eternity with Jesus. But the markers along the road as we get there are the making of disciples. We took time to define what a disciple is here. And how disciples gather here. One of the keys to achieving anything is knowing you’re on the right track. And that happens best by checking your progress against some form of measuring stick. As institutional churches live out their calling of teaching and preaching the truth of Jesus, administering the sacraments rightly and gathering for public worship that glorifies God, we are called to do something bigger and more impactful for the men and women who gather in our buildings.

Discipleship isn’t a fad or a good idea. It’s actually what God commanded in the Bible. Jesus even gives us a great picture of what discipleship looks like. Discipleship is not a program that we funnel everyone through. We’ll discuss the fallacy of discipleship funnel in a future post, but for now this is not a time to create a program or add a staff person. Discipleship is critical because it’s the way Jesus grew His ministry. It’s critical because He commanded it. It’s critical because it’s the way Jesus continues to bless highly.

Long and short, the best way to move the sticks and measure our advancement as churches in the world isn’t found in more people in worship or larger budgets or additional programs. The way we move the sticks is by making disciples who make disciples.

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