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Tag: discipleship (Page 8 of 21)

Learning From The Master

January 5, 2024 / / 0 Comments

As we wrapped up 2023, I took a few of these posts to define Discipleship and discuss what Discipleship was not. Then we looked at the qualifications for being a disciple.

Now that we’ve turned the page on the calendar and have opened up a brand new year of possibilities, it’s time to dig in a little deeper into this idea of discipleship and spiritual formation. This will hopefully be the Friday rhythm for 2024 (only time will tell how well I hold to this schedule).

If we’re going to get started getting serious about discipleship, then we should probably start by taking a look at the master. I mean after all, the only way to be great at something is to follow the one who was the best at it. Right?

And since I’m a pastor and the whole topic of discipleship is a biblical one, you probably already guessed who the master is. But for those of you who are a bit late to the party, his name is Jesus. He kind of wrote the book on discipleship. Literally.

So Jesus was a real guy, very few people argue about that one. And for those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus, we believe that he was also the Son of God. There’s also some pretty stark evidence to that fact as well. Regardless of what you believe about Jesus, pretty much everyone can agree that he had a pretty stellar way of doing life. I mean, if he wasn’t the Son of God and yet got thousands of people to follow him, then he’s probably pretty good at getting people on board with his way of thinking.

How did he do it? I mean, the whole discipleship thing. Remember the definition I work with is that Discipleship is the process of being transformed into the image of Christ for the sake of others. With that in mind, how did Jesus get the people of his day to actually follow him closely enough to want to do what he did.

Think about the story in the Bible of Jesus walking on the water. He’s out there for a nice evening stroll across the water by himself. His disciples are in the boat trying to get through the head wind, when one of them sees him. Not knowing what was going on and realizing that water walking was not a normal part of life, they kind of freaked out. Then Peter, the kind of rash one, asked Jesus to call him to the water.

Wait! Did you hear that? If it’s you, Jesus, call me to come to you. What would make a man who knows how water works, want to attempt to walk on water? He probably didn’t have the class on the idea of buoyancy, but he still knew that people did not walk on water. So why?

It’s the discipleship done the Jesus way. He didn’t coerce people to follow him. He didn’t bait and switch them. He didn’t try to sell them on anything fancy. He just said Come. Follow me. That’s it.

I think a huge part of discipleship the Jesus way, is about authenticity and integrity. These two words really go hand in hand and will likely make it to the word of the week post in the near future. The long and short of these two ideas is that he was real. He was the same in public and in private. And the disciples saw that. The men and women of his day saw that. And they were attracted to the realism of that way of life. There are plenty of fakes out there, so it makes sense to want to model your life after someone who is real.

The other part of it was that Jesus cared. So much of our discipleship ideology in today’s church culture is about classes and rituals. Not so much with Jesus. He wanted people to know how much he cared. He did it by being where the people were. Getting his hands dirty. Serving the people no one wanted to serve.

If we’re going to learn from the Master and do discipleship the Jesus way, then we need to start with knowing who we are and actually caring about the people in the world around us. If we start with caring, and I mean genuinely caring, then we’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of where we are now. By the way, genuinely caring means we don’t just say we care. It means we do something with that care and compassion. That’s a great start at discipleship the Jesus way.

A new weekly rhythm

January 4, 2024 / / 1 Comment

This year I’m trying to be more intentional about my writing. Some have said they enjoy having a place to disconnect from the stuff of life, so enjoy. Part of this new rhythm of writing intentionality will hopefully include a weekly devotion. We’ll cover all sorts of devotion-y topics. Things like prayer and bible study and transformation and who knows what. It’s still early in the year! Today though we talk prayer.

We’ll call this devotional thought Unleashing the power of prayer. Wow the title just sounds cool doesn’t it!?

I have a quilt in my house that my grandma started to make for my wife and I before we got married. Since she died before I got married, my wife’s grandma finished it. It’s a pretty cool gift that we don’t really use because I don’t want it to get ruined.

If you’ve ever looked at a quilt, you know there are patches of fabric sewn together to form a cool tapestry of shapes and colors. If we were to imagine our lives to be a tapestry like this, we would see that prayer is the thread that holds it all together. Weaving into this piece and out of that one, the prayers of our lives tie all the sorted and disjointed pieces into one beautiful whole. Often though the prayers go unseen and forgotten.

The power of our prayers isn’t in the cool words we use or the big theological terms. We don’t need to quote a bunch of bible verses or shout really loud. God’s actually close than you think and he does not have a hearing problem.

The power of prayer is found in the little pieces of our lives that we bring and the one to whom we bring them. Prayer is a sacred conversation with the God of the universe. (no not a conversation with the universe but the one who made the universe – big distinction!)

Matthew 21:21-22 in a paraphrased way say If you have faith and do not doubt, whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive. This is huge! First of all it’s not saying you’ll get a new car if you just pray hard enough. It’s saying that if you have faith in God and don’t doubt the power found in Jesus, then you’ll pray for the right things and you’ll see those things come about.

The power of prayer is a pretty cool thing that we often overlook. We tuck prayer away as that thing we do when we have a big test coming up, or before we go in for surgery. We have no problem praying when the car is sliding out of control on icy roads. We don’t even mind saying a quick “atta boy Jesus” when we score the game winning touchdown.

But the power of prayer isn’t found as much in the touchdown Jesus moments, good scores on test or everything going perfect days. The power of prayer is best experienced in the regularity of the everyday. We find it in the ugh it’s Monday again moments in life.

So grab the quilt of your life, all the little pieces, no matter how torn or tattered. Bring them to God in prayer. Let him be the golden thread that binds your patchwork life together into a beautiful tapestry of faith. That’s how we can experience the power of prayer.

Intentionality

January 3, 2024 / / 1 Comment

Accidents happen. I know that. Some accidents are pretty destructive. I remember getting a call one day that someone in my family was in an accident. I rushed to make sure everyone was ok. And sure enough all humans were fine, but the car…not so much. Accidents, in many cases, result in something getting broken, damaged, or disrupted.

But there are some things in life that are happy accidents. These are the kinds of things that happen accidentally and still end up leaving you better off than had they not happened. You leave late for work and end up just missing a crash at the end of your road. You drop something on the floor in your bedroom. And when you bend over to pick it up, you find the ring that you lost weeks ago.

Accidents come in all shapes and sizes. Some are good. Some not so good. And some downright terrible. But rarely does something get built by accident. Rarely do we make massive improvements without some form of a plan. Enter today’s word: intentionality.

Intentionality, by definition, means the fact or quality of being done on purpose or with intent.

That’s well and good but let’s simplify that a bit. Intentionality is doing something on purpose, in a manner that’s well thought out. Risks are calculated. Losses evaluated. Plan established. Steps mapped out. ON purpose. NOT on accident.

As we start a new year, many people are going to write some goals for 2024. Lose weight. Run longer distances. Save more money. Pay off debt. Eat healthier. Get an advanced degree. Graduate. Whatever the goal, or resolution, you’re not going to do this accidentally. You need some form of intentional plan to make it happen.

Let’s take lose weight as an example. You can’t just wake up one morning and say Today’s the day. I’m going to lose 25 pounds. Gain muscle mass. Lessen my waist size by 2 inches. Then expect the fat to magically melt away. You need some form of a plan and you have to be intentional about it!

You need to find a gym or get some workout gear. You need to dump the Doritos out and replace them with something that grows out of the ground, like celery. (By the way, just typing that sounds gross!) You need to get some workout clothes. Maybe talk to a friend who knows exercise or get a personal trainer or at least watch a YouTube video. You need to set an alarm to get up a little earlier. You should probably block off time on your calendar so nothing gets in the way. A menu plan should be created to make meal prepping a little easier. Packing up some healthy, grab and go kind of snacks will make this more of a reality as well.

You see it takes intentionality. You have to make a plan and set it in motion. Having a friend to hold you accountable is probably a really good idea. I know for myself, there are mornings I just don’t want to get out of bed to go workout. I mean I live 30 minutes from the gym. But I have a friend I meet there and I know if I don’t show up I leave him high and dry.

It’s not just with New Year’s resolutions though that we need to be intentional. It’s the same thing with our personal and professional development. Things don’t just happen accidentally. We need to be intentional.

As a pastor, I meet a lot of people who treat their faith like a happy accident waiting to happen. It’s like they think showing up for worship on a Sunday will get just enough Jesus on them to get them out of a bind. But that’s not how it works. You need to be intentional.

Story after story in the Bible shows us that our faith grows by being intentional. People have to take time to read what God says in the Bible before they can hear what he tells them in answers to prayers.

The same is true in leadership. We can’t lead accidentally. We need to be intentional. We need to make plans and do our best to stick to them, or communicate changes as they need to be made so people can keep following.

Intentionality is a massively powerful tool that everyone needs in their toolbox. You can’t oops I did it again your way through life. And yes that reference is for all of you pop music fans from the early 2000s.

The long and short here is take time to be intentional. Slow down. Map out the plan. Set some benchmarks. Bring in someone to hold you accountable. It may cost you some extra time, effort, or money now, but in the long run it will benefit you more than you can realize.

What Do You Do?

January 2, 2024 / / 2 Comments

This is one of my least favorite questions ever. Inevitably I get asked this question by someone I’ve recently met or with whom I’m just getting a relationship built. And as soon as this question is answered, the conversation stops. I mean the conversation stops as abruptly as a car hitting a brick wall.

Part of the reason is my title. Some people have the title of CEO and it sounds all spicy and cool. Others have Officer or Engineer or Lead something or another. But my title is scary for some people. What do you do? I’m a pastor.

Insert the sound of a car screeching its tires coming to a stop.

The next thing that happens is one of three options. The least likely is for the person to say something like Oh that’s super cool! I’ve always wanted to know a pastor. Admittedly, this one is so unlikely that it’s never actually happened! But I guess it always could?

The next potential reaction would be for the conversation to just stop and the person to act like I no longer exist. This has actually happened a couple of times. It’s almost as if we’re having a great conversation. They find out I’m a pastor, and then I disappear. It’s like I vanish from their midst and they go on to something else like I’ve been transported through some wormhole into a different dimension of time and space. It’s a very uncomfortable feeling.

The most common reaction I get is Oh wow I’m sorry! As weird as this sounds, it always gives me a chuckle. You’re sorry? Really? For what? It’s not like someone held a gun to my head and told me to be a pastor or else. Actually I had a few people who tried to convince me to do something different with my life. What this question actually means however is Oh crap! I’m so sorry! I know I said something that probably offended you and now you’re going to say some magical phrase that’s going to get me banished to hell forever. Or something close to that anyway.

I think the problem is that people, and by people I mean those not connected to a church and those connected to a church, really don’t know what it means for a person to be a pastor. I don’t intend for that to be demeaning toward people by any means. It’s just most people have a pretty limited view of what a pastor does.

I’m the backside of many of those must be nice to only work one day a week kind of jokes. And yes I do know they are joking. But I also think it does show that many people, again both inside and outside of the church, don’t really know what it is that I do.

What do you do? Ok so let’s hit the obvious. I preach and teach about the Bible on Sunday. That’s kind of the given part of this whole scenario. What most people don’t know however is how long it takes to get ready for a given Sunday. I mean when I stand up front on a Sunday without notes and no cool teleprompter, there are 20+ hours that go into making that a reality. I could skimp on that and lessen the teaching but if I do that I should be fired. Without a script or anything it may look like I’m just winging it, but there’s a lot that goes into those couple of hours on a Sunday.

Add to that, there’s preparing small group material, overseeing other staff members, being a volunteer coordinator for over 150 volunteers throughout the year, party planner for those who want fun events but don’t know how to plan them, ensure that all the wheels are greased and running smoothly. Oh then there’s visiting those who are in hospitals and shut ins. Being involved in the community enough that the community knows we exist and are here for them. Did I mention being somewhat accessible nearly 24-7?

What do you do? Well, I’ve canceled vacations because someone has been on their deathbed. I hear some of the most awful stories of brokenness imaginable. Stories I can’t share with anyone, even my wife, because part of being a pastor is confidentiality and trust. I have to watch people say and do some pretty dumb things and not react too harshly in the moment. (sometimes I’m better at this than others).

What do you do? I get up a 2am when you’re having the worst night of your life. I come to your bedside when you’re terrified. I’m the one standing in the room when your loved one is struggling with their final moments. I’m there to carry you when your marriage is shattered. I shift my schedule to meet with you because you have a day job and my schedule is more flexible. I stand in the room with the lifeless body until the coroner comes. I hold in my emotions so you feel free to unload yours.

What do you do? My favorite is when people tell me they’ve just finished a long 3 week stretch of working 60 hours a week. I mean that can be tiring I’m sure. If I were to log my hours, I’d say more than 3 out of every 4 weeks I’m logging about 60. From time preparing sermons to praying for you, from practicing to preaching, from creating programs to coming in to pinch hit when someone can’t show up, from teaching at least 2 different groups on 2 different topics per week to so many more things that you’re already bored reading this.

What do you do? I carry the spiritual, emotional and at times physical needs of over 250 people. I take it very seriously. If you know me, then you know what I do is give up myself for those +/-250 people. And lest you think this is me complaining, let me be very clear. I choose to do it again year after year, month after month, week after week, day after day.

Being a pastor isn’t just what I do. It’s who I am. It’s not just a job. It’s my very calling. This is what I’ve been made to be. I could do a million other things, but none of them are what God made me to do. What do I do? Well, simply put, I’m a pastor. More than a job, this is my life. And I’m so honored to be able to do all of it.

Hide The Spies

December 17, 2023 / / 1 Comment

Another example of an unexpected person used by God to save His people is found in Joshua 2. This is the story of a woman who lived a life that did not line up with God’s desire for healthy relationships. She found herself looking for approval and love from any man who came by. She made her living bouncing from man to man. Yet God chose to use her. 

Could you imagine for a minute being Joshua and his men? They go into a town and things get a little dicey. They need help getting away from the people trying to hurt them. Who do they find willing to help them? Rahab! You know the woman who didn’t look like a follower of God by her actions. She’s the one God chose to call for this particular mission – Save my people.

She would even go on to give a pretty good testimony of her faith that God had already delivered things over to the Israelites. She let her faith lead her actions even though her lifestyle to this point didn’t show it. 

When God chose to send His Son to be born in the little town of Bethlehem, he didn’t do what everyone expected. He didn’t send a powerhouse king or a warrior. He sent a child. Not even a rich child. Just a regular lower to middle class child! 

This child would grow up and do more than just hide God’s people from danger like Rahab did. Jesus would grow to win the ultimate victory over our greatest enemy – death. The point of Advent is to put our hearts in the right place to be able to see what God is up to this time of year. He’s giving us time to slow down and prepare for the coming of the unexpected King of kings who looked more like a peasant than royalty. That’s just how God works. Now it’s time to look for the unexpected as we prepare our hearts for Christmas.

Are They Even Qualified?

December 13, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Over the past couple of weeks, splattered between some devotions for Advent, we’ve covered a couple of posts on the idea of discipleship. It’s one of those sticky words and is about a process that’s often left undefined at best. If you haven’t looked at those posts, I’d encourage you to take a quick peak before perusing what follows. Here are a couple links to help you out.

The two posts I referred to above are titled Sticky Words and What Discipleship Is NOT.

Assuming you’ve read those, we’ll continue with the qualifications needed to be a disciple. Here’s the list…

Yep that’s the list. Did you get it all? No you did not miss a paragraph. There is no list of qualifications needed!

If you dig through the Bible you’ll probably see some pretty odd characters being invited to the process of following Jesus. They didn’t come from the same background. They didn’t all have jobs in the church. None of them were people who were super well respected. Most were uneducated. And not a single one of them was the head in their class in seminary.

Discipleship and leadership in the world Jesus lived in had nothing to do with your qualifications. Actually it only had to do with Jesus’ qualifications and your surrender. The disciples that Jesus called to come and follow him were not the prime candidates to change the world! We’d call them the misfits. The B team. The not quite good enoughs. The bottom of the barrel. You get the point.

So if that’s how Jesus gathered his disciples, then why don’t we do it the same way? Or at least in a similar fashion? I think we tend to make things way more complicated than they really have to be.

We make the hurdles higher for people to come into our churches as members than we do for admission into Ivy League colleges. We make leaders and pastors in churches go through enough classes they could be doctors but they aren’t. Now I’m not saying that we go out and just throw everyone into the hopper but perhaps there is a better way? or maybe another way even if it’s not better.

A group I’m part of uses the phrase belong before you believe in a few different scenarios. And I think we could apply this here as well. Look at what Jesus did with his disciples. None of them believed in him when they started to follow! They didn’t even know who he really was, aside from the son of a woman named Mary and guy named Joseph. That’s pretty much it. He was a carpenter’s kid who looked, talked and acted pretty normal from what I understand.

So when he invited them to follow him and be part of his life, he didn’t make them take a test first to see if they got it or not. He invited them to walk with him and shared some pretty amazing life experiences.

Could it really be that easy? Could we really invite people into the journey of a lifetime? Treat them like they are real humans who really belong to something far bigger than themselves without putting up a bunch of hurdles? Then walk with them as the Holy Spirit does his work?

I mean I hate to be the one to break it to you but we don’t really play an active role in the whole believing and transforming gig anyway. That’s the Spirit’s job. So how about we do what we can do and let God sit in the God seat. He’ll take care of the qualification part. We just need to do the loving and relationship piece of the puzzle. It’s really just that easy.

So if we’re going to be really practical here, take a look at your life. Who do you know? Who are the people in your circle? Your barber or hairstylist? The dude at the gym? The girl on the volleyball team? The kid next to you in class? Your neighbor? Yeah even that one, the one who really gets on your nerves. When you make a list of who is in your life, you can see just how many chances there are to enter into these relationships with great intentionality.

After you make that list of your own personal who’s who, hang out with them. Walk with them. Talk with them. Have a beer with them. Sit down for coffee. Don’t preach to them. Just ask how their day is going. Show them how much you care. Show them that they actually belong somewhere. When that relationship is grounded in real care, the next steps will be way easier…and we’ll talk about that in the next post.

What Discipleship Is NOT

December 8, 2023 / / 1 Comment

We’ll start this post by saying it’s ok if you disagree with me, and I know some of you will. So don’t get your undies in a bunch over it. If you don’t like what I’m about to say, then scroll on and walk away or reach out and we can chat.

Some people in my tradition think that the crux of discipleship is going to worship. Some feel that being in a worship service where the hymnal is used is the best way to make sure discipleship is happening correctly. I’ll be honest. I think this is a ridiculous concept! If someone believes that the best and most effective way to do discipleship is by going to a worship service, then by default you’re saying Jesus didn’t use the best way!

Jesus didn’t invite anyone to “go to worship,” at least I don’t remember seeing that invitation in any of the gospel accounts. Now before you take those words and form some arsenal against me, don’t mix up my words. I did not say worship isn’t good, essential, necessary, etc. I said it’s not the way Jesus did discipleship.

I think a person who is growing in their relationship with Jesus will go to worship and be a part of a larger group of people following Jesus. But I don’t believe going to worship means you’re a disciple of Jesus. I think it means you’re going to worship and that’s it.

Also, discipleship isn’t memorizing your confessional documents either. Sure they’re important to know and really beneficial to help you understand how you do certain things in ministry and church life, but they are not markers of discipleship.

If you remember from an earlier post, the definition I use for discipleship is the process of being transformed into the image of Christ for the sake of others. This definition has at its core transformation of the person through relationships.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the function of worship is transformation of the person worshiping. As a matter of fact the Bible says that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I don’t see the primary function of worship being to renew our minds. Worship is about receiving the gift of forgiveness in the fellowship of other believers and returning praise to God.

Worship is an expression of a life being transformed but it’s not the primary avenue this transformation happens. So how then does discipleship happen?

Well, I’m glad you asked! I don’t like to give a bunch of negatives without giving a little bit of best practice as I’ve seen it. In my mind, discipleship best happens in a setting with a smaller number of people who agree to journey through life together. It’s highly relational. It’s profoundly personal. It’s intentionally individual while at the same time being curiously corporate. Ok that’s enough alliteration.

If we want to see the best way for discipleship to happen, we need look no further than the life of Jesus. He was kind of the master at the whole discipleship gig. He didn’t sit them down in classrooms. Didn’t ask them to read a book. Actually I don’t even think he required bible memorization. From what I read, he invited them to walk with him so he could show them what it looked like.

He did two basic things which we’ll dive into over the next week. He taught them, or maybe better yet, he reminded them what God had said. Then he led them to a place where they could see it in action. And if we want to get really serious about it, we have to admit he made some pretty high expectations known for those who sought to follow him. It’s pretty much that simple.

Knowledge that led to actions which became a set of expectations for a transformed life.

The long and short of this post is that you don’t need some massive ministry plan to make disciples. You don’t technically need to have someone come to a worship service to be part of this journey either. It’s about walking relationally with someone in an adventurous lifestyle keeping Christ at the center. We don’t transform anyone. That’s God’s job. So start with the journey. Start with the relationship and let God handle the God part. It’s a way bigger job than many people think, but it’s way easier than we make it out to be!

Sticky Word

December 6, 2023 / / 0 Comments

There are some words that I call sticky. They’re the kinds of words that you hear and don’t really know how to categorize. You have them. We all do actually. And you might even have an idea what they mean but really don’t have a clear and concise way to explain them.

One of those sticky words that is super prevalent in the church world right now is the term discipleship. Ok so it’s not new by any stretch and it’s actually been one of those sticky words for quite some time. That probably has to do something with the final command of Jesus being for the people of God to focus on making disciples.

Throughout history we’ve done our best to draw pictures, make up definitions, write books, craft bible studies, and have cleverly worded mission statements that are all focused on discipleship. We want so badly to do this but just don’t know what it even really means…much less have a concise way to communicate it to anyone.

I really don’t think it’s quite as hard as we make it out to be. And even more I don’t think making disciples is something that happens in a book, bible study, worship service, or some kind of bible memorization tool. These are all really good things! And I completely advocate all of them as part of the overall life of a person who follows Jesus, but I don’t think it’s quite the whole picture Jesus intends.

Discipleship isn’t some assembly line process where we run a group of 60 people through a program and they all come out looking the same. That’s just not how it works. Put 60 people into a worship service or bible study group and you don’t get 60 exact replicas come out the other side on fire for Jesus.

I really believe that it all starts with a definition. You have to define the term. I’ve defined discipleship the same way for years. Discipleship is the process of being transformed into the image of Christ for the sake of others. Is this your definition? Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. But you need somewhere to start. So either use this one or come up with your own based on your study of the Jesus’ words.

After you have a definition you’ll have some picture of where you’re headed. And for me this definition gives some clarity to what discipleship does and does not look like. It’s not an event in time which is why we call it a process. It’s replicable to an extent which is also part of that process language. There is a change that is expected as you progress through this process, hence transformed. The output of the process is Jesus. If you’re simply trying to make members of a church or denominational clones, then you’re not really doing discipleship. Finally it’s about relationships, for the sake of others kind of talk. It’s about a journey not a jolt in time.

Unlike the assembly line imagery, discipleship is more of a life-to-life adventure. It’s about inviting someone into your life and letting them walk with you through the mundane. It’s not about adding another block to your already too full calendar either. Discipleship is about adding someone else to your calendar. Discipleship is not about tasks or to dos. It’s about people and relationships.

Look. I really hope discipleship stays one of those sticky words, not because we don’t know what it means either. I hope it stays sticky because we’ve finally arrived at some form of clarity on just how important it is to live around people for the sake of a greater mission.

Just Too Much To Carry

November 16, 2023 / / 0 Comments

I almost dropped everything.

There are two kinds of people in the world. There are the ones who carry two bags of groceries in from the car, and then there’s me. I tend to load up the arms and carry as much in as I possibly can. Less trips and all. Plus it’s kind of a challenge sometimes.

But it’s not just with groceries. I do this pretty much every time I get out of the car to go into the office or when I get home. I load up with my backpack, gym bag, Yeti, water jug, and often a coat or something additional on the cold days. This doesn’t even account for finding a way to carry my lunch. And yeah you guessed it…I carry all of it at once.

Carrying these things isn’t really a huge issue. The problem arises when I try to open the door. If we had those cool automatically opening doors, this would be a breeze! But alas, I have to dig into my pocket to get my keys. Then turn the lock and open the door. All of this while my hands are loaded and everything is perfectly balance. My wife often jokes that I need a drink carrier to hold all of the beverages I carry around since there’s normally a protein shake and some pre workout somewhere in the mix as well.

When I get to the door I have two options. I can do the weird balancing act or I could put a few things down. Generally I do the funky balancing act, look like a fool and almost drop everything on the way in the door.

I think the church has done the same thing with people and how we teach salvation. For those that don’t know, salvation is that teaching in the Bible that our wrongs are covered and we’re set up for an eternal future with God in heaven. You see we load up all the extra stuff for people to carry before they truly understand salvation.

The Bible teaches that there’s only one way to heaven. His name is Jesus. Salvation comes through no one and nothing other than Jesus. That’s a very clear message we read on just about every page of the Bible. Yet I’m seeing so many churches talking about so many other things as if they are prerequisites for understanding Jesus.

It’s like we’re piling all the extra bags onto people’s backs making it hard to carry any of it. The Bible teaches that we shouldn’t make it hard for people to believe, but that’s exactly what we’re doing. We load up worship styles, version of the Bible, doctrines and teachings of our particular denomination, how we dress, how we talk, where we go and don’t go, should we make the sign of the cross or not. Man there’s a ton of baggage that we’ve attached to the whole Jesus is the only way to heaven truth.

I’m not saying that any of those conversations are bad. As a matter of fact many of those things are good in their own right. But we can’t treat them as if they are Jesus. We need to stop loading people up with all of this extra baggage before they even know Jesus.

I’m part of a church tradition that values its heritage and its position on many topics, what we call doctrines. And I’m seeing more and more pastors in my church body making people know all of these supporting truths with minimal focus on Jesus. Sure they teach that Jesus died and rose but there’s so much more to Jesus than that one piece of his life.

If you’re a follower of Jesus, perhaps it’s time to realize who Jesus really is. He was a person with some amazing characteristics. He was a man who really walked on the earth, who dealt with some pretty nasty stuff. There’s a lot we can learn from Jesus without heaping up all the extra baggage that we have come up with over time to differentiate us from the rest of the world.

When we load people up with all of these extra doctrines and focus on our churchy jargon it’s often at the expense of Jesus. It’s at the expense of people really learning to live like Jesus. Jesus teaches that his teaching is easy and his burden is light. He doesn’t load us up with all these theological terms and churchy ideas. The Bible gives us Jesus. That’s the one thing we need for heaven. If more followers of Jesus would worry as much about following Jesus as they do about their doctrines and confessional stance on everything, we just might realize that the world doesn’t have a problem with Jesus. They have a problem with how hard we make it to follow him.

Consider thinking through what bags you make people carry on their way into church. Rethink the loads you’re putting on the men and women who really want to know Jesus. If we’re not careful, they’re going to drop everything…including Jesus.

Context and Culture

November 2, 2023 / / 0 Comments

There’s something to be said about knowing your culture and context. Whether you’re in marketing, sales, public speaking, an author, a song writer, or even a pastor we need to know the culture and context into which we’re speaking.

For some these two words might seem the same but I see them as two sides of the same coin. Both are needed and both are important. Culture is who we are. It’s the systems and ideals with which we’ve been raised and that define our character and personhood. Context on the other hand is the lens through which everything we see is filtered. Our culture is more consistent than our context.

My family of origin and my current household structure are not likely to change a whole lot through the years (aside from the age of my children). But my context is all the other stuff like my neighborhood, financial status, job title, and all those things that can and often do change frequently.

If we don’t understand the culture and context of our audience, we’ll never speak in a way that they hear much less understand. I’m going to take this conversation to my context. I’m a pastor so this applies to me in a very specific way. I need to know how to contextualize the message I preach.

Now some out there will get all bent out of shape by hearing me say something about contextualizing the gospel. They likely think I’m talking about changing the gospel to meet the scenarios of the people around me. But they couldn’t be more wrong. As a matter of fact I don’t change the message, or in your case the product you sell. We do however need to change the way we communicate the value of that product or message.

Take my role again as an example. I need to be able to speak in a contextually applicable way. That is not making the gospel fit into the lives of my hearers by any means. The idea of contextualization of the gospel is about helping my hearers find the end of their current, and future, story in the gospel of Jesus. It’s about helping people see how their lives already are impacted by the message of the Bible.

If you’re in sales or marketing it’s the same thing. You’re not forcing your ideals, product or message onto someone else. Your goal is to help them see themselves and their problems being cared for by the message or product you provide. When I was in car sales I did this all the time. Someone would come with a problem. My car has a problem, doesn’t run, is old, needs replaced.

I didn’t have to convince them to buy the car. I just had to show them how the car I had on the lot actually was the answer to the problem they presented to me in the first place.

As pastors we tend to get stuck in a rut of Jesus loves me this I know, blah…blah…blah. Yes that message is really important and it’s very true! But it’s only part of the story. If we don’t contextualize the message in a culturally relevant way, then people aren’t going to be able to hear the message much less be impacted by it.

Take time to understand the culture around you and the context into which your message or product will be presented. You’ll be far more effective when you do.

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